The 80th Annual Oscar ceremony will be televised on Sunday, Feb. 24 (hey, that’s my birthday!) with host Jon Stewart. The pageantry, big stars, red carpet arrivals, outfit ewws and ahhs, and, oh yeah, the awards, will be broadcast on ABC. Glitz, glamour and gowns – oh my!

Can I say, thank God? Don’t worry – I’m not practicing my acceptance speech! The Academy Awards seemed earmarked for tragedy after the Writer’s Strike put a kibosh on previous ceremonies and forced us to suffer through Queen Latifah cracking herself up with lame patter on The People’s Choice Awards, and entertainment journalists crashing and burning during a news conference for The Golden Globes Awards.

At least we had The SAG Awards, which I always assumed were a reference to stars who hadn’t gotten plastic surgery. And who can forget the excitement of The Director’s Guild of America Awards? Thank you, Sean Young, for being boozy, which helped that ceremony from getting snoozy.

In acting, the Oscars are the pantheon of recognition. With the Writer’s Strike behind us, the Hollywood adage, “the show must go on,” has never seemed more appropriate. Here’s the scoop on this year’s Academy Awards.

Every year there are nomination oversights that cause movie fans to scratch their heads.

This year, the biggest upset seems to be in the category of Best Original Song. The film Enchanted has hogged three of the five song nods, shutting out contenders like Eddie Vedder’s song, “Guaranteed,” from Into the Wild.

More importantly, Hairspray was left out – there goes our chance to see lil’ Zac Efron belt out “Ladies’ Choice”!

Here’s another brouhaha worthy mention: the lead actor, actress and director for Best Film nominee Atonement – James McAvoy, Keira Knightly and Joe Wright – were snubbed. I guess that movie just acted and directed itself? It’s amazing the things they can do with movies nowadays!

Case in point, the widely panned Eddie Murphy vehicle, Norbit, is up for a golden guy for makeup. Wow, you can make a crappy movie with prosthetics and still receive a nomination! That’s great news for Heather Mills, should she take up acting to cover her divorce costs from Paul McCartney!

And, why didn’t The Simpsons Movie get nominated for Best Animated Feature Film – was it the sight of Bart Simpson’s Wee Willie Winkie that put off Academy voters? Instead, we have yet another animated penguin movie (Surf’s Up) on the ballot.

And apparently people think Angelina Jolie was robbed of a nomination for her performance in A Mighty Heart. Uh, honey, you get to have sex with Brad Pitt, and that’s more than enough of a consolation prize, OK?

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age), Julie Christie (Away From Her), Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose – I think that’s Dutch, right?), Laura Linney (The Savages), and Ellen Page (Juno).

Could Win: I love Cate Blanchett, who was nominated for this role in 1998 in the original Elizabeth; but it seems as though comeback queen (hey, that’s my nickname!) Julie Christie is the front runner. She hasn’t won an Oscar since 1965, and she did pick up a SAG Award for this role as a woman with Alzheimer’s.

Should Win: It’s Linney’s third Academy Award nomination and I think she is one of the most underrated actresses. Perhaps, Linney should take on a role where she plays a bride afflicted with Tourette’s (having an ailment equals Oscar gold) – ’cause I am sure she is getting sick of the “always a bridesmaid, never a bride” treatment come Oscar time.

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood), Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd), Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah – the title sounds like a cheesy ’50s sci-fi movie) Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises) and, gag, George Clooney (Michael Clayton).

Could Win: Daniel Day-Lewis has been cleaning up at awards shows, winning both a SAG and a BAFTA, for his portrayal as an Oil tycoon – maybe he should play J.R. Ewing in the back on again Dallas movie. He’d certainly be more formidable than current casting choice Ben Stiller, who I could see playing Bobby, or even Lucy, but not J.R.!

Should Win: I like all of the other nominees, save for one – hmm, who could that be? Of all his varied, interesting performances (Ed Wood for one) why is the Academy singling out Depp’s re-use of his Edward Scissorhands hair and Captain Jack Sparrow accent? Geez, Academy, if you are going to really kick it old school, why not just rename the film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of 21 Jump Street?

Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett (I’m Not There), Ruby Dee (American Gangster), Saoirse Ronan – bless you (Atonement), Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone), and Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton).

Could Win: Ruby Dee – this could be a big year for dismantling the misconception that actresses over a certain age are no longer viable.

Should Win: Cate Blanchett for her gender bending role as one of six actors who played a variation of singer Bob Dylan – wait, shouldn’t the nomination be for Best Supporting Actor?

Best Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – dang, talk about a mouthful!), Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild), Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilson’s War), and Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton).

Could Win: It looks to be Javier Bardem’s year, but … remember last year’s upset with Alan Arkin winning over shoo-in Eddie Murphy? I bet Murphy does, even if it seems as though he has some form of short term memory loss – oh, wait, that’s only in regards to being married.

Should Win: Hal Holbrook – anyone who was in the horror movies The Fog and Creepshow and is married to Dixie Carter (formerly of “Designing Women) is OK in my book.

Best Director: Julian Schnabel – he was the director that Sean Young drunkenly heckled (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Jason Reitman (Juno), Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton), Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men) and Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood).

Could Win: The Coen brothers, and if they do succeed, they will be the first siblings to do so in Oscar Best Director history.

Should Win: The Coen brothers, because I loved Fargo – oh shoot, yeah!

Best Picture: Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, and There Will Be Blood.

Could Win: No Country for Old Men, which I had mistakenly thought was some type of movie addressing the unfortunate ageism older gay men face – but I digress.

Should Win: There Will Be Blood wasn’t a remake of the 1976 horror classic, Carrie? Oh then, forget it! And since when did they allow TV shows made into movies to be nominated? What? Juno isn’t based on Jamie Lynn Spears’ “Zoey 101”? My bad!

Best Original Song: I will go out on a limb and say that a song from the movie Enchanted will win.

My favorite part of the Oscars is the sometime surprises that mix up the usually overly long telecast, and I am loving the fact that The Writer’s Strike is now over and that has somehow given people actual excitement about this award show again, because most years it is just a good way to beat insomnia. Until next time, that’s all of the news that’s fit to print.