First, before I explain why, let me address that it has nothing to do with prestige. The Oscars, deservingly or not, hold more prestige in the eyes of many viewers as well as the Film Industry. The Oscars are marketed better and have history on their side. Golden Gloves are a mash up of TV and Film to create an Emmy Oscar Hybrid that becomes a consolation prize, sorry Leo.

Now, why are the Golden Globes better? Hosts. It’s that simple. In the past six years Ricky Gervais has hosted 3 and was followed by Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. They kept the stars in check and make fun of the industry. Ellen did some similar things, but last Sunday the always entertaining Neil Patrick Harris was not able to get anything going.

The opening felt like unjustified hubris on behalf of the industry, claiming that we all love movies and trying to revert us back to the past. The entire set tried to emulate this idea and revert us back to an older time. Jack Black spoke the truth, but was laughed off and the song continued. Harris made some sort of funny jokes, as well as ill timed ones that I hope were a result of him not hearing the last line of a speech. His bit about his predictions was cute, but way overplayed and his reading of them fell flat. It felt promising when he sung, he strength, but as I said, the song didn’t feel genuine – it felt marketed.

Despite the show itself, two things stuck out more than anything: musical performances and speeches. First, the music was on point all night and made the Grammys look like an award show not about music, so, the Grammys. Adam Levine and the people behind Everything is Awesome, opened strongly, providing some nice breaks from the show. However, Lady Gaga, and John Legend and Common were the stars. Gaga gave a tremendous performance of The Sound of Music, I know it was an reversion to the past but this one worked, and was then hugged by Julie Andrews. John Legend and Common sung their Oscar winning song ‘Glory,’ and delivered a powerful performance. They were one of the great speeches of the night as well. We saw people make strong social commentary throughout, to loud applause, and we witnessed Meryl Streep almost run up on stage with Patricia Arquette.

There were no suprise winners. While I wanted Michael Keaton to win, it was not a shock to see the Eddie Redmayne win for “The Theory of Everything.” I was happy to see Julianne Moore recieve her first Oscar, as well as J.K. Simmons. “Birdman” deserced all its accolades, but I wanted to see Wes Anderson take home at least one award for himself, although another highlight was watching the academy pair his film with “American Sniper.” What a contrast, grumpy old dude, and adolescent high schooler.

No matter the nominations, the winners, or the host, the Oscars will always play a huge cultural role. It’s like the Super Bowl, no matter all the terrible things about the NFL, people will still watch it in February…maybe this month has something to do with it. In the end, this Oscars, like all of them, had highs and lows, but sooner or later those lows will catch up, and maybe one day, the Globes will be number one.