Bollywood meets Hollywood at the Oscars!

Hello, everybody. With an official running time of 30 minutes past the promised three-hour mark, the 81st Annual Academy Awards on Sunday under the direction of producers Laurence Mark and Bill Condon and host Hugh Jackman was given a whole new life.

And life was very good for "Slumdog Millionaire", the big winners of the night with eight Oscars including Original Score and Song ("Jai Ho", and how about their performance?), Director (Danny Boyle), and Best Picture of 2008. The late Heath Ledger as expected picks up Supporting Actor for "The Dark Knight" with his family accepting on his behalf; Penelope Cruz claims Supporting Actor ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona"); Sean Penn beats out Mickey Rourke for his second Best Actor prize ("Milk"); and after six tries without a win...Kate Winslet finally comes up to the Oscar stage to grab possession of Best Actress ("The Reader"). And me? For the second time, I was SIX FOR SIX in my picks!!!!

Other winners include "WALL-E" (Animated Feature Film), "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Art Direction, Makeup, and Visual Effects), and Japan's "Departures" (Foreign Language Film).

Like I said, in an attempt to boost sagging ratings from years past, the show got a whole new attitude with us staying tuned as to who the presenters will be to over five decades of past acting winners helping to pass the torch. And as for Jackman as host? I thought he made things work his way.

The stars worked their way on the red carpet as well prior to all this. We saw Angelina Jolie baring her shoulders in beautiful black Elie Saab, Sarah Jessica Parker looking like Cinderella in Dior, Freida Pinto in John Galliano, and Alicia Keys and Heidi Klum not afraid to show a little leg in Armani and Rouland Mouret respectively.

So, who do I give my Best Dressed props to? She may have lost graciously to Winslet, but Anne Hathaway in her Armani Prive was always a winner to me. And for Worst Dressed? In a tie, has to be Jessica Biel (she looked way better two Oscars ago, but this is what she gets for sleeping with Justin Timberlake!) and for the first time, a guy: that being Mickey Rourke!

As always, there are stories behind the big wins. She has come a long way from starting her career on the BBC in the early '90s; a few films and her first Oscar nod later, it would be "Titanic" that made her a household name worldwide. With several others to follow such as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", "Finding Neverland", "Flushed Away", "The Holiday", and recently "Revolutionary Road" (reuniting her and "Titanic" co-star Leonardo DiCaprio), her grace and beauty has lit up the silver screen every time. And now comes the icing on her career cake, as 33-year-old Kate Elizabeth Winslet's 18-year journey is topped and sprinkled with Oscar gold!

Meanwhile, "Slumdog Millionaire's" huge haul is a huge make-up for "Quiz Show" losing Best Picture to "Forrest Gump" for game show fans. And all of India is celebrating as well, as the 81st Annual Academy Awards was indeed the night when Bollywood met Hollywood. So long and stay strong!

Oscar, Oscar...Who will win?

Hello, everybody. I'll get to my Oscar preview in a bit, but first...

Last week, the stimulus bill passed the Senate by a hair, and President Obama signed it into law on Tuesday. But now come the aftereffects, as the president launched an anti-foreclosure plan...and one person wasn't buying a single thing.

CNBC reporter Rick Santelli went full blast on Thursday lashing out against the new scheme, even lecturing the traders behind him in Chicago about organizing a new tea party in July. That video is already a major hit on YouTube, and I think it was a nice change of pace from all the Chris Brown/Rihanna/Octuplets mother mess we've been fed down our throats for over a week.

Now even though our economy remains in the shitter (sorry for the language), one thing that has survived all this for so long comes our way Sunday: The 81st Annual Academy Awards! For years on the former "Allen Report" site and on this blog, I have spent a week previewing the awards; but now, I've decided to cram all this into a few paragraphs.

The producers of this year's show, Bill Condon and Laurence Mark (the duo behind the feature film version of "Dreamgirls") have pulled no punches in an attempt to boost the awards' sagging ratings in recent year, even keeping the list of presenters under wraps until showtime...or so we thought. Tabloids have leaked out some names, including Jennifer Aniston and "Twilight's" Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart to take the stage. And John Travolta is rumored to make his first public appearance there since the tragic death of his son. We'll all find out for ourselves.

