Best Oscar Show In Last Decade

The Academy Awards live broadcast finally has a dim of hope - last night's Oscars show was probably the best in the last decade. Seth MacFarlane proved to be an excellent choice as the new host - he was comfortable in his own skin, self-deprecating and not afraid to make some bold jokes. The authorities picked him because they thought he might attract a younger audience with his Family Guy and Ted fame. While we're still waiting for the Nielsen numbers to see whether the desired demographics tuned in or not, this boomer and others were glued to the TV set last night. In fact, it was quite difficult to get up from the couch and do other tasks such as taking a shower or going for a bathroom break.

MacFarlane even looked good in his white tux. I read that he has consulted veteran host Billy Crystal who has given him some tips. I've always liked Crystal, but let's not forget - MacFarlane is much younger, looks good and can sing!

Having Captain Kirk (the very overweight Canadian William Shatner) beamed in to offer his two cents worth and inviting First Lady Michelle Obama to announce the Best Picture at the end were pleasant surprises. The song and dance portions, including goddess-like Charlize Theron dancing a number with the Hollywood 'it' boy at the moment, Channing Tatum (Tatum strutted his stuff in Magic Mike and the Step Up movies while Theron was trained as a ballet dancer and performed in New York productions of Swan Lake and the Nutcracker); the entire principal cast ensemble from Les Miserables performing on stage; Barbra Streisand singing The Way We Were in memory of the late Marvin Hamlisch and for the first time at the Oscars in 36 years; Dame Shirley Bassey performing for the first time ever at the Academy Awards; all added to the glamour and pizzazz that the Awards show should represent.

Because it's MacFarlane writing some of the materials, the show was also fun for the first time in years - Mark Wahlberg and his teddy bear buddy cracking a few jokes (Ted was a successful Seth MacFarlane creation); Joseph Gordon-Levitt performing a duet with Daniel Radcliffe; and the muppets reenacting the cockpit scene in Flight were all good fun to watch.

I also like the pairing of the presenters - children of film legends who are now legends themselves (Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas); the lead cast of Chicago celebrating its 10th anniversary in film; the lead actors from The Avengers (but where's Scarlett Johansson?); the physically-opposite Charlize Theron and Dustin Hoffman. These are the people and the reasons why we love to go to movies. Obviously there was the usual protocol to expect - last year's award winners respectively gave out this year's Oscars. But the ceremony seemed to be shorter this year even though in duration, it was still three-and-a-half-hour long. The program also wisely shrunk the tributes and lifetime awards into reports from earlier ceremonies rather than having the actual ceremonies live.

The only surprises of the coveted Awards were only good ones - Life Of Pi won Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Visual Effect and Best Cinematography - and most of them associated with Canadian artists. I was also overjoyed to see my favourite director Quintin Tarantino winning the Best Original Screenplay for Django Unchained, a brilliant movie on slavery emancipation.

The evening's best-dressed awards should go to Charlize Theron with her stunning short hair and in a white Dior gown and Catherine Zeta-Jones in a gold-sequined Zuhair Murad gown. Overgilded, according to some fashion critics? Well, they have no idea what glamour means!

Was the show perfect? Of course, not. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the James Bond franchise, they should have all lead actors of the Bond movies all appearing on stage. I'm also tired of Jack Nicholson and his sunglasses. The production team of the Academy Awards show, get rid of Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep next year, keep MacFarlane as the host, and surprise us even more: then perhaps your show might even be a resounding success in the near future!