From The Straits Times    |

OscarsBlogIt’s the year of George vs Brad, the Iron Lady vs Marilyn Monroe, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo vs The Artist

Yes, the big day is finally here and we can’t wait to see who gets to go home with the golden bald statue.

With big names like Clooney, Pitt and Streep on the nominee list and A-list presenters like Sandra Bullock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Morgan Freeman, Bradley Cooper, Ben Stiller and more, it promises to be a night of glitz and glamour, good ol’ Hollywood style.

So if you’re already dreading the Monday blues and don’t have access to a TV tomorrow morning (7.30am), be sure to check back here and follow our live blog.

I promise to type as fast as I can to keep all of you posted on who’s wearing who, who’s hanging out with who and of course, who will be honoured and snubbed at the 84th Annual Academy Awards. See you in the morning!

 

12.39pm: And that concludes our live coverage for this year’s Oscars. We loved the moving speeches by Octavia Spencer, Meryl Streep, the stoked winners like Jean Dujardin and Christopher Plummer. Our heart goes out to ash-covered Ryan Seacrest and the almost nip-slip moment thanks to J.Lo.

We also thank the cast of Bridesmaids, Will Ferrell, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis and Billy Crystal for the laughs tonight. Thanks for reading and see ya next year!

12.35pm: Best Picture goes to …. The Artist, winning 5 Oscars this year. Amazing.

12.34pm: Tom Cruise to present Best Picture. He looks botoxed!

12.33pm: So many great performances, Brad in Moneyball, George in The Descendants, Viola Davis in The Help … too bad there’s only one winner. Heartbreaking reality.

12.26pm: Best Actress goes to … Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady. Our heart goes out to Viola Davis.

12.25pm: OMG Colin Firth. We almost forgot you won last year. Forgive us.

12.20pm: We love seeing a really pumped up and emotional winner. We wished Dujardin would have given more of his speech in French.

12.14pm: Natalie Portman presents Best Actor. We are nervous. It goes to… Jean Dujardin in The Artist.

12.12pm: Hi Edward Norton. You were missed.

12.03pm: Oscar’s In Memoriam segment is always extremely sad. We remember Jane Russell, Whitney Houston, Steve Jobs, Elizabeth Taylor and many more.

11.57am: Damn, Meryl Strep always looks regal. Introduces the three honourary Oscar winners – Dick Smith, James Earl Jones and Oprah Winfrey.

11.55am: Best Director goes to Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist. Shocker!

11.54am: Good to see you Michael Douglas.

11.40am: The cast of Bridesmaids never fail to make us crack a smile. Melissa McCarthy, Rose Bryne, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig are all sublime comedians.

11.30am: Best Original Screenplay goes to Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris. Pity about Bridesmaids though. Sorry Kirsten Wiig, I guess the saying “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” will definitely sting right now.

11.26am: Best Adapted Screenplay goes to Alexander Payne, Jim Rash and Nat Faxton for The Descendants. Love Jim Rash (Dean Pelton in Community) and his take on Angelina’s right-thigh-exposing stance.

11.25am: Angelina Jolie presents. OK her lips are more red than tangerine now. She’s introduced as the ORIGINAL girl with the dragon tattoo.

11.16am: Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis (so that’s how you pronounce his name) walk out with huge cymbals, with the guts to clank it in Angelina Jolie’s face, and presents Best Original Song to “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets.

11.12am: Penelope Cruz presents with Owen Wilson. Oh wait, we actually understand her! And whats up with Wilson’s nose? Also, The Artist wins for Original Score. This is their show!

11.10am: Billy Crystal tries reading minds and jokes with Brangelina. Brad: “This better not go on too late, I have 6 parent-teacher conferences tomorrow.”. Angelina “Billygelina has a nice ring to it.”. LOL.

11.07am: Still wondering about Angelina Jolie’s lip colour. It’s a very sexy Tangerine shade that makes her lips poutier than ever.

11.02am: Christopher Plummer wins Best Supporting Actor for The Beginners! Yay! This is beyond deserving. Loved Plummer since he played Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music. Can’t believe he’s already 82 years old and such a graceful winner, paying tribute to his fellow nominees including Jonah Hill, Nick Nolte, Kenneth Branagh and Max Von Sydow.

10.54am: Emma Stone just made my day. She’s self-deprecating and isn’t afraid to make fun of herself! Her segment with with Ben stiller is absolutely hilarious.

10.47am: Chris Rock is a breath of fresh air.  He speaks in CAPITAL LETTERS, ALMOST LIKE HE IS SHOUTING ENTHUSIASTICALLY! It’s only befitting that he gives away the award for Best Animated feature to Rango.

10.41am: Robert Downey Jr presents with Gwyneth Paltrow (sans cape, why?!) in crazy documentary-style segment, that only he can pull off. Undeafeated wins for Best Documentary Feature.

10.35am: Cirque du soleil performances to celebrate the Best Picture nominees? Brilliant. But this may also render the awards show to be 4 hours long….

10.23am: Bradley Cooper, is Tom Selleck your idol in life? If not, why are you sporting that horrendous man-tache? Ew.

Cooper and Tina Fey presents Best Film Editing to Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Best Sound Editing goes to Hugo.

10.20am: Spotted: Jennifer Coolidge in a cameo for the Wizard of Oz segment.

10.09am: American Psycho Christian Bale presents Best Supporting Actress to… Octavia Spencer (The Help) Well-deserved. She gets a standing O from the crowd and is overwhelmed with emotion!

