Oscars commentary: And the Oscar goes to...

Joanna Hunkin

It comes but once a year and we at nzherald.co.nz are determined you don't miss a moment of it.

From designer frocks to fumbled acceptance speeches, we'll keep you up to date with all the Oscar action at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre.

For full fashion photo gallery

>> Check out our Fashion Blog for our experts' view on what the stars are wearing

* * * * *

6.15PM:

So, it's all over for another year. Overall, not many surprises. A quiet year for great speeches. Where's

Roberto Benigni

when you need him?

6.12PM

:

Diane Keaton

and a completely bald

Jack Nicholson

come on stage to present the final award of the night - Best Picture.

And the Oscar goes to...

The Departed

. The Academy is making up for years of snubbing

Scorsese

. Producer Graham King accepts the award, also singing the praises of

DiCaprio

.

6.07PM

: A trio of Hollywood greats

Steven Spielberg

,

George Lucas

and

Francis Ford Coppola

present the hotly contested Best Director award.

Martin Scorsese

finally wins the prize that had thus far eluded him. The excitable director rushed through his thank yous, promising to make another "12 or 15" films with

Leonardo DiCaprio

.

6.00PM

: 2006 Best Actress winner

Reese Witherspoon

presents Best Actor.

And the Oscar goes to...

Forest Whitaker

for

The Last King of Scotland

. The former opera singer took time to compose himself before delivering a poignant acceptance speech.

5.50PM

: Ten minutes left and all four major awards to go... This could be interesting. Presenting Best Actress, last year's Best Actor winner

Philip Seymour Hoffman

takes the stage.

An emotional

Helen Mirren

accepts the award but manages not to cry. Again, Mirren dedicates the award to Queen Elizabeth II. Short and sweet.

5.40PM

: Best Actress nominee

Kate Winslett

cuts to the chase, presenting the award for Achievement in Film Editing.

Thelma Schoonmaker claims another prize for the Boston gangster movie,

The Departed

. The award is Schoonmaker's third ever Oscar - all three of which were for Scorsese films.

5.27PM:

Queen Latifah

and

John Travolta

take the stage to present Best Original Song.

Despite three

Dreamgirls

' songs up for the gong,

Melissa Etheridge

takes the title for her song

I Need to Wake Up

from

An Inconvenient Truth

.

5.20PM

:

Jennifer Lopez

introduces

Beyonce

,

Jennifer Hudson

,

Anika Noni Rose

and

Keith Robinson

who perform a medley of

Dreamgirls

songs. Determined to out-sing one another, Beyonce and Hudson deliver a painfully off-key performance. Sing girls, don't holler. Simon Cowell would not be impressed.

5.12PM

:

Spiderman

co-stars

Tobey Maguire

and

Kirsten Dunst

present Best Original Screenplay.

Little Miss Sunshine

claims its second prize of the night. Michael Arndt accepts the award and thanks everyone who worked on the film "when nobody wanted to make it". He also thanks his family - who once travelled 600 miles in a van with no clutch.

5.05PM

:

Penelope Cruz

and

Hugh Jackman

head out to present Best Original Score.

Gustavo Santaolalla wins for

Babel

. He had said his goal was to write a score that "doesn't sound like a National Geographic soundtrack". He succeeded.

4.50PM:

Hollywood veteran

Clint Eastwood

presents a special Oscar to Italian composer

Ennio Morricone

- the man who wrote

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly's

infectious whistling theme song.

Celine Dion

steps out to perform a special tribute to the honorary award recipient.

The humble composer bows his head to a standing ovation before giving a moving acceptance speech - in Italian. Fortunately, Eastwood is on hand to translate. Who knew he spoke fluent Italian?

4.45PM

: Jerry Seinfeld proves he's still around as he presents Best Documentary Feature.

Global warming expose

An Inconvenient Truth

takes the prize.

Al Gore

joins the film-makers on stage to accept the award.

His speech: "People all over the world, we need to solve the climate crisis," Gore said after receiving the award.

"It's not a political issue, it's a moral issue, with the possible exception of the will to act. But the will to act is a renewable resource. It's time to renew it."

