Last year’s Oscar race was all about the gays going for gold – there were a total of eight Oscar noms for Brokeback Mountain alone. Capote and TransAmerica were also up for the coveted statuette in the Best Actor and Actress categories, respectively. And while Brokeback didn’t win for Best Picture, it did pick up three awards, and Philip Seymour Hoffman won for his spot-on performance as Truman Capote.

This year, the Oscars will be a little less pink, but we can at least find gay solace in that the big night is being hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. Also, Melissa Etheridge is up for Best Original Song and Dame Judi Dench was nominated for her stunning turn as a woman obsessed with Cate Blanchett’s character in Notes on a Scandal. Sounds like the evening has all the makings for a new kind of Lilith Fair!

Every year, there are always a slew of could-have-been contenders, and this year is no exception. Many gay fans feel the need to be comforted after Dreamgirls was shut out of the Best Picture category. I am going to go out on a limb here and risk having my gay membership card burst into flames: I felt that Dreamgirls did not live up to its pre-release hype. Yes, Jennifer Hudson was phenomenal and there were some great songs, but in the end it was just a – gulp – good movie (Do I smell smoke? Wait, it’s not my gay card set ablaze – it’s a mob of angry, torch-wielding Dreamgirls fans!).

Brad Pitt was not nominated for Best Actor for Babel, and here’s my theory on that: The Academy can only allow one gorgeous man who remains the same in every role a nomination every few years or so. George Clooney won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor last year, thereby canceling out Pitt’s chance. Hey, Brad, at least you get to come home to Angelina Jolie, and she kind of resembles a statue with her frozen expression of self-importance. Would it kill you to smile, Angie?

One of the most surprising nods was that of Jackie Earle Haley, whom you may remember from his turn as Kelly Leak in The Bad News Bears movies before he faded into obscurity with a role in Maniac Cop 3. He is up for Best Supporting Actor for his work as a child molester in Little Children. Hmm, maybe he was living in Bahrain in-between acting gigs researching his role with a certain former pop star.

Little Miss Sunshine is the dark horse this Oscar season. And rightfully so, as it was one of the best movies from last year. I do think the Academy made a mistake in nominating 10-year-old Abigail Breslin for Best Supporting Actress. Shouldn’t she have been up for Best Choreography for her dance to Rick James’ “Super Freak” instead? And where is Toni Collette’s nomination? She gets snubbed more than a gay man over 40 on the Internet!

The absolute best thing about the Best Actress nominations is that it is shattering the glass ceiling of that ridiculous “there are no good roles for women over a certain age in Hollywood” adage. The combined ages of Helen Mirren, Judi Dench and Meryl Streep is 193.

Speaking of Streep, why wasn’t her The Devil Wears Prada co-star Emily Blunt nominated? She was such a great scene stealer, and that’s no easy feat when you are co-starring alongside Streep!

One of the biggest oversights was that of appearing-in-a-movie-equates-a-nomination-every-time for The Departed’s Jack Nicholson, but not this time. In fact, only one star from The Departed, former Funky Buncher Mark Wahlberg, got the nod, beating out Matt Damon and even Leonardo DiCaprio. Guess those guys should have modeled in their underwear for Calvin Klein. Hey, on second thought, that’s not a bad idea!

Best Picture: Babel, The Departed, Letters From Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen.

Could win: Babel, although I liked this movie better when it was called Traffic.

Should win: Little Miss Sunshine

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond), Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson), Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) and Peter O’Toole (Venus – which is not a film based on the Bananarama song).

Could win: Forest Whitaker – that would make him the second Fast Times at Ridgemont High alum to win an Oscar, the first being Sean Penn, of course.

Should win: Peter O’Toole could very well be this year’s sympathy f*ck award winner.

Best Actress: Helen Mirren (The Queen), Penelope Cruz (Volver), Kate Winslet (Little Children), Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada) and Dame Judi (Notes on a Scandal).

Could win: Helen Mirren because that would make gay fans happy – we love our queens, dontcha know.

Should win: Meryl Streep. This way the Academy can be assured of no gay rioting for the aforementioned Dreamgirls snub.

Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine), Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children), Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond), Mark Wahlberg (The Departed) and Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls).

Could win: Eddie Murphy is certainly getting a lot of recognition and mileage out of his “James Brown Celebrity Hot Tub” skit that he performed on “Saturday Night Live” long ago.

Should win: Jackie Earle Haley because what gay man doesn’t love a good comeback?

Best Supporting Actress: Adriana Barraza (Babel), Cate Blanchett (Notes on a Scandal), Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) and Rinko Kikuchi (Babel).

Could win: Um … Jennifer Hudson! (Phew, that got rid of the torch wielders!)

Should win: Rinko Kikuchi as the me-so-horny deaf mute who had the most interesting storyline in Babel. (Damn, the torch wielders are back!)

As far as the award for Best Director goes, Martin Scorsese had better win for The Departed. He’s already had his fair share of saying, “It’s an honor just to be nominated,” but he has yet to win an Oscar.

Of the 20 songs that Dreamgirls is nominated for, I would have to go with “Listen” to emerge triumphant, but then again, never underestimate the power of Melissa Etheridge!

A reminder to this year’s presenters: Practice makes perfect. Take, for example, Naomi Watts trampling over her teleprompted lines at this year’s Golden Globes. (Worse than Ryan Shecrest knocking Mary Hart to the ground to score an interview with any hot guy on the red carpet). Until next time, that’s all of the news that’s fit to print.