Record low for Oscars

Films about psychopaths, greedy oilmen, and corrupt lawyers failed to click with moviegoers, and they proved a turnoff to television viewers - this year's Oscars show hit record low ratings. The 80th anniversary edition of the Academy Awards, dominated by European stars and films that played poorly at the box office, averaged 32 million viewers, the least watched Oscar telecast ever. (Reuters)

With Vanity Fair sitting out this year's celebrations, the belle of the Oscars parties was a piano-playing Elton John. The 60-year-old singer's 16th annual viewing dinner and after-party benefiting the Elton John AIDS Foundation topped other bashes Sunday, with 750 guests and a bevy of A-list stars who sipped cocktails and feasted on a four-course meal under the Pacific Design Center's red-draped tent. Vanity Fair's lavish, celebrity-drenched annual affair, typically the top Oscar-night party, was canceled weeks earlier, before the end of the writers strike. After greeting each table, John (inset) pounded out the first of 11 songs, the first time in several years that he has played a full set with an entire band at his own party. John, who wore an ornate Yohji Yamamoto black suit, silver tie, and black-framed eyeglasses, pointed at the crowd and banged on his piano. Patricia Clarkson waved her arms in the air. Calista Flockhart swayed next to beau Harrison Ford. Petra Nemcova jumped on a few chairs and shimmied. Faye Dunaway bopped her head. Mary J. Blige sang a duet with John, as did Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears, clad in a neon yellow-green suit, who jumped on John's piano and did the twist. The party's second biggest belle of the evening was Marion Cotillard, clutching her best actress trophy for "La Vie en Rose." "I am a big fan of hers. I was very moved by her win," said a teary-eyed Sharon Stone. Sean Penn, who snagged a best-actor win for 2003's "Mystic River," called this year's winner, Daniel Day-Lewis, "the greatest actor ever recorded on film." Lewis won for his performance in "There Will Be Blood." Ellen DeGeneres, seated next to Portia de Rossi and Josh Groban, said Oscar host Jon Stewart was "doing a great job." DeGeneres, who hosted last year's Oscars, joked: "It's better to host. It goes faster." (AP)

Gary Busey has apologized - sort of - for his strange behavior on the red carpet before the Oscars. Calling into Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio show, Busey said he was merely excited to meet Seacrest. "Well, what I wanted to do was when I first saw you working, I said, 'Who is this guy?' And I said, 'Oh God, this isn't going to work.' And then you captured me. . . . You are to me, when you're working, an innocent champion of honesty. Your heart has a way to embrace the truth in your delivery without looking like you are reading a script." Busey startled Jennifer Garner outside the Kodak Theatre, planting a kiss on her neck as she stood alongside Laura Linney.

The late actor Brad Renfro was cut from the video tribute at the Oscars to save time. That's the word from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "It was really an editing decision because we can't fit everyone in," said the Academy rep. "There was no specific reason." The memorial tribute did include footage of late actor Heath Ledger, who died a week after Renfro. Best known for his role in "The Client," Renfro died of a heroin overdose in his Los Angeles home Jan. 15.

Whoopi Goldberg seemed sad and choked up on "The View" yesterday when her fellow cohosts discussed how she was not included in a montage featuring Oscar hosts during the Academy Awards telecast. She hosted the event in 1994, 1996, 1999, and 2002. Goldberg appeared stumped that the Academy would leave her out of the clip, as well as repeat host Steve Martin. "Undoubtedly I [bleeped] somebody off yet again. You know what, I don't - I don't know." (AP)

Will and I have talked about this because he has the ears!' Barack Obama, saying that if a movie were made about his life he'd want Will Smith to play him.