I've never actually watched the Oscars before, but tonight I decided to get into the spirit. A bottle of wine and too many chocolate truffles later, I still don't get it. Sure, Jon Stewart's trademark snark is always good for a chuckle, it's nice to see Owen Wilson out and about, and Daniel Day-Lewis scares the crap out of me (in a good way), but it all still seems like a bunch of gilded hype. Fortunately, there was no shortage of musical moments for me to blog about:

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova took the Best Song statue for "Falling Slowly" from Once. The pair were endearingly giddy--just as humble as independent artists in a room full of money are expected to be. Their win was an upset, as 3/5ths of the category was filled by Enchanted's Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz--with a history of 26 nominations between them. Hansard triumphantly gave a very short acceptance speech that culminated in a quick chant of "Make Art," and just as Irglova stepped up to do the same, those Academy bastards played her off.

Boo.

Fortunately, Stewart swept her onstage after the commercial break, giving her the opportunity to salvage a small portion of her triumphant moment. The petite 19-year-old then went on to give one of the evening's most sincere, if ironic, speeches; "No matter how far out your dreams are, it's possible," Irglova began. "And, you know, fair play to those who dare to dream, and don't give up." Fair play, that is, except on the Academy stage.

In the evening's other music biggies, Atonement's Dario Marianelli took the Oscar for original score; Cate Blanchett's portrayal of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There was passed over for best supporting actress; And for her turn as Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose, Marion Cotillard accepted her award for best actress by declaring to director Olivier Dahan, "You've rocked my life! You've truly rocked my life!"

As for the performances, well. The three numbers from Enchanted were well-staged but lackluster. Despite the hugely talented cast, each number came off as a bit too reminiscent of theme park theatre. Hansard and Irglova picked up the slack during their performance, but the evening's musical peak arrived courtesy of Harlem's Impact Reperatory Theatre; performing "Raise It Up" from August Rush, the choir featured an 11-year-old soloist (Jamia Simone Nash) that simply wailed.