Many upbeat that Lupita Nyong'o will win Oscar award

By GEORGE ORIDO

LOS ANGELES, USA: Lupita Nyong’o is the person to watch tonight, with the announcement of Oscar awards winners expected in less than 24 hours.

Expectations are high and fingers crossed among Kenyans and others curious to see how the not-so-seasoned but very talented actress will fair, especially after winning and being nominated in several other awards since acting Patsey in the 12 Years A Slave movie released in 2013.

Among Kenyans gearing for her appearence and win at the awards in Los Angeles tonight is President Uhuru Kenyatta’s son Jomo. Jomo says he has no doubt Kenya’s Hollywood star Lupita Nyong’o will win the Oscars. “She is going to win,” the president’s son confidently said after signing the visitors book at the Kenya Consulate in Los Angles yesterday.

The young Jomo was echoing what the Kenyan Ambassador and Consular in Los Angeles Dr Akinyi Welwa had just expressed.

“Sunday is going to be a big day,” Dr Akinyi had said, adding that Lupita’s performance was amazing.

As the Oscar team works here day and night, the US media has been abuzz with predictions on who could take the 2014 Oscar for the Best Supporting Actress.

Enteratinmentwise, a popular website in Los Angeles, recons that  Nyong’o wowed audiences with her role as Patsey, a sexually abused slave in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave.

“The film is nominated for nine Oscars, including Best Picture, but it was her performance that has everyone talking. High expectations have been planted on the Mexico-born star, and with a potential Oscar win on the horizon, the future is looking bright for her,” the website says in its latest edition.

Lupita’s rival

The Daily Beast has termed this category ‘The tightest Oscar Race’ pitting Lupita and American Hustle’s Jennifer Lawrence.

“Will it be Jennifer Lawrence for her turn as a saucy Long Island housewife in American Hustle or Lupita Nyong’o for her poignant, tortured performance in 12 Years A Slave?” it poses.

While Jennifer has won just two citations during this awards season with Globe and BAFTA, Lupita has taken the rest and will most certainly add another feather to her hat by winning the Best Supporting Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Birthday present

That will be a beautiful birthday present, as she turns 31 today.

Incidentally, Lawrence, 23, who is the reigning Oscar Best Actress, was not nominated in this award because the budget for American Hustle was off the mark.

Other nominees for the category include June Squibb, 84, in Nebraska. She has had a 30-year career acting in small roles on TV and Broadway before she landed the role.

In addition to her sterling performance on screen, Lupita has left tongues wagging for her fabulous show on the red carpet.

She has been gracing many covers of top American and European magazines, something that has added to her appeal and set her off for the ideal Hollywood celebrity. “She’s so hot and glamorous in a way that has not been seen in the recent past,” said a stylist and analyst on ABC TV.

Do the high expectations affect Lupita? “No, I take it in strides. Where I have reached is already so much beyond expectations. I avoid dialogue and discussions about me, especially on Google, and that keeps me sane,” Lupita recently said.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is world’s distinguished movie-related organisation, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema.

They establish the rules and regulations that have come out to be strict. Recently the Academy nullified a nomination after the producer was found to have been guilty of some form of canvassing.

They said the nominating process for Original Song is intended to be anonymous, with each eligible song listed only by title and the name of the film in which it is used.

Meanwhile the Oscars management has been working overtime to build large constructions in a bid to shelter the red carpet from rain. Rains have persisted in the last two days and although the weatherman is ruling out precipitation on Sunday night the committee is taking no chances.

“This is the first time it is raining during Oscars on this venue (Dolby Theatre) explained one of the security personnel manning the venue.