The 84th Annual Academy Awards:We Review

Bringing her stunning beauty to the red carpet, Natalie Portman turned up for the 84th Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday evening (February 26).

Held at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, the "Black Swan" beauty garnered plenty of attention as she charmed her way down the red carpet alongside fiance Benjamin Millepied.

During the course of the night, Natalie - who won Best Actress the previous year - is set to take the stage to hand out one of the coveted trophies while other presenters include Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise, Jennifer Lopez and Cameron Diaz.

With "Hugo" leading the pack at 11 nominations while "The Artist" sits close behind at 10 chances for Oscar glory, the 2012 Academy Awards will be hosted by Billy Crystal and will broadcast live on ABC on Sunday, February 26th beginning at 7 ET.

After an eight-year absence, host Billy Crystal — back for his ninth time as host — kicked off the The 84th Academy Awards show in Los Angeles.

Best actor nominees George Clooney and Jean Dujardin hit the Academy Award red carpet Sunday night to the delight of fans in the bleachers outside the Hollywood & Highland Center, the first group of A-listers to arrive for the ceremony under a glorious California sky.

Dujardin hopes to become the first Frenchman to win best actor and his The Artist is favored to become the only silent movie to take the best-picture prize since the first Oscar ceremony 83 years ago.

Christopher Plummer is in line to become the oldest acting winner ever at 82. Meryl Streep might join the acting three-peat club with a third Academy Award.

Along with Streep, Hollywood's big night on Sunday has plenty of returning stars, too, with past Oscar winners and nominees such as Clooney, Brad Pitt, Glenn Close, Michelle Williams and Nick Nolte in the running again.

Because of a change in voting rules, the Oscars feature nine best-picture nominees for the first time, instead of the 10 they had the last two years.

Competing against The Artist for the top honor are Clooney's family drama The Descendants; the Deep South tale The Help, featuring best-actress nominee Viola Davis and supporting-actress favorite Octavia Spencer; and the Paris adventure Hugo, from director Martin Scorsese.

Also in the lineup: the romantic fantasy Midnight in Paris, from writer-director Woody Allen; Pitt's baseball tale Moneyball and his family saga The Tree of Life; the World War I epic War Horse, directed by Steven Spielberg; and Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock's Sept. 11 story Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.
Hugo leads with 11 nominations, with "The Artist" right behind with 10.

Spencer's a virtual lock for supporting actress, having dominated earlier film honors for her breakout role in The Help as a brash maid in 1960s Mississippi. The same holds true for Plummer, the front-runner for supporting actor for his role as an elderly widower who comes out as gay in Beginners.

The lead-acting categories are where the drama lies. Best actress shapes up as a two-woman race between Davis as a courageous maid leading an effort to reveal the hardships of black housekeepers' lives in The Help and Streep as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

The record-holder with 17 acting nominations, Streep has won twice and would become only the fifth performer to receive three Oscars. Jack Nicholson, Ingrid Bergman and Walter Brennan all earned three, while Katharine Hepburn won four.
It's been almost three decades since Streep last received an Oscar, for 1982's Sophie's Choice. Though she has the most acting nominations, she also has the most losses —14. Another loss would be her 13th in a row.

Best actor also looks like a two-person contest between Clooney as the distressed patriarch of a Hawaiian clan in The Descendants and Dujardin as a silent-era superstar whose career tanks as talking pictures take over in The Artist.

It would be the second Oscar for Clooney, who won the supporting-actor prize for 2005's Syriana. While French actresses have won before, among them Marion Cotillard and Juliette Binoche, Dujardin would be the first actor from France to receive an Oscar.

Dujardin was picked as best actor Saturday at the Spirit Awards honoring independent film, where The Artist ruled with four prizes, including best picture and director for Michel Hazanavicius, who is favored for the same trophy at the Oscars.

The Artist has dominated Hollywood honors this season, winning key prizes at the Golden Globes and awards shows held by the Directors, Producers and Screen Actors guilds.

"This means a lot, because it's a small movie. It's not expensive. We did it with small money," Hazanavicius said backstage at the Spirit Awards. "And it's black and white and silent."

If The Artist comes away with the best-picture trophy, it would be the first win for a silent film since the war story Wings was named outstanding picture at the inaugural Oscars in 1929.

One Direction Apologise For Speech Mistake

One Direction have reportedly found themselves on the wrong side of one of the most powerful radio stations in the UK following a BRIT Awards speech mix up.
As previously reported, One Direction took home the Best Single award at the BRITs last night - an award voted for by the listeners of Capital FM.

Unfortunately, Harry Styles got on stage and thanked the listeners of Radio 1, Capital's main rival, for their votes. This has not gone down well at Capital according to sources in the industry and the belief is that they will no longer play any of One Direction's songs on their station.

"One Direction, as far as Capital are concerned, are only going in one direction," a source told The Guardian.

However, the boys have since apologised for the mix up in a statement given to Entertainmentwise by a rep for the group.

“One Direction forgot to thank the Capital Radio listeners last night when picking up their BRIT Award for Best British Single. This was an oversight as the boys were caught up in the excitement of winning.

