CELEBS FACTORY

Winning an academy award is a life changing moment for the fortunate ones who get to lay their hands on the coveted statuette but rocking the red carpet on Hollywood's biggest night has become almost as important as winning the award.

The celebs brought their A game on Oscar night with a teeny bit of help from their highly paid stylists. Some got their looks were perfectly right and had fashion critics drooling while some missed the mark with the same critics frothing at the mouth.

Angelina Jolie was the cynosure of all eyes. She showed up in her gorgeous Atelier Versace gown with a mile-high slit and flaunted the best accessory of all - Brad Pitt.

Michelle Williams may have lost out on the Oscar win but she looked pretty as a picture and stole a zillion hearts in her daring coral gown by Louis Vuitton.

Gwyneth Paltrow in her stunning white Tom Ford gown with a flamboyant cape also gets a thumbs up as does Cameron Diaz who went nude in a delectable Gucci number.

George Clooney may not have won but he was still the envy of all present as his beau, Stacy Kiebler rocked in a metallic Marchesa gown.

Other honorable mentions are Tina Fey in Carolina Herrera, Penelope Cruz in Giorgio Armani, and Natalie Portman in vintage Dior.

Meryl Streep romped home with a win but fashion critics were not too thrilled with her fashion sense as it was felt that her shining Lanvin gown looked a little too blingy to be in good taste.

Jennifer Lopez generated heat but for all the wrong reasons in her Zuhair Murad gown which was considered a little trashy now that she is a mommy and all.

Emma Stone's Giambattista Valli gown got mixed reactions with some critics not too enthused about the dramatic bow while others hailed her for the daring choice.

The jury is still out on that one.

The much-anticipated 84th Oscars Awards ceremony kick started in the US today.

This year, it is The Artist that swept the Oscars with five awards. The Artist was adjudged as the Best Motion Picture. The crowd gathered gave huge round of applause when Tom Cruise announced the film as the winner.

Interestingly, the Best Actor award went to Jean Dujardin for The Artist and another honor for The Artist with director Michel Hazanavicius receiving the Best Director award. The Artist also bagged the Best Original score award which went to Ludovic Bource.

Best Actress in a leading role went to Meryl Streep for starring in The Iron Lady.

The award for Best Documentary Feature went to Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy for Saving Face. Sharmeen is a Pakistani and reports say that this is the first time a Pakistani is winning a Oscar award.

The Descendants won the Best Adapted Screenplay. This film is based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings. Screenwriter and director Alexander Payne along with Nat Faxon and Jim Rash had written the screenplay for The Descendants.

Hollywood star George Clooney has slammed reports that says his ex-girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis sent him a series of angry texts after learning of his reported new romance.

Clooney, 50, split from Canalis in June and is now rumoured to be dating former WWE wrestler Stacy Keibler.

"I never comment on my personal life unless it affects others... and this lie affects others. Since I would be the only actual witness, I ask you to correct your story immediately, but that would assume you cared at all about telling the truth," said Clooney.

A report on a magazine this week suggested that Canalis was unhappy to learn about Clooney's new girl, and sent text messages to his cell phone expressing her dismay.

Elisabetta Canalis, Italian TV host and Hollywood actor George Clooney's former girlfriend has just shot a new anti-fur ad for PeTA.

Canalis says that she'd rather be comfortable in her own skin than wear that of an animal.

“I’d rather go nak3d than wear fur” the poster says and shows a sensual photo of the Italian model and TV star. Elisabetta Canalis calls it “the best reason why I got nak3d in my life.”

Canalis says that her opposition to cruelty to animals started when she was very young.

"I was a kid, a little girl, and was watching TV at home and they showed a documentary. And in the documentary I saw how they killed little animals, like electrocuting them, drowning them, bludgeoning them. I was shocked because I was a little girl, but by that moment I thought that I would never, never, never wear fur in my life."

The new cast of Dancing With the Stars – the US version of Strictly Come Dancing – has been revealed.

The 13th season of the hit show will feature a mix of actors, athletes and TV personalities.

Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis, George Clooney's ex-girlfriend, is among those set to tango and quickstep with the professional dancers.

The couple split up at the beginning of summer after two years together.

Also in the line-up are reality TV stars Robert Kardashian, Kristin Cavallari and Chaz Bono, and TV personalities Nancy Grace, Carson Kressley and Ricki Lake.

Singer-actress Chynna Phillips, actors David Arquette (right) and JR Martinez, and basketball star Ron Artest will also be taking part.

The new cast members will perform their first dance routines on the season premiere on September 19.

Actor George Clooney says he isn't proud of everything he did in his career and that he always tries to learn from his poor performances.

"I've made mistakes in my career. I've made some terrible TV series and I have been terrible in them. I've been in terrible films and when a film of mine fails, I just want to go and hide under a rock," contactmusic.com quoted the 50-year-old as saying.

"I've made mistakes in judgement and I've failed many, many times. I've had a lot of bumps and turns in my road. But the trick is how well you bounce back. That's true in the movie business and it's true in life," he added.

However, Clooney believes the best way to have a successful career is to learn to deal with failure and rejection.

"What's my secret to success? The test is how you deal with it when everything goes wrong. It's the easiest thing in the world to handle your career when it's going well. When it's not going well, that's the important time," he added.

The first trailer for the political drama 'The Ides of March' featuring the star and director, Oscar winner George Clooney, as an American presidential candidate and Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine) as an idealistic campaign manager, was released online July 27.

The footage includes behind-the-scene images of the campaign trail and builds up to meetings with managers of rival candidates trying to lure the young staffer away.

As Gosling's character gets a crash course in dirty politics, his ethical dilemma comes to the surface when he considers being the up-and-coming press secretary.

Additional cast members include Paul Giamatti (The Hangover Part II), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt), Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler) and Evan Rachel Wood (Across the Universe).

Clooney also co-wrote the screenplay with frequent collaborator (and the film's producer) Grant Heslov, adapting the story from the successful stage play Farragut North (the name of a Washington DC metro station), which featured Chris Pine (Star Trek) and Chris Noth (Sex and the City).

The film is set to premiere on August 31 as the opening film of the 68th Venice International Film Festival and will be a featured presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

The Ides of March opens on October 7 in the United States, with other markets to follow.