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6:10 p.m. — When Octavia Spencer is announced as winner of the supporting actress Oscar for "The Help" one of the loudest whoops comes from backstage. "Sorry," Sandra Bullock quickly apologizes as workers turn to stare. "I don't even know what I said," a still stunned Spencer remarks as she walks offstage and into the arms of Bullock.
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6:25 p.m.: The Muppets puppeteers have taken up residence in a balcony box overlooking the theater. They'll soon be joined by their respective counterparts, Miss Piggy and Kermit, to introduce the Cirque du Soleil performances. They have a better seat than their human co-star Jason Segel. He's situated down below, all the way on the right side of the theater next to a monitor broadcasting the show.
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6:28 p.m. — Robert Downey Jr. chews away on his gum and dances along to the music as he waits in the wings to present an award during the Oscar show's Cirque du Soleil performance. When his cue comes he quickly deposits the gum in a napkin and steps on stage.
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6:42 p.m. — Stage manager Dency Nelson has discovered Downey's discarded gum. "Robert Downey Jr. chewing gum! We could sell it on eBay," Nelson jokes before tossing it in the trash.
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6:51 p.m. — Are the infamous Oscar hunger pangs already setting in? Meryl Streep just handed Sandra Bullock a piece of gum in the audience. A few minutes later, Melissa McCarthy hands what looks like a piece of candy to her "Bridesmaids" co-star Kristen Wiig.
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7:21 p.m. — There's no need to survive solely on what Oscargoers have in their purses. An army of 1930s-era candy girls has just marched into the crowd to dole out popcorn and candy. Stacy Keibler grabs some of each.
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7:26 p.m. — It's not exactly "At The Movies," but Oscar show producer Brian Grazer has just gotten two thumbs up from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on how the program is going so far. "It's really, really good," Jolie tells him backstage.
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8 p.m. — Composer Ludovic Bource, winner of the Oscar for "The Artist,' leans over the orchestra pit to give a rousing cheer to his fellow musicians during a commercial break.
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8:01 p.m. — James Earl Jones, posing for photos backstage with his Governor's Award for lifetime achievement, pauses to ask a worker, "Whose name is on this?" ''Yours," he is told. "My name is on it," a beaming Jones tells Oprah Winfrey when she shows up to collect her own Governor's Award.
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8:29 p.m. — She has already won two, but Meryl Streep doesn't seem to be expecting this Oscar for "The Iron Lady." ''I can't believe it," she says as she stops in the wings just offstage after accepting the award. "Want to take a minute? Let's take a minute," says presenter Colin Firth, leading her to a little nook just off camera. "This is just insane," she says.
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8:37 p.m. — No stage fright for Uggie. When "The Artist" won the Oscar for best picture the little Jack Russell terrier that had nearly upstaged Oscar winner Jean Dujardin in the movie was right there to share in the glory. "I just said, 'Uggie's coming out stage right," stage manager Dency Nelson says with a smile. And Uggie did.
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8:40 p.m. — It's a celebrity traffic jam as Steven Spielberg tries to maneuver around Zach Galifianakis, only to find "The Hangover" star has gotten stuck behind Octavia Spencer, who has stopped to let "The Help" co-star Emma Stone pat her new Oscar on its shiny gold head. Wait, Demian Bichir has found a way around the crowd. He cuts down another aisle and out the door. Can he duplicate that move on the freeway?
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8:43 p.m. — The Hollywood & Highland Center is all but empty now save for stragglers Kenneth Branaugh and Wendi McLendon-Covey. The sounds of workers breaking down the stage are about all that's left behind.
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Reader Comments Read all comments (1)
Shafqat M.Hameed 6:17AM February 27, 2012