We flew in to Los Angeles from London and I came straight off the plane and straight into work with a heady combination of excitement and jetlag. We met Anil as he undertook a little eleventh hour grooming and told us he had been attending a non-stop series of pre-Oscar events since arriving from Mumbai just 24 hours earlier. We made arrangements to meet him at his hotel next day, on the morning of the Awards, with the intention of tapping into the thoughts of an actor about to experience one of the biggest moments of his career.
Oscar day had barely dawned when we went straight onto the red carpet to shoot our previews to the show. As many as ten hours before the ceremony was due to begin, the action on the carpet was beginning to heat up. People were polishing the giant Oscars which formed a silent guard on either side of the carpet. One of the camera crews joked he would pay the Oscar polisher a thousand dollars if he adorned the iconic statue with a moustache. The international media was out in force and I met reporters and camera crews from Japan, Germany, Israel, Spain and the UK – it was lovely to see a collaborative mood among the TV crews as they dodged each other trying to find their own little space in which to make their report. Camera crews collided as they backed into each other while keeping their reporters in the frame. It was during just such a manoeuvre that my frou frou frock attached itself to part of the flower arrangements and dragged them along trailing after me!
The first of the film fans were in position in the bleachers – as they are known in the US - by 8am. These were the lucky few who had won a lottery of over 20,000 people to obtain their tickets and they were suitably enthusiastic as each TV crew recruited them to add a little extra atmosphere to our reports, with an outburst of seemingly spontaneous applause and cheering. They were in fine voice for such an early hour.
After the red carpet we headed for Anil Kapoor’s suite at the Four Seasons Hotel, the residence of choice for many an Oscar nominee. We chatted before he donned his tuxedo jacket and left for the limousine to the Awards.
Then we crossed town from Beverly Hills to Hollywood to await the winners at the Governors’ Ball. We watched as ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ won one, then two then finally eight Oscars, including Best Picture, then the telecast ended and Hollywood’s finest headed upstairs to where we stood as one of only ten TV crews from around the world ready to meet the newly-crowned Oscar winners.
It felt like we were in a movie with so many ‘A-listers’ there. You’d turn around and suddenly there’d be Queen Latifah; suddenly Sean Penn would walk in; the next moment Anne Hathaway is standing there dripping in diamonds. I met a personal favourite of mine, Adrian Brody, who I’ve loved since the film ‘The Pianist’ and of course it was thrilling to see ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ clean up - especially since I’d got to know Anil Kapoor and followed the film’s progress so closely.
It was really lovely to see the child actors of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ or “Children of India” as Anil Kapoor puts it. They were flown in from India and joined the celebrations on the stage at the end of the ceremony - a charming, intelligent and articulate group they are. Usually these events don’t turn into parties as such and we almost lose track of what they’re about and they are a celebration of talent, so it was lovely to inject that personality, excitement and vibrancy back into the Oscars which I suppose to a degree can just seem like any other ceremony.
One special touch in this year’s telecast was the inclusion of previous Oscar winners to introduce each of the nominees for Best Actor and Actress.
When Kate Winslet won I sobbed my heart out – I was watching in the line waiting at the Governors Ball surrounded by lots of burly men and I think they were crying too.
When the last of the interviewees cleared the line at the Ball we hurried back to CNN’s LA bureau to report live into Europe’s breakfast shows – eight hours ahead of Pacific Time in Hollywood. A long day to survive in my heels – I had left my comfortable shoes in the hotel room and after such a day my feet deserved an award of their own!
Myleene Klass hosts ‘The Screening Room’ each month on CNN International HYPERLINK "http://www.cnn.com/screeningroom" www.cnn.com/screeningroom
