I had allocated some 4 hours (albeit here and there) of watching the academy awards since 9.00 am this morning and I must say, Ellen De Generes did a great job in hosting the show. She wasn't the least boring with her spontaneous humour and wit. She was twice better than last year's loudmouth Chris Rock.
Before the actual show started at 9.00 am, our own version of oscar at the red carpet saw some of our hot shot celebrities and personalities from local entertainment industry co-hosted by Zainal Alam Kadir (wayang kita), Nana (era.fm) and another guy named Joey (channel v) who interviewed them for their favorite picks.
A lot of them were impeccably dressed to the occasion with hair beautifully coiffured but the same couldn't be said of their brains when it comes to giving answers to some of the questions asked. Well, who could blame them if the questions given are limited to '...ohh is that bernard chandran you're wearing?...' or '...you look beautiful today with matching accessories'. Haiyah! Give lah some intellectual questions like '...who do you think will win the best actress awards and why?... or '...Leonardo diCaprio had been nominated for best actor for twice in a row but has never win one, do you think he will win this time?
It is a known fact that some of our artistes (not all of them) be it in the singing or acting line could not present intellectual opinions when posed with questions out of their comfort zone. Excuse me, but weren't they going to an oscar party held in some posh hotel and by virtue of it should be able to answer questions related to the above occasion? There are 2 or 3 artistes for instance (names withheld) that kept talking about their new albums, new movies instead of discussing about the oscar awards show.
The very least the hosts could do is to give some informative details on the oscar's nominees and their background. Did you know that Helen Mirren's real name was Ilyena Vasilievna Mironov, born to a russian father and english mother in Essex, England in 1945 and that she started her career actively involved in theatre before going onto the big screen or that Leonardo diCaprio first became well known after appearing in the 80's sitcom, Growing Pains?
To be fair out of the three co-hosts, Zainal was the only one fairly knowledgeable in his scope of work. He asked all the right questions. Joey? Pity him since he can only speak english and since many of our local celebrities can't quite speak english properly, he had to make do with just holding the mike and stood there looking good. Nana? Hmm, so so only lah. And she babbled a lot which is of course her trademark. Those who listen to her radio talk show on Era.fm should know this. If only the job is given to Sarimah Ibrahim, I bet things will be much livelier. She can definitely rock the house down.
Ok, as not to meleret2 some more, the winners for the 79th academy awards are;
Best picture - The Departed
Best director - Martin Scorsese (The Departed)
Best Actor - Forest Whitaker (The last king of Scotland)
Best Actress - without a doubt, Helen Mirren (The Queen)
Best Supporting Actor - Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)
Best Supporting Actress - Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)
Best foreign film - letters from IwoJima
Best animated film - Happy Feet (well, at least Erra Fazira got this one right coz she likes to watch cartoons in her spare time)
For more results, please google search under 79th academy awards, winners. Make yourself useful lah....tee he he he.
