Rethink.

And the spot on the Red Carpet goes to… Terry Stackhouse and Zach Cusson . The team from Emerson College are the Grand Prize winners for the 2010 Oscar Correspondent Contest , sponsored by the Academy and mtvU. The coveted prize among college journalists gives students a spot on the Red Carpet for the 82nd Academy Awards and access to the backstage press rooms and the Governors Ball. “Terry and Zach made a strong impression among the online voters and with the Academy and mtvU selection panel. We are certain they will represent college journalists well,” said Academy President Tom Sherak, quoted in the press release. “They are in for an experience like no other — the energy and excitement on Oscar’s® red carpet is truly unique.” Stackhouse and Cusson battled for votes on mtvU's Web site after winning a spot to compete against 10 semifinalists, which was whittled down to three mid-February.

We are now three days out from the 82nd Academy Awards. Rethink. has been waiting for this day all year and counting down. In Hollywood, preparations are being made outside the Kodak Theatre along the stretch of Hollywood Boulevard, between N. Orange Drive and N. Highland Avenue. In the photo above, you can see a team of workers rolling out the Red Carpet Wednesday. You'll notice the tents are back this year after a one-year hiatus. If it's going to rain, awards show organizers know tents are a MUST, especially organizers for this year's Golden Globes . After deciding not to pitch the tents earlier that day, celebrities found themselves hovering under umbrellas and "Precious" star Gabourey Sidibe was among the many sporting dresses with splotches of rain. Suffice it to say it was not pretty. When I was a bleacher fan in 2008, my friends and I were bummed by the tents and inclement weather; however, we enjoyed not getting wet. Right now, Weather.com is forecast...

In the week's video update, James discusses the latest news and buzz, including the nominees, AMC continuing its Best Picture Showcase and the latest on the Academy agenda. The first round is ending for mtvU's Red Carpet Correspondent Contest. Final ballots are being mailed out soon and the Nominees Luncheon is coming up. Link to video: Oscar Update, Feb. 9, 2010

And the award goes to... Faheem Ahmed and Anish Patel from Rice University . The team has been selected as the Grand Prize winners for the first-ever “Oscar Correspondent Contest,” a joint promotion by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and mtvU. Their coverage will be posted on www.Oscars.mtvU.com the week of February 23. Congrats! I'll try to get an interview with them and post it this weekend. Photo: Faheem Ahmed (left) and Anish Patel from Rice University have earned a spot on the red carpet and will also have access to the backstage press rooms and the Governors Ball. Photo: Darren Decker / ©A.M.P.A.S.

If you are like me, you stay up late at night and wonder what this year's Oscar ceremony graphics would look like. Well, even if you are even close to that description, I've found a picture, thanks to the Academy, of what looks like this year's logo and artwork. I mentioned in a post earlier this week that the theme for this year's show was going to be "a rich, deep blue ." Other notes: The Academy and mtvU will be announcing the Red Carpet correspondent at noon PST / 3 p.m. EST. So I'll keep you posted on the lucky team of students chosen to stand on the red carpet and interview celebs. The finalists will be on ET tonight , according to one of the teams. Also, I interviewed a very happy finalist , Megan Telles, Wednesday night and am playing to chat with the other two teams. Those interviews will be posted here this weekend. I am currently editing my OSCAR® SPECIAL for my talk show and will let everyone know when it's online. More prep work is bein...

I was looking at Sunday and Monday's preparation photos and noticed a slight modification in the Kodak Theatre's iconic archway façade , where the stars head into the Academy Awards presentation from the red carpet. If you look at the above photo, you'll notice "theatre" no longer in all caps and a slight modification of the word "Kodak." The logo is now in keeping with the changed Kodak logo , which was revealing at the beginning of 2006. Since the theatre opened in November 2001, the logo would need to be changed. The company paid an estimated $75 million to have its name associated with the theatre - and consequently the Oscars. (The 3,332-seat cost $94 million to build.) Thus, why wouldn't Kodak want its refreshed logo updated on the arch. Interesting observation is all. Now you know.

