2009 Oscar Awards Review

From left: Best Actress winner Kate Winslet (The Reader), Best Actor Sean Penn (Milk) & Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona).

Every February, viewers from 200 countries including the Philippines, glued on their television set to watch this glittery gathering of World’s top movie celebrities. The name “Oscar” is referred to the trophy itself, it was officially called by the AMPAS board of governors in 1939 and became the traditional name of the Academy since then. But whether who is “Oscar” and where they got the name, remained unknown.

The 81st Oscar ceremony last February 22, 2009 was dubbed as one of the most entertaining, memorable and wonderful telecasts in the Academy Awards history. This year’s presentation was a breather from the previous staging of Oscars where hosts and intermission numbers were too boring to take in, but this year, Oscar producers Laurence Mark and Bill Condon early on promised a different show, and it was.

Traditionally, Oscar ceremony is hosted by a comedian or a well-known television personality especially chosen for his/her unique ability in making people roll in laughter and can deliver excellent punch lines with a bang; respected comedians like Billy Crystal, Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg had been the Award’s favorite hosts. But this year, the organization choose Australian hunk Hugh Jackman, the people magazine’s “sexiest man alive” for 2008. Before he was chosen to play the legendary Wolverine in Ex-men series, the 40-year-old actor started his career as a Broadway performer back in Australia. For this year’s Oscar, Jackman displayed his breathtaking Broadway talent, opening the show with an all dancing and singing performances, interpreting soundtrack from the 5 Best picture nominees and spoofing each film with hilarious adlibs, he was joined on stage with Best actress nominee Anne Hathaway, and were given a standing ovation. He later performed with Beyonce Knowles, Vanessa Hudgens and the rest of the cast of “High school musical” for medley of hits from Oscar- winning musicals; the impressive performance was so fantastic that again, the audience gave them a standing ovation.

Hugh Jackman looked hotter than ever in a custom-made three-piece tuxedo, complete with a Burberry dress shirt and Salvatore Ferragamo shoes. Despite his serious image as an actor, he was very successful in capturing audience’s attention with his excellent sense of humor, once he told the mesmerized audience “I am an Australian actor who played Australian in the movie Australia” drawing laughed from the crowd. His movie “Australia” opposite fellow Aussie Nicole Kidman, directed by Buhz Lurman, earned just one nomination-Best in Costume Design, but the award went to “The Duchess”, a biographical story of Lady Georgiana Spencer, ancestor of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.