Preparations underway as Oscars ceremony braces for rain

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Preparations were quietly underway Wednesday at Hollywood's Kodak Theater for the upcoming Academy Awards show, as the movie industry's biggest ceremony braces for possible bad weather.

But after Tinseltown's screenwriters union officially ended its three-month strike last week with a labor deal with studios and TV net works, no one is poised to thwart the successful proceeding of the annual gala night.

Workers slowly unfurled the long rolls of red carpet Wednesday morning along the famed Hollywood Boulevard, although protected from the light rain, which is forecast to last through much of the week and possibly into the Sunday night festivities.

Much of the work will continue under canopies, which will remain in place until officials with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences determine if the weather will allow them to comedown.

The decision will not be made until Saturday, one day before the televised show of the 80th annual Academy Awards ceremony.

On Saturday morning, Oscar statuettes would be carried by 50 Los Angeles students along the red carpet and into the Kodak Theater, where the statuettes will be guarded backstage until they are presented to the winners, the academy said.