Oscar organizers expect big party in Hollywood

LOS ANGELES, Feb 24 (Reuters) Oscar organizers hope Hollywood's biggest stars will let down their hair and have fun at the Academy Awards tomorrow, giving a much-needed spark to a show that runs over three hours and can grow tiresome.

Oscar producer Laura Ziskin is banking on short acceptance speeches, young stars, music and comedy from show host Ellen DeGeneres to charge the atmosphere.

But it may be the wide-open race for best film among movies including ''Little Miss Sunshine'' and ''The Departed'' that keeps the Oscar drama high.

''We want to have a big party and a big celebration,'' Ziskin told reporters at a news conference yesterday. She said she would like the nominees ''to say, whether they win or lose, 'that was a big party.'' The Oscars are given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The honors, in their 79th edition this year, have become the world's top film awards and are coveted by filmmakers, actors and actresses around the globe.

But often the show bogs down in long, boring acceptance speeches in which winners thank talent agents, managers, limo drivers and a bunch of Hollywood insiders few people know.

Ziskin said she has warned nominees that if their speeches go long, music will play prompting them to leave the stage. She has installed a camera backstage dubbed the ''Thank-You-Cam,'' where they can thank anyone under the heavens.

The producer hopes many young stars who are presenting awards, including Jack Black, Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire, will appeal to younger audiences that increasingly are turning off the telecast.

Last year, the Oscars drew 38.8 million viewers in the United States, which marked a three-year low.

WIDE OPEN RACES Several races including best film have no clear front-runners, which should add to tension inside Hollywood's Kodak Theatre where the ceremony will be held tomorrow.

''It can swing in any direction ... I don't feel anything in the wind,'' said ''Entertainment Tonight'' critic Leonard Maltin.

In the best film race, director Martin Scorsese's crime thriller ''The Departed'' and road comedy ''Little Miss Sunshine'' face stiff competition from cultural drama ''Babel,'' Japanese World War Two saga ''Letters From Iwo Jima'' and ''The Queen,'' about the British royal family in a time of crisis.

Helen Mirren is favored to win best actress for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in ''The Queen,'' and Martin Scorsese has a near lock on best director for ''Departed.'' But they are the only two appearing to be shoo-ins, the experts said.

Best actor appears to be a two-way battle between Forest Whitaker as dictator Idi Amin in ''The Last King of Scotland'' and veteran Peter O'Toole, nominated for the eighth time as an old actor in love with a young woman in ''Venus.'' Supporting actor is too close to call between Eddie Murphy portraying a soul singer in ''Dreamgirls'' and Alan Arkin as an irascible grandfather in ''Little Miss Sunshine.'' The supporting actress Oscar is expected to go to Jennifer Hudson as a spurned singer in ''Dreamgirls,'' but many experts are saying 10-year-old Abigail Breslin in ''Little Miss Sunshine'' and Mexico's Adriana Baraza in ''Babel'' have a shot.

There will be drama on the red carpet outside the Kodak, too, as some of the world's most beautiful and best-dressed actresses including Penelope Cruz and Nicole Kidman arrive dripping in diamonds and wrapped in couture gowns.

Even before they get to the red carpet, several stars including Leonardo DiCaprio will challenge convention by shunning long black limousines for environment-friendly ''green cars.'' That's particularly good for Oscar organizers because they won't be thanking their limo drivers if they win.

REUTERS MS RAI1845