So last night Hollywood offered up its best and most glamorous for the 81st annual Academy Awards. This is one of my favorite nights of the year and my Oscar party, as usual, kept the actual show from putting me to sleep.



No, I won't be recapping who won what here, if you're really interested, visit http://www.oscar.com/ for the official winners list.



For me, it's always all about who's there, who they're with, and, of course, who they're wearing! Fashion, fashion, it's all about the fashion! The Acacemy Awads Red Carpet is the Superbowl of Fashion. And just to prove it, Heidi Klum AND Tim Gunn were there last night!



So, I started my evening off watching E! from 6-8 for the oh-so-awaited arrivals.



ABC, knowing full well, that the red carpet draws almost as much attention at the awards themselves, opted to start their evening with red carpet coverage at 6:30. It was interrupted at 7 for the Barbara Walters Special and then returned at 8 as a precursor to the Oscar telecast, which began at 8:30.



What follows are just my notes and observances of the evening.



First acknolwedged celebrity to arrive on E!'s arrival show was Miley Cyrus, who I guess was there to support Animated Feature nominee Bolt. She was wearing a hideous scalloped dress that did nothing for her ... and her mom was showing off her first-ever pair of real diamond earrings.

Are you serious??? Is Billy Ray really that cheap, that he never bought his wife of something like 20 years a pair of REAL diamond earrings??



Next notable celeb up was the oh-to-pretty Zac Efron and his onscreen-offscreen love Vanessa Hudgens, who had a lovely black mermaid dress on. So far, this one's my fave.

I also loved Viola Davis' golden halter creation. It looked beautiful on her and flattered her skin color. I was not nearly as impressed with fellow nominee Taraji P. Henson's white layered gown as Miss Jay from E! was. I thought it looked like she was wrapped in toilet paper.

My highlight came at 6:55 when vampire Edward Cullen, I mean presenter Robert Pattinson, showed up dressed head-to-toe in Dolce & Gabbana! OK, so I'm biased here, but I was so thrilled that he went the classic route with perfect tux and bow tie, instead of the I'm Young Hollywood and Don't Have to Comply with the Academy look that some younger stars donned.

Remember, even though you're not nominated now, the Academy is watching, showing respect now will pay off later ...



OK, now I'm getting annoyed ... Is it really necessary to have the camera on Marissa Tomei so looonng? Her geometric-layered white (yes, another white) gown, while better than others that she wore this awards season, was a miss.



I'm liking Amanda Seyfried's red dress -- although later when she was presenting, I took that back ... that bow was ridiculous!



Oh my, who's the Cinderella at the end of the red carpet -- why it's Sarah Jessica Parker, in a full white/silver ball gown. A tiny bustiere topping a very full dress -- like I said, Very Cinderella. (I later found out it was Diore couture, very ooh la la!) Why is she the only celebrity that can pull off such a variety of looks?

This photo doesn't do the dress justice, watch for it on TV tonight during all the post-Oscar entertainment shows!

And she confirmed to E! that all four principals have signed on to make another Sex & The City movie -- yay!



7:15 pm -- Seacrest finally does something worthwhile and interviews Pattinson! Oddly enough, Ryan's the same height, which only proves my speculation that he's standing on a box behind that fake hedge. Ryan, we all know you're not that tall. Anyway, Pattinson admits to "catastrophically" blowing his rehearsal Saturday and predicts he will be the let down of the whole show. Actually Rob, you were my high point of the whole show!



And a big thank you to the person who had the sense to seat Rob behind Mickey Rourke. Rourke donned a hideous white suit (though it looked better than anything else he had worn to an awards show) and every time the camera panned the audience, he was easily spotted. Then all I had to do was look immediatly behind him and Hello Rob!

Back to Rourke for a sec -- I thought it was totally endearing that he wore a necklace with a photo of his recently deceased best friend, Loki, his chihauhau, who passed only six days ago ... Loki was supposed to attend the show with her master and Rourke had a little tux made. He said he had it with him.



Right after that 15-time nominee (yes, that's a record) Meryl Streep showed up -- frumpy as usual. While one of the greatest actresses of all time, don't look for her on Project Runway anytime soon. Meryl couldn't pick out a flattering dress to save her life.



Next up was Ron Howard (who ALWAYS looks better when he's wearing a hat). Howard was nominated for best director for his film Frost/Nixon, and walking the red carpet with him actually was Sir David Frost!!



