IT was the night Oscar decided to share the prizes around equally - and disappoint the Brits. Traffic and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon took four statuettes apiece with the other main contender Gladiator going one better and picking up the best picture Academy Award.

South Shields-born director Ridley Scott, who helmed the sword and sandals epic, lost out for best director to Traffic's Steven Soderbergh.

Bad news too for 15-year-old Billingham teenager Jamie Bell and the rest of the Billy Elliot team who went home empty-handed too. The 15-year-old star of the film shot in the North-East won a Bafta best actor award as the miner's son who wants to become a ballet dancer but, to the surprise of many, was left out of the Oscar nominations.

But he put on his best designer suit - from Christian Dior, he told reporters - and attended the 73rd Academy Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles to support hit film Billy Elliot and its Newcastle-born writer Lee Hall, director Stephen Daldrey and actress Julie Walters. They were all up for Oscars; all failed to win.

Disappointment too for York-born Dame Judi Dench, a previous winner for Shakespeare In Love. Along with Walters, she lost out as best supporting actress. That category supplied the main surprise of the evening with Marcia Gay Hadden winning for her performance as artist Jackson Pollock's wife in the little-seen bio-pic Pollock.

No luck either for Geordie performer Sting's song from the Disney cartoon The Emperor's New Groove, beaten by Bob Dylan's Things Have Changed from the otherwise Oscar-neglected Wonder Boys.

As widely predicted, Julia Roberts took home an Oscar for Erin Brokovich to add to her Golden Globe, Bafta and 20 million dollar per film pay cheque. Russell Crowe emerged victorious in the best actor section beating off Tom Hanks and confirming his status as Hollywood's hottest leading man.

Fears that Steven Soderbergh receiving a best director nomination for both Traffic and Erin Brokovich would split the vote and allow someone else to win, proved groundless. His win shows that the sex, lies and videotape director is back on the A-list after a career dip.

Ang Lee, hotly tipped as best director, had to make do with his international hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon being named best foreign film in this, one of the most open Oscar races for years.