Lover could bestow the gift of Oscars gold to Penelope Cruz?

Oh, who'd want a mere gold ring if you could receive a whole big chunk of academy gold from your lover instead?

Just got an e-mail from our forums moderator Chris "Boomer" Beachum, who notes "an interesting side note to this year's Oscar ceremony."

"If Penelope Cruz wins the supporting actress Oscar for 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona," guess who presents it to her?" he says. "Her current boyfriend, Javier Bardem."

True. Traditionally, the acting awards are presented by last year's recipient of the opposite gender. Last year Bardem won best supporting actor for "No Country for Old Men."

"Even if her name isn't in the envelope, that certainly makes for an even more tense situation for him to present to another lady," Chris adds. To which I add this: What if Penelope's name is in the envelope and they're no longer dating? Awkward!

The last time someone presented an Oscar to a lover, as far as we know anyway, was William Hurt ("Kiss of the Spider Woman," best actor, 1985) bestowing the best actress award of 1986 to Marlee Marlin ("Children of a Lesser God"). They broke up soon afterward.

"There have been some 'really good friends' situations, like Anthony Hopkins presenting to Emma Thompson, Julia Roberts to Denzel Washington, and Sean Connery to Catherine Zeta-Jones," Chris adds, wryly.