The Dixie Chicks took home five awards at last night’s Grammys, one in every category they were nominated for. They are said to be planning to break up now that the Grammys are over, as they want to slow down and spend more time with their families. People say that it shows that lead singer Natalie Maines’ outspoken opposition in the first stage of the war, while extremely controversial at the time, has been accepted. Now they’re being honored for their music instead of being bitch-slapped for their political views:

The Dixie Chicks won all five awards they were nominated for, sweet vindication after the superstars’ lives were threatened and sales plummeted when Maines criticized President Bush on the eve of the Iraq war in 2003. Almost overnight, one of the most successful groups of any genre was boycotted by Nashville and disappeared from country radio.

With “Taking the Long Way,” the women relied on producer Rick Rubin’s guidance for an album that was more rock and less country. (Rubin, who also produced “Stadium Arcadium,” was honored as producer of the year.)

The standing ovations the Chicks received Sunday illustrated how much the political climate has changed regarding the Iraq war, and even Bush.

“That’s interesting,” Maines crowed from the podium after the country award was handed out earlier in the night. “Well, to quote the great ‘Simpsons’ — ‘Heh-Heh.’

“Just kidding,” added Maines. “A lot of people just turned their TVs off right now. I’m very sorry for that.”

Bandmate Emily Robison noted, “We wouldn’t have done this album without everything we went through, so we have no regrets.”

Maybe they’ll see this as their high point and decide to call it quits, or it’s possible they’ll stay together now that all their hard work has been vindicated.

It sounds kind of stupid for Maines to use Nelson’s catchphrase like that, and it’s typical of her to blurt stuff out. At least she apologized afterwards, and maybe it didn’t come off like that at the Grammys. I totally agree with her about the war, and I did at the time she said it, but she still comes off as mouthy to me and kind of abrasive. Maybe that’s just the way the media portrayed her, but if she’s saying shit like “ha ha!” at the Grammys, they probably weren’t far off.

Pictures from Gossip Rocks.

Angelina Jolie’s sense of style has changed over the years, but it seems she has always favored black and white solids. Everyone was talking about how she snogged her androgynous stepbrother at the 2000 Oscars when she won for best supporting actress in Girl, Interrupted. She had a gothic look with long black straight hair, kohl-rimmed eyes and a Versace dress.

The next year she wore a simple white Dolce and Gabbana pantsuit, muted makeup and pulled back hair for a much different business-like sporty style. She looks much better at the 2001 Oscars because she’s smiling a lot, getting along with her dad, and generally looking happy and upbeat.

At the 2004 Oscars, Angelina wore a memorable white satin Marc Bouwer gown with a plunging neckline that didn’t leave much to the imagination. Her hair was swept up at the top bt down, and gorgeous jewelry complimented the outfit. She was more elegant at the 2004 ceremony and worked it on the red carpet, although there’s at least one picture of her cutting loose and laughing.

And here’s a cute fuzzy clip of Angelina at the 1986 Oscars with her dad, Jon Voight. Voight was nominated for best actor for his role in Runaway Train, but the award went to William Hurt for Kiss of the Spider Woman. Voight has been nominated for an Academy Award four times, and had previous won a best actor Oscar for 1978’s Coming Home.

Pictures from Absolutment Jolie.

Standout fashion at last night’s SAG Awards included Cate Blanchett’s gorgeous gold dress, and Catherine Heigl’s red floaty gown. Eva Longoria looked ok, her makeup was toned down for once and I liked the style of her dress, but the slate grey color wasn’t that flattering. Jada Pinkett Smith also wore a color that didn’t flatter her, and was seen in a bright pink strapless criss-cross gown. The color was too garish but the cut of the dress was lovely.

Mariska Hargitay’s gown was too fussy. I don’t like the weird ribbon thing hanging down the middle or the way the skirt is split into a fitted top with a loose ribboned bottom. Teri Hatcher’s gown is pretty, but has a sort-of barbie quality about it and doesn’t stand out for me.

Rachel McAdams is the worst dressed that I’ve seen. She paried a too-short babydoll dress that hung like a tent with cheap looking white pumps that looked too big for her feet. She can rock that pink hair and punk look without dressing trashy.

Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Tracey Edmonds, Eddie Murphy, Kyra Sedgwick, Ryan Gosling, and Anne Hathaway are also pictured.

Photos of the winners in the press room coming shortly.

Update: Pictures of Kyra Sedgwick are from the Golden Globes. Thanks jen!

Update: Kyra Sedgwick pictures are from the Golden Globes, not the SAG awards. Thanks

Thanks to Saving Face Forum, Hollywood’s Best, Gossip Rocks, Bossip and Fab Sugar for these pictures.

The Oscar nominations were announced today and the big news is that despite earning nods in a lot of minor categories, Dream Girls isn’t in contention for best picture. It did get the most nominations, with eight total including best supporting actress for Jennifer Hudson and best supporting actor for Eddie Murphy. Both took home Golden Globes in those categories and are favorites to win. Babel was a close second with seven nominations including best picture, best supporting actress, and best director.

