As snow and ice swirled around the midwest, thousands diverted their attention to the glitz and glamor of sunny Hollywood, California. From 6:00 PM to well past 10:30 PM on March 2, 2014, viewers were submerged in the charmed lives of the cinema’s most highly revered moviemakers.

The “Oscars Red Carpet Live” ran from 6:00 to 7:30 PM, providing a mix of short interviews and insights into the Academy Awards. Each interview seemed to follow suit with the last, all basically consisting of “Congratulations! What are you wearing?” Short snippets showed viewers the different aspects of the Oscars. Features such as “My First Oscar” and “Team Oscar” shared the thrills of being nominated for an award and the experiences of those working behind the scenes.

The ceremony itself was hosted by talk show host and actress Ellen Degeneres who started the show by introducing the program and roasting the nominees in the front rows. She explained the theme of the event, “Heroes in Hollywood”, which praised movies for providing an escape from hard times around the world. Ellen brought a new, refreshing flavor to the classy ceremony with her laid-back, informal style.

Ellen jokingly asked if the crowd was hungry, and said she might order a few large pizzas if anyone was interested. To the audience’s surprise, a very confused pizza delivery guy showed up half an hour later at the Dolby Theatre. Little did he know he would be serving slices of cheese pizza to Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Meryl Streep. Ellen then took up a collection to tip the man, pooling the money into Pharrell William’s iconic hat.

Throughout the show, Ellen went up and down the aisles taking “selfies” with the stars, culminating in one ultimate selfie of herself and eleven other celebrities. She posted the picture on her twitter page, receiving over two million reblogs and even crashed the Twitter server for a few minutes.

The normal setup followed: nominees were announced, clips were shown, and winners were presented their awards. The clips highlighted the most interesting parts of each nominated film, giving the viewers the chance to silently root for a victor even if they had not seen all of the movies. Some speeches were better than others, ranging from the typical “I’d like to thank my family” to the popular “Follow your dreams and you could be here too!” While at times, claiming to fight for humanity through playing a part in a movie could seem a bit contrived, the intentions were good.

Lupita Nyong’o, winner of best supporting actress for her performance in “12 Years a Slave”, delivered a heartwarming speech, encouraging everyone that “no matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid.”

Awards were presented to praise every aspect of moviemaking, from music, to acting, to effects, to costume, to makeup and hair. It was interesting to see those working behind the movie magic finally come to light and receive recognition.

The award for best picture, the last one announced, was given to “12 Years a Slave”. Best actor in a leading role was presented to Matthew McConaughey for his performance in “Dallas Buyers Club”, and best actress in a leading role was given to Cate Blanchett in “Blue Jasmine”. To the surprise of many, Leonardo Dicaprio will have to wait another year to see if he’ll be awarded his own Oscar. Other awards can be viewed on the Oscars website here.

The times in between awards and speeches were still interesting, featuring musical numbers (such as P!nk, Pharrell Williams, and Idina Menzel) or simply conversations between the different actors. Viewers got the pleasure of seeing the biggest names in Hollywood interacting with each other casually, joking, and making fun of each other all the while.

As with any national television event, lengthy commercial breaks frequented both the Red Carpet as well as the main event. While this level of commercialism quickly became annoying, it was to be expected. Overall, the Oscars were a highly entertaining program for both movie critics and leigh people alike.