Not often you spy Apple chairman/CEO Steve Jobs in a black tie and dinner suit ­ more usually, even on the most formal occasions, it’s jeans and black turtleneck.

But there he was in the full formal regalia yesterday ­ on the red carpet at the Oscars presentation in Hollywood. A blogger shot him ­ a bit off focus ­ chatting with John Chu, a dancer at the big event.

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Jobs had good reasons to be putting on the glad rags and attending the Oscars. Pixar, the animation company he sold to Disney for US$7 billion in
2006 ­ allowing him to become a Disney board member as well as its biggest shareholder ­ was in the running for multiple Oscars.

Pixar’s latest computer-animated film, Up ­ pictured left ­ had been nominated as Best Animated Feature and Best Picture overall ­ up against the likes of Avatar, Inglourious Basterds and The Hurt Locker. It’s the only animated feature apart from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1991) ever to have that honour.

As it turned out, The Hurt Locker took out the Best Picture award ­ but Up did run away with the Best Animated gong. Steve Jobs didn’t mount the podium to grab the Oscar ­ that was done by Pixar’s equally well-dressed director Pete Docter.