Given that Helen Mirren was such a dead cert to win best actress, it would have been a pretty poor show if her speech hadn't been up to much. As it turned out, it wasn't a vintage Oscars acceptance, but it was carefully crafted to get her to the top of every British TV news bulletin.
After her now-customary tribute to the monarch's dutiful reign, praising her "courage and consistency", Mirren raised her statuette aloft and cried: "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Queen!"
Nice one. If that doesn't lead everything from GMTV to Newsnight, I'll eat my Oscars running order.
Forest Whitaker, another favourite, had wisely taken care over his words. Building up from a heart-tugging tribute to his home in east Texas, he worked up to thanking the people of Uganda, his ancestors, and - by now in a booming, rooftop-raising voice - God, "who has given me this moment in this lifetime that I will hopefully carry to the end of my lifetime and into the next lifetime".
In an otherwise so-so year for speeches, God was something of a theme. "Oh my God. I have to just take this moment in. I can't believe it. I didn't think I was going to win. Look what God can do!" That was former American Idol contestant and best supporting actress for Dreamgirls, Jennifer Hudson. I just hope God was watching.
In an attempt to keep the acceptance speeches to a reasonable length, the orchestra's keyboard player had been instructed to interrupt with a little light tinkling, as a hint for the winner to get off the stage. Presumably that was to ensure that the shows' producers could fit in more special awards, tributes to Al Gore and interpretive dance.
Yes, you read correctly. For a reason that remains illusory to me, it was decided that each best picture would be honoured with a minute-long exposition by means of silhouetted dancers making appropriate shapes behind a white screen. And no, I can't really explain it any better than that.
