"Slumdog Millionaire" wins big at Oscars

"This award tonight would have humbly validated his quiet determination to be truly accepted by you all here, his peers, in an industry he truly loved," Kim Ledger said.

In other awards, Dustin Lance Black won the best original screenplay Oscar for writing "Milk, and "Wall-E," telling of a futuristic robot who finds love while on a polluted Earth, was best animated film.

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" walked off with two statuettes for best art direction and makeup, and "The Duchess" won for best costume design.

"Man on Wire" about a tightrope walker who dared to walk between New York's Twin Towers was named best documentary.

In the night's one big surprise, Japanese movie "Departures" beat the favorite, Israeli film "Waltz With Bashir," for foreign language film.

JACKMAN ADDS MUSIC

As the ceremony began, host Hugh Jackman put the show in full musical mode with an opening routine that drew a standing ovation from the star-studded crowd.

The number covered all five of the best film nominees and had Jackman dancing hip hop, hitting high notes in a duet with Hathaway for "Frost/Nixon" and climbing to the top rope of a fake wrestling ring to crescendo his song with "The Wrestler."

Later, he performed an old-style number in top hat and tails with Beyonce, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens. Among the funnier acts was Ben Stiller doing an impersonation of a wacky Joaquin Phoenix, who has quit acting to take up hip hop music.

Jackman had been brought in to restore some fun to a show that has seen a slide in television viewership in recent years as Academy members have generally favored dark dramas.