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BREAKING NEWS!!

‘Dreamgirls’ picks up most Oscar nods
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – The peppy musical “Dreamgirls” led Academy Awards contenders Tuesday with eight nominations, but surprisingly was shut out in the best picture category for which it had been considered a potential front-runner.
The sweeping ensemble drama “Babel” was close behind with seven, including best picture and acting honors for two newcomers to U.S. audiences, Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi.
Other best-picture nominees were the bloody crime saga “The Departed,” the World War II spectacle “Letters From Iwo Jima,” the road-trip comedy “Little Miss Sunshine” and the monarchy-in-crisis chronicle “The Queen.”
Going into nominations day, the best-picture competition looks unusually wide open, with no consensus on a favorite. With “Dreamgirls,” a Golden Globe winner out of the race, the best picture competition was even more up for grabs.
But front-runners in all four categories nabbed nominations and seem poised to come home with Oscars on Feb. 25: Helen Mirren for best actress as British monarch Elizabeth II in “The Queen”; Forest Whitaker for best actor as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland”; and Eddie Murphy and former “American Idol” finalist Jennifer Hudson as soulful singers in “Dreamgirls.”
The other nominees for best actor are Leonardo DiCaprio for “Blood Diamond,” ” Ryan Gosling” for “Half Nelson,” Peter O’Toole for “Venus,” and Will Smith for “The Pursuit of Happyness.”