Music from political films win Oscars

LOS ANGELES, Feb 26 (Reuters) Music from politically themed films scored top Oscars, while the winners used their moment of glory to push issues ranging from global warming to gay marriage.

Melissa Etheridge's global warming anthem, ''I Need to Wake Up,'' took home the gold at the 79th annual Academy Awards yesterday for best original song, beating out three separate nominations in that category from ''Dreamgirls,'' as well as Randy Newman's ''Our Town'' from the animated film, ''Cars.'' Hers was the second big victory of the night for ''An Inconvenient Truth,'' the big-screen adaptation of former US Vice President Al Gore's slide-show lecture on the perils of global warming, which won a documentary feature Oscar.

After thanking various people involved in making the film, and, ''my incredible wife, Tammy,'' and her four children, Etheridge -- one of the country's best known lesbians -- thanked Gore.

''Mostly I have to thank Al Gore for inspiring us, inspiring me and showing that caring about the Earth is not Republican or Democrat. It's not red or blue. We are all green. This is our job now, we can become the greatest generation, the generation that changed, the generation that woke up and did something and changed,'' she said.

Backstage, Etheridge, who exchanged vows with girlfriend Tammy Lynn Michaels in a secret ceremony in September 2003, told reporters the ''Oscars is like a gay holiday.'' While Etheridge and Michaels consider themselves married, theirs is not a legal marriage because gay weddings are not legally binding in their home state California.

''There is no token gay. There is a real mix, a lot of diversity here,'' Etheridge said, referring to the Academy Awards. Indeed, Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres made TV history in April 1997 when her character, and DeGeneres herself, personally revealed that she was a lesbian.

LITTLE GOLD MAN IN THE BEDROOM DeGeneres drew big laughs during the show by declaring, ''If there weren't blacks, Jews and gays, there would be no Oscars ... or anyone named Oscar, when you think about that.'' When asked about kissing her wife on-screen after winning the Oscar yesterday, Etheridge noted, ''I was kissing her because that is what you do when you win an Oscar'' and later joked about the gender of the Oscar statue.

''This is the only naked man who will ever be in my bedroom,'' she said.

In another win for music from a politically themed film, Argentine composer Gustavo Santaolalla took home his second Oscar in as many years for his score for ''Babel,'' a tale of the globalization of pain and suffering.

Santaolalla, who won the Oscar last year for his haunting score for ''Brokeback Mountain,'' said he was proud to work on ''Babel,'' which addresses the theme of global miscommunication after a random shooting in one country has tragic consequences for four families around the world.

''In our soul rests, I think, our own true identity beyond language, countries, races and religions. I'm so proud to have worked on 'Babel,' a film that helped us understand better who we are and why and what we are here for,'' he said.

''West Bank Story,'' a musical satire about dueling Arab and Israeli falafel stands on the West Bank, also took home an Oscar on Sunday for best live-action short film.

''Oh my God,'' the film's shocked U.S. director, Ari Sandel, said in accepting the award. ''I made a comedy, a musical about Israelis and Palestinians that takes place between two falafel stands in the West Bank. It's a movie about peace and hope.'' ''To get this award goes to show that there are so many people who support that notion,'' said the California-born director, adding that hope for peace was not ''hopeless.'' REUTERS PB BD1450