Sandra Bullock paid her dues in Hollywood for more than 20 years, beloved by the moviegoing public if not always the critics. She was rewarded Sunday, winning the best-actress Oscar for playing a tough white Southern woman who adopted a black child in “The Blind Side.”

Bullock had repeatedly said she didn’t think she was going to win for the part she initially turned down, although the 45-year-old actress was a heavy favorite.

“Did I really earn this or did I just wear you all down?” she said after accepting the golden statue from Sean Penn.

“I have so many people to thank for my good fortune in this lifetime and this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I know.”

In the closest race of the acting categories, Bullock was up against Meryl Steep in “Julie & Julia,” former winner Helen Mirren in “The Last Station,” and breakout stars Gabourey Sidibe of “Precious” and Carey Mulligan of “An Education” for their first-time leading roles.

In “The Blind Side,” Bullock donned a frosted blond wig and a Tennessee twang to play Leigh Anne Tuohy, the real-life adoptive mother of Baltimore Ravens football player Michael Oher.

Bullock had already won the Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe awards, and tied Streep at the Broadcast Film Critics awards. Streep also won at the Globes.

At 60, Streep is the most nominated actor, male or female, of all time with 16 nods, but she’s gone home empty-handed since her last best-actress win for “Sophie’s Choice” in 1983. Her other victory was as supporting actress for “Kramer vs. Kramer” in 1980.

“I look at the company I keep in this category and you can’t pick,” Bullock said backstage. “There’s not one that rises above the others. I feel like I share it equally in five parts because we ladies need to stick together.”

Bullock’s Oscar triumph came a night after she won worst actress at the Razzies on Saturday for “All About Steve,” a romantic comedy flop that quickly vanished at theaters in between her 2009 hits, “The Proposal” and “The Blind Side.”

Bullock became the first person to win an Oscar and a Razzie on the same weekend. She was the rare A-list star who attended the show that pokes fun at the Oscars by giving out prizes for Hollywood clunkers.

“I had the best time at the Razzie,” she said backstage. “It’s the great equalizer. No one lets me get too full of myself.”

Asked where she would put the Oscar and the Razzie, Bullock replied, “They’ll sit side-by-side on a shelf somewhere, the Razzie maybe on a different shelf, lower.”

Bullock’s breakout role came in the 1994 film “Speed.” She went on to score box office successes in “While You Were Sleeping” and “Miss Congeniality.” But she also appeared in a string of duds before a supporting role in the 2004 movie “Crash” earned Bullock some of the best reviews of her career.

She attributed her victory to hanging in through good roles and bad.

“I didn’t aspire to this,” she said backstage, cradling her Oscar. “I was in awe of it, I admired it and I got to watch it like everyone else did. I didn’t think the opportunity would ever present itself for me to rise to that occasion. This came out of left field, every pun intended.”

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The Dude finally has an Oscar.

Jeff Bridges, the affable and well-liked star of “Crazy Heart,” won the best actor Academy Award Sunday night, an honor that has eluded him four times before. His first nomination came nearly 40 years ago in 1971.

Once onstage, Bridges took a fun and lively victory lap, thanking his parents, collaborators, agent and his wife and three daughters.

“Thank you mom and dad for turning me on to such a groovy profession,” a clearly pleased Bridges said in accepting the award.

He spoke about how his father, the late actor Lloyd Bridges, used to sit him on a bed and teach him the basics of acting. His mother was the actress Dorothy Bridges.

“This is honoring them as much as it is me,” Bridges said of his parents.

Bridges career has been a mix of critical and popular favorites. One of his most popular roles was as The Dude in the cult classic “The Big Lebowski,” but turns in films such as 1984’s “Starman” and 1971’s “The Last Picture Show” have accounted for some of his previous Oscar nominations.

Backstage, Bridges clutched his Oscar in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other. Asked to assess his life and career, Bridges invoked his character in “The Big Lebowski.”

“Ups and downs – what does The Dude say? – strikes and gutters, man,” Bridges said.

He sipped his drink at times and raised his glass as if to toast reporters before leaving an interview room.

He won for his portrayal of Bad Blake, a past-his-prime country star searching for redemption and another shot at stardom. The role almost never happened – Bridges initially turned down the part because he didn’t feel that “Crazy Heart” had the appropriate musical heft.

When Grammy-winning producer T Bone Burnett came on board, Bridges signed on to play Blake, whose passion for music is second only to his penchant for self-destructive behavior.

The win was not exactly a surprise – Bridges, 60, has been considered the favorite to win the best actor Oscar for months.

Voters chose Bridges over George Clooney in “Up in the Air,” Morgan Freeman in “Invictus,” Colin Firth in “A Single Man” and Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker.”

