One of the scores of Leonardo DiCaprio memes inspired by the actor’s umpteenth fail at the Academy Awards.

Anyone into mainstream film last Sunday was glued to their television set following the Oscars. I have mixed feelings about the awards. Are they a fun watch?

Definitely. Are the pre-Oscar gimmicks a lot of directors and leads get up to extremely entertaining? Without a doubt.

But as for winning the award itself... is it an indication of talent, or merely of extremely good lobbying, political nous and plain, old-fashioned luck?

I would say that winning boils down mostly to the last three elements. Many times happenstance occurs and the talent part is also present. But I always get the feeling it’s just happy coincidence.

My feelings towards the awards are hilariously summed up in a particular episode from the sadly defunct 30 Rock, where the character Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) attempts to influence award executives by hosting them to lunch, amid various other inappropriate attempts.

Fictional comedy, for sure, but I can’t help the feeling that real life mirrors this fiction closely, albeit in a more sophisticated mirror.

But that’s enough anti-Oscar talk. There were several favourite moments both during this year’s Academy Awards ceremony and in its aftermath. The award of the actor most memed has to go to Leonardo DiCaprio.

I have already devoted a whole column explaining why I don’t necessarily think that DiCaprio is the best thing to hit the screens since HD, but this year’s Wolf of Wall Street did convince me that an award was well deserved.

Having said that, I haven’t yet watched the Dallas Buyers Club, for which Matthew McConaughey swept the award for Best Actor, so I will reserve final judgement.

One thing’s for sure, the sight of poor DiCaprio putting on a brave face in front of the umpteenth defeat was one of the most pathetic I’ve seen in a long while.

On to lighter moments... John Travolta’s by-now legendary gaffe, as he totally massacred the name of actress Idina Menzel.

Menzel, performed the song Let It Go in Frozen, which went on to win the award for Best Original Song (beating the likes of U2 and Pharrell Williams).

However, Menzel magically became rebaptised as Adele Dazeem by Travolta, who later apologised for the weird error.

Of course, it all went viral. An app allowing users to ‘Travoltify’ their names magically appeared overnight.

Menzel herself milked the moment for all its PR worth in order to promote her current Broadway musical If/When; and, of course, 101 memes cropped up on the web.

DiCaprio must have been pleased to have the heat taken off him by Travolta, I guess.

I enjoyed the Oscars for reasons that had very little to do with the movies themselves

Other favourite moments were Benedict Cumberbatch photobombing U2. I adore Cumberbatch and I dislike Bono intensely (what’s that I hear you say? Heresy?), so this was pretty much the perfect Oscar moment for me.

Another highlight was Pharrell Williams getting everyone to dance to the Oscar-nominated Happy – and that included dames like Meryl Streep, whose shimmying was pretty cool.

There was Jennifer Lawrence’s tumble on the red carpet and the fantabulous Ellen de Generes.

I’m not sure if that’s a real word, but it seems to fit the occasion perfectly. I mean, just think of that fairy-queen costume.

So yes, I enjoyed the Oscars for reasons that had very little to do with the movies themselves. Then again, that’s pretty much the case every year.

rdepares@timesofmalta.com