Bombay bonanza!

The Oscars have been celebrated and the Brits have done very well. It takes the mind off the depressing aspects of the recession. However, two things were a little off putting. The first was that the winners' list was leaked and Kate Winslett was spending the weekend trying not to sound like a person who had been told Santa Claus had hung up his boots. The second was that the Bombay urchins who were deemed to be the real thing and therefore necessary to the success of Slumdog Millionaire have been returned to the slums without the generous payoff they were offered. Apparently the producers say it is all hogwash and nobody has been left without the financial settlements they agreed to.

I think it is a pity that the press publish all kinds of tittle tattle without appreciating the results of their actions. Kate Winslett won an Oscar. That's great news, but I'd prefer to hear it from the personality tearing the envelope open rather than a front page scoop designed to spoil. Equally, the biggest publicity night Bombay has had since the bombings and the gilt is sliced off the gingerbread in a cunning way.

Spoilsports is a term that comes to mind.