Chicago led the Academy Awards with six trophies, including best picture, at a ceremony Sunday that allowed Hollywood to exalt itself while muting the Oscar pageantry because of the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

The Academy Awards ceremony took place on Sunday allowed Hollywood to exalt itself while muting the Oscar pageantry because of the U.S.-led war on Iraq, was taken away by the Chicago who led the Academy Awards with six trophies, including best picture.

The razzle-dazzle satire Chicago became the first musical since 1968’s Oliver! to win the top Oscar. The other awards were given to Catherine Zeta-Jones for best supporting actress, and four technical honors including costume design and art direction.

New Zealand film director Peter Jackson, tipped to win an Oscar for his The Lord Of The Rings epic, said recently that he would like to make The Hobbit prequel to the trilogy and work with some of the same actors again.

Jackson said he was sad but also relieved that the mammoth project he has worked on for seven years was over. “I’m glad there’s not a fourth Lord of the Rings film next year,” he said. “I feel very tired and exhausted.” “I’ve been working very hard this year. It was the hardest year of the whole seven really,” he said, adding that the last part had twice as many computer-generated shots as the second, The Two Towers, which won an Oscar for digital effects. “It’s my favourite because it has a stronger emotional depth than the other two films it has a sense of closure,” he said.