The 8 Best Moments from the 2025 Oscars

The 97th annual Academy Awards brought a night of firsts. Zoe Saldaña scored her first-ever Oscar (finally!). Wicked's Paul Tazewell made history as the first Black man to win an Oscar for Best Costume Design. And, honestly, we loved almost every look we saw.

All in all, it was an entertaining night. But these moments, in particular, really stood out to us. From Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo's unforgettable performance to Ben Stiller's hilarious bit, here are the 8 best moments from the 2025 Oscars.

As you'd expect, the seasoned TV host included quite a few laugh-worthy jokes, poking fun at stars like Karla Sofía Gascón, director Denis Villeneuve and Babygirl actor Antonio Banderas. My favorite moment? The very beginning, when he edited himself into a scene from The Substance. In case you missed it, he comes out of Demi Moore's body and proceeds to dive back in after misplacing one of his shoes.

It was the surprise performance I didn't know I needed. And I may or may not have teared up a little while watching. The Oscar-nominated duo sounded phenomenal as they performed a Wizard of Oz-themed medley, including renditions of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Defying Gravity.”

Easily one of the most powerful moments of the night, Tazewell delivered a memorable speech after winning the Oscar for Best Costume Design for Wicked, making him the first Black man to win in this category. In his acceptance speech, he said, "This is absolutely astounding. Thank you, Academy, for this very significant honor. I'm the first Black man to receive the costume design award for my work on Wicked. I'm so proud of this."

After winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Emilia Pérez, she said in her speech, "I am the proud child of immigrant parents with dreams and dignity and hardworking hands, and I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award. And I know I will not be the last."

The ceremony featured a special James Bond tribute, where Doja Cat, LISA and RAYE took the stage to perform iconic songs from the spy franchise. The musical medley included renditions of "Live and Let Die," "Diamonds Are Forever" and "Skyfall."

The actor took the opportunity to share a little story about how his wife actually promised him more kids if he were to win an Oscar. He said in his speech, "She’s holding the Emmy, we’re trying to find a car. Emily, you were there, so you’re a witness, and she goes, ‘Oh God, I did say that. I guess I owe you a third kid,’ and I turned to her and I said, ‘Really I want four.’ And she turned to me, I swear to God this happened, it was just over a year ago, she said, ‘I will give you four when you win an Oscar.’ I held my hand out, she shook it and I have not brought it up once until just now."

While presenting the Academy Award for Best Production Design, Stiller shared a few remarks about the importance of production design while standing on a rising floor. But this turned out to be one of the funniest jokes of the night, because the rising floor only made it halfway to the stage, and he had to climb out of the hole to finish presenting.

This was easily one of my favorite moments. When O'Brien tried to address the audience, Offerman disrupted him and said, "This is Conan O'Brien's first time hosting the Oscars…a lot of pressure." He then added, "A challenge so big coming so late in his career must weigh on a man's soul." In response, O'Brien asks him to stick to the script, and in his iconic deadpan voice, he recites a line that calls him "one of the greatest comedians of our time." Classic.

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