The acting contests are packed with drama as award newbies (Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe, Jeremy Renner) square off against overdue A-listers (Sandra Bullock, Matt Damon) and veterans (Jeff Bridges, Christopher Plummer). There is also a lot of movie-like suspense because there are many front-runners but no clear favorites.
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LEAD ACTOR
Front-runners
Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
Nicolas Cage, "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans"
George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
Matt Damon, "The Informant!"
Daniel Day-Lewis, "Nine"
Robert De Niro, "Everybody's Fine"
Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"
Viggo Mortensen, "The Road"
Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"
Michael Stuhlbarg, "A Serious Man"
Spotlight: Bridges enters this race late because Fox Searchlight wants a new top Oscar contender following the recent crash of "Amelia's" trophy hopes. Bridges is a fave of academy members, with four past nominations ("Starman" in lead; "The Contender," "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" and "The Last Picture Show" in supporting). Portraying a boozy country singer helped Joaquin Phoenix to be nominated for "Walk the Line," but he didn't win.
Possible
Sharlto Copley, "District 9"
Robert Downey Jr., "Sherlock Holmes"
Ben Foster, "The Messenger"
Hal Holbrook, "That Evening Sun"
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, "(500) Days of Summer"
Tobey Maguire, "Brothers"
James McAvoy, "The Last Station"
Joaquin Phoenix, "Two Lovers"
Sam Rockwell, "Moon"
Michael Sheen, "The Damned United"
Spotlight: Michael Sheen was snubbed despite starring in best picture nominees "The Queen" and "Frost/Nixon." Now he comes out swinging as a hot-headed British soccer manager in "The Damned United," one of the first DVD screeners shipped to Oscar voters in late October.
Long shots
Paul Bettany, "Creation"
Michael Cera, "Youth in Revolt"
Clive Owen, "The Boys Are Back"
Mark Wahlberg, "The Lovely Bones"
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LEAD ACTRESS
Front-runners
Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"
Marion Cotillard, "Nine"
Abbie Cornish, "Bright Star"
Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"
Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
Saoirse Ronan, "The Lovely Bones"
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"
Audrey Tautou, "Coco Before Chanel"
Spotlight: This award has gone to an actress portraying a real person seven times in the last 10 years. That's good news for these current front-runners: Bullock (as courageous mom Leigh Anne Touhy), Cornish (John Keats' lover Fanny Brawne), Mirren (Leo Tolstoy's wife, Sofya), Streep (gourmet Julia Child) and Tautou (Coco Chanel).
Possible
Shohreh Aghdashloo, "The Stoning of Soraya M."
Emily Blunt, "The Young Victoria"
Penelope Cruz, "Broken Embraces"
Zooey Deschanel, "(500) Days of Summer"
Charlotte Gainsbourg, "Antichrist"
Michelle Monaghan, "Trucker"
Gwyneth Paltrow, "Two Lovers"
Catalina Saavedra, "The Maid"
Meryl Streep, "It's Complicated"
Hilary Swank, "Amelia"
Tilda Swinton, "Julia"
Spotlight: Little-known stars of small indies usually get nominated only if DVDs are sent to academy members. Producers of "Trucker" did ship screeners of Monaghan's critically acclaimed performance as a bohemian truck driver. No such luck for "The Maid," but voters may know it because the Chilean film about a feisty domestic servant won two awards at Sundance and earned Gotham Award nominations for best feature and for Saavedra's performance.
Longshots
Amy Adams, "Julie & Julia"
Brenda Blethyn, "London River"
Jennifer Connelly, "Creation"
Katie Jarvis, "Fish Tank"
Bryce Dallas Howard, "The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond"
Michelle Pfeiffer, "Cheri"
Charlize Theron, "The Burning Plain"
Robin Wright, "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee"
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SUPPORTING ACTOR
Front-runners
Matt Damon, "Invictus"
Paul Giamatti, "The Last Station"
Jude Law, "Sherlock Holmes"
Anthony Mackie, "The Hurt Locker"
Alfred Molina, "An Education"
Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"
Peter Sarsgaard, "An Education"
Stanley Tucci, "Julie & Julia"
Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"
Spotlight: Christopher Plummer starred in Oscar best pictures "The Sound of Music" and "A Beautiful Mind," and he has won many industry honors (two Emmys plus several film critics' awards), but he's never been nominated by the academy and wasn't even invited to join as a member until 2007. Now he has two strong pluses: He portrays a real, heroic person (Leo Tolstoy) and he competes in a category widely known as a veteran's achievement award (past champs include Alan Arkin, James Coburn, Martin Landau, Jack Palance).
Possible
Alec Baldwin, "It's Complicated"
Robert Duvall, "Crazy Heart"
Robert Duvall, "The Road"
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brothers"
Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"
Nicholas Hoult, "A Single Man"
Richard Kind, "A Serious Man"
Steve Martin, "It's Complicated"
Spotlight: There's one way to make this year's Oscars truly and hilariously complicated -- nominate both ceremony hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin in this category.
Long shots
Peter Capaldi, "In the Loop"
Rupert Friend, "The Young Victoria"
Brian Geraghty, "The Hurt Locker"
Christian McKay, "Me and Orson Welles"
Timothy Spall, "The Damned United"
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SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Front-runners
Patricia Clarkson, "Whatever Works"
Penelope Cruz, "Nine"
Judi Dench, "Nine"
Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"
Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
Melanie Laurent, "Inglourious Basterds"
Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Samantha Morton, "The Messenger"
Julianne Moore, "A Single Man"
Susan Sarandon, "The Lovely Bones"
Rachel Weisz, "The Lovely Bones"
Spotlight: After Mo'Nique failed to show at the Toronto and New York film festivals, some Oscar watchers thought she'd blown her early lead in this race by seeming as ornery as her "Precious" character. Now she's attending Q&A screenings and getting huggy with Ellen DeGeneres and Craig Ferguson. Is all forgiven?
Possible
Ellen Burstyn, "The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond"
Mariah Carey, "Precious"
Marion Cotillard, "Public Enemies"
Kate del Castillo, "Julia"
Diane Kruger, "Inglourious Basterds"
Jane Lynch, "Julie & Julia"
Paula Patton, "Precious"
Rosamund Pike, "An Education"
Natalie Portman, "Brothers"
Spotlight: "An Education's" Rosamund Pike wouldn't be the first nominated for portraying a ditzy blond -- Leslie Ann Warren ("Victor/Victoria") and Jennifer Tilly ("Bullets Over Broadway"). Goldie Hawn ("Cactus Flower") even won.
Long hots
Rachel Evan Wood, "Whatever Works"
Charlize Theron, "The Road"
Emma Thompson, "An Education"
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THE PICKS
Gold Derby blogger Tom O'Neil predicts the Oscar season for The Envelope. For ongoing discussion of that race and other campaigns for gold -- Golden Globes, Grammys and more -- visit The Envelope.com.
PHOTO: MERYL STREEP: The two-time Oscar winner and 15-time nominee plays Julia Child in "Julie & Julia," which could bring her a 16th nomination.;PHOTOGRAPHER:JONATHAN WENK Columbia Pictures;PHOTO: 'CRAZY HEART': Jeff Bridges, left, and Robert Duvall are strong contenders for nominations.;PHOTOGRAPHER:Lorey Sebastian Fox Searchlight;PHOTO: 'THE LAST STATION': Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren could win Oscars playing the Tolstoys.;PHOTOGRAPHER:STEPHAN RABOLD;PHOTO: MO'NIQUE: The "Precious" actress' festival absences irked some people.;PHOTOGRAPHER:ANNE MARIE FOX Lionsgate
