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 "The strike, the bad news, is past us," Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said Thursday.
The 80th annual awards show will be held Feb. 24 at the Kodak Theatre and will feature a host of A-list stars. Forest Whitaker, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Hudson, Miley Cyrus, George Clooney and Nicole Kidman will be among the presenters. Others include Denzel Washington, Martin Scorsese, Cate Blanchett, Cameron Diaz, Harrison Ford and Tom Hanks.
Had the three-month writers strike not ended Tuesday, the Academy still would have put on a "B" show
-- one without the glitter of the nominated actors, virtually all of whom said they would not cross a picket line.
"The 'B Show' was going to have the musical numbers, and there was going to be a lot of energy to that," telecast producer Gil Cates told AP Television. "But it was going to rely mostly on film clips, mostly on historical clips, because it is the 80th year of the Oscars."
The "A" show will feature performances of the year's five nominated songs. "Enchanted" star Amy Adams will sing "Happy Working Song," one of the film's three nominated tunes.
Kristin Chenoweth and Marlon Saunders will perform "That's How You Know" and Jon McLaughlin will sing "So Close," also from "Enchanted."
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 The stars of "Once," Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, will perform their song "Falling Slowly." Jamia Simone Nash, along with the IMPACT repertory Theatre of Harlem, will sing "Raise It Up" from "August Rush."
Jon Stewart was previously announced as the show's host.
Ganis said some elements of the "B" show also were likely to work their way into the telecast.
Working on both "A" and "B" scenarios has created a time crunch.
"We're rushing," Ganis said.
"Instead of working 12-hour days, we'll be working 13-, 14-hour days," Ganis said. "That's OK for the next 10 days."
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On the Net:
Oscars: http://www.oscars.org/
[Associated
Press; By MICHAEL CIDONI]
Copyright 2007 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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