Josh Brolin walked with wife Diane Lane. Is it just me or does Josh look more like his handsome father everyday? Yeah, James is still better looking, but Josh is catching up ...



Queen Latifah looked great in custom couture, joking that it had to be custome 'cause "They don't make couture in my size!"



Flipping over to the Barbara Walters Special just in time to see The Jonas Brothers -- hey WTH, where's the sound???



Back to E! Jessica Biel shows up, looking like she just rolled outta bed. What was with her hair? Not a good look Jess.



Peter Gabriel, who backed out of performing his best song nominee -- just looked old, while 74-year-old Sophia Loren looked fabulous!! Man, that lady's got some great genes!



Natalie Portman was gorgeous in a fuschia strapless gown. Another of my faves.

OMG -- at 7:38 Brangelina shows and she's looking fabulous too. After making frumpy appearances at the Golden Globes (where she opted to wear her gown backwards) and the SAG Awards. Angie stunned the red carpet in a black strapless sheath-gown that fit her in all the right places. Brad looked tired -- hey, the man's got six kids now! Tired or not, he's still gorgeous.



Yay, Kate Winslet's here! Can't wait to see what -- what the hell?? - is she wearing? Oh Kate, don't do this to me!! You showed up at the Globes and SAG looking spectacular and tonight is sooo going to be your night. After 5 nominations, Kate will finally win and that's what she chose to wear? Sorry, your Yves Saint Laurent dress is not working for me babe.

Hey Robert Downey Jr. just showed up -- looking amazing! I don't know what he's had done since the SAG awards, but he looks amazingly younger! Good for you Robert -- so glad to see you back and doing so well.

Back Barbara Walters, and yes, she's interviewing Oscar host and Sexiest Man Alive Hugh Jackman. I love this guy and soo looking forward to the show because of him! In typical style, Babs goes for the tears -- and Jackman, while not blubbering, does well-up while talking about his father coming to see him at Carnegie Hall.



And how's this for irony? Hugh's dad was a senior partner at Price-Waterhouse, the same company that famously tallies the Oscar votes year after year, and now his son is hosting the Oscars.



E! coverage ends with a tribute to Bollywood! Indian dancers, who will later grace the Oscar stage, stop in to teach E!'s hosts how to dance Bollywood-style. And, hilariously, E! gets the jokeand proceeds to show everyone from E! doing the Indian-style dance!

Over to ABC's official red carpet, hosted by GMA's Robyn Roberts and Tim Gunn (Yay Tim Gunn!!). Roberts looks superb in a lovely red gown, while Tim is always the personification of class.



The ABC coverage gave us the chance to see Gunn gush over Brad & Angie, practically accosting them, while Mickey Rourke continued to pay homage to Loki.



And finally it was time for the show.



Jackman hits the stage performing a song & dance number for each of the movies nominated for Best Picture. He enlists the help of Anne Hathaway, who managed to change dresses. It's better than when Rob Lowe danced with Snow White, but nothing like what Billy Crystal would've done ...



Jackman is rewarded for his efforts with standing ovation from his peers. Overall, the show felt more intimate, like theater. However, that intimacy dragged on and left some people falling asleep in their chairs and me in mine too ...



Then Whoopi Goldberg showed up in that hideous leopard print nightmare (sorry I couldn't find a photo, probably 'cuz that dress cracked every camera lens trained on it)!! Along with her was Tilda Swinton, last year's winner for best supporting actress -- looking equally horrible. It's OK Tilda, we expect that from you.

Fortunately, Jennifer Aniston walked out with Jack Black and showed them all how it should be done. Her beaded white strapless was perfect.



Right off the bat, I'm annoyed because one of the new "changes" to the format is apparently not showing clips from the nominated-actors performances. Instead they're bringing out former winners in the acting categories and having them each say something (drawing things out more ... snore) about a nominee. Yawn!



These must be the "surprise" presenters, as we did not see them on the red carpet.



Then finally, some comic relief arrives in the form of Ben Stiller channeling his outer Joaquin Phoenix, complete with sunglasses and messy beard. Thanks Ben, we needed it!



Afterwards it was time for that atrocious musical number. Sorry Hugh, I love you, but this really didn't work for me. I was especially disappointed it didn't end with a kick line -- and I'm serious! Hugh's long legs kicking is a sight to behold. Although I gotta give it to Beyonce, she worked it girl! And managed to look better than everyone else.



