HOLLYWOOD Hollywood was crackling with excitement just hours ahead of the 81st Oscars, with rags-to-riches drama "Slumdog Millionaire" tipped to romp home in the race for the coveted best picture prize.
An army of workers were putting the finishing touches to the Oscars red carpet laid in front of the Kodak Theater, which will host the 81st edition of the Academy Awards starting at 5.30pm (0130 GMT Monday).
A thick layer of cloud shrouded Los Angeles, providing an overcast backdrop for what is expected to be a dazzling display of A-list talent when the annual red carpet arrivals catwalk gets under way.
Police helicopters hovered over the Oscars venue while sharpshooters took up positions on buildings surrounding the theater.
The build-up to this year's ceremony has been dominated by the Bollywood-inspired "Slumdog," which has swept other awards shows and is considered the overwhelming favorite for the best picture statuette.
Although period drama "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" will start the night with the most nominations (13, compared to 10 for "Slumdog") experts say that British director Danny Boyle's film is unbeatable.
"It would be the biggest upset in modern Oscars history to see 'Slumdog' lose," said Pete Hammond, a veteran awards season pundit and Maxim film critic.
"It hasn't stumbled once this awards season. It has had an unprecedented sweep. It's the equivalent of the perfect season in football or baseball."
Pundits say "Slumdog" has delighted audiences with its rags-to-riches plot about a Mumbai teaboy who rises out from poverty and enters a television quiz show to win millions and be reunited with the love of his life.
The against-the-odds triumph of the film's central character is mirrored by the movie's improbable march towards Oscars glory. Made for only 15 million dollars, the film features a cast of unknown actors and is partially subtitled.
The movie was also very nearly released straight to DVD in the United States last year, a move which would have ruled it out of Oscars contention.
Other rivals in the best picture category are "Benjamin Button," political drama "Frost/Nixon," biopic "Milk" and Holocaust drama "The Reader."
With "Slumdog" and Boyle heavily favored to win best picture and director, pundits are looking to the acting honors to provide suspense when the Oscars begin at the Kodak Theater on Sunday from 5:30 pm (0130 GMT Monday).
Sean Penn, who plays a trailblazing gay politician in "Milk," and Kate Winslet, who plays a Nazi death camp guard in "The Reader" are the front-runners in the best actor and actress categories.
However Penn faces stiff competition from Mickey Rourke, who won last month's Golden Globes for playing a washed up prizefighter in "The Wrestler."
Rourke received an eve-of-Oscars morale-boost Saturday when he won best actor at the Independent Spirit Awards.
Meanwhile, Winslet's hopes of a first Academy Award after missing out on five previous occasions are threatened by two-time Oscar-winner Meryl Streep ("Doubt"), with Melissa Leo ("Frozen River") tipped as a dark horse.
In the supporting categories, late Australian actor Heath Ledger is poised to become only the second performer in history to win a posthumous Oscar, a year after his death from a drug overdose in New York.
Bookmakers have installed Ledger as the 1/50 favorite to win for his turn as the villainous Joker in Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight."
In the supporting actress category, Penelope Cruz is the favorite and would be the first Spanish actress to win an Oscar, for her performance in Woody Allen comedy "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." Like Rourke, Cruz was a winner at the Spirit Awards in Santa Monica on Saturday.
The other element of surprise around Sunday's show is the new-look format being promised by organizers as they seek to bounce back from 2008 television viewing figures that were the worst in Oscars history.
Show producers have promised tweaks to the format, even withholding the names of Oscars presenters in an effort to build hype.
"It's going to be a show that takes some bold risks," said Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences
(AFP)
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