Mo'Nique Wins An Academy Award For "Precious"!!

Odds-on favorite for best supporting actress, "Precious" star Mo'nique accepted the award presented by Robin Williams. It was the movie's second win for the night; it was Mo'Nique's 10th since the start of awards season.

"First, I would like to thank the Academy for showing it can be about the performance and not the politics," she said. Mo'Nique also thanked her husband "for showing me sometimes you have to forgo doing what's popular to do what's right."

Oscar forecasters had said the acting awards were in little doubt, a prediction that was bolstered when overwhelming favorite Christoph Waltz took home an Oscar for his performance as Col. Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds."

In two more non-shockers, "Up" won the Academy Award for best animated feature, and the Oscar for best original song went to Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett for their collaboration on "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)."

Somewhat less predictably, "The Hurt Locker" won its first Oscar for best original screenplay. Former journalist Mark Boal accepted the award and dedicated it to all the troops still serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Matthew Broderick and Molly Ringwald delivered a touching tribute to John Hughes, who died in August 2009. Before introducing a montage of Hughes' films, Broderick shared that every day of his life, someone taps him on the shoulder and says: "Hey, Ferris, is today your day off?" The pair was soon joined onstage by Brat Packers Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Jon Cryer, Anthony Michael Hall, and "Home Alone" star Macaulay Culkin.

For its opening act, Hollywood's biggest night began with all 10 best-actor and best-actress nominees lined up onstage, à la "American Idol." Then, 2009's Tony host, Neil Patrick Harris -- in what's most likely a sneak preview of the 2011 Oscars -- surprisingly appeared onstage to sing and dance his way through the opening musical number.

Soon the actual hosts, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, descended from above and delivered a routine that included jabs at their fellow actors in the crowd and an explanation of the Oscar voting process that, as Baldwin explained, always ends by nominating Meryl Streep. Streep was honored by Martin for her record as the most nominated actor of all time or, as Martin characterized it, "the most losses."