And the Oscar goes to Cate! “Sit down, you’re too old to be standing!” she cries in her speech as the room gives her a standing ovation. Cate takes home the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Film for her role of Jasmine in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine. Cate went on in her speech to highlight all of the other nominees, celebrating their performances, and adding, “Julia: hashtag suck it. You know what it means.” She also stood up for movies with a strong female lead, claiming they are not just niche movies but “actually make money.”

Cate started the night by stepping onto the red carpet in a shimmering gold Armani gown. “It’s heavy but I love it,” Cate said about her Oscar look. Her cap-sleeve dress featured a long sequined skirt that glittered with Swarovski crystals. Cate says her Oscar preparations are “simple and minimal,” and that her day leading up to the big night isn’t much different than any other day. “I don’t have a lot of time and I have three sons so they have no tolerance at all for mummy spending five minutes in front of the mirror,” Cate says. Her go-to beauty look is a “pale lip, a bit of mascara,” and a light moisturizer. Whatever she’s doing, it’s clearly working, as Cate wowed down the red carpet tonight.

Cate Blanchett's intricately beaded @Armani gown is one of our favorites of the night: http://t.co/ICd4s9mZ8a #Oscars

— InStyle (@InStyle) March 3, 2014

The odds for winning tonight were greatly in Cate’s favor: she did well this award season for her role in Blue Jasmine, winning Best Actress at the British Academy Film Awards and dedicating the award to her good friend, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. She also picked up the Globe for her performance, which is usually a strong indicator of an Oscar win. What do you think of Cate’s performance this year? Do you agree with her win? Let us know!

Image via Wikimedia Commons