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Singaporean Ai-Ling Lee misses out on Sound awards at chaotic Oscars

LOS ANGELES — Singaporean sound editor and audio engineer Ai-Ling Lee did not take home any gongs at the 89th Academy Awards on Sunday (Feb 26).

Singaporean sound editor Ai-Ling Lee on the red carpet of the Oscars with HBO Asia. Photo: Screengrab of interview with HBO Asia

Singaporean sound editor Ai-Ling Lee on the red carpet of the Oscars with HBO Asia. Photo: Screengrab of interview with HBO Asia

LOS ANGELES — Singaporean sound editor and audio engineer Ai-Ling Lee did not take home any gongs at the 89th Academy Awards on Sunday (Feb 26).

The 38-year-old was nominated for Best Sound Editing with Mildred Iatrou Morgan and Best Sound Mixing with Andy Nelson and Steven Morrow, for their work on the movie La La Land. Lee and Iatrou Morgan were the first women to receive an Academy Award nomination for Sound.

The awards went to Sylvain Bellemare for the movie Arrival and Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace for Hacksaw Ridge respectively.

Earlier in the day, Lee told HBO Asia host Denise Keller on the red carpet at the Dolby Theatre that she was “really fortunate” to be attending the Oscars.

“Being nominated, I already feel like a winner,” she told TODAY in an interview on Saturday morning. Lee moved to Los Angeles at the age of 19.

“I think if you are passionate and really into what you do, and keep working hard on it, hopefully eventually someone will notice it and help you out,” she told Keller.

The biggest Academy Awards moment on Sunday came right at the end of the show, when presenter Warren Beatty accidentally proclaimed La La Land as Best Picture. 

But it was Moonlight, not the front-running La La Land, that took the biggest award of the night.

The show was thrown into confusion as La La Land’s cast and crew swarmed onto the stage.

Producer Jordan Horowitz had even launched into an acceptance speech before he was forced to say: “We lost, by the way”.

Beatty said he was handed the envelope for the award for Best Actress, rather than Best Picture. The one in his hand read “Emma Stone, La La Land”. Actress Faye Dunaway called out the name of La La Land after chiding Beatty for taking so long to read out the name for Best Picture. Stone had earlier taken the prize for Best Actress.

Moonlight also won for Best Adapted Screenplay. The movie’s Mahershala Ali was Best Supporting Actor, and also the first Muslim to win an Oscar. The musical La La Land, which was nominated for a total of 14 Academy Awards, won six.

The 89th Annual Academy Awards encore shows air on HBO (StarHub TV Channel 601) on March 1 at 10.35pm, March 3 at 9pm, and March 5 at 4pm.

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