Best Picture
Babel
The Departed
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

Best Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Peter O’Toole, Venus
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Best Actress
Penelope Cruz, Volver
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, Little Children

Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Dijmon Hinsou, Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Mark Wahlberg, The Departed

Best Supporting Actress
Adriana Barraza, Babel
Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Riko Kikuchi, Babel

[via Socialite's Life]

Hopefully The Departed will win more than just best director. Scorsese’s muse DiCaprio says Scorsese’s Oscar is long overdue, and I bet he’ll win in that category. Overall that film was incredible, and I cannot recommend it enough.

Whatever happens, I hope that the Oscars are not as long and wicked boring as they were last year. There’s no way I’m staying up all night to live blog that shit again.

People blamed host Jon Stewart, but the fact that they dragged on forever wasn’t his fault.

The Oscars will be aired live on February 25th at 8PM EST on ABC.

It Ain’t the Algonquin … but it’s worth pulling up a chair

Security was tight. For the first time, NEWSWEEK’S annual OSCAR roundtable was held in public, at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. We made sure to keep a few of the celebrities’ names secret, and arranged for all of them to arrive via an inconspicuous side entrance to the theater.

I’m actually a little hard pressed to get my celebitchy all the way on for this really rather charming Oscar roundtable with Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Helen Mirren, Forest Whitaker, Penelope Cruz and of course — Leonardo DiPorkChop. All possibly up for nominations tomorrow at 5:30 AM EST.

Everyone really plays to type –but they are excellent performers:
Mirren is earthy and witty; Brad is wickedly self-deprecating (with a little chummy Clooney deprecating thrown in for kicks); Penelope is charmingly honest and has good stories with great punchlines; Cate Blanchett is a touch too ethereal and hair twirly (from some angles gorgeous from some others … very like a haddock); Forest Whitaker is the leaven in the lump (and clearly Paris Hilton’s role model for success as a wonky eyed wonder) … and Leo DeCaps once again takes himself far too seriously – Brad takes him down a couple of pegs more than once – but his need for peggage far outstrips any one man’s efforts. Listen I liked him in Gilbert Grape … but its been rapidly downhill since.

I’m not a huge Pitt fan, but his off screen demeanor is starting to win me over.

On the minus side - I don’t know who the interviewers are … but they are pretty low brow and both have a terrible nasal intonation and that same oddly ingratiating manner that the bearded creep on “The Actors Studio” has … really makes your skin crawl … but it does also highlight what attractive speaking voices (except for the Porkchop) these actors have – I kind of started to get the grouping .. I guess we will see tomorrow morning who powers through to the Finals.

Highlight:
Mirren and Cruz sharing padded butt stories — I did not see that one coming.

It’s most definitely worth a listen, watch, and read (ain’t the multi-media web grand — just coming at you in all directions).

House is my husband’s favorite show, perhaps with the exception of The BBC’s fine car porn series, Top Gear. He told me that I absolutely had to watch Hugh Laurie’s Golden Globes acceptance speech, and he was right: It was quite entertaining and spontaneously humorous for an acceptance speech. I was also surprised to hear Laurie’s British accent, because I stupidly assumed he was a self-righteous American guy like his character on House.

In his acceptance speech, Laurie quipped that he should have received his acceptance speech from a sponsor, and that he had to thank his crew, but that not all crews must be as admirable as his.

Hugh Laurie is clearly different from his character on House, but he’s obviously thoughtful and thinks fast on his feet, much like his character on House. I’m all confused now.

Laurie is a well known comedic actor in his native England. He has been married to his wife, Jo, a theatre administrator, since 1989. They have three children: Charlie, 17, Bill, 15, and Rebecca, 12. (His children may technically be one year younger, as it was hard to find their exact birthdates.)

Laurie wrote a well-reviewed book in the late 90s about a goofy James Bond-type character called The Gun Seller.

Five years ago he spoke candidly to the British press about his battle with depression following a brief extramarital affair. Laurie recommended therapy as a means to work through depression, and said it helped him immensely. He seems down to earth and grateful for his success.

In terms of the other nominees in the category of best actor in a TV drama, let me say that my husband and I watched all 13 episodes of Dexter on demand through Time Warner while we were in the states this holiday. We got addicted to it and could not stop until we saw every episode. I also watched four episodes of Big Love on demand last summer until it was pulled from the digital cable offerings, probably to entice people to buy the DVD. That show is also excellent, and Bill Paxton deserved the nomination. I really miss American TV. (There is a remote TV viewing option called Slingbox that we wanted to try, but it would have required a too-long wire in my parent’s house, despite being easy to install.)

Pictures of Hugh at the Golden Globes found at Gossip Rocks.