Hi everyone who is reading my blog or subscribing to the RSS feed. I wanted to take moment to tell you about this upcoming (amazing) week and a little bit about myself. First, if you're subscribing to my RSS feed, try to visit my actual page at least daily. I will be posting videos and other media onto this page; however, some content might not appear in the RSS feed (or on Facebook, for example) because I will be using the sidebar to the left. So please, come visit the Web page. Second, I will be posting anything and everything related to the Academy Awards - from the setup and the secrets to the red carpet. If I miss anything, comment and fill me in. Also, follow me on Twitter (jamesamolnar) this weekend for the latest news. Finally, I want to prove myself to you about why I should be your source for Oscar news: I've been watching, taping and rewatching the ceremonies for nearly a decade; I have bought every ceremony poster (except one) since they were made available to th...

My predictions last night were correct. mtvU announced the finalists for its red carpet correspondent contest, in association with the Academy. They are as follows: Megan Telles , sophomore - San Diego State University; Justin Shackil , senior - Fordham University; and Faheem Ahmed , senior - Rice University. The latter in the list was no. 9 on my list, but hey, he got the votes. The person that's missing is my no. 1 pick - David Distenfeld , junior- Duke University. He would have been great, but alas, the people decided. Voting begins here today and ends around 5 p.m. EST on Friday, February 20, 2009. That's a long voting period. I will try to interview Telles for sure, maybe Shackil and Ahmed. Good luck finalists! Get out the vote!

Last night, Jessica Biel , pictured, hosted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards in Beverly Hills. Set was nice. Congrats to all those honored last night. Other notes: Tomorrow we find out the three finalists for mtvU 's Oscar® Correspondent Contest , and consequently voting opens for them. So far, this is what I know: Don't look for Nick Maslow , but look for one of my favs Megan Telles . (Can't tell you how I know...) Here's hoping good news was given to David Distenfeld , but he removed his entry video from YouTube so I'm not thinking that's a good sign... Good luck to my other top five picks, Justin Shackil and Dylan Steinberg . Academy Award-winner Jennifer Hudson performed on the Grammys this evening. She brought down the house! You could see the emotion on her face. The Orange British Academy Film Awards took place tonight at the Royal Opera House in London. Award winners included " Slumd...

With 18 days until the 81st Annual Academy Awards (on Feb. 22nd) and just about three days left until voting closes for the mtvU Oscars Correspondont Contest (this Friday around 5 p.m. ET), I thought it would be appropriate to discuss odds and ends... Event news In a New York Times article published Monday (" Oscars Suspense: Will People Watch? "), writer Michael Cieply discusses the secrets behind this year's ceremony and building pressure on the Academy to get more viewers to watch. Worth the read. Jessica Biel will host the Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards on Saturday, February 7, at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills. The " Oscars Live Challenge " on OSCAR.COM went live earlier this week. Here , you can predict the winners and the during the ceremony answers questions for more points. There have not been any prizes announced for a possible nationwide winner, but maybe the Academy might not be offer a cool incentive this year. Nominees for this...

It was the moment Rincey and I were waiting for - the phone call . We had lost a lot of sleep during week so the waiting might not be too bad in our state of mind. Saturday and Sunday came and no phone call. " OK... that's not bad. We still have Monday and Tuesday ," we told each other. It was Thursday morning, Rincey tweeted: " i've given up on mtvu and am moving on with my life. i can't live with all the suspense for this long. " She called me a few hours later, telling me to check the site. Our names were not included among the semi-finalists. Instead of being angry and screaming so that my neighbors could hear my ire, I decided to watch the 10 videos. As a good journalist, I noted what I liked about each and decided to share my thoughts so that I could help others who might not want to watch all 10. Here is my Top 10-styled list , with number one being my favorite: 10. Diana Snyder, freshman - New York University My main point of contention is the f...