USA: Despite stormy weather, Oscar preps continue with plants and life size Oscar statues being rolled onto the red carpet.

As the countdown to the 79th Academy Awards continues, preparations for the celebrity studded red carpet are well underway. Hedges and flowers are lining the walkway and life-size statues are being rolled out ahead of Hollywood's biggest event of the year. With just three days to go until the 79th annual Academy Awards ceremony, the red carpet is starting to take shape. More than 300 workers are making sure the carpet will be celebrity ready for Sunday's (February 25) big event. The carpet makeover includes hundreds of plants being lined up alongside the carpet, followed by flower arrangements. John Pavlick, the communications director for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, says this year's carpet will look different than it has in previous years. The Academy has hired a new floral designer who is giving the carpet's flowers a bit of a makeover. "I don't think we'll have as many large, very large bouquets of flowers, they'll be a little more modern perhaps and I'm looking forward to it." Also adorning the carpet are life-size Oscar statues. The gold men will line the walk all the way into the Kodak Theatre. It is currently raining in Los Angeles and the carpet is covered with a tarp, that officials hope will be lifted by tomorrow afternoon. But rain or shine, Pavlick says the show must go on. "It's rained for other events that have had the proem and somehow people have just managed to do it. But it does take a little bit of the edge off it. On a beautiful sunny southern California day this is a beautiful red carpet. And I think it would be a little bit of a spoiler, but I don't think it'll spoil the mood, am I going to win or not." In the meantime, crew members on site, including celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, are working hard to create the kind a glamorous atmosphere that the Oscars are so well known for. The 79th Annual Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 25th at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

ITN Source | February 23, 2007

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