Actress Michelle Pfeiffer, who worked with Bridges on 1989’s “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” praised her former co-star. She recounted how they shared a makeup artist who erased her complexion flaws and seemed to transfer them to Bridges.

“It is that kind of attention to detail and lack of vanity that has made Jeff not just a great actor, but a brilliant one,” Pfeiffer said.

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The 57-year-old actor claims he managed to entice multiple women into his bed during a marathon evening out in London.

Mickey – who referred to the cheating antics of Cheryl Cole’s husband Ashley Cole – told British interviewer Lizzie Cundy: “Forget Ashley Cole, his behaviour has nothing on a film star. Soccer players’ wives and girlfriends get an easy time – they should try living with Hollywood hell raisers.

“I once spent a weekend in the UK and had 14 women in one night.”

Ashley was recently dumped by his pop star wife following allegations he cheated on her with several different women.

Mickey, who is a regular on the London clubbing scene, was not specific about when the lovemaking marathon happened, but added: “If you wives and girlfriends knew what Hollywood’s stars get up to you’d think you were married to pussycats.”

The ‘Wrestler’ star, who is currently dating 24-year-old Russian model Anastassija Makarenko, was seen partying in the British capital last September and was linked to a string of different women.

However, he has since settled down and has described Anastassija as a “gift from heaven”.

Earlier this year, he said: “Obviously she’s a very beautiful woman. She’s a gift from heaven. But she’s got the biggest heart, she’s got a great family, she’s really close to her mother and father – they’re great people.

“I wouldn’t trade her in for 20 Academy Awards.”

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Keri Hilson looked hot as she heated up the stage in what she describes as a “super-short, Pepsi-inspired, hoodie-dress.”

Keri Hilson Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam Miami Beach 2010

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We hear the Israeli beauty – aka Leonardo DiCaprio’s ladylove – looked anything but pleased as she arrived to the mag’s party Tuesday night at the Gansevoort Hotel’s club Provocateur.

“She had a scowl on her face and wouldn’t even look up for photographers who had been waiting for hours in the freezing cold outside,” our spy says.

“She even walked right by fans who were pleading for her to sign her past issues of Sports Illustrated.”

Bar finally gave in – but only after hearing that Decker indeed stopped for admirers.

“Brooklyn had stood in a tiny mini-dress posing with the same fans,” our snitch says. “When Bar tried to walk by, one finally yelled ‘But Brooklyn did it!’ – and that got her attention.

“Bar then turned around, begrudgingly retraced her steps and agreed to do the same. But she still looked pretty miserable throughout the night.”

And perhaps she had good reason: 24-year-old Bar was rumored to be the top pick for this year’s cover over 22-year-old Decker.

“After pictures of Bar’s shoot were leaked on the Internet, a lot of people thought it would be her,” an insider dished of the stunner, who made her SI debut in 2007 and covered the mag in 2009. “Two years in a row would have been a huge accomplishment for her. It makes sense that she would be disappointed.”

And we can’t help wonder if maybe there’s a personal competition, too: Both of the beauties hang with high-profile men – Decker married tennis heartthrob Andy Roddick last April, and Bar has dated Leo on and off since she was 19.

Said a second insider: “They are both very much in the spotlight right now, and the SI cover just nudged Brooklyn a little bit ahead.”

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Jennifer Aniston showed off her smoking hot body in skimpy bikini while celebrating her 41st birthday in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Jennifer Aniston In Bikini in Mexico

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Rihanna performed at a pre-Super Bowl event in Miami on Thursday night

Rihanna took the stage at the Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam, where she performed songs from her recent album, “Rated R,” including “Russian Roulette” and “Wait Your Turn.” She was joined on stage by Timbaland for part of her set.

Last Sunday she appeared at the Grammys along with Jay-Z and his nephew, Julez Smith, as she and Hov accepted the award for best rap/sung collaboration for “Run This Town.”

Rihanna at Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam in Miami Beach

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Alexa Chung, the British hipster-turned-designer and one-time host of the MTV series, It’s On with Alexa Chung, explains her infatuation with denim in this month’s British Vogue.

The former model, whose effortless style is often emulated, graces the March cover dressed in a ripped denim, a white unbuttoned shirt, black blazer and her much blogged about brown Chanel clogs. But she’s not just Vogue’s cover-star, Alexa is a contributing editor for the magazine and pens a personal essay explaining her obsession with the all-American material.

“Denim is a symbol of youth, sex, rebellion and, most essentially, America,” she writes. “Buying jeans is our first foray in American style.” One that she’s come to know well. “My denim shirts appear to be breeding in the bottom of my wardrobe,” she jokes, “and my newfound appetite for all things dungaree is becoming a worry.”

To read Chung’s essay in its entirety look out for the March issue of British Vogue on stands now

Alexa Chung in Vogue Magazine, March 2010 issue

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