In pictures: Oscars ceremony 2014
- Published
This year's Oscars ceremony was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, who shunned the traditional song and dance routines and instead took the first of many selfies, of her own reaction to the star-studded crowd.
Jared Leto was handed the first Academy Award of the night - best supporting actor for his role as an HIV positive transgender woman. He started his speech by saying thank you to his mother "for teaching me to dream".
12 Years a Slave star Lupita Nyong'o showed a full range of emotions as she collected her best supporting actress Oscar, beating Jennifer Lawrence and Julia Roberts to take the prize. She paid tribute to director Steve McQueen and co-stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender, calling her experience on the film "the joy of my life".
In a bid to break the record for the most retweets ever, DeGeneres roamed the audience to rope in a few celebrities for a very special selfie featuring Bradley Cooper, Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence. Posted on her Twitter feed @TheEllenShow, it soon overtook President Barack Obama's record with more than one million retweets, crashing Twitter in the process.
A reverse-angle shot of the "selfie" showed diminutive Cabaret star Liza Minelli trying, and failing, to get into the frame.
12 Years a Slave director and producer Steve McQueen jumped on stage after accepting the evening's biggest award for best picture. He also had a hug from the movie's producer Brad Pitt, without whom he said "this film would just not have been made". The film won three Oscars in total, including adapted screenplay.
Gravity director Alfonso Cuaron accepted the best director Oscar from actors Angelina Jolie and Sidney Poitier. It was one of the film's seven awards, which also included best original music score and cinematography.
This year's best actress Oscar went to Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine. She paid tribute to her fellow nominees including Dame Judi Dench and Amy Adams, as well as writer and director Woody Allen, her co-star "the sublime Sally Hawkins" and the audiences who had proved a film with female leading characters did not have to be "niche".
The best actor prize went to Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club. He collected a kiss from fellow nominee Leonardo DiCaprio before being handed his Oscar by last year's best actress winner Jennifer Lawrence.
Pharrell Williams ditched his red carpet shorts to perform his nominated song Happy from Despicable Me 2, and left the stage to dance with fellow nominees in the crowd, including Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Lupita Nyong'o.
Peter Del Vecho, Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck accepted the Oscar for best animated feature film for Disney musical Frozen, about a magically icy princess. The film's second award went to Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for best song, Let It Go.
Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was joined by Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig to perform her Oscar nominated track The Moon Song, from Her. The film's writer and director Spike Jonze won the Oscar for original screenplay.
Best documentary feature was awarded to 20 Feet from Stardom, last year's highest-grossing documentary in the US. Darlene Love, one of the stars of the film which shines a light on the world of backing singers, was so excited she broke into song as director Morgan Neville looked on.
Pink performed Over the Rainbow as part of a tribute to The Wizard of Oz's 75th anniversary, before DeGeneres reappeared dressed as the fairy godmother. She also ordered pizza to feed guests.
The ceremony's star-studded presenting line-up included Jamie Foxx and Jessica Biel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emma Watson and Penelope Cruz and Robert De Niro.