The 87th Annual Academy Awards was home to many talented stars from the world of film. Actors such as Benedict Cumberbatch and J K Simmons graced the red carpet along with a host of other world famous celebrities. But how did social media react to one of the most anticipated events of the year?
The eptiome of powerful Black men in both performance and speeches last night at #TheOscars @common & @johnlegend pic.twitter.com/HcdEOxD1Gg
— Chaka Khan (@ChakaKhan) February 23, 2015
Lady Gaga
One of the most talked about events of the night was the performance of Lady Gaga – real name Stephanie Germanotta – who sang a medley from “The Sound of Music” accompanied by Julie Andrews (who was the star of the original).
This was the number one moment on social media throughout the awards, with Facebook recording that 58 million interactions, from 21 million different people, had engaged in this moment.
Birdman
Birdman was the second most talked about event of the night, as everyone was intrigued to see who would win the highly sought-after Best Picture prize. This was unique as it was in fact only the 82nd highest-grossing film of 2014, meaning it did not perform as well at the box office as many had hoped for.
Congrats on your big night, #BirdmanMovie: http://t.co/hv6oRTvznm pic.twitter.com/0v32AbHPzo
— MTV (@MTV) February 23, 2015
Evolution
Three years ago, only 400,000 people were tracking the Oscars. This year, the number hit over seven million and then continued to rise to over eight million come the end of the show. This highlights the increased popularity the event is enjoying, epitomised by Ellen DeGeneres’ famous selfie at last year’s event. Through social media, the event has become one of the biggest and most talked about events of the year so far.
The 17 Most Awesome Moments of “Everything Is Awesome” Live At #TheOscars http://t.co/RIpsjqzw9x pic.twitter.com/tBG6pHBFA3
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) February 23, 2015
What about next year?
One of the key points to the increased social media success of recent years, was down to that the presenters both had huge followings on social media: Ellen DeGeneres and Neil Patrick Harris. The two combined have over 50 million followers on Twitter, making them both instantly recognisable. Next year, it is likely that the event would be a hit if they had another superstar host the awards. Who knows, maybe Beyonce next year?
My iphone shattered the morning of the Oscars. I probably should have read more into that. #harbinger
— Neil Patrick Harris (@ActuallyNPH) February 24, 2015
