The Super Bowl’s halftime performance and the Grammy’s are done and this coming February 26, it’s time to hand out the much coveted Oscars – the pinnacle of the film entertainment industry. In another event of glamour, recognition and talent, who are you rooting for and hoping to be snubbed?

The 84th Academy Awards ceremony will be held on February 26, 2012 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood,California. ABC will be televising it live. The host, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), released the names and nominations last January 24, 2012 at the the Samuel Goldwyn Theater by Tom Sherak, AMPAS president, and Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Lawrence. It is a yearly event where the best films of the year are recognized and awarded accordingly.

The leader of the pack surprisingly is Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” with 11 nominations including nods for Best Picture and Best Director.

“The Artist” followed with 10 nominations, while “The Descendants” only got five, but in all the right categories, nailing each classification with perfect target. It is nominated for best picture, director, and screenplay and for star George Clooney.

Based from the recent reviews and polls, the neck to neck race for the Oscar is really between Martin Scorsese’s 3-D “Hugo” and silent black-and-white film “The Artist”. While “Hugo” collected more technical categories, it is “the Artist” whose director Michael Hazanavicius collected the DGA and BAFTA Awards thus having the edge in getting the Academy Award “Best Picture.”

Surprises included two nominations for raunchfest “Bridesmaids,” for “Supporting Actress” Melissa McCarthy and “Original Screenplay”. The addition of SAG nominee Damien Bichir for the LA immigration drama “A Better Life” and Gary Oldman for the BAFTA favorite “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” as “Best Actor” over Leonardo DiCaprio who starred in the badly reviewed “J. Edgar” and Michael Fassbender for the NC-17-rated “Shame”; Supporting Actor Max Von Sydow for late-breaking “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” over Albert Brooks for the R-rated “Drive”; and Best Actress Rooney Mara for the overall favored “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” over Tilda Swinton who starred in the art film “We Need to Talk About Kevin”.

Iranian Asghar Farhadi earned not only an expected foreign nomination for critics’ rave “A Separation,” but an original screenplay approval as well. Writer-director J.C. Chandor was another surprise nominee in the same category, for Sundance hit “Margin Call.” Of all the surprises, only Farhadi has a real shot at winning–in the foreign language category.

So far, the following are the fore runners on each of the categories. Best Picture will go to the movie “The Artist,” Actor and Actress in a Leading Role is Jean Dujardin in “The Artist” and Viola Davis in “The Help,” Actor and Actress in a Supporting Role is Christopher Plummer in “Beginners and Octavia Spencer in “The Help.” Meanwhile, for the Animated Feature Film, “Rango” might nail it.

To all the nominees, good luck and being nominated is one proof that you have done something great!