Oscars: The Hits and the Misses

So the 81st Academy Awards is now over, and we will have to wait another year for another glimpse of the glitz and glamour of the Hollywood elite. In the meantime, we might as well dwell on what was good about the ceremony this year - from the host, to the fashion, to the presenters and the speeches.

The Host: Hugh Jackman was chosen because he was deemed to be charming, with style and elegance in spades, and he could sing to boot. He showed his class by successfully hosting the Tony Awards though the Oscars is a much bigger kettle of fish. The singing ability was definitely on show with two musical numbers - an opening pastiche poking fun at the Best Picture nominees (in the tradition of Billy Crystal) and a later spectacular tribute to movie musicals. Apart from a five minute opening spell, he was largely anonymous. It seems like the Oscar producers, wary of misfiring wisecracks from past Hosts (David Letterman, and Jon Stewart spring to mind), limited the role of the Host this year. This is a great shame - the witty one-liners from the host (misfiring or not) and the repartee were an integral part of the fun of the Oscars. Jackman did thrown in a few funny one-liners quipping that due to downsizing he would soon be starring in a film titled New Zealand and telling Meryl Streep that 15 nominations that makes you think of only one thing - steroids alluding to the recent scandals in baseball. Let's hope they will invite him back and give him more screen time next year.

The Presenters: The producers were keen to cut down the running time so presenters were largely formal and multiple awards were given out. Will Smith alone presented four, quipping that Hugh Jackman was in the back taking a nap. The one major change was in presenting the acting awards. This involved having five previous winners step forward and give a short speech praising each nominee in turn (effectively a hagiography of their performance). It was a nice gesture and it was genuinely touching (at the very least for the nominee), but I felt myself torn about it at the end of the day because it was also somewhat cloying and seemed just a touch self-congratulatory. Still, I would vote for keeping this format, if only to have a chance to see past luminaries again.

The Acceptance Speeches: The speeches have been getting more and more dull, with viewers often subjected to a rattling off of a long list of names in as short a time as possible. I understand the need for the one and a half minute time limit (imagine how long the show would be otherwise!) but it certainly stifles originality, humour and personal style. Mickey Rourke's acceptance speech at the Independent Spirit Awards and The BAFTAs is an example of what an Oscar acceptance speech no longer is. This year wasn't terrible. Kate Winslett didn't break down and cry and even managed a quip about making the speech as a nine year old in the bathroom with a shampoo bottle standing in as an Oscar. Sean Penn jokingly called everyone god-damned homo-loving sons of bitches, and acknowledged how "difficult I sometime make it for you to appreciate me", before calling for equal rights for everyone and predicting the great shame future generations will feel at those rejecting gay marriage. Danny Boyle did a tigger impersonation. But oh how I was wishing that Mickey had won the Oscar and gone on stage and uttered a few obscenities just to spice things up.

The Fashion: There weren't quite any fashion disasters on the scale of Bjork's infamous Swan outfit this year, but there were still a couple of questionable choices. Natalie Portman (who presented award) came in bubble-gum pink that was oh so girlie-girl though the strapless design was admittedly rather stylish. Sarah Jessica Parker is usually quite the fashionista but her 'barley mint' tightly corseted full length dress, with massive buckled belt could barely contain her cleavage and was strange to say the least. The biggest disaster would probably have to go to Whoopi Goldberg, who presented an award in a full leopard print patterned dress. Animals are so out!

On to the fashion successes. Heidi Klum will always be eye-turning and it takes a gutsy girl to wears full-blooded red on the red carpet, but her dress was a wonderfully intricate creation with origami like folds. Anne Hathaway is one of those stars that can look elegant in just about anything but she was dazzling in her bead and jewel encrusted strapless grayish-white gown. While the trend has been towards the strapless or one-shoulder bared look, I applaud Tilda Swinton for showing that covering it all up can be classy, stylish and beautiful yet edgy as well. Her black/beige combination was a stunner in my mind. Other standouts: Frida Pinto (of Slumdog Millionaire) in her midnight blue lace number, Miley Cyrus in her scalloped shaped glitter trimmed gown, and Marisa Tomei looked stunning in her pearl grey pleated gown (but then she would look stunning wearing practically anything - or in fact nothing at all as the Wrestler amply proved!)