Page Six reports that Sacha Baron Cohen, better known as Borat, Ali G and Bruno, didn’t pose for pictures at a pre Golden Globes party. He looks a bit reluctant posing with his Globe at the Paramount after party in these pictures. They say he wants to stay out of the spotlight and it could be so that he can continue pulling the wool over people’s eyes while in character. He’s about to film a new movie as another one of his alter egos, flaming Austrian fashion commentor Bruno, and doesn’t want to be recognized.

Stardom seems to have gone to the head of Sacha Baron Cohen, who attended HBO’s pre-Golden Globes party at the Chateau Marmont, but refused to pose for photos. “He needs to stop being so recognizable,” laughed one spy.

Cohen - who seems more comfortable when he stays in character as Ali G or Borat - is said to be “shunning publicity” to prepare for his next movie, where he’ll star as his third character, the flamboyant Austrian fashion reporter Bruno.

My favorite Bruno bit is when he interviews a Miami club owner and asks him how he makes sure undesirables - like people in wheelchairs - can’t get in. The guy answers all serious-like that he just puts people off to the side and makes them wait. (At least that’s how I remember it.)

I’ve read this before about Cohen, and it seems like he wants to keep his personal life private and is only comfortable being in the spotlight when he’s in character. He’s dedicated to the Jewish faith and keeps the Sabbath, which seems like a wild contrast to the misogynistic Kazakh who sang “throw the Jew down the well” to a room full of cheering yokels.

I wonder what kind of psychological issues that can create in a person. There was a story in mid November about Hugh Laurie saving Cohen from getting beaten up by an angry guy on the street who was the victim of one of Borat’s pranks. Commentors said at that time that Cohen is a lot like Andy Kaufman of Taxi fame. Poor Boopie said “This is a guy who does not like to be out of character and blurs the line between character and reality.” (Andy Kaufman was so good at character-based comedy, that some fans still doubt that Kaufman is dead, calling it an elaborate hoax. Kaufman was said to have died in 1984 of renal failure caused by a rare form of lung cancer. Kaufman was a non-smoker and told people that he waunted to fake his death.)

There seems to be a difference between playing a role for years, like on a long-running soap opera, and pretending you actually are that character when you meet other people IRL. Maybe Cohen just doesn’t want fans to know who he is so they’ll be more convinced by his obnoxious characters. It’s got to affect him, thogh, and his kind of apologetic look here suggests that the “real” Cohen isn’t that comfortable in the spotlight.

Here’s Cohen’s Golden Globe acceptance speech. He seems all serious in the beginning, and then cracks a joke about having his costar sit on his face:

Update: pictures removed due to end of subscription agreement with photo agency.

The only dress that I find striking in this group is Jessica Biel’s. She looks gorgeous in this simple white beaded dress with clean lines and a flattering cut. Her upswept hair, understated makeup, and matching earrings all compliment the look perfectly.

Penelope Cruz is lovely as usual, but I’m not digging her her southern belle of a black dress.

Eva Longoria doesn’t look bad, but her eye makeup is overdone and I don’t like the beading or the shape of her dress.

Rachel Weisz needs some more accessories to go with this monochromatic dress, and she should work it a little more on the red carpet.

I am sitting here in jeans and a tank top, and am in no way qualified to judge these gorgeous women, or any of the other celebrities I diss on a daily basis.

Pictures from Gossip Rocks.

Is there such a thing as a facial expression coach? Surely there are acting coaches who can help celebrities perfect their smile for the red carpet. You know who I’m referring to - poor lemon face Renee Zellwegger. She’s just got to train herself to stop making that sour pout. Her dress, undoubtedly Carolina Herrera, is safe and decent. She looks like she’s going to a cocktail party instead of an awards ceremony.

And Beyonce is ready to play Vegas in that metallic number. Somehow Cate Blanchett makes that lace assymetric black dress with the skinny belt work. She takes calculated fashion risks and unlike - say, Gwen Stefani, she usually pulls them off.

Jennifer Love Hewitt looks like she’s going to the prom in that copper number with the big bow, but I have to say her hair and makeup look gorgeous. It looks like smoky metallic eyes and neutral lips are in. Cameron Diaz didn’t get the memo.

Pictures from Gossip Rocks.

Drew, J.Lo, and Evangeline all looked lovely at the Golden Globes. I’m impressed with J.Lo’s makeup, which has looked mismatched recently but seems just right and not overdone here. Drew is a vision in white. She’s appearing in the upcoming film Music and Lyrics By with Hugh Grant, and judging from the way they’re posing kind of far from each other I would say this appearance is for professional reasons, but I would like to be wrong.

Evangeline Lilly’s dress is a gorgeous swirl of muted pastels and I love her loose curly hair.

Cameron Diaz is a haughty mess. She tried to pull off upswept carefree hair, but her hair is too straight and it just looks messy. Those bright red glossy lips look clownish, and I can’t stand her frilly white dress. She’s taking too many risks here at once, and falls flat. Am I being too harsh on her?

Pictures from Gossip Rocks.