Pitchfork

New mother M.I.A. missed out on the Oscar telecast, and then missed out on the Oscar itself, as her fellow Slumdog Millionaire nominee A.R. Rahman took home the trophies for both Original Score and Original Song-- the latter for his Bollywood closing-credit number "Jai Ho". M.I.A. and Rahman's "O... Saya" was considered a longshot for the song award-- also in competition was Peter Gabriel's "Down to Earth", from WALL-E-- and was even relegated to a near afterthought in a mercilessly short song medley that saw John Legend pinch-hit for a protesting Gabriel (he refused to perform the song in abbreviated form) and we learned (OK, I learned) that Rahman also actually sings.

The broadcast on the whole was more musical than usual-- no surprise with screenwriter and director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls; forthcoming Aaliyah biopic) co-producing and musical theater vet Hugh Jackman hosting. The musical adjustments were hit and miss: Jackman's opening number was actually both funny and entertaining, but a tribute to musicals was a bit of an indulgence on the part of the producers, and a clumsy way to shoehorn box-office winners/critical losers High School Musical and Mamma Mia! into the proceedings.

Also a bit off: Queen Latifah serenading the deceased. Ostensibly a move to eliminate the tacky applause that punctuates the video montage of movie greats who have passed on since the last telecast, it may have worked in the room for that reason, but the decision to often broadcast the stage rather than focus simply on the short film itself made Latifah oddly compete with her subject and the screen even difficult to read.

The best musical decision of the night was more subtle: Moving the band from an orchestra pit to the stage, which allowed both closer proximity between the host/podium and audience and, in combination with the excellent set design, gave the proceedings a loose yet classic showbiz feel that Condon was clearly aiming for.

Other broadcast highlights: Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black's eloquent acceptance speech-- by some distance the night's best; the Steve Martin-Tina Fey double act; Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen, and James Franco's short, Pineapple Express-inspired film-- particularly their skewering of typical Oscar bait The Reader and Doubt; Penelope Cruz's graceful acceptance; Kate Winslet's dad's whistle; Anne Hathaway's opening-number appearance; overdue recognition of Danny Boyle; grouping categories together under the baton of a few presenters and generally cutting down on the corny banter between those at the podium.

Things that didn't work: The shout-outs from past winners, which were sometimes awkward and rarely entertaining. They were probably nice for the nominees but it was a drag on the broadcast, unless you were somehow hoping they'd find a way to work greats like Cuba Gooding Jr. or Goldie Hawn into the night...

Oddly annoying: Much as I love Man on Wire-- and the central feat in the film is beyond staggering-- Phillipe Petit's spritely joy-bringing and pranksterism is moving from "charming and boyish" to "Roberto Benigni" with every new public appearance.

Biggest downer of all: Mickey Rourke losing. Sean Penn was great and all, but the entertainment value of the night would have been about 100x higher had Rourke taken the stage. Plus, it was deserved.

Most of the other Oscar crimes took place well before the ceremony this year, with the inevitable march of middlebrow inconsequences like Doubt, Frost/Nixon, Changeling, and Forrest Benjamin Button to multiple precursor and Oscar nods at the expense of actual great films and performances like WALL-E, The Wrestler, Sally Hawkins and Eddie Marsan in Happy-Go-Lucky (and the film itself), John Malkovich in Burn After Reading (and art direction, or whichever one of these rewards creating a dildo chair), and Michelle Williams in Wendy and Lucy, as well as the still-unbelievable snub of Bruce Springsteen.

Dōmo arigatō, Mr. Roboto!