Europeans Clean-Up at Oscars

Designers will be able to hang up their needles and threads, as last night saw the most prestigious award ceremony of the year.

It is the one that everyone has been waiting for. The one everyone wants to be invited too. The one where everyone wants to win.

Of course it is the Academy Awards…or the Oscars to you and me.

The red carpet was rolled out at the Kodak Theatre at Hollwood & Highland Center® for the 80th ceremony...having seen more Jimmy Choo’s or Valentino gowns, over its years, than a girl could dream of.

With such a huge lead-up, it is doubtful that anyone could have predicted the outcome….

With Europe cleaned up, winning all four of the highly prestigious acting awards.

Nick Plowman explained how rare it is.

“Not one acting award went to an American, with Javier Bardem (Spainish), Daniel Day-Lewis (British born), Tilda Swinton (British) and Mation Cotillard (French) taking them all - something only achieved once before, in 1964. The Oscars truly are International.”

British and Irish national, Daniel Day-Lewis won the Best Male Oscar for his outstanding performance in “There Will Be Blood”. This is the second Oscar he has after previously winning one for his role in “My Left Foor: The story of Christy Brown”.

Michelle Forbes thought the British born Actor was the only clear winner in his category.

“Daniel Day Lewis totally deserves the Oscar. No one else is even close. If he wasn't in the race I'd say it was between George Clooney and Viggo Mortensen. It must have been a slow year for men though because I'm not sure why the other two [Jonny Depp and Tommy Lee Jones] were nominated. They were good, but Oscar?”

Tilda Swinton was the second Brit of the night to walk away with one of the top four awards, after winning Best Supporting Actress for ‘Michael Clayton’. This role also won her a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress.

But despite never having a leading role, she has quite a fan base.

Rick, writing for his blog The Trifecta, couldn’t speak more highly of the actress.

“I’ve always had a lot of respect for this fascinating actress. She’s had lots of small roles that have really stuck with me in some of my top tier films. I loved her business exec in Adaptation, her struggling mother in Thumbsucker, and her conflicted litigator in Michael Clayton was certainly Oscar worthy. Hopefully we’ll get to see more Tilda Swinton now, perhaps in some starring roles”

This was echoed by MSN Life and Style Blogger, Imogen Lloyd Webber.

“The more I hear about Tilda, the more I think: only made in Britain, and God how cool is this woman? She doesn’t give a flying f**k what people make of her outlandish outfits, or her unusual domestic set-up – she and her partner bring up their children in Scotland while she has a toy boy painter amour for when she’s not there.”

But she is not everyone’s cup of tea.

Alex Billington is clearly not her number one fan after writing:

“Best Supporting Actress, Tilda Swinton did not deserve it, hands down. Literally a minute before they announced the winner, I was telling Peter [his brother] that almost all of them were fairly good nominees, except for Swinton. She didn't seem to fit in that list, but anyone else would have been a fine and acceptable winner. And mere seconds later she won! Come on, over Amy Ryan or Cate Blanchet, or even Ruby Dee?!”

The BAFTA’s, two weeks previous to the Academy Awards, proved to be a great predictor for things to come.

Causing controversy after beating British leading ladies Keira Knightly and Julie Christie to the hotly tipped award in London, French actress Marion Cotillard again walked away with the Best Actress award for the second time this month.

Surely that is proof, if any, that she is well deserving?

Other winners last night included Ratatouille (Best Animated Feature), Juno (Best Original Screenplay), Atonement (Best Music Score) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Best Art Direction).

The big winner of the night was No Country For Old Men walking away with 4 Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director (Joel and Ethan Coen), Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem) and Best Adapted Screenplay.

That’s it for this year....All we have to do now is to think about the big winners for 2008.

Sex and the City, now that has Oscar written all over it!

You heard it here first…Watch this space!