Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman didn't make the cut; Denzel Washington and Broadway neophyte Douglas Hodge did. And so the race is on for the 2010 Tony Awards, heralding the best of the 39 shows that opened on Broadway across the past season. As always, the British presence is formidable, and this year ranges from Catherine Zeta-Jones (A Little Night Music, pictured above) to Alfred Molina (Red) and on to composer and sound designer Adam Cork, who snared an astonishing three nominations, including one for Enron's original score. (Huh?)

Furthering their reputation as the least predictable prize-giving organisation out there, the Laurence Olivier Awards last night gave their top prizes to a host of productions that have long departed London, starting with Best Play for Tennessee-born writer Katori Hall's The Mountaintop. You were thinking Enron or (my personal best) Jerusalem? You'd be wrong.

A fool of my acquaintance told me, “This is the most racist movie I’ve ever seen.” The Blind Side patently isn’t racist, but anyone of a PC, liberal or atheist bent will feel a little uneasy at times during the film, dealing as it does with a black teenager being “rescued” from a life of financial and emotional poverty by a Southern Christian woman, Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock giving a towering performance, which won her the Oscar for Best Actress).A fool of my acquaintance told me, “This is the most racist movie I’ve ever seen.” The Blind Side patently isn’t racist, but anyone of a PC, liberal or atheist bent will feel a little uneasy at times during the film, dealing as it does with a black teenager being “rescued” from a life of financial and emotional poverty by a Southern Christian woman, Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock giving a towering performance, which won her the Oscar for Best Actress).

It's appropriate, given that the Oscars remain the mother of all awards shows, that Sunday night's ceremony made a point of honouring both a mother from hell (Mo'Nique in Precious) and another from Inspirational Movie heaven (Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side). But it was clear there was one thespian earth-mother who reigned supreme as a long ceremony went on.

Kathryn Bigelow made Hollywood history last night at the 82nd Academy Awards by becoming the first woman to be named Best Director for The Hurt Locker, which also won for Best Picture. Her brilliant, low-budget Iraq war drama was the big winner at the ceremony, bagging six statuettes as against three Oscars for the co-favourite, Avatar, the sci-fi extravaganza directed by Bigelow's ex-husband James Cameron. The four acting awards were utterly unsurprising and it was a lean night indeed for the Brits, although the respected costume designer Sandy Powell - previously a laureate for Shakespeare in Love and The Aviator - won her third Oscar for The Young Victoria. A full list of nominees follows below.

Read theartsdesk's reviews and interviews for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts award-winners.

Keen comedy fans could never understand why Chris Addison, now 38 and marking 15 years in the business, didn’t have the breakthrough to national fame he deserved sooner. His quick, sometimes caustic but always intelligent humour played to sold-out venues at the Edinburgh Fringe each year, critics heaped praise on him and he received three prestigious Perrier award nominations. And his radio and television work - including The Department, Dotcomedy and Lab Rats - never quite propelled him to where his talent deserved. But then came The Thick of It.

Last night's BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards ceremony was a surprisingly glitzy affair at the Brewery, near the Barbican in London. Winners included Bellowhead for Best Live Act and Lau for Best Group. Steve Knightley's recession sing-a-along "Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed" won Best Original Song, Cara Dillon won the best album for Hill of Thieves and Martin Simpson won the Best Traditional Song for his version of "Sir Patrick Spens". Sam Carter won the Horizon Award for up-and-coming artist, but one consensus of the evening was that 26 year-old Jackie Oates, who had three nominations in the Folk Awards – for best singer, album and traditional song - is on the verge of becoming a major folk star.

Last night's BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards ceremony was a surprisingly glitzy affair at the Brewery, near the Barbican in London. Winners included Bellowhead for Best Live Act and Lau for Best Group. Steve Knightley's recession sing-a-along "Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed" won Best Original Song, Cara Dillon won the best album for Hill of Thieves and Martin Simpson won the Best Traditional Song for his version of "Sir Patrick Spens". Sam Carter won the Horizon Award for up-and-coming artist, but one consensus of the evening was that 26 year-old Jackie Oates, who had three nominations in the Folk Awards – for best singer, album and traditional song - is on the verge of becoming a major folk star.

Dazzling and surprising, this Tate Britain retrospective by the 1998 Turner Prizewinner Chris Ofili should erase memories of the media sniping about him making money from using the so-called "gimmick" of incorporating elephant turds in his paintings. It will also confirm his status as one of the greatest contemporary British artists.