Written by James Rawson, Associate Producer at DFI

Going into this year’s Oscar ceremony, the prize winners all looked dead set. Of the top six awards (Picture, Director, Actor/Actress, Best Actor/Actress in a Supporting role) all had odds on favorites to win, with only the Best Actress in a Supporting Role category looking to have the slightest chance of an upset. To make matters worse, and much to the embarrassment of the Academy, hours before the event was to begin the ceremony’s heavily guarded running order was leaked online. All of the surprise guests, the quirky sketches, and even the hosts’ costume changes were out there for the world to see. An entertainment disaster.

But while the events of this year’s ceremony where, as usual, largely predictable, the way that people watched, discussed and analyzed it was markedly different. With live online streams, an iPad ‘Backstage Pass’ app (as well as various other apps that allowed you to choose from a variety of camera angles, and even to view the after show parties) and James Franco tweeting live videos taken with literally seconds to go before the show, watching the Oscars became for me, for the first time, a primarily online experience. After years of dwindling TV audiences, the Academy may have finally found a way to boost its viewing figures and, perhaps sensing that the ceremony was now opening up to a new, younger audience, they selected the two youngest hosts in the awards ceremony history: James Franco and Anne Hathaway.

The ceremony opened with a brilliant spoof that saw Franco and Hathaway planted into each of The Best Picture contenders via “Inception” (if you haven’t seen the film, I won’t bother trying to explain). Needless to say it featured cameos from Alec Baldwin and Morgan Freeman, and was probably the most entertaining five minutes of the evening. Twitter was immediately buzzing with compliments and the seal of approval had been stamped – but that wasn’t to last for long.

After the fun of the opening sketch, it was time for serious business: the awards. When “Inception” won for Best Cinematography instead of the favorite, Roger Deakins for “True Grit”, the twitterverse was in uproar (Britain’s Empire Magazine: Roger Deakins was robbed! (http://twitter.com/#!/empiremagazine). Then came a truly bizarre moment, when 94 year old Kirk Douglas (best known for his role in Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 version of Spartacus) was not content with just doing his job and reading out the nominations for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, but proceeded to flirt outrageously with Anne Hathaway, a woman 66 years his junior. “Kirk Douglas — thank u for Spartacus and giving Dalton Trumbo his life back. Now leave Anne Hathaway alone! #oscars” tweeted Oscar winner Michael Moore.

After Douglas had finally gotten around to handing the award to Melissa Leo for her role in “The Fighter”, Melissa promptly proceeded to ‘drop an F-bomb’ (the internet’s words, not mine), live on air for the first time in Oscar history. Shocking stuff, and if you search twitter for #fbomb, you’ll find a variety of analysis, none of which I will grace these pages with.

So the awards proceeded: four technical awards for “Inception” (Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Cinematography and Visual Effects), two for “Alice In Wonderland” (Art Direction and Costume Design – can you win for CGI costumes?), two supporting role wins for “The Fighter” (the previously mentioned Melissa Leo and Christian Bale, who was in full cockney Londoner mode) and a heavily pregnant Natalie Portman who took Best Actress, the only award for “The Black Swan”.

If there was any drama in the nominations, it was between “The Social Network” and “The King’s Speech”. “The King’s Speech” was always the clear favorite, and walked away with four awards (Best Picture, Director, Actor and Original Screenplay) to the three for “The Social Network” (Best Adapted Screenplay, Original Score and Editing). Colin Firth gave an effortlessly charming speech for his Best Actor award, combining humor with heartfelt thanks. A rare heartwarming moment in a mostly forgettable show.

How does the Oscars recover from its most serious problem of becoming devastatingly predictable? I don’t know. But I’m certainly glad that the internet has now provided a forum where we can come together to grumble, discuss and critique together. But PLEASE, can we have a few more surprises next year?

Written by James Rawson