An Afghan street kid is off to Hollywood and the red-carpet treatment at the Oscars -- a fairytale ending to a chance encounter that led to a starring role in a movie.

Oscar winners Russell Crowe, Jennifer Hudson and Catherine Zeta-Jones will perform at the Academy Awards in a tribute to the resurgence of big-screen musicals, organizers said on Wednesday.

Barbra Streisand will perform for the first time in 36 years, Adele will sing Skyfall, and the stars of Chicago will reunite 10 years after their Academy Awards triumph.

Argo and Anne Hathaway are the top contenders to win an Oscar for the Best Film category and Best Supporting Actress.

While Hollywood parades in tuxedos and gowns, grandly celebrating itself, a freewheeling cacophony of quips and sarcasm - something like a digital, million-times multiplied version of those balcony Muppet onlookers, Statler and Waldorf - will provide a welcome and riotous counter-narrative to the pomp.

Actor Ben Affleck says it was a nightmare becoming a film director because of snobbery from Hollywood bigwigs.

Academy has added actors Salma Hayek Pinault, Melissa McCarthy, Liam Neeson and John Travolta to its star-studded list of Oscar presenters.

Iran hostage drama "Argo" won the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, while Daniel Day-Lewis and Jennifer Lawrence took acting honors, as Hollywood celebrated its own and helped sharpen the race for Oscar glory in February

Steven Spielberg goes into next weekend's Oscars with the most nominations for his presidential Lincoln, but the momentum is all with Ben Affleck's thriller Argo in the Academy Awards home straight.

Best actress Oscar winners Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon will be among the presenters at next week's 85th Academy Awards, organizers said Wednesday.

This year's nominees for the best actress Oscar include the oldest ever and the youngest, nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis, who reportedly lied about her age to get the job.

American singer Norah Jones will sing Everybody Needs a Best Friend, from the Ted soundtrack, during the 85th Academy Awards ceremony on February 24. The 33-year-old actress and singer will perform one of the five tunes in the Best Original Song category, during the most watched film event of the year.

Bombay Jayashri, a Carnatic music vocalist, is the only Indian among the Oscar nominees announced on Thursday, for lyrics for "Pi's lullaby" from the movie Life of Pi.

Catherine Zeta-Jones has confirmed that she will be taking part in an Oscars night tribute to movie musicals.