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Fans, red carpet, even chocolate Oscars: It's show time!
A L S O CNN Special Section: And, the winner is...
CNN/Time Impact: Target Hollywood
March 23, 1997
Web posted at: 10:24 p.m. EST (0324 GMT)From Correspondent Paul Vercammen
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- The 24-hour countdown is on, with final preparations frantically under way for the 69th annual Academy Awards.
Die-hard fans, after some Twister -- the game, not the movie -- and a little nap, took their seats in the bleachers at the Shrine Auditorium. Among them, Frank Marquez who, for the 14th time in 18 years, got the first spot above the red carpet where the glamorous will walk Monday.
"There really isn't too much of an advantage, other than you get the best seat in the house. There's no real perks," Marquez said.
Inside the auditorium the rehearsal schedule included Canadian Celine Dion singing the Oscar-nominated song "Because You Loved Me" from the movie "Up Close and Personal."
(519K/12 sec. QuickTime movie)
"I'm, of course, like a child. I'm intimidated ... not scared, but, like, 'Oh my God, I can't believe I'm in it.' So, you get really, really impressed. I can't wait, I just can't wait," Dion said.
Renowned trumpeter Arturo Sandoval will breathe life into the Academy Award Orchestra. He calls his fantastic voyage from his Cuban homeland to Hollywood's Academy Awards an honor.
"I grew up in the middle of the countryside on an island. It's a dream for me just to be here," Sandoval said.
Bill Conti, a veteran of 12 Oscars, is conducting Sandoval and the rest of the orchestra.
"There's certainly an adrenaline rush ... the closer we get. It's like this big elephant just kind of lumbering around," Conti said. "The show's impossible to do -- there's too many stars, there's too many awards to give away. It's just too big for everything."
Outsized, expensive jewelry is part of the show, including $150 million worth to be worn by the participants. Part of the display: a 10-pound version of the Maltese Falcon, with a price tag at a cool $8 million.
"We have ample security. In fact, the whole 7th Fleet is anchored right off the coast here, so we feel very comfortable with it," said Edward Callaghan, spokesman for Harry Winston jewelers.
After the awards, all 1,600 attendees of the Governor's Ball can feel like winners. The chef has prepared chocolate "Oscar" desserts, sprinkled with fake gold dust.
Special section
Related stories:
- List of nominations for the Academy Awards - February 11, 1997
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