1st And 10

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed that it will be using the Preferential voting system to determine which of the 10 contenders for its Best Picture award will win the coveted category.



The system has long been used in the round of voting which determines the nominees in most categories, but it has not been used on the final ballot for Best Picture since 1945.

In June the Academy's Board of Governors expanded the Best Picture category from five to 10 nominees, which necessitated a change to the voting system for the category.

With 10 nominees, the method allows the collective judgment of all voting members to be accurately represented and tabulated fairly.

"Instead of just marking an 'X' to indicate which one picture they believe to be the best, members will indicate their second, third and further preferences as well," said Academy President Tom Sherak

"PricewaterhouseCoopers will then be able to establish the Best Picture recipient with the strongest support of a majority of our electorate"

Expanding the evening's last category may create some excitement but let's face it even if by some remote chance summer crowd-please rs like Star Trek or The Hangover make the cut they are still not gonna win the big prize... in favor of more traditional Academy choices on the Best Pic nominee list.

The Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT. The 82nd Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday, March 7th 2010.