The Singers tied with Two People Exchanging Saliva for the Best Live-Action Short Film Oscar in an unusual moment at the ceremony, with presenter Kumail Nanjiani declaring, “It’s a tie. I’m not joking. It’s actually a tie. “
The on-stage surprise and reactions
As the winner for the live-action short category was being read, Nanjiani stopped and told the audience to remain calm before confirming there were two winners. He said he would announce one winner, let them have their moment, and then announce the other, adding a quip that it was “ironic that the short-film Oscar is going to take twice as long. “
The Singers was announced first. The Singers’ director Sam A Davis exclaimed, “A tie, wow we didn’t know that could happen, ” while producer Jack Piatt joined him onstage. Later, co-directors Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh of Two People Exchanging Saliva accepted their prize, with Musteata expressing pride at sharing the award and calling it “such a dream. “
Singh continued his acceptance speech even after the microphone was cut and the lights were brought down; he used his moment to highlight the role of art in society and made a pointed line that drew both laughter and jeers from the audience. Later in the program, a host joked that the tie had ruined millions in Oscar pools.
The Singers: an 18-minute musical comedy
The Singers is an 18-minute musical comedy described by its director as “a simple story about the power of music and art to bring us together in a moment when we live in an increasingly isolated world. ” The win marked the first Oscar victory and nomination for producer Jack Piatt and the first win and second nomination for Davis.
Two People Exchanging Saliva is a 36-minute dystopian French-language film. For its filmmakers, the Oscar was also a first nomination and win, and the team expressed gratitude for the recognition and for sharing the prize with The Singers.
How rare is an Oscars tie?
Ties at the Academy Awards are extremely uncommon. The ceremony’s nearly‑100‑year history has produced only a handful of tied results, with early examples in the 1930s and a split for best actress between two legends in the late 1960s. The most recent tie before this one occurred in 2013 when Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty matched votes in the sound editing category. With this outcome, the awards night added another rare chapter to that short list.
The dual winners created an unusual sequence of two acceptance speeches for one category and provided a reminder of how a single category can produce an unexpected, memorable Oscars moment.
Both winning teams left the stage celebrating, and the night continued with the remainder of the program carrying on after the unprecedented announcement.