10.06am: Sandra Bullock delivers her joke with a straight face. Loving her “German-accented chinese”!

9.53am: Billy Crystal’s dreams are made of these two women, dressed in the same nude hue -Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez, as they present Best Costume Design and Achievement in Makeup. Loving the voiceovers and interviews. 

Best Costume Design goes to The Artist. Makeup goes to The Iron Lady. No Harry Potter? Shame.

9.44am: Best Cinematography + Art Direction goes to Hugo.

9.43am: Tom Hanks only won Best Actor twice? Sure feels like it’s been a million times and he still deserves every single one of it.

9.37am: Billy Crystal is the man (although looking more botoxed than ever). 9th time hosting, but definitely not his last, I hope. And he starts singing, in true Billy-style. Wished he would have made fun of more people though.

9.33am: Justin Bieber tells Billy Crystal he’s making an appearance to “get the show the 18-24 demographic”. Hilarious. Loving the movie montage that includes movies like Harry Potter, The Help, Bridesmaids, Moneyball and more!

9.31am: The show opens with Morgan Freeman and begins with a silent black and white clip, and George Clooney kissing Billy Crystal!

9.27am: We’re a few minutes away from the start of the show, can’t wait!

RED CARPET

9.17am: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie arrive fashionably late(r) than everyone else. She is dressed in a black Versace Atelier gown with thigh-high slit with bold red lips. Impeccable.

Her confidence and air make her seem like she was born to walk the red carpet, while he is looking dapper and slightly more groomed today. GO BRAD!

9.16am: Cameron Diaz arrives in Gucci. It seems a little been there done that.

9.13am: Sandra Bullock raving about Tom Hanks on the red carpet. Her black and white Marchesa gown is gorgeous.

9.01am: Gwyneth Paltrow in a white Tom Ford dress with a cape-ish addition to her gown and she looks so regal and beyond chic.

8.55am: Penelope Cruz in Armani Prive. Simple and elegant, but the old Hollywood curls are definitely not doing her any favours.

8.47am: Can’t say I like Natalie Portman’s red Dior gown all that much. Maybe it’s her hair that ages her.

8.44am: Best Actress nominee, Glenn Close walks the carpet in Zac Posen.

8.29am: Emma Stone in a Giambatista Valli red gown, Tina Fey in a black Carolina Herrera (yawn!), J Lo in Zuhair Murad and Kristen Wiig in J Mendal.

8.25am: Seacrest looked visibly pissed but J Lo was very sweet to spend half of her interview asking if he’s OK.

8.18am: The Dicatator ( Sascha Baron Cohen) arrived on the red carpet with two female bodyguards, carrying an urn with) Kim Jong Il’s ashes in it. Disrecpectful much? And he proceeds to “spill” the contents onto Ryan Seacrest, who, seriously, held it together very well despite having his tux covered in ash. But he was definitely in complete shock.

8.04am: I can’t believe the transformation that Jonah Hill (Moneyball) has gone through! The Best Supporting Actor nominee lost half his weight and managed to be fast friends with Brad Pitt, whom he attributes for great career advice. Hill sure cleans up well.

8.02am: Octavia Spencer (The Help) looks wonderful in a bedazzled Tadashi Shoji. She really knows how to dress for her body.Still waiting for someone to bomb on the carpet!

7.57am: Ooooh, Pharell Williams is performing tonight!! And we spot Jason Segal in the crowd!

7.55am: Rooney Mara’s bowl cut is looking even more severe today. Her dress is Givenchy couture and I can’t believe that she only picked it a couple of hours before! It’s white and a huge departure from her usual black/goth look. It may not fit her as nicely as we’d like, but we’re not complaining either. The structure is simple and the tulle train is phenomenal. She is definitely the breakout star of the award season.

Rooney Mara Oscars

7.53am: Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn) is in a red/pomegranate Louis Vuitton peplum gown that has a vintage feel to it. Nothing less for Williams. She always looks perfect.

7.49am: First look: Rooney Mara is in white!!

7.47am: P.DIDDY HAS A PERSONAL LINT-REMOVER!! The rapper is 2cm away from the red carpet and not only does he have someone to help put his coat on, he checks his reflection in his limo and a guy appears mysteriously to help remove lint from his suit just seconds before he steps on the carpet. Priceless.

7.44am: Best Actress nominee Viola Davis, The Help, is gorgeous in green, thanks to Vera Wang. We’re not sure we love her new buzzcut though.

7.40am: Clooney’s co-star in The Descendants, Shailene Woodley looks stunning in a white hot Valentino couture gown with her hair up in a stylish top-knot.

7.33am: George Clooney arrives with date Stacy Keibler, whom many may not know, is a former professional model on WWE, and the Best Actor nominee is looking dapper in his Giorgio Armani tux.

Keibler’s Marchesa dress is kinda boring, looking almost like the Oscar, well, just in case Clooney doesn’t bring one home tonight. It’s pretty, but boring.

7.31am: Michelle Williams is in red! She just arrived with her best friend Busy Phillipps.

7.26am: Jessica Chastain (The Help) – pictured below – brought her grandma as her date (how sweet!) – and Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) look spectacular in their respective gowns.

Jessica Chastain Oscars

Can’t believe that with Chastain’s number of nominations, this is the first time she’s meeting Seacrest. Her Alexander McQueen black gown with gold embroidery is bold and I think it will be a hit tonight.

7.25am: Rise and shine! If you’ve just joined us, we’re really excited to be bringing you the Oscars live. The Best Supporting Actress nominees are early and we’re blown away by their dresses.