In true Hollywood fashion, the Academy Awards on Sunday promised a cliffhanger finale to the tight race for best picture Oscar between favorites '12 Years a Slave' and 'Gravity' but also a happier ending when it comes to the weather.
After three days of heavy downpours soaked parts of the red carpet along Hollywood Boulevard, the rain let up and workers removed the plastic tenting and unwrapped the golden Oscar statues hours before hundreds of movie stars in designer dresses and tuxedos begin arriving for Hollywood's biggest night.
And while there was still a small chance of rain, organizers said early Sunday they were confident that the most glamorous of red carpet shows would go off without a hitch.
The 86th annual Academy Awards will be hosted by comedian and day-time talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who producers are banking on to deliver an entertaining yet tasteful three-hour show after critics widely panned last year's ceremony and host Seth MacFarlane's provocative humor.
This year's Oscars celebrate what is widely regarded as one of the most high quality years in film and performances in recent memory.
The president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, called it the best line-up "in the last decade or so."
While British director Steve McQueen's brutal slavery drama '12 Years a Slave' and Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron's space thriller 'Gravity' are the frontrunners and have split many of the season's awards, experts say an upset is possible because no one can know for sure how the 6,000 plus members of the Academy voted.
"I feel more comfortable putting my chips on '12 Years a Slave' just because there is more historical basis for doing so," said Scott Feinberg, awards analyst at The Hollywood Reporter. "But at the same time there is no denying that there is great enthusiasm for other movies."
Among those is 1970s crime caper 'American Hustle' from director David O. Russell which scored 10 nominations.
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