Showbiz411

The Oscars are this Sunday on ABC. Producers keep adding more fire power, with A list stars joining the presenters line up in droves. This morning Liam Neeson, John Travolta, Salma Hayek, and Melissa McCarthy are all announced. They’re all past nominees. And a couple of huge A listers who once starred in a very big blockbuster–each Oscar winners themselves for Best Actor and Actress– will be announced shortly to present together. And here’s today’s announcement:

Hayek Pinault, McCarthy, Neeson and Travolta join a stellar list of previously announced Oscar presenters including Ben Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Mark Wahlberg, Ted and “Marvel’s The Avengers” cast members Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo; returning 2011 Oscar winners Jean Dujardin, Christopher Plummer, Octavia Spencer and Meryl Streep; “Chicago” cast members Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones; special guests Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Daniel Radcliffe, Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron; and performers Adele, Dame Shirley Bassey, Norah Jones and Barbra Streisand.

PS With “Downton Abbey” done for the season, and “Homeland” nowhere in sight, the Oscar show–with just tons of stars–is destined to be a huge ratings getter.

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.