Image credit: Getty Images

Kate Winslet took home the Best Actress award for the Holocaust themed drama “The Reader” while Sean Penn won Best Actor for his title role of “Milk” – he plays a gay senator who fights for the rights of homosexuals.

The Best Supporting Actor award was given, posthumously, to Heath Ledger for his extraordinary role of the Joker in “The Dark Knight”.

Best Supporting Actress award was given to Penelope Cruz for her “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”.

The epic love story “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which led with 13 nominations, had three wins, for visual effects, art direction and makeup.

After last year’s Oscars delivered their worst TV ratings ever, producers this time aimed to liven up the show with some surprises and new ways of presenting awards. Rather than hiring a comedian such as past hosts Jon Stewart or Chris Rock, the producers went with actor and song-and-dance man Hugh Jackman, who has been host of Broadway’s Tony Awards.

Instead of the usual standup routine, Jackman did an engaging musical number to open the show, saluting nominated films with a clever tribute. Yahoo news.

The Winners list:

BEST PICTURE
* Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader

BEST ACTOR
* Sean Penn, Milk
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
* Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

BEST ACTRESS
* Kate Winslet, The Reader
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
* Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Amy Adams, Doubt
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

BEST DIRECTOR
* Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk
Stephen Daldry, The Reader

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
* Milk
Frozen
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Wall-E

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
* Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley, Doubt
Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
David Hare, The Reader

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
* Wall-E
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda

BEST ART DIRECTION
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Changeling
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
* Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Changeling
The Dark Knight
The Reader

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
* The Duchess
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Milk
Revolutionary Road

BEST DOCUMENTARY
* Man on Wire
The Betrayal
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Trouble the Water

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
* Smile Pinki
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306

BEST FILM EDITING
* Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk

BEST FOREIGN FILM
* Departures, Japan
The Baader Meinhof Complex, Germany
The Class, France
Revanche, Austria
Waltz with Bashir, Israel

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
* Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Milk
WALL-E

BEST SONG
* Jai Ho, Slumdog Millionaire
Down to Earth, WALL-E
O Saya, Slumdog Millionaire

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
* La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory – Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
* Spielzeugland (Toyland)
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig

BEST SOUND EDITING
* The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

BEST SOUND MIXING
* Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
WALL-E
Wanted

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

Krauss is the most decorated female artist in Grammy history with 26 and Robert Plant, the former Led Zepelin, said to a AP reporter:

We ostensibly come from such different places on the musical map. There are radical differences in the ways we’ve gone about enjoying our lives as musicians.

Jennifer Hudson (27) prove she’s a fighter and when she stepped on that stage to receive her Grammy for best R&B album, she fought her tears. Jennifer Hudson performed “You Pulled me Through”, a dramatic but wonderful song.

Rhianna and Chris Brown, who were supposed to performed dropped the show in the last minute. According to police, Brown was detained for assaulting an unidentified woman a night before the Grammy. His bail was $50.000. Rhianna left to support Brown.

The two were both nominated at the Grammy 2009.

Lil Wayne was the winning rapper of the night, being nominated for 8 categories and going home with four of them, including for rap album of the year for “Tha Carter III”.

Coldplay won three awards, including for Song of The Year for “Viva la Vida”.

Adele won a Grammy for Best New Artist and for Best Female Pop Vocal and was crying when she came on stage to collect her second award.

Thank you so much. I’m going to cry. I want to thank my manager, my mom, she’s in London. And Duffy I love you. I think you’re amazing. Jonas Brothers, I love you as well.

Because Rhianna and Chris Brown were not able to make it to the show, Justin Timberlake alongside Al Green, Keith Urban and Boyz II Men performed “Let’s Stay Together”.

A weird moment occurred when M.I.A, who’s pregnant, showed up on stage wearing something that looked like a transparent top (dress perhaps?!) which showed most of her pregnant belly. She performed “Swagga Like Us” with Jay Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and T.I.

Pepsi: I’m good! The new Pepsi!

10 minutes of Superbowl ads. Thnx to Ieverything.

Bruce Springsteen perform during the HalfTime

The last one, with Jason Stratham is very cool!

The Steelers’ 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals had it all. James Harrison’s 100-yard interception return for a touchdown on the last play of the first half was the greatest play in 43 Super Bowls because it caused a 14-point swing at a critical point in the game. Had the Cardinals scored a TD from the Steelers’ 1-yard line, they would have led 14-10. Instead, Harrison’s amazing return gave the Steelers a 17-7 lead. sports.espn.go.com

It was a wild night for me, I watched the Superbowl the whole night (we’re not in America you know!) and all I can say is that I don’t regret it. WOW, what a game!

