Well, the Academy Awards had their Sunday night, honoring the Oscar winners. And, consequently, I had my Monday morning, meticulously counting the winners correctly chosen on ballots submitted for Escape's Oscar pickin' contest.

Now, before I reveal the winner...Oh, wait. It's announced in the subhead here. Never mind.

Cue the orchestra...the winner was Tom Cleary of Saugus!

Tom got 19 out of 24 categories correct - this when the average number of correct choices was 12. He also got one out of a possible four tie-breakers correct, which, it turned out, he needed to top Ric Teller of Valencia, who also got the exact same 19 answers correct, but got zero tie-breakers. (I have a feeling you two are splitting the prize.)

Tom and Ric nailed every Oscar winner except Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Animated Short Film.

As it turns out, Julie W. of Canyon Country probably could have tied Ric at 19 winners. She had 18 and (say it ain't so) she forgot to mark a choice for Visual Effects. Most likely she would have picked the winner, "Avatar," as nearly everyone else did. But take heart, Julie, you had none correct in the tie-breakers group, so you couldn't have gotten the gift certificate, anyway.

Now, this is all in fun, so I point out some other gaffs and items of cheer - and assign "awards" that garner no prizes.

Most Internet Savvy: Jeff J. and Steven P. figured out how to print the winners from the Web site and mailed their choices in, as suggested on the Web site. Congratulations for being technologically aware, guys.

Most Obscure: She who shall remain nameless sent in a ballot with seven category numbers circled. That's right. She chose no winners and only circled the category numbers in seven categories. I can only assume she meant she was choosing the first nominee listed in each category. Still, why not circle numbers in all categories?

And this brings up a point. Everyone should have made a choice in every category. To do less than that guarantees you won't score in those categories. Next time, guess. Do you remember nothing from your high school multiple choice exams?

Most "Green": Another nice woman sent in her entry without sending in her choices. As I happened to open this one up early, I called her and asked her to resubmit. She declined, not wanting to waste a second stamp. Mother Earth sends her thanks.

Most Brazen: Joan P. sent in two ballots. Now I tease you here, Joan, because I assume you did this under the impression that each time the contest page came out in Escape you could enter again. Not so, but we may want to mention that next year in the rules.

Overall, the categories most people had trouble with were Foreign Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short, Animated Short Film and Live Action Short Film. And that isn't really surprising. In fact, #22, Animated Short Film, was only chosen correctly by three people.

So thank you all for participating - and come back next year.

Here are the Oscar winners:
1. Best Picture: "The Hurt Locker"
2. Actor: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart
3. Actress: Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"
4. Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"
5. Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push' by Sapphire"
6. Directing: Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
7. Foreign Language Film: "El Secreto de Sus Ojos," Argentina
8. Adapted Screenplay: Geoffrey Fletcher, "Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push' by Sapphire"
9. Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, "The Hurt Locker"
10. Animated Feature Film: "Up"
11. Art Direction: "Avatar"
12. Cinematography: "Avatar"
13. Sound Mixing "The Hurt Locker"
14. Sound Editing: "The Hurt Locker"
15. Original Score : "Up," Michael Giacchino.
16. Original Song: "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart" Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
17. Costume: "The Young Victoria"
18. Documentary Feature: "The Cove"
19. Documentary (short subject): "Music by Prudence"
20. Film Editing: "The Hurt Locker"
21. Makeup: "Star Trek"
22. Animated Short Film: "Logorama"
23. Live Action Short Film: "The New Tenants"
24. Visual Effects: "Avatar"

As tie-breakers - the winner of the Razzie for worst achievement in film.
1. Worst Picture: "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
2. The Worst Picture of the decade: Travolta's "Battlefield Earth"
3. Worst Actor of the decade: Eddie Murphy
4. Worst Actress of the decade: Paris Hilton