Hudson win supporting-acting Oscars, front-runner Murphy loses

LOS ANGELES – Jennifer Hudson won the supporting-actress Academy Award on Sunday for “Dreamgirls,” though her co-star and fellow front-runner Eddie Murphy lost the supporting-actor prize to Alan Arkin of “Little Miss Sunshine.”
“More than anything, I’m deeply moved by the open-hearted appreciation our small film has received, which in these fragmented times speaks so openly of the possibility of innocence, growth and connection,” said Arkin, who plays a foul-mouthed grandpa with a taste for heroin in the road comedy.
Hudson won an Oscar for her first movie, playing a powerhouse vocalist who falls on hard times after she is booted from a 1960s girl group. The role came barely two years after she shot to celebrity as an “American Idol” finalist.
“Oh my God, I have to just take this moment in. I cannot believe this. Look what God can do. I didn’t think I was going to win,” Hudson said through tears of joys. “If my grandmother was here to see me now. She was my biggest inspiration.”
The record holder for Oscar futility, sound engineer Kevin O’Connell, extended his losing streak to 19 nominations without a win. This time, O’Connell and two colleagues were nominated for sound mixing on “Apocalypto,” Mel Gibson’s portrait of the savage decline of the ancient Mayan empire, but they lost to another trio of sound engineers that worked on “Dreamgirls.”
Once an evening of backslapping and merrymaking within the narrow confines of Hollywood, the Academy Awards this time looked like a United Nations exercise in diversity.
The 79th annual Oscars feature their most ethnically varied lineup ever, with stars and stories that reflect the growing multiculturalism taking root around the globe.
“What a wonderful night. Such diversity in the room,” said Ellen DeGeneres, serving as Oscar host for the first time, “in a year when there’s been so many negative things said about people’s race, religion and sexual orientation.
“And I want to put this out there: If there weren’t blacks, Jews and gays, there would be no Oscars,” she said, adding: “Or anyone named Oscar, when you think about that.”