4.40PM:

Gael Garcia Bernal

and

Eva Green

present Best Documentary Short Subject, which goes to

The Blood of Yingzhou District.

4.35PM:

Eternally suave ladies man

George Clooney

presents Best Supporting Actress.

No surprises here.

Jennifer Hudson

claims the Oscar for her role as Effie in

Dreamgirls

. Delivering the first tears of the night, a sobbing Hudson thanked her grandmother. And her mum. And her brothers. And God.

4.30PM

: A glittering

Cate Blanchett

is joined by

Clive Owen

to present Best Foreign Language Film.

German film

The Lives of Others

ends

Pan's Labyrinth's

winning streak.

4.20PM:

Robert Downey Jnr

makes fun of his former drug habit as he joins

Naomi Watts

to present Achievement in Special Effects.

And the Oscar goes to John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall win for

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

4.15PM:

A vision in peach,

Gwyneth Paltrow

presents Achievement in Cinematography.

Pan's Labyrinth

claims its third award for the night, as Guillermo Navarro accepts the prize. Paltrow should be commended for how fluently she says Navarro's name - it just rolls off her tongue.

4.05PM:

Tom Cruise presents the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to ex-Paramount chief Sherry Lansing.

A former script reader, Lansing became the first female president of 20th Century Fox in 1980, aged just 35.

4.00PM:

The Devil Wears Prada

starlets

Emily Blunt

and

Anne Hathaway

take centre stage to present the award for Achievement in Costume Design.

Milena Canonero takes home her third ever Oscar (out of eight prior nominations) for her elaborate French renaissance costumes in

Marie Antoinette

.

Setting a prime example on how to give a simple acceptance speech, Canonero says: "I would like to thank anyone who had anything to do with this movie."

3.46PM:

Tom Hanks

and

Helen Mirren

take the stage - for what is unlikely to be the last time - to present Best Adapted Screenplay. Mirren introducing

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

is priceless.

Unfortunately, it's not Borat's night. William Monahan wins for his work on

The Departed

.

3.42PM:

Cameron Diaz

, aka Princess Fiona from Shrek, presents the award for Best Animated Feature Film. And the Oscar goes to...

Happy Feet

directed by George Miller. The win is Miller's first after three previous nominations.

3.35PM:

Environmentalists

Leonardo DiCaprio

and

Al Gore

take the stage to talk social responsibility and how the Oscars have "gone green".

If you check out www.oscars.com you can find out how to be clean and green just like the Academy Awards...

3.30PM:

Randy Newman

grabs his guitar to perform

Our Town

, from the animated film

Cars

, up for Best Original Song.

Melissa Etheridge

follows on with a powerful, raw performance of the nominated song

I Need to Wake Up

, from

An Inconvenient Truth

.

3.21PM:

Time for the first big award of the night - Best Supporting Actor.

And the Oscar goes to...

Alan Arkin

for

Little Miss Sunshine

.

Looks of genuine surprise fill the auditorium, none more so than that of Eddie Murphy.

Arkin gives a stilted speech read from a large piece of paper. Obviously he expected the win, even if nobody else did.

3.20PM:

Jessica Biel

and

James McAvoy

present the award for Achievement in Sound Editing.

The award goes to

Dreamgirls

. Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer and Willie Burton accept the award.

3.15PM:

Steve Carell

and

Greg Kinnear

come out to present Best Sound Editing. Comparing sound editing to sex, the pair elicit few laughs from the crowd.

The award goes to Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman for their work on

Letters from Iwo Jima

.

3.05PM:

Breslin stays on to present Best Live Action Short Film, which goes to

West Bank Story

- a comedy musical about Palestinians and Israelis.

3.01PM:

Even if she doesn't win,

Abigail Breslin

still got to grace the Oscar stage, presenting the award for Best Animated Short Film. Canadian film

The Danish Poet

takes the prize.

2.57PM:

Pan's Labyrinth

makes it two from two, claiming the Achievement in Makeup Award. David Marti and Montse Ribe are the first recipients to get shunted off for over-staying their welcome.

