Oscar Awards 2013: Who will walk away with the awards this year?

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While nominees bite their nails off in anticipation, Hollywood gears up for the biggest event of the year – the 85th Academy Awards! This year, apart from the usual revelry, fashion statements and show of sheer brilliance, features uniqueness as far as nominations are concerned.

The youngest and oldest lead actress nominees ever are to battle it out at Oscars 2013 – Emmanuelle Riva, who turns 86 on the day of the event, has won a nomination for her performance in ‘Amour’; while Quvenzhané Wallis, at the age of 9, has secured her place in that coveted list for ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’. The other actresses who are sure to take many breaths away are Jessica Chastain for ‘Zero Dark Thirty’, Jennifer Lawrence for ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ and Naomi Watts for ‘The Impossible’.

Meanwhile, the actors who comprise the list of the bests are also to face stiff competition from each other. While Bradley Cooper’s infallible act in ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ has won him a place in the Best Actors’ list this year, Daniel Day-Lewis’ extraordinary performance in and as ‘Lincoln’ has done so for him. Hugh Jackman’s Jean Valjean in ‘Les Miserables’, Denzel Washington’s role in ‘Flight’ and Joaquin Phoenix’s performance in ‘The Master’ have all catapulted them to the league of best actors this year.

Nine movies have been pitted against each other in the race for the best in 2013. These are ‘Life of Pi’, ‘Argo’, ‘Amour, ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’, ‘Django Unchained’, ‘Les Miserables’, ‘Lincoln’, ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ and ‘Zero Dark Thirty’.

The five directors who will fight it out for the statuette this year are Amour Michael for ‘Haneke’, Benh Zeitlin for ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’, Ang Lee for ‘Life of Pi’, Steven Spielberg for ‘Lincoln’ and David O. Russell for ‘Silver Linings Playbook’.

Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman - the pair that has created more iconic characters than anybody else, are to present at the ceremony this year. The two multiple Academy Award winners are to join a constellation of other stars, amongst whom are Jane Fonda, Jennifer Garner, Kristen Stewart, Kerry Washington, Salma Hayek Pinault, Melissa McCarthy, Liam Neeson, John Travolta, Ben Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. The star-studded night will see its culmination at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center. This year, Seth MacFarlane is to host the event.

The most nominated films this year are Steven Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln’ with a count of 12 and Ang Lee’s ‘Life of Pi’ with that of 11 nominations. The two films have received rave reviews from critics and have made many gasp in astonishment. And as they say, hope this year too, the Academy Awards do what they are most famous for – reward the best in each field!