Two Awards for 'Best Short Film' - Oscars 2024 Stuns With Rare Tie in Best Live Action Short Film Category
The 96th Academy Awards made history with a rare tie in the Best Live Action Short Film category. For the first time in nearly a century, two films shared the prize: the musical short The Singers and the experimental piece Two People Exchanging Saliva. Both received an identical number of votes, right down to the final ballot.
The last time the Oscars saw a tie was in 2013, when Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty both won for Best Sound Editing. This year's deadlock marked only the seventh tie in the ceremony's history.
As the results were announced, both filmmaking teams took the stage one after the other. However, the microphone was abruptly cut off during the acceptance speech for *Two People Exchanging Saliva*. The unusual moment drew laughter and applause from the audience. Host Conan O'Brien, 62, later joked that the tie had 'ruined 22 million Oscar betting slips'. The category, introduced in 1932 as *Best Short Subject, Two-reel*, has now awarded 93 Oscars in total—with this year's double win adding two more names to the list.
The tie means both The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva will officially be recognised as Oscar winners. Each team received a statuette, and the Academy confirmed the result after verifying the exact vote count. This rare outcome adds another unexpected chapter to the awards' long history.
