Slumdog Victory!

Forget my predictions, and let's just celebrate a great victory for Slumdog Millionaire.

For those who missed my blow-by-blow account on Plurk, here's a recap on the winners (in the order they were presented):

• Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• Best Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black for Milk
• Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Animated Feature Film: WALL-E
• Best Animated Short Film: La Maison en Petits Cubes
• Best Art Direction:Donald Graham Burt and Victor J. Zolfo for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Best Costume Design:Michael O'Connor for The Duchess
• Best Makeup:Greg Cannom for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Best Cinematography:Anthony Dod Mantle for Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Live Action Short Film: Spielzeugland (Toyland)
• Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger (+) for The Dark Knight
• Best Documentary Feature: Man on Wire
• Best Documentary Short Subject: Smile Pinki
• Best Visual Effects:Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, and Craig Barron for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Best Sound Editing:The Dark Knight
• Best Sound Mixing: Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Editing: Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Original Score: A.R. Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Original Song: "Jai Ho", music by A.R. Rahman; lyric by Gulzar, from Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Foreign Language Film: Okuributo (Departures), Japan
• Best Director: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Actress: Kate Winslet for The Reader
• Best Actor:Sean Penn for Milk
• Best Picture:Slumdog Millionaire

That's eight (8) awards for Slumdog, against three (3) for Button.

Here are the list of the people who presented the awards (again, in chronological order):

• Eva Marie Saint, Anjelica Houston, Whoopi Goldberg, Tilda Swinton, and Goldie Hawn presented the Best Supporting Actress award;
• The beautiful Tina Fey and Steve Martin presented Best Screenplay, both Original and Adapted;
• The former Mrs. Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, and the funny Jack Black presented Best Animated Feature and Best Animated Short;
• Daniel Craig and Sarah Jessica Parker presented Best Art Direction, Costume Design, and Makeup;
• Ben Stiller and the gorgeous Natalie Portman presented Best Cinematography;
• Funny men Seth Rogen and James Franco, together with cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, presented Best Live Action Short;
• Cuba Gooding, Jr., Alan Arkin, Christopher Walken, Joel Grey, and Kevin Kline presented Best Supporting Actor;
• Bill Maher presented both Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short;
• Will Smith presented the post-production awards for Best Visual Effects, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Editing;
• Alicia Keys and Zac Efron presented Best Original Score and Best Original Song;
• Liam Neeson and Freida Pinto presented Best Foreign Language Film;
• Reese Witherspoon presented Best Director;
• Sophia Loren, Marion Cotillard, Shirley MacLaine, Nicole Kidman, and Halle Berry presented Best Actress;
• Michael Douglas, Ben Kingsley, Anthony Hopkins, Robert De Niro, and Adrien Brody presented Best Actor;
• Steven Spielberg presented Best Picture.

In ye olden days, the presenters varied per category. Now it's slightly different. Can you feel the recession?

Of course, no Oscar show is complete without the production numbers in between. Hugh Jackman's opening salvo was excellent. I never knew Wolverine could sing and dance. There's also his grand number with Beyoncé, the High School Musical couple Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, plus Amanda Seyfried and her partner from Mamma Mia!, all onstage at the same time. And finally, there's that Best Original Song number, featuring John Legend and now-Oscar winner A.R. Rahman.

If you haven't seen the ceremony, try to catch the replay. James Franco and Seth Rogen's comedy sketch, reminiscent of Pineapple Express, is absolutely hilarious.