Jian Ghomeshi, host laureate of Oscar punditry

After live-blogging the Oscars last night, in a marathon of typing and tippling, this morning I hauled my ass off to the CBC bunker to do a radio post mortem with “Q” host Jian Ghomeshi and the Globe and Mail’s Johanna Schneller. And frankly, I was knocked out by the poetic punditry of Jian’s thoughtful introduction. You gotta love a morning broadcaster who can sit down after midnight and rap an Oscar wrap that rolls through the mood swings of a marathon night—and still finds time to rhyme “pristine” and “Joaquin.” Check out the podcast of the show, by clicking Q Oscar item. Meanwhile, here’s the text of Jian’s demi-rhymed oral deposition:

Hi there. Happy Monday.

It came. It happened. It was cut back and “redesigned.” It still lasted

about 4 hours.

Yes, kids, the Academy Awards happened last night and I’m not sure if

it was the fast food happily congealing in my belly…

but I quite enjoyed what transpired on the telly.

not . . . so bad.

Oh there were the inevitable ups and downs,

the intense fascination with gowns.

But Oscar lived up to some of the hype in strange ways.

Here are some quick observations:

Hugh Jackman—talented, self-deprecating, and lovingly pristine.

Ben Stiller—outrageously funny sending up Joaquin.

Penélope Cruze satisfying victory, and the same with Sean Penn.

And do we have to see a shot of John Mayer and Jennifer Anniston again?

John Legend was a bit out of tune.

Queen Latifah sounded noticably auto-tuned.

A R Rahman looked strangely hobitt-like when he crooned.

And Beyonce lip-synching her parts on the “live” Oscar broadcast—

embarrassing.

Really Beyonce? Really? What a sad spectacle that was.

All the more satisfying to watch Hugh Jackman huff and puff through his

production numbers.

Beyonce doing karaoke.

We’ll take a radiant Anne Hathaway

singing live anyday. Eh?

But maybe the Academy Awards were most notable for the internationalism

of this spectacle.

By my count, only one American took an important award.

There were Germans, Japanese, Australians, Brits, and of course, South Asians . . .

A satisfying result that moved the world just a little bit closer last night.

And of course, at the centre of all this . . . the great story log

that used to be a simple slumdog.

For many of us, the remarkable and worthy rise of Slumdog Millionaire

is bigger than some golden statues.

Before the inevitable chorus of requisite hipster naysayers have a go

at bringing down the eight-time Oscar winner,

let’s remember that this was a tiny film that could have gone straight

to video or easily been another foreign flop.

It was the power of a great story, and brilliant filmmaking that took

this little guy to the top.

And so there. On America’s biggest stage last night, were a number

of non-traditional faces and names from the other end of the earth.

Celebrating an uplifting tale that suddenly couldn’t go wrong.

And to boot, a shining Oscar for an entirely non-English song.

And for those of us who grew up lamenting the idea that to make it in

Hollywood you’ve have to look like Brad Pitt?

Well . . . you pretty much still do.

But maybe that changed a bit last night too.

Here’s kudos to the Slumdog crew

I’m Jian Ghomeshi

This is Q.