Danny Boyle wins, Slumdog takes home 7

Looking regal and royal in blue, Queen Latifa is on-stage in a gown quite befitting of her name She leads us into another of these cool montages. The big awards are so close we can almost taste them! Only a few more minutes!

Now the lovely, exquisite, delightful Freida Pinto is on-stage to present the award for Best Foreign Film. The girl exudes class, whether it's on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, in the pages of Vanity Fair or on the red carpet at awards show. The winner is Departures, a Japanese film.

And Jai Ho has won the Oscar for Best Song! Two Oscars for India's finest modern musician! What a night to remember. India at the Oscars will never be looked at the same. And a classy, gracious acceptance speech from Mr Rahman. Well deserved, sir. Well deserved. You've made all of India proud! Slumdog, for those keeping count, has collected a staggering six awards already.

And an incredible treat, the great AR Rahman is performing live at the Oscars. Wah! Wah! Triple Wah! O Saya is by Rahman himself, and accompanied by a platoon of dancers and drummers. It segues to a Western song and soon comes back to Rahman. This time, it's the song that made the film famous: Jai Ho! And now it's a collaborative effort. East meets West. And it sounds great! The crowd is on its collective feet, applauding. Now, to see how he does in the Best Song category.

And the winner is AR Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire! He's looking dapper in a black sherwani. Like a good Indian boy, he mentioned his mother and said a few words in his native tongue. India has arrived, ladies and gents. There's no point denying it now!

A lovely piece of orchestral music leads us into the award for best Original Score. AR Rahman, India's son, is up for the award...

Ahh, we're well past the halfway stage, at this point. Now it's time to dig into the really meaty awards: best film, actor, actress, director, etc. Where as previous years have dragged, this year's show is flying by.

And we're back, to find the enormously talented, uproariously funny Eddy Murphy on-stage. He gives a classy introduction to film legend and comedy guru Jerry Lewis, who comes on briefly to accept the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian.

And the winner is Slumdog Millionaire!??! Wah! Wah! The film is really and truly hitting a six in cinema's version of the World Cup. Chris Dickens brings it home (Best Film Editing), with a classy and gracious 'thank you'. In true stiff-upper-lip fashion he thanks his Indian hosts, his English friends and his own family. Classy, classy. Slumdog has won four awards!

Another award presented by Will Smith? He might as well have been named co-host. The award is for Best Film Editing. Can Slumdog win another?

And the Best Sound Mixing award goes to Slumdog Millionaire's Resul Pookutty. Amchi Mumbai, the movie is, and it captures the living, breathing pulse of India's most famous megacity, the city of Dreams! And now some genuine, authentic praise of 'Bombay', as he says. Who would have thought? Its sights and sounds are now centre-stage, having captured the world's heart!