I didn't watch the red carpet, but the on-stage dresses were better this year than most, I thought. Queen Latifah wore the worst --- blue with some sort of black tassel band over her shoulder. I didn't like Reese Witherspoon's dress either, but Halle Berry looked amazing, Sophia Loren pulled off her ruffly beige creation, and the French woman who played Edith Piaf was beautiful. I think they need to do something about the 'regular' folks who get up to the podium, like the woman in the phenomenal red satin evening dress who got an award for a short documentary or something like that -- she really needed some lipstick and a comb to carry off the dress... And Heath Ledger's family needed to play down the ruffles and rhinestones considering they were accepting the award posthumously -- I would have suggested black and simple.
As for Hugh Jackman - I thought it looked like they hired a singer/dancer rather than a host for the show this year -- that thing he did in the audience was stolen almost exactly out of his Broadway show 'The Boy from Oz'. However, I liked his opening number, just not the Top Hat dance number -- it was a little too close the Snow White debacle from twenty years ago...