I’ve been meaning to put my review of the Oscars up here but I’ve been out of town with no internet signal. Scary thought, huh? But I did catch the Oscars and I alsolutely LOVED them! This year was perfect! It was shorter, for one. I also enjoyed the way they brought out previous winners to announce this year’s contenders. Shirley Maclaine was probably my favorite because hers seemed the most personal of all to Anne Hathaway. But what I loved the most was the entertainment.
I know several people had reservations about Hugh Jackman and how well he would host but I thought he did a wonderful job. Not only was he incredibly gracious but I enjoyed his musical numbers too. Pulling Anne Hathaway up there was priceless and she did an amazing job. I liked how he approached Kate Winslet and many of the other actors because it made the Oscars seem much more personal and endearing. And then his number, “The Musical is Back” which I really enjoyed. You could tell a lot of effort and talent went into the numbers and even if they were a bit campy, I thought Jackman pulled them off flawlessly.
But the highlight for me was the performance for Best Song. I loved the way the songs were entwined and John Legend did a great job singing “Down to Earth” in place of Peter Gabriel. In fact, I’m wishing Itunes had a track from that night I could buy since YouTube doesn’t have anything of great quality for that performance. Shame.
Honorable mentions: Queen Latifah was stunning as always and did a lovely job singing “I’ll Be Seeing You.” I was thrilled to see Wall-E, Kate Winslet and Heath Ledger win. I thought Ledger’s family was eloquent and incredibly humble.
All in all, a great year for the Academy Awards – hopefully they’ll keep up with the amazing entertainment for next year.
Muse on Paper 