After many, many minor categories were presented five former best supporting actor winners hit the stage to present the same -- and leave it to Cuba Gooding Jr. to make us laugh again. He was honoring Robert Downey Jr.'s performance as (here we go again, last time, I promise) "the dude playing the dude disguised as another dude" in Tropic Thunder, and congratulated him on his next movie -- "Shaft."



During the same presentation, Kevin Kline teared up while honoring the late Heath Ledger, who went on to win as expected. Heath's family got a standing ovation while accepting his Oscar. Queu close-ups of Brad Pitt, Adrian Body, Robert Downey Jr., Ben Kingsley, Anne Hathaway and Angelina Jolie, all visibly tearing up.



Boy this is really getting long isn't it? Now you know how I felt last night ...



Next up, Best Documentary feature -- and it goes to "Man on Wire," a film about a French man Phillippe Petit, walking a tight rope stretched across the World Trade Center. While the producers are accepting, Petit runs up to the stage to say thank you and balances the Oscar upside-down on his chin!



Will Smith takes the stage and he's such a big star that he presents 4, yeah 4, Oscars. This must have been to make up for those unknown A-listers who allegedly backed out at the last minute ...



It's song/dance time again -- this time for the songs actually nominated. Thank goodness for Bollywood!! The two songs from Slumdog Millionaire actually livened things up for a minute or two. And the Oscar goes to -- "Jai Ho" from Slumdog! I might actually have to look up this soundtrack. (Note to producers: Every Oscar ceremony shoul feature an upbeat Bollywood song, even it none is nominated!)

At 11:05 ABC airs a preview of next week's Brothers & Sisters. While I've been encouraged many times to watch this show, I never have. But after watchig that wicked promo, I might actually tune in next week!

Either that or I was just really, really bored at this point.

Here comes a shocker -- Waltz with Bashir didn't win Best Foreign Film (what???????). Yeah, after winning every other award that came along, it's completely shut out by Japan's Departures.

Where the hell is Hugh Jackman? He's been missing a long time now. And I guess that's my main complaint. I think he's doing a great job, they're just not using him enough!

And here comes another highlight of the annual Oscar telecast for me.

In Memoriam.

C'mon now, you all know that you like this segment too. It's always interesting to remember those who've entertained us over the years and pay homage to them. And this past year was a doosy! Included were Cyd Charisse, Bernie Mac, Van Johnson, Michael Crichton, Isaac Hayes, Ricardo Montalban, Stan Winston, Sydney Pollack, Anthony Minghella, Roy Scheider, Charlton Heston and Paul Newman. God bless ...

I promise, we're almost thru.

Finally, the big ones -- Kate Winslet got her Oscar for Best Actress -- finally! Shouting out for her dad to whistle so she could find him in the audience. And he did!

Robert DeNiro had the privilege of honoring Sean Penn for his nomination, asking "How did Sean Penn for all those years play straight men?" And pointing out the way he "gently reasons with the papparazzi."

And here's my favorite part of the whole show -- while the camera was trained on Mickey Rourke, being honored for his nomination, Rob Pattinson could be seen lurking over his shoulder! I swear I missed everything that was said about Rourke,because I was completely mesmerized by Rob!

In the upset of the evening, Penn beat out Rourke, winning his second Oscar. And who knew Sean Penn could be so light-hearted.

"You commie, homo-loving sons of guns!" joked Penn to the audience. "I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me." Before the end of his speech, Penn returned to his usual political demeanor, asking the audience to reflect on shame for being against gay marriage.

Then Penn got all emo on Rourke for winning his award.

Finally Steven Spielberg arrived to present Best Picture, which went, as expected, to Slumdog Millionaire, and it looked like the entire cast got up on stage to accept.

All in all it was a typical Academy Awards evening. And although I seem to be complaining now, I had a great time! I think I'm just a bit cranky 'cuz I didn't get to go to all the after parties, even though this morning I felt like I had been up all night!


Till next year!

For more pictures, interviews, etc. visit http://www.oscars.org/

This morning a little after 8:30 a.m. the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences announced the nominations for the 81st annual Oscars.

As expected, Heath Ledger received a posthumous nod for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as The Joker in The Dark Night. However, I never expected Robert Downey Jr. to pull off a nomination for his performance as "the dude playing a dude disguised as another dude" in Tropic Thunder!