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Slumdog Millionaire" are coming into the awards with 13 and 10 nominations respectively; both along with "Frost/Nixon", "Milk", and "The Reader" are battling it out for the Best Picture prize.

One notable name expected to posthumously claim Supporting Actor is Heath Ledger for "The Dark Knight", but we also got Josh Brolin, Robert Downey Jr., 2006 Best Actor winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Michael Shannon in that. Meanwhile, Mickey Rourke may be bodyslamming his way to a Best Actor win following his Golden Globe and BAFTA victories, but don't count out Sean Penn; he got a SAG Award for "Milk" and he wants to add Oscar #2 to his mantle (Oscar #1 was for "Mystic River" five years ago). Richard Jenkins, Frank Langella, and Brad Pitt round out the All-American field

On the Best Actress side, it's all about Meryl Streep vs. Kate Winslet in a rivalry similar to the Yankees/Red Sox. Streep is up for "Doubt" and her 16th overall nomination while Winslet has been up so many times before without a single win. Whose name will Daniel-Day Lewis read when he opens the envelope? If not those two, then Anne Hathaway, Angelina Jolie, or Melissa Leo; they want to put a stop to this.

And the one other question we'll all be asking is: How long will the show go? It is promised to be timed at three hours tops, but will it be kept?

Now that you're all set, here's who I think will walk out of the Kodak Theatre Sunday night with the richest prize in all of entertainment:

Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger
Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke thinks he may have had it in the bag, but the Academy voters have given Best Actor to those who've played gay characters before; Tom Hanks in "Philadelphia" one of them. I think Sean Penn will continue that tradition this year.
Best Actress: Angelina Jolie's chances for a second Oscar (she last won in 2000 for "Girl, Interrupted") are now anything but diminished, and Anne Hathaway and Melissa Leo are praying for an upset. Streep and Winslet are great actresses, but I feel that it's time to pass the torch to Kate Winslet.
Best Director: Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire")
Best Picture: "Slumdog Millionaire"

We'll see what transpires when the 81st Annual Academy Awards with Hugh Jackman keeping things under control (and keeping an eye on his watch) comes at us Sunday night. And of course, I'll continue my ten-year tradition of sharing you my take on all this on Monday. So long and stay strong!

Hello, everybody. Earlier tonight in his first primetime news conference, President Obama pulled no punches when he pressured Capitol Hill to give the okay on that life-or-death stimulus bill.

This comes as over 11 million Americans are now out of a job (600,000 of them in January alone), and the president started his day with a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Indiana, where the unemployment rate is triple the national average. And here in Alaska, legislators are debating on whether or not to up the minimum wage here from $7.15/hour to $8.75. I don't know how much I made when I started working in 1995, but it's $8.50/hour for me now.

Alaska is somewhat recession-proof for now, but when tourist season gets underway in spring, it's going to be an even tough time hiring people. At least we in Fairbanks don't have any dead neighborhoods; if you saw Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" when the cameras panned to a decrepit area of Flint, Michigan with abandoned houses and overgrown sidewalks while talking about joining the Marines or Army as the only major jobs available, you know what I'm talking about.

At least I am recession-proof myself...but, for how long?

Now...the 51st Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, when Robert Plant and Alison Krauss dominated the night with five awards including Album of the Year ("Raising Sand") and Record of the Year ("Please Read The Letter") while Adele beat out Duffy and the Jonas Brothers for Best New Artist. Coldplay also won big for Song of the Year ("Viva La Vida"), and Jennifer Hudson, still high from her memorable rendition of the national anthem at last weekend's Super Bowl, picked up Best R&B Album honors for her self-titled "Jennifer Hudson."

Other winners included Carrie Underwood (Female Country Vocal Performance, "Last Name"; and boy, was she a knockout during her performance!), the late George Carlin (Comedy Album, "It's Bad For Ya"), and Al Gore (Spoken Word Album, "An Inconvenient Truth").

But of course the big story happened away from the show, when Chris Brown was arrested for alleged domestic violence. It is believed to be that his rumored girlfriend, Rihanna, may have been involved in the incident and canceled her performance at the awards with Justin Timberlake in his place.

