The Oscars, as it happened: 'The Artist' bags five

The atmosphere was charged at the Hollywood and Highland Center in Hollywood (formerly the Kodak Theatre) in California, the Oscars venue, even before the much awaited awards ceremony took off. Bradley Cooper, who was to present at the ceremony for the first time, impersonated cult actor Christopher Walken (Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actor in 1978's The Deer Hunter) on the red carpet. Jean Dujardin, who won the Best Actor award for his role in The Artist, was seen doing the tap dance he does in the film. 

Melissa McCarthy, who was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress for her role in Bridesmaids, arrived with her mother.

Michelle Williams was spotted on the red carpet in a red Louis Vuitton dress and Gwyneth Paltrow sported a white Tom Ford dress and a cape.

The function was hosted by Billy Crystal for the ninth time. Crystal broke in to a song, parodying the nominees from Moneyball's Jonah Hill to Hugo director Martin Scorsese. Morgan Freeman, the first presenter, invoked the magic of the movies before the humourous opening pre-taped montage featuring Crystal in a number of films.

Two-time winner Tom Hanks awarded the Best Cinematography award to Hugo's Robert Richardson making it his third Oscar win after JFK and The Aviator. Hugo's husband and wife team Dante Ferreti (production design) and Franchesca Lo Shiavo (set decoration) bagged the Oscar for Art Direction while the Margaret Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady's Mark Coulier and J Roy Helland took the award for Makeup. Later, Hugo scored another one for Visual Effects. Ben Stiller & Emma Stone presented the award to Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning. Legato had previously won an Oscar for Titanic.

Actresses Jennifer Lopez and Cameron Diaz came on stage to present The Artist's Mark Bridges his first Oscar win for the Best Costume Design.

The Best Foreign Language Film was won by Iran's Asghar Farhadi's A Separation. Farhadi dedicated the award to his countrymen. The award was presented by Sandra Bullock who had won Best Actress for The Blind Side in 2009.

The Best Actress in a Supporting Role went to Octavia Spencer, for her role in The Help. She tearfully exuded gratitude while accepting the award. 

Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall bagged their second win for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo with the award for Best Film Editing. Their first win was for The Social Network.

Martin Scorsese's first 3D venture, Hugo, swept through the technical awards, winning Best Sound Editing (Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty) and Best Sound Mixing (Tom Fleischman and John Midgley). This was just the beginning, as Hugo went on to win Best Cinematography (Robert Richardson) and Art Direction (Dante Ferreti and Franchesca Lo Shiavo).

The Best Documentary Award went to Undefeated, a touching documentary about an underdog football team and their steadfast coach, and to present the award Iron Man actors Gwyneth Paltrow and the ever irreverent Robert Downey Jr. came on stage. Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy won The award for Best Documentary Short for Saving Face, a documentary that throws light on the social ill of acid-throwing in Pakistan.

Gore Verbinksi picked up his first Oscar in the Best Animated Feature Film category for Rango, a gritty cartoon western featuring the voice talents of Johnny Depp as a gun-slinging chameleon and William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg of the The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore won the Best Animated Short Film award.
 
Canadian actor Christopher Plummer, at 82, became the oldest actor to win Best Supporting actor for his role in Beginners, in which he plays a homosexual father.

Penelope Cruz and Owen Wilson presented the award for Best Original Score to Ludovic Bourse for The Artist's Ludovic while Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis gave away the award for best original song for Man or Muppet from The Muppets.

Woody Allen won Best Original Screenplay for Midnight in Paris and The Descendants' Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash won Best Adapted Screenplay, which was presented by Angelina Jolie. This win counted as Payne's second.

The cast of Bridesmaids had its share of ribald moments presenting Best Live Action Short Film, Best Documentary Short and Best Animated Short Film.

Terry George and Oorlagh George of The Shore bagged the award for Best Live Action Short Film.

Then came the major awards. The coveted Best Director Oscar went to Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist, which was presented by Michael Douglas. Natalie Portman presented Jean Dujardin the award for Best Actor for The Artist. Portman herself had won Best Actress for Black Swan last year.

There had been much debate about who will take home the award for best actress, Meryl Streep or Viola Davis. Streep won for her role as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. The Award was presented by Colin Firth, who had won Best Actor for The King's Speech in 2011. This win makes it her third after Kramer vs Kramer (1979) and Sophie's Choice (1982) and her 17th nomination.

Silent film The Artist, helmed by French director Michel Hazanavicius, won the Best Motion Picture and the winner of the coveted award was announced by Tom Cruise. The film, which is centred on the downfall of a fictional matinee idol in the late 1920s, also bagged Best Director, Actor, Costume Design and Original Score.

To conclude. The Artist bagged most of the awards and Hugo took home the technical awards.

Also see:

In pictures: Full list of Oscar winners

Oscar fashion: White gowns, bold colours rule red carpet

In pictures: Memorable moments at the Oscars