Little Gold Men.

Last year, 20% falloff.

[X].

This year..

From Variety, [X].
"Powered by strong showings in the country's biggest markets, the 81st annual Academy Awards telecast on ABC produced improved ratings Sunday night -- rising by about 6% in Nielsen's metered-market overnights vs. last year's record low.

According to the Nielsen estimates, which measure roughly 50 of the biggest markets in the U.S., the Oscars averaged a 23.3 household rating/35 share from 8:30 to about 11:45 p.m. ET. Last year's telecast averaged a 21.9/33 in the overnights, translating to about 32 million viewers nationally."

I want to see the breakdown of the ratings. The Oscars, Im sure, wanted to capture a younger audience and placing Zac Efron and Vanessa as well as Edward Pattinson and Amanda Siegfried might have helped. Although it did irk me that HSM was even featured in clips for romance.. I think that there were plenty of other good films that could have had more showtime than The Mouse.

Slumdog Millionaire was a great film but as cha and moo know, I think Benjamin should have won. I dont know why I am still so taken with the film.. I need to find Brad's monologue.

I really enjoyed watching Hugh Jackman prance onstage as host. He was quite good and didnt try and pull off really distasteful/corny jokes like other comedic acts probably would have done. The return to the musical performance was great. Go Team Jackman, Beyonce and company. The opening =fuh-reshh. Something that you dont really expect from Billy Crystal or Steve Martin.. or Hugh Jackman. You really get to see the talent that he has.. going from GRAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! ||| to lalala. A Jack of All Trades.

Some quick thoughts, must elaborate later.

Halle Berry looked flawless.
Anne Hathaway was gorg.
Meryl Streep is.. amazing.
Kate Winslet=graceful. Bravo acceptance speech.
Sean Penn deserved it.
Down To Earth should have won.
Jack Black and Jennifer Aniston.. awkward?
Amanda and Robert.. more awkward?
The short clips summarizing the past year in comedy, romance, action and drama were reallly good.
Go Queen L.
Beyonce. Wow.
Baz Luhrmann/company really hit the musical number out of the park.

...

There were many changes made for the Oscars but one thing that they did stick to was presenting all the awards instead of only a few, like the Grammys.

"The producers weren't buying it, although their answer clearly leaves the door for change slightly ajar. "For the moment," Condon said, "one has to respect the academy for hanging on to its name -- after all, it's the academy of arts and sciences. We have to respect that and figure out a way to live within those parameters while still shaking it up a bit." [X-along with other successfully implemented changes].

I guess it may be a bit boring for us to watch certain parts of the show, I know if I were up there, I would want my time to be recognized. But so many people do what they love because they enjoy it, not because they particularly want the attention or the recognition. At least in the beginning. Hollywood has its way of changing that, I'm sure. At least they love what they do and do it well and everyone who is able to find that should be applauded.

Winners:

BEST PICTURE
"Slumdog Millionaire"

BEST ACTRESS
Kate Winslet, "The Reader"

BEST ACTOR
Sean Penn, "Milk"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Dustin Lance Black, "Milk"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Departures" (Japan)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
"WALL-E"

BEST ART DIRECTION
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Slumdog Millionaire," Anthony Dod Mantle

BEST FILM EDITING
"Slumdog Millionaire," Chris Dickens

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
"The Duchess," Michael O'Conner

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"Man on Wire"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Slumdog Millionaire," "Jai Ho"

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
"Slumdog Millionaire," A.R. Rahman

BEST MAKEUP
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

BEST SOUND EDITING
"The Dark Knight"

BEST SOUND MIXING
"Slumdog Millionaire"

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"Spielzeugland (Toyland)"

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"La Maison en Petits Cubes"

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
"Smile Pinki"