Oscar news....

Has anyone heard the reason behind Catherine Zeta-Jones' no-show at the Oscars this year? She was supposed to present an award with Adam Sandler, but Chris Rock stood in for her. Could it be the mere fact that she was paired up with Sandler???

I ran across this bit of trivia on The Irish Examiner's website. Hillary Swank was the third choice for her role in "Million Dollar Baby". Who turned it down, you ask??? Sandra Bullock because she wasn't allowed to choose the director....and Ashley Judd because her salary demands were too high.

In related news....Sandra Bullock can be seen in "Miss Congeniality 2" beginning March 24th. Currently both she and Ashley Judd are filming "Every Word Is True". The cost for surrendering an Academy Award winning role?....priceless.

Contrary to her own reports of breaking her ankle during a rambunctious sexcapade with her husband, Melanie Griffith slipped at an airport and suffered the fracture.

Speaking of Griffith's husband...Gael Garcia Bernal, star of The Motorcycle Diaries, skipped the Oscars in protest over the "for commercial reasons" decision by the Oscar producers to have Banderas sing "Al Otro Lado Del Rio" instead of Jorge Drexler. Per Bernal, "At the time his song is being honored, all a sudden, that's the moment he does not exist? It was impossible for me to be there as part of the film. I didn't want to pretend the song was not part of it; that would have been like an act of murder in the family. And secondly, the film and the song are about respecting people's identity." I wonder if he felt so strongly about Beyonce singing every other nominated song. This news certainly brings to light how poignant it was for Drexler to sing a portion of his song rather than give an acceptance speech.