Jennifer Hudson sang the American anthem, her voice is so powerful and inspirational.

image credit: skysports.com

Kate Winslet and Mickey Rourke. “The Reader” and “The Wrestler”. Tina Fey

Susan Sarandon, Slumdog Millionaire cast, Robin Wright and Sean Penn

Rosario Dawson, Penelope Cruz, Meryl Streep after winning

Marisa Tomei from “The Wrestler”, Katie Holmes awarding, Jeremy Piven

Eva Longoria Parker, Diana Lane, Christina Applegate

Anne Hathaway, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, cast of 30 Rock.

Actor in a leading role: Sean Penn, “Milk.”

Actress in a leading role: Meryl Streep, “Doubt.”

Supporting actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight.”

Supporting actress: Kate Winslet, “The Reader.”

Stunt ensemble: “The Dark Knight.”

Television:

Drama series cast: “Mad Men.”

Actor in a drama series: Hugh Laurie, “House.”

Actress in a drama series: Sally Field, “Brothers & Sisters.”

Comedy series cast: “30 Rock.”

Actor in a comedy series: Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock.”

Actress in a comedy series: Tina Fey, “30 Rock“.

Actor in a movie or miniseries: Paul Giamatti, “John Adams.”

Actress in a movie or miniseries: Laura Linney, “John Adams.”

Stunt ensemble: “Heroes.”

Life Achievement: James Earl Jones.

She started yelling “I want the phone to ring now, I want to ring” and then took a telephone and jumped on it until it break. (and she’s not skinny at all!)

After the National Audiovisual Council of Romania fined the show, Adela wrote a letter to all major press agencies telling “Maybe I was a bit over the top but I wanted to get people to call – there is a lot of pressure to get people to call in with the correct answer. It was a bad day.”
Bad day??? Bad day is when you forget to brush your teeth or leave home in your snickers but that was hysterical!
Adela got lucky though. She got a job (to do the same thing) at another television, but with a higher audience, Antena 1.

She says she finished studying Journalism and has an experience of 4 years in Television. She’s been doing this show for a few months now.

I guess Romanian people love to see a cute girl like Adela Lupse smash things, maybe they’re masochists?

I know for show I wouldn’t watch a show like that! I hate hysterical people, they make me nervous…

Interested in finding out what were the major events of 2008? Read further:

January:

Rumors about Nicole Kidman’s first pregnancy. She delivered a gorgeous baby girl later in 2008.

Mr. Blackwell announced that Victoria Beckham is the worst dressed celebrity. Unfortunately, he died on October 19, 2008.

Bill Gates’s last day at Microsoft.

Nicole Richie gave birth to baby girlHarlow Winter Kate Madden. Christina Aguilera and hubby Jordan Bratman welcomed their first baby boy, Max Liron Bratman.
Johnny Grant, mayor of Hollywood died. He was 84.

Brad Renfro died. Reason: overdose of heroin.

Heath Ledger overdosed and died. Many thing that his character in The Dark Knight was guilty of insomnia and other affections and Heath took drugs to sleep. Unfortunately, he didn’t know how to combine pills and a tragic thing happened. He is missed.

Apple launched the new MacBook Air.

February:

Angelina Jolie announced twin pregnancy. Some thought Jessica Alba will have twins but … those were just gossip.

French President, Nicholas Sarkozy forgot his manners and said something awful to a man in a crowd welcoming the president.

Marion Cottilard, Juno, No Country for Old Men, Ratatouille were the among the winners at the Academy Awards in 2008. If anyone cares, I loved “La Vie en Rose”!

Jennifer Lopez delivered twins, Max and Emme. She got $6 million for the first photos of the twins from People. She had enough money for diapers and milk.

Kosovo announced it’s independence. Hope things are finally going to sort out and there will be no more fighting over that land.

Beyonce and Tina Turner performed at the Grammy Awards, Amy Winehouse performed via satelite broadcasting and won 5 awards. Kanye West was loser of the night and got upset. Let it go dear, not everyone can see what a brilliant genius you are. Here is the winners list.

Roy Schneider died at age of 75.

Sarah Silverman screwed Matt Damon and she loved it. Later her boyfriend told us he’s screwing Ben Affleck.

Michael Jackson celebrated 25 years of Thriller, the best selling album.Too bad he’s still not back on track.

