The road to Oscar Sunday

Stage manager Dency Nelson, left, advises actress Jessica Alba at her rehearsal at the Kodak Theatre.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Actress Cameron Diaz, left, leaves the stage at the Kodak Theatre after her rehearsal as a presenter for Sunday’s Oscar ceremony.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Singer Miley Cyrus onstage at the Kodak Theatre during Saturday’s Oscar rehearsal.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Actress Nicole Kidman, a presenter at Sunday’s Academy Awards, rehearses onstage at the Kodak Theatre.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Show producer Louis J. Horvitz, left, producer Gil Cates and Academy President Sid Ganis hold forth during a news conference Friday.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Jon McLaughlin, center, and others rehearse the song “So Close,” from the movie “Enchanted.”  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

On Friday morning, Wolfgang Puck works with 80 culinary students to make food for the post-Oscars Governors Ball on Sunday night.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

On Thursday afternoon, celebrity seat cards help the cameramen know where to focus at the Kodak Theatre.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Denzel Washington rehearses on the Kodak Theatre stage Thursday afternoon. He’ll be one of the presenters at the ceremony Sunday.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Jon Stewart, who will be the host of the 80th Annual Academy Awards, is interviewed at the Kodak Theatre before going back to his office to prepare for Sunday’s Oscar show.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Stagehands Patrick Galbraith, left, and Bradley Nicodemus move a giant Oscar poster into place along the red carpet in front of the Kodak Theatre, where Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony will be held.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

With four days to go until the Oscars, workers from American Turf & Carpet lay the first part of the red carpet along Hollywood Boulevard under a plastic covering.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

On Wednesday, workmen protect the gold curtain at the entrance to the Kodak Theatre in plastic as a light rain begins to fall at the Hollywood & Highland complex. The theater is being prepared for Sunday’s Oscar presentations.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Lead scenic artist Dena D’Angelo, left, and Gayle Etcheverry cover Oscar statues with plastic to keep them looking good for Sunday.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Robert Napoli prepares a chandelier Tuesday for a set to be used onstage at the Kodak Theatre during Sunday’s Oscar ceremony.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Academy Awards lighting crew member Lynd Bingham prepares cables backstage at the Kodak Theatre on Tuesday.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Kristin Chenoweth rushes to hug Oscar telecast conductor Bill Conti before heading to a sound booth to record her vocals for “That’s How You Know,” from the movie “Enchanted.”  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Kristin Chenoweth listens to the playback of her performance of an original song nominee from “Enchanted.” She made the recording Tuesday at Capitol Records.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Bill Conti conducts the Academy Awards Orchestra during a rehearsal and recording session at Capitol Records on Tuesday. The recording is done in case there are audio difficulties during the live performances Sunday.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Academy Awards telecast producer Gilbert Cates talks to Oscar-winning composer Bill Conti and Tony-winning singer Kristin Chenoweth before a recording session at Capitol Records on Tuesday. Chenoweth will be singing “That’s How You Know,” a song from “Enchanted” (they’re recording her vocal in case there’s a technical snafu during her live performance at the ceremony). Conti is the show’s veteran musical director. Sunday will be the 19th time he has conducted the Academy Awards Orchestra.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

What’s a show without a curtain? Workmen lift a big one into place in front of the Kodak Theatre on Monday, days ahead of Sunday’s Academy Awards telecast. Streets around the theater have already been closed off for show preparations.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Production assistant Timothy Neighbors arranges an Oscar statue in the Hollywood & Highland Renaissance Hotel press room Tuesday morning.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Frank Roach carries an Oscar statue through the Hollywood & Highland complex (with Timothy Neighbors behind spotting) on Tuesday morning. The awards will be presented Sunday at the Kodak Theatre there.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

On Monday morning, workmen guide the giant Oscar statue off a truck and onto the sidewalk at the entrance to the Kodak Theatre, where it will be put on its base next to the red carpet. Production crews are working to prepare the site for Sunday’s telecast of the Academy Awards.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Lead actor nominee George Clooney (“Michael Clayton”) signs autographs on his way into the Oscar nominees luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Feb. 4. Clooney won a supporting actor Academy Award for 2005’s “Syriana.”  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The line was already long at 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 22, the day nominations were announced at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences building in Beverly Hills. And bus ads were already up, despite worries about the effect of the Writers Guild of America strike.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Supporting actor nominee Javier Bardem, with less menacing hair than he had as “No Country for Old Men’s” psycho killer Anton Chigurh, has a laugh at the Academy Awards nominee luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in early February.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)