The fashions? I thought Kate Beckinsale, Katy Perry, and Underwood hit the high notes, while Bai Ling and the very pregnant M.I.A. hit flat.

Now back to Brown before I close things up: I have nothing else to say except for the fact that his career may be toast if he did beat up Rihanna. What a shame. So long and stay strong.

Call them the Sixburgh Steelers!

Hello, everybody. In what was quite an epic clash till the end, the heavily-favored Pittsburgh Steelers deflated Kurt Warner's Arizona Cardinals 27-23 in Super Bowl XLIII earning them their sixth unprecedented Vince Lombardi Trophy, all thanks to Most Valuable Player Santonio Holmes' last-minute touchdown with less than 45 seconds left.

The game was viewed by 95.4 million people, making it not only the second most-watched game behind Super Bowl XLII last year (when the New England Patriots' chances for perfection weren't to be), but is now the third most-watched program in televison history, sending the "Who Shot J.R.?" episode of "Dallas" to #4!

Before and during the game, our entertainment was provided by Journey, Faith Hill with "America The Beautiful", Jennifer Hudson's first performance since the family murders with the national anthem, Bruce Springsteen rocking us at halftime...and of course, minutes of commercials. There are so many to look back to, so for the second time I'm counting down...

My Top Ten Favorite Commercials from Super Bowl XLIII

10. MacGruber featuring Richard Dean "MacGyver" Anderson for Pepsi (Will Arnett doesn't impress me)

9. Careerbuilder.com (I would've ranked it higher if it was just a five-second ad of just the koala being punched)

8. GoDaddy (DAMN YOU, DANICA PATRICK!!!!!!!! They should dump her and get Jamie-Lynn Sigler or Anna Kournikova!)

7. The return of the E*Trade babies (a bit more cuter than last year)

6. "Vroom Vroom Party Starter", aka Conan O'Brien pitching for Bud Light in Sweden (next year, it'll be Craig Ferguson hawking Miller Lite in Japan)

5. Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head for Bridgestone (would've been funnier if the sheep were replaced by either Richard Simmons (from last year) or Vince, the ShamWow guy)

4. TIE: Pepsi Max "I'm Good" (more like "I'm really, really hurt and need to go to the hospital!"/Coke Zero's remake of the Mean Joe Greene Coca-Cola ad (I guess this is why the Steelers won)

3. ANOTHER TIE: Budweiser Clydesdale fetching the stick/Pedigree (for the latter, they tried to get a lion, but one of them were too busy mauling the Detroit Lions)

2. The two Doritos ads, including the "Free Doritos" one (By the way...the lady who got stripped to her lingerie in the "Power Of The Crunch" ad is Christina Wildes; keep an eye on her and take note of that name, 'cause just like Ali Landry, she's going to be very, very big!)

The "Free Doritos" commercial may have been tops in "USA Today's" annual AdMeter poll, but this is my #1 favorite from Super Bowl XLIII:

1. Budweiser Clydesdale Circus
(Just like the Clydesdale Team from last year, purely tender)

The other big sports story of the weekend belonged to Olympian Michael Phelps, whose photo of him being caught smoking marijuana published in a British tabloid had him in hot water. In a statement, he said "I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I'm 23 years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again." The International Olympic Committee ultimately accepted his apology.

I think Phelps took his new-found fame a bit too far, and I'm sure he's already learned from his mistake.

And last but not least...public radio listeners here in Fairbanks got some very super news when the cancellation of three shows led to the pickups of three new shows; one of them was worth the, uh..."wait, wait" after quite a while.

KUAC informed listeners on that "Calling All Pets", "AK", and "St. Paul Sunday", all airing on Sunday mornings, have been canceled. Starting next Sunday, "Pets" will be replaced by "On The Media", "St. Paul Sunday" by National Public Radio's "From The Top", and perhaps the most joyous news of them all...the extremely popular "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!" also from NPR, which I have been enjoying online and/or on my iPod for a couple of years, replaces "AK"!!!!

I think KUAC made a right move in revising their Sunday morning lineup, because after all...Ryan Seacrest with his "American Top 40" isn't all that entertaining but "Wait, Wait" is. So long and stay strong.