Slumdog Millionaire. It's time to party, Slumdoggystyle, Mumbai! Eight awards, including Best Director and Best Picture. What an achievement. What a night. The whole cast and crew is up on the dais, over twenty strong. Jai Hindi! They're calling Mumbai a 'fabulous' city. Anil Kapoor is there, immaculate mustache on display! What a night!

And now the Don of Hollywood on to present the Best Picture Award. Steven Spielberg announces that the winner is...

Stunning visuals accompany the run-up to the presentation for best Actor. And though most thought that Brad Pitt or Mickey Rourke would carry the day, instead it is Sean Penn for his role in Milk, who's captured the award! Congratulations, Mr Penn! A bit of a political speech from Mr Penn. But that's to be expected.

The winner is Kate Winslet for The Reader! She breaks the 13 year curse and is justly rewarded for her fantastic work, year in and year out. Now, let's see how she handles this speech.

And again they're using this interesting format, where former winners announce the nominees in a given category. This time, it's best Female Lead (former winner Halle Berry looks stunning! Sophie Loren? Not so much). Up for the award are Anne Hatheway, Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep, Melissa Leo and Angelina Jolie.

And he's done it! Danny Boyle has done it! Best Director for Danny Boyle and Slumdog millionaire. He jumps for joy (literally), and with good reason. It's the films seventh award. He gives a great speech and finishes it off with a heartfelt thanks to Mumbai.

Again, must mention how impressive Hugh Jackman has been. The rugged Aussie is deftly manoeuvring about the stage, controlling the action without hogging the limelight. He passes the stage on to Reese Witherspoon, of Legally Blonde fame, who is wearing a gorgeous dark blue/purple gown. She's giving the award for Best Director, where Danny Boyle must be considered the favourite.

Looking regal and royal in blue, Queen Latifa is on-stage in a gown quite befitting of her name She leads us into another of these cool montages. The big awards are so close we can almost taste them! Only a few more minutes!

Now the lovely, exquisite, delightful Freida Pinto is on-stage to present the award for Best Foreign Film. The girl exudes class, whether it's on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, in the pages of Vanity Fair or on the red carpet at awards show. The winner is Departures, a Japanese film.

And Jai Ho has won the Oscar for Best Song! Two Oscars for India's finest modern musician! What a night to remember. India at the Oscars will never be looked at the same. And a classy, gracious acceptance speech from Mr Rahman. Well deserved, sir. Well deserved. You've made all of India proud! Slumdog, for those keeping count, has collected a staggering six awards already.

And an incredible treat, the great AR Rahman is performing live at the Oscars. Wah! Wah! Triple Wah! O Saya is by Rahman himself, and accompanied by a platoon of dancers and drummers. It segues to a Western song and soon comes back to Rahman. This time, it's the song that made the film famous: Jai Ho! And now it's a collaborative effort. East meets West. And it sounds great! The crowd is on its collective feet, applauding. Now, to see how he does in the Best Song category.

And the winner is AR Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire! He's looking dapper in a black sherwani. Like a good Indian boy, he mentioned his mother and said a few words in his native tongue. India has arrived, ladies and gents. There's no point denying it now!

A lovely piece of orchestral music leads us into the award for best Original Score. AR Rahman, India's son, is up for the award...

Ahh, we're well past the halfway stage, at this point. Now it's time to dig into the really meaty awards: best film, actor, actress, director, etc. Where as previous years have dragged, this year's show is flying by.

And we're back, to find the enormously talented, uproariously funny Eddy Murphy on-stage. He gives a classy introduction to film legend and comedy guru Jerry Lewis, who comes on briefly to accept the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian.

And the winner is Slumdog Millionaire!??! Wah! Wah! The film is really and truly hitting a six in cinema's version of the World Cup. Chris Dickens brings it home (Best Film Editing), with a classy and gracious 'thank you'. In true stiff-upper-lip fashion he thanks his Indian hosts, his English friends and his own family. Classy, classy. Slumdog has won four awards!

Another award presented by Will Smith? He might as well have been named co-host. The award is for Best Film Editing. Can Slumdog win another?

And the Best Sound Mixing award goes to Slumdog Millionaire's Resul Pookutty. Amchi Mumbai, the movie is, and it captures the living, breathing pulse of India's most famous megacity, the city of Dreams! And now some genuine, authentic praise of 'Bombay', as he says. Who would have thought? Its sights and sounds are now centre-stage, having captured the world's heart!

Smith is staying on and presenting the Best Sound Mixing award. He's owning the stage! Ahh, Slumdog now has a chance for redemption.

Oh no! It's the first big letdown of the night! Slumdog has lost out to The Dark Knight for best sound editing. It's sad, of course, but one can see why it happened. The truck flip sequence and the countless explosions in The Dark Knight were too much for Slumdog and the sounds of Mumbai to overcome.

Will Smith is flashing his trademark humour, even as he trips over the name of the category. It's a fun show tonight, no doubt. The Oscars are back in a big way.

Now, another Slumdog Nominee category is up - Best Sound Editing.

And the winner is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a film which is really cleaning up here tonight. Marvellous stuff, too, the work they did on this film.

Now, Hollywood's sure-fire hit star, Will Smith is presenting the Academy Award for best Visual Effects.

Smile Pinki! This is really and truly India's night, ladies and gentleman. Smile Pinki!, the story of a Uttar Pradesh village girl born with cleft lip, is the winner! Megan Mylan, the director, is very gracious in her acceptance speech. Pinki is actually on hand, with her parents. What a trip! From rural UP to the red carpet in LA; the world truly is shrinking. Now, will its big brother -- Slumdog Millionaire -- win a few more awards? Ahh, the suspense!

And now the Best Documentary (Short). Smile Pinki, a film based in Benares, is up for the award. The winner is...

And the winner is The Betrayal. One of the most important, but sometimes overlooked categories, this. Wow, and one of the guys from The Betrayal is balancing the Oscar on his chin! Madness! Isn't this fun?

Bill Maher, of Religulous fame, is on-stage, cracking jokes 'bout religion. That's walking on egg shells, most certainly. Mr Maher is presenting the award for Best Documentary.

Let's take a moment for Heath Ledger, only the second man to win an acting Oscar posthumously.

The winner is Heath Ledger! Tears are in abundance in the audience, as Ledger's parents accept the Best Supporting Actor award and make a touching, poignant, powerful speech.

And now one of the awards we've all been waiting for. It's Cuba Gooding Jr presenting the Best Supporting Actor award. And though there are many who believe that Robert Downey Jr should be tagged for his superb performance in Tropic Thunder, the odds on favourite is the late Heath Ledger, who positively sparkled as the Joker in the Dark Knight.

As for the song, his partner is the inimitable Beyonce. It's a proper musical, with several songs, top-hats, sequined gowns. They've done it up and done it big. It's an homage to High School Musical, to Mamma Mia!, to musicals from years past. Great stuff.

Another song and dance number, kicked off by the personable Jackman. There were many concerns over the Aussie's ability to handle the crowd, but he's been downright masterful. Perfect sense of humour, perfect sense of gravitas, and the perfect smile.

Twitter is abuzz after the Stiller impersonation of Joaquin Phoenix. Absolute incineration, decimation and destruction, they're saying. A BBC correspondent is jokingly saying that Phoenix 'will never work in Hollywood again'.

Now the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film. And the winner is Spielzeugland (Toyland). The show is just flying along this year.

Lots of clever features, diversions, extras. And the show is moving at quite a brisk pace, hopping from montage, to presentation, to humour skit. Now we have Seth Rogan and another stoner from Pineapple Express watching serious scenes from serious films and laughing at them. A funny piece.