Spy on the stars with Oscar.com's hidden cameras

[February 25, 2012]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Academy Awards nominees and presenters are getting even more exposure at this year's show.

Thanks to an expanded collection of hidden backstage cameras, which capture unscripted action near the green room, the lobby, the winners' walk and the Governors Ball, fans can click around on Oscar.com to see various perspectives that aren't part of the main telecast.

"We want to encourage them to be part of the experience," said Christina Kounelias, chief marketing officer for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

"We're giving fans the control to follow their favorites," added Karin Gilford of ABC's digital media division.

The Oscar.com site -- a partnership between AMPAS and the Oscars' longtime broadcaster, ABC -- will have more than a dozen cameras filming the proceedings on the red carpet, backstage and inside the theater, where a camera will be trained on front-row celebrity minglers during commercials. Visitors to the site can choose which camera they want to look through and change it any time. A running ticker will advise what's happening in front of the other cameras so star-watchers don't miss their favorites.

The celebrity surveillance, which is free, will begin with the start of red-carpet arrivals and continue with live feeds until the Governors Ball gets under way.

Oscar attendees needn't worry about too much exposure, though. There are no hidden cameras in the theater's restrooms.

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Online:

http://www.oscar.com/

[Associated Press; By SANDY COHEN]

AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/APSandy.

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