This awards season is one for the history books, so let’s take a look back at the most memorable moments from the most prestigious awards for both music and film: the Grammy Awards and the Academy Awards (Oscars).

First, on January 26th, the best artists, DJs, producers, and presenters gathered in the Staples Center in Los Angeles for an event that was pretty much 25% award ceremony and 75% concert. However, the usual high-energy atmosphere was marred by tragedy — hours before the ceremony began, former basketball star Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and 7 others died in a helicopter crash just 40 miles away from the Staples Center, Bryant’s home court. Performers paid tribute to the former Lakers star throughout the ceremony, and a joint tribute to Bryant and the late Nipsey Hussle was powerful enough to bring tears to the eyes of the 16-odd million watchers nationwide.

But in the midst of mourning, there was good reason to celebrate one history-making teenager born and raised in the City of Angels: Billie Eilish. The 18-year-old became the youngest-ever artist to win Album of the Year, grabbing a remarkable 5 Grammys out of 6 total nominations. She was also the first artist to sweep the 4 major award categories since 1981. You’ll be sure to hear more of Billie’s mellow voice — and see her  holding more Grammys — for many years to come. A second female artist making her Grammy debut was Lizzo, who showed up on the red carpet with a record 8 nominations. She left the Staples Center with 3 Grammys for Best Pop Vocal Performance (“Truth Hurts”), Best Urban Contemporary Album, and Best Traditional R&B Performance.

Another artist, although she’s been around much longer than Billie, who reentered the spotlight at the 62nd Grammy Awards was Demi Lovato. After nearly two years, Lovato took to the stage to premiere her new song “Anyone”, a heart wrenching but beautiful ballad likely describing her battle with addiction. Demi broke down in tears as she sang the first line, but she regrouped after a round of cheers from the audience. She recently admitted to writing “Anyone” only 4 days before her overdose in 2018, and describes the song as a “call for help”. The performance was enough to give anyone chills, and could turn out to be the defining moment in her revival.

One of the most star-studded performances of the night came from Lil Nas X, who won two Grammys for Best Music Video and Best Duo/Group Pop Performance. He performed none other than “Old Town Road” alongside Billy Ray Cyrus featuring the likes of BTS, Diplo, and yodeling phenom Mason Ramsey.

A few weeks later on February 9th, actors, actresses, directors, and presenters galore descended onto the Dolby Theatre’s red carpet for the 92nd annual Academy Awards. More commonly known as the Oscars after the name of Hollywood’s most coveted golden man, this year’s ceremony did not disappoint. It too brought moments of hope, laughter, and remembrance. Here are some of that night’s biggest talking points and memorable displays.

For the second year in a row, the Oscars ceremony did not have an official host, but instead featured a long list of presenters who opened envelopes or introduced musical performances. The presenting duo of Chris Rock and Steve Martin generated the most laughs from the audience as they traded off witty one-liners about audience members, pop culture references and the lack of color representation among nominees, which has become a recurring theme of jokes in recent years. Actresses Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig also produced some laughter for their singing efforts, while James Corden and Rebel Wilson humiliated themselves on stage wearing cat costumes, mimicking the botched CGI effects of their musical box office flop “Cats!”. 

It’d be a crime not to mention South Korean director Bong Joon Ho and his drama thriller “Parasite”: the first South Korean film and the first film not in the English language to win Best Picture. Before accepting the most anticipated award, he had already won two Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Director. By the end of the night, the audience at the Dolby Theater had fallen in love with Bong and his honest, easygoing attitude, but also his levelheaded translator Sharon Choi. In his acceptance speeches, Bong openly confessed his excitement to celebrate — “I’m ready to drink tonight” was one of only a few phrases he spoke in English. Bong’s historic wins will not only go down in the history of the Academy, but also in the South Korean film industry.

This year, each song nominated for “Best Original Song” got a performance of its own, and they were dispersed throughout the ceremony to keep the audience and the couch surfers from nodding off. Indina Menzel (or Princess Elsa) sang Frozen II’s “Into the Unknown” accompanied by singer Aurora and a handful of Elsas hailing from around the world. Cynthia Erivo killed her performance of “Stand Up”, the anthem from her movie “Harriet”, but eventually came up short. Elton John sat at the piano to belt out “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again”, an original from his biopic “Rocketman”, before winning the Oscar later on in the ceremony.

As for the 4 major acting awards — Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress — all 4 went to Golden Globes winners. Joaquin Phoenix’s chilling portrayal of Arhur Fleck in “Joker” kept him far ahead of his fellow nominees, and he won “Best Actor” to no one’s surprise. Best Actress, on the other hand, was a little more contested, but Renee Zellweger won the award for her portrayal of Judy Garland in “Judy”. Brad Pitt won Best Supporting Actor for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, and Laura Dern won Best Supporting Actress for “Marriage Story”. Both Pitt and Dern won Golden Globes for those same performances as well.

Although this year’s awards season has come to a close, there’s always next year. To get ahead, keep an eye out for upcoming albums from your favorite