2.53PM:

Will Ferrell

shows off a newly grown 'fro as well as his atrocious vocal skills singing about "a comedian at the Oscars".

Jack Black

joins in the fun, as does

John C. Reilly

.

The trio delight with spirit fingers and jazz hands in a spoof cabaret number, singing "Helen Mirren and an Oscar will be coming home with me."

2.45PM

Blond Bond

Daniel Craig

and

Nicole Kidman

come out to present the night's first award - Best Art Direction.

Eugenio Caballero and Pilar Revuelta win for

Pan's Labyrinth

.

2.40PM:

Slowing down the pace, DeGeneres quickly wins the crowd over with her astute observations and commentary on various nominees.

"If there weren't blacks, Jews and gays, there wouldn't be an Oscars," DeGeneres says seriously, before a Gospel choir ascends the theatre and dances in the aisles.

2.35PM:

Cue schmaltzy music... And we're live. First-time Oscar host

Ellen DeGeneres

seems nervous as she takes the stage - in a crimson velvet suit with white loafers. Rambling, the comedienne talks about her childhood dream of hosting the Academy Awards.

2.25PM:

The red carpet is closed, the stars are inside. Just five minutes to go until this year's Oscars are revealed.

1.57PM:

She may not be up for any awards but

Nicole Kidman

will be the talk of the town tomorrow as she wows in a stunning, floor-length red gown. Husband

Keith Urban

is attending the show tonight but went straight backstage, avoiding the red carpet press.

1.52PM:

Meryl Streep

's daughter outs her mother as a tyrant, saying

The Devil Wears Prada

actress is just like the character she played. Surely not.

1.50PM: Kate Winslet

gets a special good luck video from fellow Brit Ricky Gervais. The

Little Children

actress breaks out in giggles as Gervais and his cat send good luck greetings.

1.47PM:

Comedian

Eddie Murphy

isn't worried about making an entertaining acceptance speech because he doesn't think he'll win. It seems most bookmakers would disagree.

1.45PM:

The ever-charming

Cate Blanchett

proves that modesty is still alive and well in Hollywood. Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in

Notes on a Scandal

, Blanchett said: "I would die of shock if I won tonight. I think it's Jennifer's night, I think she's wonderful... I've got one [an Oscar] already!"

1.40PM

Well played

Beyonce.

The

Dreamgirls

actress managed to keep a straight face when she said nominated co-star Jennifer Hudson "really deserved to win". Beyonce will still get some time to shine when she performs the nominated song Listen during the ceremony.,

1.35PM:

Forest Whitaker

isn't counting his chickens before they hatch but admits he may have a couple of names scribbled on some paper in case he does win.

Discussing his role as Idi Amin in

The Last King of Scotland

, Whitaker says it was easy to gain the extra 50 lbs he carried for the role. No word on how he lost the weight though.

1.30PM:

Alan Arkin

might play a hippy grandfather in

Little Miss Sunshine

but it turns out he's just a grumpy old codger, as he scowls his way down the red carpet.

1.25PM:

The Oscars may have snubbed

Borat

but

Sacha Baron Cohen

isn't snubbing the Oscars. And neither is his fiance, Australian actress Isla Fisher, who looks like a pint-sized Jessica Rabbit in her forest green frock.

1.15PM:

It's hard work this Oscars malarkey -

Helen Mirren

sounds decidedly husky as she denies rumours she is a "naughty girl". Dame Helen adds that she suspects Her Majesty has seen

The Queen

, but no one will ever know for sure. Cryptic.

1.10PM:

Best actor nominee

Leonardo DiCaprio

avoids gossip mongering by bringing his Mum as his Oscar date. Perhaps girlfriend, Israeli model, Bar Refaeli was busy...

1PM:

Less than two hours to go before the 79th Academy Awards ceremony and the red carpet is thick with glamourous celebrities and their not-so-glamourous counterparts.

Champagne seems to be the colour du jour with

Helen Mirren, Penelope Cruz

and

Rachel Weisz

sporting the pale hue.

All eyes are on

Cameron Diaz

, wearing a tight-fitting, sculpted white dress. Love it or hate it, this is sure to be one of the most talked about outfits of the night.