A year of extraordinary accomplishments and fierce competition in film climaxed with the most anticipated evening of the year: the 85th Academy Awards. This year, the producers tried to infuse the crowd-pleasing excitement of the Grammys into the classically glamorous appeal of the Oscars, leading to occasionally off-key results. Nonetheless, the Seth MacFarlane-hosted Oscars was one of the most combative in years.

MacFarlane charmed some audiences and offended others. He began the show with a parade of jokes, on a “quest to make Tommy Lee Jones laugh,” saying that it was an honor for him to host after everyone else said no “from Whoopi all the way down to Ron Jeremy.” At his best, MacFarlane is multi-talented, witty and satirical. He has a wonderful, old-school singing voice, which one would think would be perfect for musical numbers. Yet somehow, many of his songs came off too immature for Oscar audiences (e.g. “We Saw Your Boobs”). MacFarlane tried to class it up with the numbers of “Be Our Guest,” along with the song and dance numbers with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Daniel Radcliffe, but they seemed dated. MacFarlane did much better when it came to stand-up though, poking fun at Ben Affleck and Daniel Day-Lewis. The sock puppet re-enactment of Denzel Washington’s film, “Flight,” also stood out as a high point for the night. Regardless of any low points, it is clear that the audience, who didn’t know whether to laugh or blush with embarrassment, made it clear that MacFarlane delivered just the right dosage of unpredictability.

The Oscars is not just about the awards. It is also a show on its own, held up to impossibly high standards of entertainment. The producers of this year’s Oscars, many of whom worked on Oscar-winning musical “Chicago,” decided to infuse their theme of music in film, trying to remind everyone that “Chicago” exists. Halle Berry kicked off the theme with the Tribute to James Bond with Dame Shirley Bassey singing her showstopper “Goldfinger,” receiving a standing ovation. John Travolta then announced a tribute to movie musicals with performances by Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jennifer Hudson singing songs from “Chicago” and “Dreamgirls” respectively, and the cast of “Les Misérables” singing “One Day More,” leaving the crowd on their feet. The “In Memoriam” segment added a soft touch with Barbra Streisand singing “The Way We Were” beautifully in honor of composer-songwriter, Marvin Hamlisch. Adele also performed her now-Oscar-winning Bond song, “Skyfall,” which was a highlight of the night. “Skyfall” also joined “Zero Dark Thirty” in the sixth-ever tie in Academy history and the first since 1995, for best short film, live action. The musical numbers were impressive in terms of talent, but juxtaposing the songs of yesteryear and classic songs wasn’t always effective. Having the “Jaws” theme play instead of the typical “get off the stage” music seemed to be more mean-spirited than an homage to film, especially when playing off the best visual effects winner, whose studio is currently on the brink of bankruptcy.

Now for the awards. According to Seth MacFarlane, the Dolby Theater was like church “but only with more people praying.” For a lucky few their prayers were answered, while others just missed the vote. The surprises ranged from little to none, as the projected favorites swept nearly every category. The night began with Christoph Waltz snagging the Oscar for best supporting actor for his outstanding role in “Django Unchained,” despite missing out on a SAG nomination. “Life of Pi” reigned victorious with a whopping four awards, including best director for Ang Lee. The standout, however, was Daniel Day-Lewis, who won a record third best actor award for “Lincoln.” MacFarlane was quick to point out that Day-Lewis was in fact not the first actor nominated for playing Lincoln, stating, “I would argue that the actor who really got inside Abraham Lincoln’s head was John Wilkes Booth.” The audience booed; in response he said, “150 years and it’s still too soon!”

Anne Hathaway unsurprisingly won best supporting actress for “Les Misérables.” “It came true,” she said as she cradled the golden statue in her hand. Despite an embarrassing fall, Jennifer Lawrence was also given her little golden statue for her raw performance in “Silver Linings Playbook.” The only semi-surprise of the night came by means of Quentin Tarantino, who snagged the Oscar for best original screenplay. Many were expecting the award to go to “Amour” or “Zero Dark Thirty” in this category. However, Tarantino’s radical and creative look at slavery in America definitely deserved to win.

Finally, for the most coveted award of the night, First Lady Michelle Obama, live from the White House, joined Jack Nicholson to help introduce the nine films in the running for best picture. The room was silent as Mrs. Obama opened the envelope, announcing “Argo” as the winner. Ben Affleck, one of the three producers of the film, got emotional when he spoke of his wife and kids.

“I never thought I’d be back here … it doesn’t matter how you get knocked down in life. That’s going to happen. All that matters is you’ve got to get up,” he said.

The victory was pleasing to fans and the industry alike who were all rooting for Mr. Affleck. Hey, who doesn’t love a good comeback? And from “Gigli” to “Argo?” Now that’s a comeback.