Oscars commentary: And the Oscar goes to...

5.45pm: The biggest event on Hollywood's calendar is over for another year. A few surprises and a few widely predicted wins and Chris Rock as host made for a smooth and entertaining show.

Best Picture: Million Dollar Baby. Clint gets up to accept again. Widely picked The Aviator misses out.

5.40pm: Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman present Best Picture. And the Oscar goes to...........

Best Director: Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby. A huge upset as Scorsese misses out once again. I think he must have an honorary Oscar coming his way sometime soon. Clint mentions his 96 year old mother who is in the audience. He also says "I'm just a kid, I've got a lot to do yet."

5.32pm: Julia Roberts looks very svelte, presenting Best Director. And the Oscar goes to.............

Best Actor: Jamie Foxx for Ray. What a surprise, it was the only given of the night. He gives a heartfelt speech with a few tears, thanking Ray Charles for his 'beautiful legacy', his daughter and his grandmother, his 'first acting coach'.He also name checks Oprah Winfrey, Halle Berry and Sydney Poitier.

5.22pm Charlize Theron, usually a winner in the fashion stakes, looks like she's wearing a fluffy pale blue toilet roll cover, like the kind you would find at your Grandmothers. What is she thinking? She is presenting Best Actor. And the Oscar goes to................

Best Original Screenplay: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. Kate Winslet looks as if she's about to burst with pride.

Best Foreign-Language Film: The Sea Inside - Spain

5.15pm: They are churning through the awards now, next up, Best Foreign-Language Film. And the Oscar goes to....

Best Actress: Hilary Swank for Million Dollar Baby. Hilary gives possibly the longest speech I've ever seen, being cut off by the Orchestra twice and finishing by shouting names into the microphone over the music. She thanks husband Chad Lowe before saying "I like to think I learn from previous mistakes" alluding to the fact she didnt mention him when she won the same award for Boys Don't Cry in 2000.

5.08pm: Sean Penn presents Best Actress. And the Oscar goes to.....

Original song: "Al Otro Lado Del Río" from The Motorcycle Diaries.

5.00pm: Prince, wearing what appears to be a purple velvet suit arrives on stage to present Original Song.And the Oscar goes to......

Legendary cellist Yoyo Ma performs during the tribute to Hollywood personalities who passed away in the past year. They include Fay Wray, Rodney Dangerfield, Janet Leigh, Christopher Reeve and Marlo Brando.

4.42pm: A cheer goes up as Martin Scorsese arrives on stage to present the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Roger Mayer. The Hersholt Award is given to an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry. It is not awarded every year.

Original Score: Jan A.P. Kaczmarek for Finding Neverland. Johnny Depp gets up to congratulate Jan on his win.

4.40pm: Chris Rock is pulling no punches in his edgy comedy tonight and noone is safe. Oprah Winfrey is the latest target. John Travolta appears to present Original Score. And the Oscar goes to..............

Documentary Short: Mighty Times: The Children's March

4.35pm: Natalie Portman presents Documentary Short. And the Oscar goes to............

4.28pm: Antonio Banderas accompanied by Carlos Santana on guitar performs nominated song "Al Otro Lado Del Río" from The Motorcycle Diaries. Antonio's pants are so high waisted they look like they're up to his armpits.

Sound Editing: The Incredibles

Sound Mixing: Ray. Well it's fitting, as sound had so much to do with the nature of this film.

4.22pm: Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz present two awards, the first for Sound mixing and the second for Sound Editing. And the Oscars go to......

Cinematography: The Aviator

Kate Winslet appears in a sapphire dress to present Cinematography. And the Oscar goes to....

Best Animated Short Film: Ryan

4.12pm: Laura Linney presents Best Animated Short Film. And the Oscar goes to...........

4.09pm: Best Live-Action Short Film: Wasp. Unfortunately 'Two cars, one night'  misses out.

And now for the moment we've been waiting for, a category New Zealanders have been nominated for. Jeremy Irons presents Best Live-Action Short Film from the audience. 'Two cars, one night' director Taika Waititi pretends to be asleep as the voiceover announces his name.

And the Oscar goes to..............

4.05pm: Here's Beyonce on stage again, now wearing what looks to be a king's ransom in jewels dripping from her ears and neck. Accompanied by Andrew Lloyd Webber on piano, she performs nominated song "Learn To Be Lonely" from The Phantom Of The Opera. It's so strange to see her dressed so elegantly and singing such serious songs. She will always be the 'Bootilicious' girl to me.

4.00pm: Al Pacino introduces a montage of Sidney Lumet's work before presenting him an Honorary Oscar. He tells the audience he has the "best job in the best profession in the world. Lumet's 40-plus films include "12 Angry Men," "Dog Day Afternoon," "Network" and "Serpico,"

Visual Effects: Spiderman 2. One of the  winners says "Boy am I glad there wasn't a fourth edition of Lord of The Rings".

3.48pm: Ziyi Zhang and Jake Gyllenhaal present Visual Effects. And the Oscar goes to......

Adapted Screenplay: Sideways. The first win of the night for this critical favourite which is up for five awards.