Another surprise was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, leading the pack with 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Director and Actor for Brad Pitt (BB was shut-out at the Golden Globes), while Slumdog Millionaire followed with 10 nods.

Here's the official list:

1. Best Picture: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire.”

2. Actor: Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”; Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”; Sean Penn, “Milk”; Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler.”

3. Actress: Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”; Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”; Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”; Meryl Streep, “Doubt”; Kate Winslet, “The Reader.”

4. Supporting Actor: Josh Brolin, “Milk”; Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”; Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”; Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”; Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road.”

5. Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, “Doubt”; Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”; Viola Davis, “Doubt”; Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler.”

6. Director: David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”; Gus Van Sant, “Milk”; Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”; Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

7. Foreign Film: “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” Germany; “The Class,” France; “Departures,” Japan; “Revanche,” Austria; “Waltz With Bashir,” Israel.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”; Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”; David Hare, “The Reader”; Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

9. Original Screenplay: Courtney Hunt, “Frozen River”; Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”; Martin McDonagh, “In Bruges”; Dustin Lance Black, “Milk”; Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter, “WALL-E.”

10. Animated Feature Film: “Bolt”; “Kung Fu Panda”; “WALL-E.”

11. Art Direction: “Changeling,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Duchess,” “Revolutionary Road.”

12. Cinematography: “Changeling,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire.”

13. Sound Mixing: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “WALL-E,” “Wanted.”

14. Sound Editing: “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “WALL-E,” “Wanted.”

15. Original Score: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Alexandre Desplat; “Defiance,” James Newton Howard; “Milk,” Danny Elfman; “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman; “WALL-E,” Thomas Newman.

16. Original Song: “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E,” Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman and Gulzar; “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam.

17. Costume: “Australia,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Duchess,” “Milk,” “Revolutionary Road.”

18. Documentary Feature: “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon),” “Encounters at the End of the World,” “The Garden,” “Man on Wire,” “Trouble the Water.”

19. Documentary (short subject): “The Conscience of Nhem En,” “The Final Inch,” “Smile Pinki,” “The Witness — From the Balcony of Room 306.”

20. Film Editing: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “Slumdog Millionaire.”

21. Makeup: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Hellboy II: The Golden Army.”

22. Animated Short Film: “La Maison en Petits Cubes,” “Lavatory — Lovestory,” “Oktapodi,” “Presto,” “This Way Up.”

23. Live Action Short Film: “Auf der Strecke (On the Line),” “Manon on the Asphalt,” “New Boy,” “The Pig,” “Spielzeugland (Toyland).”

24. Visual Effects: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man.”
———
Academy Award winners previously announced this year:
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (Oscar statuette): Jerry Lewis
Gordon E. Sawyer Award (Oscar statuette): Pixar Animation co-founder Ed Catmull

The Academy Awards will be presented live on ABC February 22, but you can get your "star" fix this weekend over on TNT Sunday night at the presentation of the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

And the job of hosting The 81st Annual Academy Awards goes to ....


The Sexiest Man Alive! While watching the Soup this weekend, I almost fell off the couch when I saw scrolling at the bottom of the TV screen that Hugh Jackman was asked to host the Oscars next year (and accepted)!



Whahoooo! After a pretty dismal year at the movies ... this actually gives me something to look forward to! And I'm speaking generally, of course. Yes, I loved Iron Man and The Dark Knight. I enjoyed Cloverfield, Twilight, Sex and the City, Saw V, The Ruins and The X-Files. But overall, not an exciting year.

And though The Dark Knight actually might have a shot at a Best Picture nomination, we all know it doesn't have much chance of actually winning. And since most of the movies that will get nominated aren't even out yet -- there's not much to get excited about.

But Hugh Jackman!!! That's excitement worthy! I don't care how bad Australia was (I've heard, haven't actually seen it yet), I'm sure he'll be able to keep us entertained for the requisite 3 1/2 to 4 hours the Academy lumbers thru. That sexy Australian accent alone could get me thru the show.

Afterall, this is the man who brought us to Broadway in droves to see him star as gay icon Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz.



He was so popular in the show indeed, that it had to close when his extended run ended because they literally couldn't find anyone who could compare!

Good Luck Hugh -- I'll be watching!

The 81st Annual Academy Awards airs live on ABC at 8 p.m. Feb. 22. Nominations will be announced live at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 22 on E! and network morning shows.