87th Annual Academy Awards

The Oscars are the biggest event of awards season, and to many the biggest night of the year! Neil Patrick Harris took the stage to host the Academy Awards for the first time.  His opening number was pretty epic. It paid homage to some of the industry's best work much more than it made fun of it and being joined by Anna Kendrick as Cinderella and Jack Black was a phenomenal addition! 

Some of the more interesting events that took place during the awards included:  many winners talking through the play out music, Viola Davis having to watch the briefcase containing Neil Patrick Harris' Oscar predictions, Tegan and Sara and The Lonely Island performing "Everything is Awesome" from The Lego Movie, Tim McGraw paying tribute to Glen Campbell with "I'm Not Gonna Miss You", and Lady Gaga singing an incredible medley of songs from The Sound of Music followed by Julie Andrews coming out and awarding the Oscar for Best Original Score.  The awards of course ran way over the allotted time, but nonetheless it was a great show with many memorable moments. 

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role went to J.K Simmons, for his role in Whiplash.  This came as no surprise, as he has won virtually every award for which his portrayal in the film has garnered him a nomination.  Patricia Arquette won the Oscar for Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in Boyhood and gave an impassioned speech calling for wage equality. Eddie Redmayne won Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for his role in The Theory of Everything and dedicated his award to everyone around the world battling ALS.  Julianne Moore won an Oscar for Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for Still Alice.

Big Hero 6 won for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. Original Screenplay went to Alejandro Iñárritu for Birdman while Adapted Screenplay was presented to Graham Moore for 
The Imitation Game and he deserves  a second award for his acceptance speech, stay weird. 
Alejandro Iñárritu also took home the Oscar for Directing Birdman. 

American Sniper garnered the award for Sound Editing. Whiplash won for Sound Mixing and Film Editing, and Interstellar took home the award for Visual Effects.  Birdman won for Cinematography and took home the biggest award of the night, Best Motion Picture of the Year.

Birdman was the night's big winner, despite Michael Keaton's lose in the Leading Actor Category.

A full list of winners can be found here.

Red Carpet Fashion

Photo by Jeff Vespa/WireImage

Gone Girl star Rosamund Pike looked flawless in a formfitting red Givenchy gown.

Photo Credit Getty Images

Anna Kendrick dazzled in a custom Thakoon coral halter gown. Expect to see her on the majority best dressed lists! 

Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Cate Blanchett looked stunning in a simple black number by Margiela and a statement necklace by Tiffany & Co.  

Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images

American Sniper star and current Sally Bowles in Cabaret Sienna Miller looked elegant in Oscar de la Renta. 

Photo credit NY Times

Felicity Jones was the epitome of the quintessential Oscars look in Alexander McQueen. 

Jason Merritt/Getty Images 

Marion Cotillard looked gorgeous in this Christian Dior Couture gown. I've already seen it on some worst dressed lists, but that's a matter of opinion.  

57th Annual Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards is music's biggest night. It is as much about the legendary performances that happen live as it is about who wins the coveted awards.  Tonight saw performances by everyone from AC/DC to Paul McCartney with Kanye West and Rihanna to Tom Jones with Jessie J. 

The night consisted of 26 songs performed on 23 different stage set-ups. AC/DC opened the show in their first performance ever on the Grammys Stage. Jessie J and Sir Tom Jones sang one of the most beloved songs ever, "Lost That Lovin' Feeling",  to honor Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil who received the Trustees Award tonight. Miranda Lambert sang a rocking version of her latest single "Little Red Wagon" and Kanye West performed "Only One" with a single floor light. Madonna sang "Living For Love" surrounded by dancers in bedazzled horned masks.  Ed Sherran performed "Thinking Out Loud" with John Mayer on guitar and Sheeran joined Jeff Lynne's ELO to sing "Mr. Blue Sky". Gwen Stefani and Adam Levine sang "My Heart is Open" with a live orchestra which was pretty spectacular. Pharrell performed a very interesting version of "Happy". Sam Smith and Mary J. Blige performed "Stay With Me".  Beyonce sang "Take My Hand Precious Lord" and Common and John Legend then performed "Glory", the award winning song from the motion picture Selma. 

