Oscars 2016: All The Best Bits

We'd only been building up to this event since, forever... but AT LAST the awards ceremony of the year arrived: the Oscars 2016. So we settled in for the night to bring you all the news, as it happened, straight from the red carpet and winner's podium.

If you need to refresh your memory, for all key nominations click here.

And don't forget to scroll down to our gallery below of all the best red carpet looks.

Oscars 2016: The Ceremony

** Leonardo DiCaprio Wins Best Actor Oscar 2016**

STANDING OVATION FOR LEO! HE LOOKED SO CHUFFED! WE'RE SO HAPPY!

(We'll calm down now...). Yes Leo finally got his award. Hurrah! In his acceptance speech he thanked a generous number of people, from Tom Hardy 'my brother in this endeavour', to the 'unbelieveable talent' that is director Alejandro Iñárritu, and also his parents: 'none of this would be possible without you.'.

He ended his speech with a plea on behalf of the environment. 'Climate change is real,' he said, 'it is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together... we need to support leaders around the world [...] who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, with the billions and billions of underprivileged peope who will be most affected by this.'

He concluded: 'Let us not take this planet for granted; I do not take tonight for granted.'

[And then... out came our tissues]

Brie Larson Wins Best Actress Oscar 2016

The hot favourite did it! In her speech, Brie paid tribute to an extraordinary amount of people in a very short period of time (before the music kicked in, impressive!).

In particular she thanked child star Jacob Tremblay: 'my partner through this in every way possible.'

** Alejandro González Iñárritu Wins Best Director Oscar 2016**

The Revenant director did it again – for the second year in a row (last year it was for Birdman)! He used his speech to call on our generation to 'liberate ourselves from all prejudice'. And prior to that (and before the music rather tactlessly cut him off) he had praised leading man, Leonardo DiCaprio. 'Leo,' he said, 'you are 'The Revenant'. Thank you for giving your soul, your heart, your life.'

** Spotlight Wins Best Film Oscar 2016**

'This film gave a voice to survivors, and this Oscar amplifies that voice.'

That was the overriding message of the poignant acceptance speech; it came hand-in-hand with praise for the important work done by investigative journalists.

** Sam Smith and Jimmy Napes Win Best Original Song Oscar 2016**

Second surpirse of the night (Lady Gaga was the bookie's favourite). In a touching speech, Sam Smith dedicated his Oscar for Writing's On The Wall (composed for 007 film Spectre) to the LGBT community. 'I stand here tonight as a proud gay man and I hope we can all stand together as equals one day,' he said.

Arnie Tweeted

Arnold Schwarzenegger sent a consolitary tweet to Sylvester Stallone for missing out on Best Supporting Actor award.

** Mark Rylance Wins Best Supporting Actor Oscar 2016**

Wow - first surprise of the night! Beloved british actor Mark Rylance won Best Supporting Actor for his role in Bridge of Spies. In his speech he credited director Steven Spielberg as a man who 'leads with such love that he's surrounded by masters in every craft'.

He also said: 'If you ever wonder about acting with Tom Hanks, would it help? The answer's 'yes'.'

He concluded: 'It's a wonderful time to be an actor and I'm proud to be part of it.'

Little interlude...

Actor, comedian and ceremony host Chris Rock tweeted this mid-way through the 3-hour ceremony:

Alicia Vikander Wins Best Supporting Actress Oscar 2016

She wore an Oscar-yellow dress and she only went and WON AN OSCAR. 'Thank you for being the best acting partner,' she said to The Danish Girl co-star Eddie Redmayne.

A quick peek backstage...

How it started...

Host Chris Rock opened the awards ceremony with a very powerful speech about diversity. Earlier this year we asked what can be done about this issue??

Oscars 2016: Red Carpet Arrivals

One of the later stars to hit the red carpet was Best Actress nominee Jennifer Lawrence. J-Law wowed in black Dior haute couture, and well, whether she wins or not, it was definitely a winning look.

Elegant as ever was Best Supporting Actress nominee Kate Winslet. Black can mean boring, but not on 'our' Kate, and not when it's Ralph Lauren.

Indeed, the most exciting moment, pre-ceremony, was when she bumped into her BFF Leonardo DiCaprio on the red carpet.

Why? Because it gave us this moment...

Our hearts just melted

Reese Witherspoon opted for her traditional look – the strapless, fishtail – but it did have unique colouring though: purple.

There's only one thing to be said about Dior's lady in red Charlize Theron in her plunging scarlet gown and that was this: wow. Just WOW. Her Harry Winston jewels weren't bad either. Oh, and let's not forget her shoes...

Reportedly, Cate Blanchett chose the sea foam colour of her Armani gown herself. We expected nothing less from our style guru.

Everyone was talking about Best Supporting Actress Rooney Mara's white Givenchy gown with the cutout midriff and triple bun 'do. Ethereal and gothic. We love.

Brie Larson, hotly tipped to win Best Actress for Room, worked a blue Gucci gown with embroidered band, and sported blue eyeshadow to match. She chatted Double-Double burgers on the red carpet to E!HD. Yet another reason to HEART.

Eddie Redmayne, in classic style, went for black tie plus smoking jacket. Alexander McQueen, he said. As if we didn't love him enough already...

Best Actress nominee Saoirse Ronan (pronounced 'Ser-Sha') opted for a sequined Calvin Klein dress – custom-made in emerald green, a nod to her Irish roots. We predicted what she might wear last week – were we right?

Olivia Wilde rocked a low cut, backless Valentino Haute Couture gown. 'No hugging allowed,' she quipped to E!HD.

Alicia Vikander, nominated for Best Supporting Actress for The Danish Girl, arrived in a custom-made strapless canary yellow Louis Vuitton gown. She almost looks like an Oscar...

Can we give a huge round of applause to Best Supporting Actor nominee Mark Ruffalo, for posting this hilarious video to Instagram earlier today:

And Best Actress nominee Brie Larson for showing that not all actors abstain from eating pre-awards:

And finally to Reese Witherspoon, for showing that stars don't just fall out of bed looking star-like:

See the Best Dressed gallery by clicking on the camera icon below....