The band would like take this opportunity to thank Capital Radio and all their listeners for their support and for voting for them,” it reads Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles joined in the fun last night, tweeting: "Best British single voted by listeners to Capital FM, One Direction. Harry Styles said 'a massive thank you to Radio 1' HaHa Nice one!"
It is also reported that a previously scheduled appearance by the boyband at the Capital studios has been cancelled.

Backstage One Direction joked that they were going to struggle with just one trophy between them.

The group's Niall Horan said: "We have to break the award into five. Or we need to photocopy it.

And Styles said the group had their eye on a big name collaborator: "We would love to work with Adele."

US singer Lana Del Rey collected the international breakthrough prize, beating Aloe Blacc and Bon Iver.

The former X Factor contestants, signed to Simon Cowell's Syco label, won the best single award at Tuesday's Brits, as voted for by listeners of Capital FM and iTunes users.

But accepting the award for their song, What Makes You Beautiful, at London's O2 Arena and in front of more than 6 million ITV1 viewers, band member Harry Styles said a "massive thank you to Radio 1".

Global Radio boss Ashley Tabor and his director of programming Richard Park, who were at the Brits, were both said to be upset by the incident.

An appearance by One Direction planned for Wednesday on Capital was dropped. The band are also understood to have been bumped down the station's playlist with their music said to be conspicuous only by its absence this morning.

"One Direction as far as Capital are concerned are only going in one direction," said one industry source.

The gaffe was seized on Radio 1 DJs including breakfast presenter Chris Moyles who tweeted: "Best British single voted by listeners to Capital FM, One Direction. Harry Styles said 'a massive thank you to Radio 1' HaHa Nice one!"

Global's talent division manages One Direction's boyband rivals The Wanted, who were also shortlisted for the best single prize.

She appeared to be choking back tears as she said: "This award means much more to me than you know and I just want to say that without the support of everyone in this room and everyone in the UK, I'd really be lost. Thank you, I love you."
Blur were rewarded with the outstanding contribution prize, which had been pre-announced late last year.

Meanwhile, One Direction have announced details of a 2013 UK arena tour.
The band last won a Brit in 1995 when they swept the board collecting four prizes on the strength of their hit third album Parklife.

Collecting the trophy - designed by pop artists Sir Peter Blake - frontman Damon Albarn said: "Last time we were here was 17 years ago. And what happened that night seemed to have a really profound effect on our lives, and it's nice to come back and say thank you very much for this honour."
 
Albarn dedicated the award to long-time manager Chris Morrison.

Whitney Houston's Body Reach In New Jersey

Whitney Houston's body has been flown from California to her home state of New Jersey, ahead of a funeral expected later this week.

A gold hearse took her body from Teterboro airport to a funeral home in her hometown of Newark, reports said.The 48-year-old singer was found underwater and unconscious on Saturday in a bath at a hotel in Beverly Hills, police said.

Toxicology tests are under way after an autopsy on Sunday.The authorities say it may be up to eight weeks before they can confirm the cause of death.No criminal probe is under way, police said, but LA's coroner said her room did contain some prescription drugs.

  In a news conference on Monday, Beverly Hills police spokesman Lt Mark Rosen said fire department officials were told the singer was found unresponsive on Saturday morning.

"Ms Houston was pulled from the tub by members of her staff and hotel security was promptly notified," he said.

 Lt. Mark Rosen, Beverly Hills Police: Houston was "pulled from bath"

"First aid and CPR measures were performed in an attempt to revive her," he said, adding that after unsuccessful attempts, Houston was pronounced dead at 15:55 local time (23:55 GMT).

The police spokesman played down reports that prescription drugs might have been involved in her death.
"Our intent at Beverly Hills Police Department is not to fuel the speculation or rumours that are circulating right now," Lt Rosen said. "We can't comment on where those rumours have come from."

However, the Los Angeles coroner's office then said there were bottles of prescription medicine in the room, although it did not provide further details.

"There weren't a lot of prescription bottles," said Ed Winter, the coroner's assistant chief. "You probably have just as many prescription bottles in your medicine cabinet."

Houston's body was released to her family late on Monday morning. The body was then flown from Van Nuys Airport in the Los Angeles area east to New Jersey.

Born in Newark, Whitney Houston began her singing career as a child at the city's New Hope Baptist Church. Her cousin, singer Dionne Warwick, also sang in its choir.

On Monday, mourners left tributes, including flowers, balloons and candles, alongside the church's fence.

Houston's hits included I Will Always Love You and I Have Nothing "She was an inspiration to everybody,'' said Gregory Hanks, a 26-year-old actor who grew up in the area.

The White House said President Barack Obama offered his condolences.
Press secretary Jay Carney said: "I know that his thoughts and prayers are with her family, especially her daughter.

"It's a tragedy to lose somebody so talented at such a young age."

Houston was one of the world's best-selling artists from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, selling 170 million records worldwide.

But her later career was overshadowed by drug use and a turbulent marriage to singer Bobby Brown.
Houston was found in her hotel room just hours before she was supposed to appear at a gala before the Grammy Awards.