A powerful conversation took place about domestic violence including a video from President Obama, and a story from a survivor of domestic violence.  Katy Perry capped off the conversation by performing a moving rendition of "By The Grace of God". 

ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

Full List of Winners

Beyonce's six Grammy nominations going into tonight's show officially made her the most nominated woman in Grammy history, passing Dolly Parton.  Beck took home one of the night's top honors for Album of the Year for Morning Phase and Best Rock Album.  Sam Smith won four Grammy Awards including Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album for In the Lonely Hour, Song of the Year and Record of the Year for "Stay With Me".  

2015 Critics' Choice Movie Awards

The Broadcast Film Critics Association holds The Critics' Choice Movie Awards to honor the finest films and actors of the year in 28 categories. This year's show broadcast live from the Hollywood Palladium hosted by co-host of LIVE with Kelly and Michael and NFL Hall of Famer Michael Strahan.

Red Carpet Arrival pictures can be found here.
A full list of winners can be found here.

Birdman lead this year with thirteen nominations and garnered 7 awards including Best Ensemble, Best Score awarded to Antonio Sanchez, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Actor and Best Actor in a Comedy for Michael Keaton.

Ellar Coltrane won Best Young Actor/Actress for his role in Boyhood, Patricia Arquette won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film, Richard Linklater took home the award for Best Director, and the film won Best Film. The Grand Budapest Hotel won Best Comedy, and Best Costume Design. Julianne Moore took home the award for Best Actress for her role as a woman suffering from Alzheimer's in Still Alice.

In the Action category, Bradley Cooper took home Best Actor in an Action Movie for American Sniper, while Emily Blunt won Best Actress in an Action Movie for Edge of Tomorrow and Guardians of the Galaxy was awarded Best Action Movie.  The Lego Movie took home Best Animated Film, which meant even more after a snub this morning in the Oscar nominations.

During the ceremony, Kevin Costner, Ron Howard, and Jessica Chastain received special honors. Costner was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award, Ron Howard was presented with the LOUIS XIII Critics' Choice Genius Award which honors an icon who has demonstrated unprecedented excellence in the cinematic arts, and Jessica Chastain received the first ever Critics' Choice MVP Award recognizing her as an extraordinary actor for her work in multiple standout movies (Interstellar, Miss Julie, A Most Violent Year, and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby) in a single year.

One of the best takeaways of this year's show is Jessica Chastain's speech accepting the Critics' Choice MVP Award: “Today’s Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. And, it got me thinking about our need to build the strength of diversity in our industry, and to stand together against homophobic, sexist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, and racist agendas. I’m an optimist, and I can’t help but feel hopeful about the future of film, especially looking at all these beautiful people in this room. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” I would like to encourage everyone in this room to please speak up. Thank you.” 

Oscar Nominations 2015

Watch the nominee announcement here or read the list of nominees here.

The nominees for the night's biggest category are:

This past year saw its fair share of amazing films made, from big blockbuster hits to small indie projects. The Oscars race is a difficult thing as accolades do not singularly determine a film's worth, and many great films have gone, and will go, unrecognized. All of the films in the Best Picture category deserve their spot there, and yet there are many more films that could easily have been one of the eight nominees.

Leading the nominations is Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel with nine nominations each followed by The Imitation Game which received eight nominations.

Watch the Oscar race conclude on Sunday, February 22.

Partial List of Nominees:

BEST DIRECTOR

Alejandro G. Inarritu, Birdman

Richard Linklater, Boyhood

Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher

Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Morten Tyldum, Imitation Game

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Steve Carell, Foxcatcher

Bradley Cooper, American Sniper

Bendict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game

Michael Keaton, Birdman

Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night

Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything

Julianne Moore, Still Alice

Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

Reese Witherspoon, Wild

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Robert Duvall, The Judge

Ethan Hawke, Boyhood

Edward Norton, Birdman

Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher

J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

Laura Dern, Wild

Keira Knightly, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman

Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Big Hero 6

The Boxtrolls

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Song of the Sea

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya