Cruz wins best supporting actress

Penelope Cruz won the first Oscar of the night at the 81st annual Academy Awards, a best supporting actress honor for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." Cruz paid tribute to writer-director Woody Allen, who oversaw “Vicky Cristina,” and Pedro Almodovar, who gave her some of her best roles, and thanked “everyone who has helped me from the beginning.” True to the producers’ promise to give the Academy Awards more of a “party” tone, Hugh Jackman led off the show with cracks about downsizing — “Next year,” said the “Australia” star, “I’ll be starring in a movie called ‘New Zealand’ ” — then segued into a song-and-dance number he said he assembled in his garage. Performing songs about each best picture nominee in various musical styles, with “homemade” backgrounds behind him, at one point he reached into the audience and physically lifted Anne Hathaway on stage to play Richard Nixon in “Frost/Nixon.” Then the gregarious host paid tribute to various celebrities in the audience as if pointing out VIPs in a nightclub.

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2009 Oscars: More snooze than sizzle?

As the clock ticks down to the 81st Academy Awards Sunday, audiences could be forgiven for losing interest. On the face of it, apart from Hugh Jackman hosting, this year’s Oscars doesn’t look like it will offer many thrills. Sure, the once-yearly opportunity to poke fun at an ill-judged Oscars dress or a super-gushy acceptance speech there (gather, Kate, gather) is a welcome prospect in these dreary days of economic doom and gloom.

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Dressing the stars is other fierce Oscar race

On Academy Awards night, the biggest speculation is still about whose name is in the envelope. But the most-asked question has become, "Who are you wearing?" From the moment a star like Kate Winslet steps onto the red carpet leading to the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, she will answer the question countless times — often before a live television audience — as she negotiates the media frenzy beaming her images all over the world

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