THE OSCAR NOMINATIONS ARE IN !

DREAMGIRLS

Musical extravaganza 'Dreamgirls' looks set to sweep the board at this year's Oscars with an incredible eight nominations.The movie has three nods in the Best Music (song) category, for 'Listen', 'Patience' and 'Love You I Do', and is also up for Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction and Best Sound mixing.Two of the film's stars Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson were named in the Best Supporting Actor and Actress categories respectively. Surprisingly, 'Dreamgirls - which also stars Beyoncé Knowles - wasn't nominated for Best Picture. It category will instead be contested by 'Babel','The Departed', 'Letters From Iwo Jima', 'Little Miss Sunshine' and 'The Queen'.Three of Britain's most revered leading ladies, Dame Judi Dench, Kate Winslet and Dame Helen Mirren, have all been nominated for the Best Actress prize.They will compete with Penelope Cruz and Academy Awards veteran Meryl Streep for the prestigious accolade. Incredibly, Streep's performance in 'The Devil Wears Prada' brings her total Oscar nominations tally up to 14 - the greatest number for an actress in the event's history. She has won on two occasions. In 1980 she took home the Best Supporting Actress prize for 'Kramer vs. Kramer' and in 1983 she scooped the Best Actress accolade for her performance in 'Sophie's Choice'. Dench's 'Notes on a Scandal' co-star Cate Blanchett has been nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category. Also nominated is 10-year-old Abigail Breslin, the young star of last year's hit comedy 'Little Miss Sunshine'. If Breslin takes the title, she will become the youngest Oscar winner ever. Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Gosling, Peter O'Toole, Will Smith and Forest Whitaker are all up for Best Actor. Martin Scorsese is once again up against Clint Eastwood for Best Director - the same rival who beat him to the award in 2004. Stephen Frears, Paul Greengrass and Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu will contest the two Hollywood heavyweights for the sought after statuette.The 79th Academy Awards takes place on February 25th at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. This year's host is US comedienne and chat show host Ellen DeGeneres.