3.42pm: Adam Sandler and Chris Rock play off each other as Rock pretends to be Catherine Zeta Jones to help present Adapted Screenplay. And the Oscar goes to..............

3.39pm: The Counting Crows perfom the second nominated song of the night, "Accidentally In Love" from Shrek 2. The singer hasn't changed his style one bit since they were popular ten years ago.

Film Editing: The Aviator. Well it really looks like its The Aviator's night. The accolades for Martin Scorsese are coming thick and fast now. His must be the most mentioned name of the night.

3.34pm: Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst present Film Editing. And the Oscar goes to............

Best Documentary: Born Into Brothels

3.30pm: A dashing Leonardo DiCaprio introduces the nominees for Best Documentary, who are all standing on the stage. And the Oscar goes to.....

Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett for The Aviator. Cate says it is an "indescribable surprise and honour" before thanking her husband, and telling Martin Scorsese "I hope my son marries your daughter". She also thanks the legend of Katharine Hepburn, who she portrayed in The Aviator.

3.23pm: Best Supporting Actress is presented by Tim Robbins. The performances in this category are all so amazing it will be interesting to see who takes it. And the Oscar Goes to..............

Costume Design: The Aviator's Sandy Powell

3.20pm: Pierce Brosnan gets help from the animated costume designer character from The Incredibles to present Costume Design. And the Oscar goes to...............

3.15pm: Scarlett Johanssen introduces a clip from the Technical Awards held several weeks ago which she hosted.

3.11pm: A previously recorded clip is shown of Chris Rock asking people on the street what their favourite movies of the previous year were. A hilarious addition shows regular people giving their own acceptance speeches to the camera.

3.05pm Drew Barrymore introduces Beyonce singing the first of the nominated songs for tonight, "Look To Your Path (Vois Sur Ton Chemin)" from The Chorus. Beyonce, now wearing a tropical coloured knee length dress handles the difficult French language song beautifully.

3.02pm: Make up: Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events. Cate hands out the statues and the recipients step up to a small podium also situated in the audience for their thank you speeches, which are slightly cut short by the orchestra.

3.00pm: Cate Blanchett appears standing in the middle of the audience (a style new to the awards ceremony this year) to present Achievement in make up. And the Oscar goes to...........

2.57pm: Robin Williams presents Best Animated Feature in his typical over-the-top. And the Oscar goes to.......Best Animated Feature: The Incredibles

2.50pm: Best Supporting Actor: Morgan Freeman. Freeman shows how it should be done, giving a short, to the point speech thanking Clint Eastwood and Hilary Swank, saying making the movie was "a labour of love".

2.45pm Art Direction: The Aviator. The Aviator clocks up its first win of the night.

Renee Zelweger in a scarlet dress appears to present best supporting actor. And the Oscar goes to..............

2.40pm: Rock continues by telling us one of his favourite movies this year was Michael Moore's doco Farenheit 9/11, before launching into some jokes about President Bush's re-election. The audience laughs nervously and wonders whats coming from Rock next.

The first award is to be presented by Halle Berry, for Art Direction. And the Oscar goes to...................

2.35pm. Host Chris Rock gets a big cheer as he appears on stage and launches into a hilarious molologue by telling the standing audience to "sit your asses down". The producers must be feeling a little nervous about their choice of host about now. "Wow four black actors nominated, it's kinda like the Def Oscar Jam".

2.33pm: The awards open with a film montage telling us why we love movies so much - "Good movies are timeless. They tell us where we have come from and where we are going."

2.30pm: And the awards begin....

2.25pm: Spanish actress Penelope Cruz is also wearing yellow, a gown made by Oscar De La Renta that features a bow on her behind scarily reminiscent of an eighties bridesmaid dress. She says she wants to tell Johnny Depp she thought his performance in Finding Nerverland was "amahhhhzinng".

2.20pm Cate Blanchet is wearing a butter yellow high waisted gown with a burgundy sash. Hilary Swank's backless high neck gown is a style not often seen on the red carpet, shunning the usual plunging cleavage.

2.15pm Orlando Bloom says he is inspired in his acting by Paul Newman's early work. He also says his thinks his Pirates of the Carribean co-star Johnny Depp is so admired because of his 'integrity.'

Kirsten Dunst appears with her date for the evening, her brother Kristian. Her hair has been cropped into a platinum blonde bob. She sounds disapointed as she tells the host she has to return her gown after the evening is over.

2.10pm: Leonardo DiCaprio says he's amazing by the "wild ride" he's been on since finishing the film he is nominated for, The Aviator. He tells us director Martin Scorsese deserves to win Best Director as he "understands the science of cinema like noone else".

Natalie Portman arrives with mother Shelley Hershlag and looks stunning in a sage green plunging neckline gown.

2.00pm: The red carpet arrivals are now well underway and the array of colours in the stars formal attire is pleasing to see. Apparently blue is the new black. Or yellow. Or white. Beyonce Knowles and rapper boyfriend Jay-Z are among early arrivals, stunning in long black sheath that fits her like a glove. A picture of elegance topped with long diamond earings that must be worth millions.