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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to This is America in VOA Special English. I'm SteveEmber.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. Today, we tell about the seventy-seventhAcademy Awards ceremony which takes place on Sunday in Los Angeles,California. It is an exciting event for people who make movies andfor people around the world who watch them.

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VOICE ONE:

On February twenty-seventh, actors, directors and otherfilmmakers will gather in Hollywood. It is the most important day ofthe year for hundreds of people in the movie industry. Filmmakerswill receive Academy Awards for the best acting, directing, writing,editing, music and other work on movies released last year.

The winners will receive an awardcalled an Oscar. It is shaped like a man. It is made of severalmetals covered with gold. The statue is only about thirty-fourcentimeters tall. It weighs less than four kilograms. But the awardcan be priceless to the person who receives it. Winning an Oscar canmean becoming much more famous. It can mean getting offers to workin the best movies. It also can mean earning much more money.

VOICE TWO:

Movies from the United States and several other countries arecompeting to win Academy Awards. Five movies were nominated as bestforeign language film. They are "As It Is in Heaven" from Sweden,"Downfall" from Germany, "The Sea Inside" from Spain, "Yesterday"from South Africa and "The Chorus" from France.

VOICE ONE:

The five films nominated for bestmotion picture are all from the United States. "The Aviator"received eleven Academy Award nominations -- the most of any filmthis year. These include nominations for best motion picture, bestdirector and best actor. "The Aviator" tells the story of a famousAmerican, Howard Hughes, during the nineteen thirties and forties.Hughes directed Hollywood movies. He designed and flew airplanes. Helater suffered from mental illness.

Two other movies received seven Academy Award nominations each,including best motion picture. "Million Dollar Baby" tells about ayoung woman who becomes a successful boxer but later faces atragedy. "Finding Neverland" tells the story of Scottish playwrightJ.M. Barrie. He created Peter Pan, a boy who refuses to grow up.

A movie about musician Ray Charles, called "Ray," was nominatedfor best picture and five other awards. And a comedy called"Sideways" was nominated for five Academy Awards, including bestpicture. It tells about two middle-aged men who travel to an area inCalifornia where wine is made. They taste different kinds of wineand meet two women.

VOICE TWO:

"The Aviator," "Million Dollar Baby," "Ray" and "Sideways" alsoreceived nominations for best director. The directors are MartinScorsese, Clint Eastwood, Taylor Hackford and Alexander Payne.British director Mike Leigh also was nominated for the film "VeraDrake" about a family in England during the nineteen fifties.

VOICE ONE:

Four men received nominations forbest actor in a leading role for portraying real people. LeonardodiCaprio was nominated for his role as Howard Hughes in "TheAviator." Johnny Depp portrayed J.M. Barrie in "Finding Neverland."Jamie Foxx was Ray Charles in "Ray." Foxx was also nominated as bestactor in a supporting role for the movie "Collateral." He is onlythe third man to be nominated for both awards in the same year.

Don Cheadle was nominated for his role as Paul Rusesabagina inthe movie "Hotel Rwanda." He was the hotel manager who shelteredmore than one thousand people during the mass killings in Rwanda innineteen ninety-four.

And Clint Eastwood was nominatedfor his role as the boxing trainer in "Million Dollar Baby."

VOICE TWO:

Five women were nominated for best performance by an actress in aleading role. Hilary Swank was nominated for playing the boxer in"Million Dollar Baby." Annette Bening portrayed a famous Britishactress in the nineteen thirties in "Being Julia." Columbian actressCatalina Sandino Moreno starred in "Maria Full of Grace." She playeda young woman who brings drugs illegally into the United States.

Imelda Staunton portrayed "Vera Drake," a British woman whosecretly performed illegal operations to end the pregnancies of pooryoung women. And Kate Winslet was nominated for "Eternal Sunshine ofthe Spotless Mind." She played a woman who tries to have memories ofher boyfriend removed from her mind.

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VOICE ONE:

More than twenty Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, inaddition to acting and directing. The best documentary or true storywill be honored. The people who designed the best costumes, makeupand special effects will receive awards. So will the people whowrote the best screenplay and did the best film and sound editing.

Three movies are competing for the best animated feature film oflast year. They are "The Incredibles," "Shark Tale" and "Shrek Two.""Shrek Two" was also the most popular American movie of last year.

Oscars also are awarded for the best music in movies and the bestsong. Five songs are nominated as best original song. A song from"Shrek Two" is one of them. Here is "Accidentally in Love" by thegroup Counting Crows.

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VOICE TWO:

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents theOscars each year. Almost six thousand people who work in the movieindustry belong to the organization. It was established in nineteentwenty-seven to support the film industry. The Academy beganpresenting awards in nineteen twenty-nine. At that time, films werejust starting to have sound.

The awards were not called Oscars until much later. Some peoplesaid this is how the statue got its name: In nineteen fifty-one, awoman who worked in the Academy library said the statue looked likea family member -- her Uncle Oscar.

A reporter heard this story and wrote about it. But actress andformer Academy president Bette Davis disputed this version. She saidshe named the award Oscar in honor of her first husband, HarmonOscar Nelson.

VOICE ONE:

Members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences beginthe process of choosing award winners. These people work in thirteendifferent professions. They nominate candidates for Academy Awards.The members choose among people doing the same kind of work.

For example, actors nominate actors. Directors nominatedirectors. Designers nominate designers. All Academy members voteamong those nominated to choose the final winners.

VOICE TWO:

The awards are presented every spring. This is the second yearthat the ceremony is being held in February instead of March. Itwill be held in the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. Important people inthe movie industry attend the Academy Awards ceremony.

Crowds of people wait outside the theater. They watch the famousmovie stars as they arrive for the ceremony. The women wearbeautiful dresses and costly jewelry given to them by famousdesigners. Camera lights flash. The actors and actresses smile forthe photographers and television cameras.

During the Academy Awards ceremony, famous actors and actressesannounce the names of the nominees and the winners. Then the winnerswalk up onto the stage to receive their Oscars. Their big moment hasarrived. They thank all the people who helped them win the award.

VOICE ONE:

Thousands of Americans in forty-six cities will attend OscarNight parties to re-create the excitement of the Academy Awards.These parties raise money for local aid organizations. Hundreds ofmillions of people in the United States and around the world willwatch the Academy Awards show on television Sunday.

The American film industry will honor the best movies, actors andtechnicians. These winners will go home with a golden Oscar.

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VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced byCaty Weaver. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA,in VOA Special English.