Capote's Philip Seymour Hoffman is the outright favourite with bookmakers in Las Vegas, London and Alice Springs to claim the Best Actor Oscar at today's ceremony, with Brokeback Mountain's Heath Ledger a distant second.
Alice Springs betting agency Centrebet has received a US$15,000 ($22,655) bet from one punter for a
Hoffman win.
Punters have shown more interest in another best actor nominee, Walk the Line's Joaquin Phoenix, than Ledger.
Hoffman's odds are around 1/8. Ledger is around 7/1.
Nicholson joins lineup
Hollywood veteran Jack Nicholson, award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal, John Travolta and China's Zhang Ziyi cap the list of celebrity presenters at the ceremony.
The big-name actors will join Australian actor Eric Bana, who stars in the Oscar-nominated Munich, and Samuel Jackson and Ben Stiller in uttering one of Hollywood's famous lines: "And the Oscar goes to ... "
Clooney's first time George Clooney has never been to the Academy Awards. "I don't really feel like I'm going to win. I just like the idea of showing up," said Clooney who has three nominations this year.
Best swear words
Crash has taken first prize for the most curses in a movie nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, according to the movie watchdog group FamilyMediaGuide.com.
The film wins the most profane award with 182 expletives, including 99 utterances of the F word. Brokeback Mountain ranked second among Best Picture nominees with 92 curse words, followed by Munich with 22.
More cussin'
There will be no F-word but the word "bitches" will be heard during the first rap performance at the ceremony.
The authors of Best Song nominee It's Hard Out There for a Pimp from the film Hustle & Flow have substituted less-offensive words for the song's profanity-laced lyrics. Just in case, broadcaster ABC is also expected to use a five-second delay to aid network censors.
- AGENCIES
