Oscar night was freezing cold this year, so it was a good night to be inside and warm.

There were not many surprises or upsets this year, as evidenced by our generally high scores -- but more on that later. Gravity was expected to do well, and it did: It was nominated for ten Oscars, and it topped all the other nominees by winning seven of them. American Hustle, also nominated for ten awards, actually took home none. The show itself was fun to watch, though maybe a little slow. It was livened up when Ellen DeGeneres brought in some pizzas, and also when she took a photo which, just a few minutes later, crashed Twitter thanks to the record number of retweets.

Our Oscar race was a real neck-and-neck contest, and a four-way tie right down to the wire. Jostling for position were Donna, Gary, Mark, and Samantha; and with all four having chosen the same winning picks for the final six envelopes (see below), the whole race hinged on a few of the smaller categories. On the 18th envelope (Original Screenplay for Her) Gary and Samantha pulled ahead by one vote and stayed there. Even the tie-breakers couldn't resolve this one as both Gary and Sam picked the same there too! (So, next year, three tie-breakers...??)

This year's voting set a high bar for future years. For the first time since 2005 when Paul successfully picked all six top categories (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress), this year four of us managed the same feat: Donna, Gary, Mark, and Samantha. Emily picked five of the top six, which in other years would be a stand-out performance. And Donna's 2004 high-water mark of 19 correct picks out of 24 was shattered this year by Donna herself and Gary, Mark and Samantha. It was a very high-scoring year for everybody.

It was Tristen's final year in the under-17 category, and she was decisively thumped by Teghan who will take ownership of the trophy for the next six months -- and who has a guaranteed victory next year!

It was another excellent Oscar race. Thanks to everybody who played along this year. See you next year!

Number of correct picks out of 24 categories:

21   Gary
21   Samantha
20   Donna
20   Mark
15   Emily
14   John
12   Jack
11   Grandma
10   Karen
 9   Anna
 9   Marsha
 8   Amanda
 6   Erika
 6   Teghan
 6   Ryan
 3   Tristen

And totaling all the results of the past fifteen years, here are the standings, in order of percentage of correct picks:

77%   Mark        37 right out of  48
55%   Gary       216 right out of 388
53%   John       204 right out of 388
50%   Donna      194 right out of 388
44%   Marsha     190 right out of 388
43%   Grandma    166 right out of 388
42%   Zachary     36 right out of  86
42%   Jack        20 right out of  48
39%   Samantha   150 right out of 388
38%   Lori        56 right out of 148
37%   Paul        82 right out of 220
36%   Amanda     148 right out of 388
36%   Anna       116 right out of 326
34%   Karen      132 right out of 388
34%   Ryan       106 right out of 317
34%   Lindsey     90 right out of 267
33%   Emily      127 right out of 388
25%   Olivia      47 right out of 190
25%   Sean        12 right out of  48
24%   Erika       88 right out of 373
23%   Tristen     70 right out of 310
21%   Brent       30 right out of 144
19%   Teghan      37 right out of 193