Oscar takes

A LITTLE OSCAR MUSIC: The music biz has had an unusually high profile on the Academy Awards telecast. Each of Jared Leto’s acceptance speeches has been better than the one before—but then, he’s had a lot of practice since the Golden Globes on 1/12. Leto had set the bar high on Saturday night with his Independent Spirit Award speech, but he pulled out all the stops tonight, between referencing his mom, brother/30STM bandmate Shannon, the Ukraine crisis, AIDs victims, his team and that of Dallas Buyers Club… Never has a song been more accurately titled tune than “Happy”—speaking of which, who was the blonde dancing with Jamie Foxx during the production number? Duh, it was Kate Hudson, of course. Looks like Pharrell special-ordered a black version of The Hat from Vivienne Westwood for the show… In a classic case of unfortunate casting, Zac Efron managed to substitute “aspiring,” then “aspirational” for inspirational” in his intro to Karen O and Ezra Koenig’s doing her Spike Jonze co-write “The Moon Song.” Their perf was fittingly low-keyed and intimate, as it was in the film. Karen apparently sang barefoot, her discarded strappy heels sitting next to her on the riser providing a sweetly subtle Breakfast at Tiffany’s touch…

THE BEAT GOES ON: Darlene Love let it loose gospel-style in accepting the Best Doc Feature award for Gil Friesen’s 20 Feet From Stardom… U2 getting a standing O for a relatively subdued acoustic rendition of “Ordinary Love” might seem a bit extreme, but, damn, Larry Mullen Jr. kicks ass even on a cocktail kit… Nice mid-show touch with Ellen’s star-studded first-row selfie, Leto squeezing in next to Jennifer Lawrence, which the host immediately tweeted, reportedly breaking the all-time retweet record… A well-deserved standing O for unannounced performer P!nk, killing it in a balls-to the-wall yet impeccably controlled rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz (Note to self: Check iTunes for Oscar spikes. Whoa, "Ordinary Love" is suddenly #11)… Did Bette Midler subtly replace “eagles” with “egos” in her perf of “Wind Beneath My Wings? Just askin’…

AND THE WINNER IS... The victory of Frozen’s “Let It Go,” impressively belted out by Idina Menzel (finally giving the house orchestra a chance to saw away) in the night’s third standing ovation, suggested that Academy voters are willing to snap their fingers to the offerings of these interlopers from the worlds of pop, rock and R&B, but when it comes down to casting a vote, Hollywood tradition still rules. There's little doubt that Disney Music Group leader Ken Bunt, who just happens to be the subject of our latest Q&A with the captains of industry, is happy, happy, happy, and he won't let it go anytime soon. (3/2p)