The Oscars Will Have Stars—Lots of Them

Thu., Feb. 14, 2008 1:46 PM PST by Joal Ryan

The Oscars doesn't like to drop names, but...

George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Harrison Ford, Nicole Kidman, John Travolta and Tom Hanks are among the presenters confirmed Thursday for the 80th Annual Academy Awards.

Same goes for Miley Cyrus, Katherine Heigl, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill.

And Queen Latifah, Martin Scorsese, Hilary Swank, Cate Blanchett, Renée Zellweger and Penélope Cruz.

And the wrestler formerly known as The Rock who is now the actor known simply as Dwayne Johnson.

And 14 others.

The mass announcement was a break from past years in which the Oscar presenting lineup is unveiled just a few stars at a time, over a period of weeks.

Thursday's press conference seemed designed to allow the show to prove that its mojo was indeed intact, if not demonstrate that the dark days of the Golden Globes "announcements" are indeed over.

The press conference also not coincidentally came one day after Hollywood's TV and film writers went back to work.

In all, the names of 31 Oscar presenters, seven Oscar Original Song performers and four Oscar writers were announced.

Per usual, the presenters' ranks will rely heavily on former winners, including all four of last year's acting champs—Helen Mirren, Forest Whitaker, Alan Arkin and Jennifer Hudson.

The spots also went to actors from this year's nominated films, including No Country for Old Men's Josh Brolin, Atonement's James McAvoy, Juno's Jennifer Garner and Enchanted's Patrick Dempsey; actors with new movies coming out this summer, including Get Smart's Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway; actors who can get gigs like this any old time they want them, including Cameron Diaz and Colin Farrell; and actors who can both look good on the red carpet and seem credible pronouncing camera lenses or such at the Academy's Scientific and Technical Awards.

Actually, only Jessica Alba made the cut in that last category.

Enchanted's Amy Adams wasn't just tapped a presenter—she'll also perform "Happy Working Song," one of three nominated song from the Disney fantasy-comedy.

The countdown clock to the Oscars now stands at T-minus 10 days. Jon Stewart will host the Feb. 24 ceremony.

Make that, the Feb. 24 ceremony with all the stars.