
If all of Miley Cyrus' fans watch the 80th Academy Awards, imagine what the bump up in the ratings would be.
The teen also known as Hannah Montana will be a presenter at the Oscars on Feb. 24. The winners of last year's top honors -- director Martin Scorsese and actors Forest Whitaker, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Hudson and Alan Arkin -- will return to the stage of the Kodak Theatre as presenters.
Also scheduled to join them: Amy Adams, Jessica Alba, Cate Blanchett, Josh Brolin, Steve Carell, George Clooney, Penelope Cruz, Patrick Dempsey, Cameron Diaz, Colin Farrell, Harrison Ford, Jennifer Garner, Tom Hanks, Anne Hathaway, Katherine Heigl, Jonah Hill, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Nicole Kidman, James McAvoy, Queen Latifah, Seth Rogen, Hilary Swank, John Travolta, Denzel Washington and Renee Zellweger.
In other news announced in Beverly Hills, Amy Adams, Jon McLaughlin and the duo of Kristin Chenoweth and Marlon Saunders will perform the Oscar-nominated "Enchanted" songs. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova will sing "Falling Slowly" from "Once," and Jamia Simone Nash will sing "Raise It Up" from "August Rush" with the IMPACT Repertory Theatre of Harlem.
A 24-minute film called "gravida," made by Shadyside's Lucas McNelly and featuring local cast and crew, is part of the online Now Film Festival, which means it will be the featured short on MySpace Film for a week and in contention for prizes.
McNelly, a Geneva College graduate, expects it to be on the main page starting today at film.myspace.com.
It will be spotlighted for a week, then join other previously posted films and be available for voting for prizes in April at www.nowfilmfestival.com. That will happen once all 25 competing films are posted.
The film, made for less than $3,000, is about a pregnant woman who tries to arrange a date with a man she encounters on her job without telling him she's four months pregnant.
Filmmakers are competing for a chance to have their work screened at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and to win camera equipment. For details on the film, see www.dpressproductions.com/gravida.