84th Academy Awards® Winners For Best Original Song & Best Original Film Score From A Motion Picture

By: Arlene R. Weiss

Oscar Statue Photo: Wikipedia

The 84^th Academy Awards® were held last night with the night being a sparkling celebration of Oscar® honoring and paying homage to the origins of cinema.  The Artist, the French silent film honoring and paying tribute to the art, history, and craft of filmmaking, which depicts the early days of cinema in the late 1920’s on the advent of talking pictures replacing silent film, took home five golden statuettes among its staggering ten nominations, winning for Best Picture Thomas Langmann Producer, Best Director Michel Hazanavicius, Best Actor Jean Dujardin, and Best Costume Design Mark Bridges.

The Artist’s film composer Ludovic Bource won the award for Music Best Original Score for composing the radiant and emotionally moving music for The Artist, in a competitive field that included legendary composer John Williams who was nominated twice for War Horse and The Adventures Of Tin Tin, Howard Shore for Hugo, and Alberto Iglesias for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Bret McKenzie took home the prestigious golden trophy for Music Best Original Song, for composing both music and lyrics to the enchanting and clever, “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets.  McKenzie, half of the New Zealand comedic folk duo, Flight of The Conchords, humbly accepted his award and gave one of the most charming speeches of the ceremony.

After thanking The Academy, and the late Jim Henson, as well as Henson’s team for crafting the magical world of The Muppets McKenzie went on to say, “I grew up in New Zealand watching The Muppets on TV. I never dreamed I’d get to work with them. I was genuinely star struck when I finally met Kermit The Frog, but once you get to know him, he’s just a normal frog.”

Audiences watching at home were denied the treat of seeing “Man or Muppet” performed live, since this year, the Oscars® made the decision to not have live performances of the nominees for Best Original Song. Many were looking forward to seeing The Muppets’ star Jason Segel and his Muppet brother Walter perform the big, show stopping musical number from the film.  Jason Segel even recently took to his Twitter® with an online petition that resulted in some 50,000 signatures to convince The Academy to reconsider “letting the Muppets sing at the Oscars®,” but sadly, it wasn’t to be.

However, stars Kermit The Frog and Miss Piggy lent their comedic flair to the ceremony performing their own Statler and Waldorf ribbing from The Kodak Theater’s balcony introducing a mesmerizing high wire ballet imbued, acrobatic presentation from Cirque du Soleil, performed over the Oscar® audience to their amazement and delight. Jason Segel also graced the ceremony while rocking the red carpet in glamorous tuxedo threads to offer his proud support for McKenzie.

The music awards were presented by the inimitable and zany, comic relief of Will Ferrell and The Hangover’s Zack Galifianakis dressed in white tuxes and playing or rather crashing giant orchestra cymbals, who kidded to the audience, “As serious musicians, it is our pleasure to step out from our day jobs for a moment to present the Oscar® for Best Original Song”.

Nine time Oscar® host Billy Crystal opened the momentous proceedings with a musical medley tipping the hat to the nine Best Picture Nominees while segueing the night along effortlessly and smoothly with his incomparable wit and finesse.

Two-time Oscar® Winner Meryl Streep garnered her third Academy Award®, winning for Best Actress for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady graciously accepting her award to cheers and a standing ovation from the star studded audience, many of them her co-stars from her treasure trove of unforgettable films.

The always wonderful, venerable, and greatly distinguished Christopher Plummer, who at some 82 years young became the oldest actor ever to win an Oscar®, also brought the audience to their feet, winning for Best Supporting Actor for Beginners.  Plummer jested the crowd, expounding, “I have a confession to make. When I first emerged from my mother’s womb, I was already rehearsing my Academy thank you speech.  But it was so long ago, mercifully for you, I’ve forgotten it, but I remember who to thank”.

The sentimental highlight of the night came from The Help’s Octavia Spencer who joyously and tearfully accepted her award for Best Supporting Actress.

The Artist’s Hazanavicius, in picking up his award for Best Director noted fondly to one of the film’s most beloved stars, “I want to thank Uggie The Dog…and thank you”. The Artist becomes the first silent film since 1927’s very first Oscar® honoree and winner for Best Motion Picture, the silent WWI epic, Wings to win the prestigious honor for Best Picture.

The night was filled with humor from the likes of presenters Robert Downey, Jr. and his Iron Man co-star Gwyneth Paltrow who took the stage while pretending to shoot a mock documentary and also from comedian Chris Rock who offered his anecdotes on the rewards of doing animation voiceovers. The evening was also imbued with the razzle dazzle of Angelina Jolie’s breathtaking black velvet Versace gown among other Oscar® night stars’ glorious fashion.

One final note, ABC® News (The ABC® Television Network broadcast The Academy Awards®), is reporting today that Bret McKenzie has this to offer on his Oscar® win and his new “Oscar® ego”. “Flight of the Conchords fans will be happy to know that Bret McKenzie’s not about to stop writing songs with (his Flight Of The Conchords songwriting partner) Jermaine Clement, his partner on the now defunct HBO show. But backstage, McKenzie said that his ego might get in the way.”

“I’m looking forward to writing with Jermaine in the future again because I’ll be able to pull out the Oscar card and say, ‘Um, I think we should use this chord because I won an Oscar,’” he said. McKenzie took home a golden statuette for writing the song “Man or Muppet.”

To view the complete list of winners, as well as video highlights of the night’s most memorable moments and photos of the stars pulling out all their glam and bling fashionista stops on the red carpet, go to the Oscars’® Official Websites at:

http://oscar.go.com/

http://www.oscars.org/

© Copyright February 27, 2012 By Arlene R. Weiss-All Rights Reserved