The 2009 Oscar winners came out to be very close to predictions made so far. Hosted by Hugh Jackman, the awards ceremony was quite different from previous ones. Less lavish, but splendidly done nonetheless.

Kate Winslet (she looks better and better each day) finally won an Oscar after several nominations in the past. She nabbed the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of an ex-Nazi prison officer in The Reader.

Best Actor was won by Sean Penn for Milk, though we were hoping it would go to Brad Pitt. However, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button still won three awards in other categories.

Slumdog Millionaire won the Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as several other categories. It bagged a total of eight Oscars.

The most talked about award however, was undoubtedly that for Best Supporting Actor.

As predicted, this was won posthumously by the late Heath Ledger for his chilling and brilliant portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight.

The award was collected by his family from Down Under and will remain in their safekeeping until his daughter is old enough to have it.

Congratulations to all the winners. Till next year.