The Oscars: It’s an honor to be nominated
When it comes to the Oscars, they always say it’s an honor to be nominated. Last night at the 81st Annual Academy Awards, it truly was. For the first time ever, each of the nominees in the top acting categories was honored from the stage by a former Oscar winner.
It was amazing to watch these acting greats pay homage to the standout performances of the year. Whether it was one old friend congratulating another (in the case of Robert De Niro’s toast of Sean Penn’s performance in Milk) or a seasoned icon congratulating one of the up and comers (like Shirley McClain’s lovely tribute to Ann Hathaway) this year, even those who didn’t win got something very special to take home.
Of course that surprisingly heavy, little gold statue is pretty nice too. The big winner of the night was Slumdog Millionaire. Taking home 8 statues from 10 nominations there’s talk of a Slumdog slam dunk all over town. Heath Ledger’s win for Best Supporting Actor was no surprise, but well deserved. In the history of the Oscars his is only the second Oscar awarded posthumously.
Hugh Jackman did an admirable job singing and dancing his way through the night and keeping the proceedings moving along. Combined with a beautiful set and a brilliant seating plan that significantly reduced the time it took for people to get to the stage, this years’ Oscars were a lot of fun to watch.
Did you watch the show last night? What was your most/ least favorite moment? Have you seen Slumdog Millionaire? Join the conversation in the comments.
Image courtesy of Jeroen Miedema . Used with permission. You can see more of Jeron’s photos on Flickr.
I agree about the tribute to the nominees being a great touch! It was so neat to see them all honored for outstanding performances and Hugh Jackman was truly amazing.
I did see Slumdog Millionaire and although parts of the movie were very disturbing at the same time it was very powerful in revealing the reality of plight of these children who live in such abject poverty.
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I also thought the tribute to this year’s acting nominees was a great touch. It also gave us a chance see to some of the past winners, which was nice. I was ecstatic that Kate Winslet finally won. My favorite moment – when Jack Black said “Each year I do one project with Dreamworks, and take all of the money to the Oscars and bet it on Pixar!”