New York Giants won the Superbowl 2008.

March:

Thomas Beatie is the first pregnant man in the world. Actually, he’s a man trapped in a woman’s body, meaning that he was born a female but changed his sex when she/he grew up.

Corrine Bailey Rae’s hubby was found dead. Drug overdose.

Valentina Hassan is the new Mariah Carey from Eastern Europe.

Arthur C. Clarke died at the age of 90.
Halle Berry welcomed a baby girl.
Jimmy Wales dumped his girl via Wikipedia. Not so nice of him.

April:
Cate Blanchett welcomed baby no. 3 while Emma Watson turned 18 and she looks hotter and hotter.
Farah Fawcett is fighting cancer again. Anorexia made another victim, Rosemary Pope, weighing less than 5 stone.
Hayley Wilde defeated anorexia. At least one saved life.
Chloe Marshall, the first size 16 model participated at the Miss England beauty pageant.

May:
Harvey Korman died at 81, Sidney Pollack died at 73 and Rob Knox was stabbed and killed on the side road.
The good news is that Zac Hanson welcomed a baby boy and Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon got married secretly.
Sex and the City movie had it’s premiere in London. And many people were wondering: what the hell was Sarah Jessica Parker thinking when she showed up with that thing on her head?

Mischa Barton was caught with cellulite. Big deal!
Read about James Karl Buck and his incredibly Twitter story.

June:
An 11 years old girl, pregnant with her uncle’s child had an abortion in England since Romanian doctors refused to do the procedure.
In June we danced around the world with Matt Harding.
Unfortunately, George Carlin died at the age of 71. On the other hand, Jamie Lynn Spears welcomed a baby girl.
Another death: Tim Russet, at the age of 58 due to a massive heart attack.
Jessica Alba welcomed a baby girl, gorgeous baby girl I must add.
Lilly Allen made a foul of herself at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards.
Bo Diddley died at 79.

July:
Miss England 2008 winners. Chloe Marshall was second runner up.
Emmy Awards Nominations. Two and a Half Men were among nominees.
Miss USA felt down at the Miss Universe contest. She’s not the first.
Miss Universe 2008 was Miss Venezuela, Dayana Mendoza.

Angelina Jolie gave birth to baby twins: a boy and a girl.
Matthew McConaughey welcomed a baby boy while Nicole Kidman had a baby girl.
The first pregnant man delivered a baby girl and the two parents are extremely happy so they planned another child.
Why would a successful model like Ruslana Korshounova kill herself?

August:

Sad because some hip hop bands were unable to get to the Hip Hop Kemp in Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic. The crown was incredible.
Bernie Mac died at the age of 50. A sad month.

September:
A German lady was recognized as being the author of a stick up after a witness saw her behind. She was big!!
Paul Newman died at 83.
Christina Applegate got well after her breast cancer alert and she looked fabulous on the red carpet at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards. Unfortunately, Two and a Half Men won nothing.
In stores now the new Guinness World Book of Records 2009.
Richard Wright died. Pink Floyd is officially gone.
It was a big hit for Britney Spears who won 3 awards at the 25th MTV Video Music Awards.
I loved Pink’s performance and her song, So What.
Read about ghost stories here.

October:
Barack Obama is continuing his campaign. Manuel Uribe, the world’s fattest man got married with an average size woman. Love is blind perhaps?!
Adriana Lima presented the $5 million bra. Wow!
People start losing houses, jobs. The Financial Crisis is getting stronger and stronger. Not only in America!

November:
Barack Obama is the first African American president of the United States of America. In your face, McCain!
Michael Jackson is in trouble, is being sued by a Saudi Sheick. Smells like trouble for Jacko.
Weird people: wife divorced man after he had an affair in Second Life. She is now happy with a man she men while playing World of Warcraft.
Anastacia’s PR is sleeping or something like that. She looks stunning, younger and gorgeous. And oh, that voice …
Cindy Crawford is 42 and looks fabulous.
The Economic Crisis is harsh and many people lose their jobs and their homes. Some kill themselves.

December:
Perfect gifts for women. Naomi Watts welcomed a baby boy.
Britney Spears turned 27.
Geri Haliwell looks great and a malfunction of her dress helped us see that.
The Auto industry asks for funds but they are not ready to give up on flying with private jets and expensive trips to exotic places. No, the crisis is just for the lower class. The top class is still very rich.

There have been many other important events but I guess everybody knows about it.
I just hope that 2009 will be a better year.