Who else but Best Actress winner Meryl Streep? The legendary star, who's been nominated 17 times, gave a brilliant speech when she won her third statue at Sunday's 84th Annual Academy Awards. She said she knew this would be the last time she would be onstage accepting an award (yeah right!), so it's obvious she wanted to make it count. After first thanking her husband, Streep expressed her gratitude for all the opportunities she's been given and alluded to her celebrated history among Hollywood's elite.

"I really want to thank all my friends," she said. "I look out here and I see my life before my eyes. My old friends, my new friends and really this is such a great honor, but the thing that counts the most with me are the friendships and the love and the sheer joy we have making movies together. My friends, thank you — all of you — departed and here for this inexplicably wonderful career. Thank you so much."

The most emotional speech was definitely Octavia Spencer's acceptance for Best Supporting Actress. The entire room seemed happy for her when she received a standing ovation. She hilariously thanked her home state of Alabama and — when given the signal to wrap up her speech — got adorably flustered and apologized. She was overcome with emotion.

The winner of Best Original Song went to Bret McKenzie. Gotta love that The Muppets won an Oscar! McKenzie's acceptance speech was great because of his New Zealander accent. He is one half of the comedic duo Flight of the Conchords, and so is a funny guy. He was honored to work with the Muppets and he had cute jokes at the beginning of the speech. "I grew up in New Zealand watching The Muppets on TV and never dreamed I'd get to work with them," he said. "I was genuinely starstruck when I met Kermit the Frog. But when you get to know him, he's just a frog, and like many stars here, he's shorter in real life."

Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, the winner of The Best Documentary (Short Subject), Saving Face, was very good. The film focused on acid attack victims – an important topic that is seldom discussed. It was landmark win as it was the first win for a Pakistani director. In her acceptance speech, Chinoy gave an inspiring speech and dedicated the award to the women of Pakistan. “All the women in Pakistan working for change, don’t give up on your dreams, this is for you,” she said.

—ARIELLE GRINSHPAN

Leave a comment