Canada Speaks
Presented by Sympatico / MSN

Toronto, ON -The votes are in and the Canada Speaks Oscar poll conducted by Sympatico/MSN found that two thirds (65%) of Canadians plan on tuning into the 79th Annual Academy Awards on February 25th with the majority believing that the Best Motion Picture Award should go to The Queen (28%).

Fan favourite Will Smith should take home the Oscar for his performance in The Pursuit of Happiness, according to 41% of those surveyed, but the battle for Best Actress may prove to be a closer race. Forget about those red carpet babes--Canadians are torn between two women in the silver-haired set, with an equal number (32%) choosing Helen Mirren for her role in The Queen and Meryl Streep for her role in The Devil Wears Prada.

So why do people tune into the three hour program each year? Over half of Canadians are actually interested in who takes home the awards, while 28% are more concerned with what designers the stars will be wearing and with whom they'll be showing up to the event. Not surprisingly, women tend to be more interested than men in "the fashion" (37% vs. 16%), while men are more interested in "watching the host"Ё (22% vs. 14%) and "the jokes"Ё (32% vs. 13%).

According to the poll, Hollywood's most beautiful couple not only leads in the gossip columns, but on the red carpet as well. Canadians believe Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt will take home best dressed honours, though curiously, Canadians also expect that Brad will lead the worst dressed list. Jolie was almost five times as likely to score on the best dressed list than Brad's ex and former "Friend" Jennifer Aniston. As for the worst dressed females? Canadians are confident that Paris Hilton and Britney Spears will top worst dressed lists despite the fact that they'll likely never be invited to the Awards Show.

When it comes to the Academy Awards host, most (61%) predict this year's Ellen DeGeneres will perform "about the same" as other hosts have in the past, but about one in five (22%) say she will do "worse" and 17% say she'll do "better".

With Canada Speaks, Sympatico / MSN is listening to its readers' opinions in order to continue providing them with the information they care most about. Canada's most popular online destination with more than 18.4 million visitors per month, Sympatico.MSN.ca is the one online destination that provides the tools and information Canadians need to connect with friends, family, and what's happening--in their community and around the world.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted from January 25th to 29th, 2007 via a regionally representative online Canadian sample of 1000 adult Canadians. For this sample, results can be considered accurate 95% of the time with a 177 3.1% margin of error, of what it would have been had this entire population been surveyed.

Best Dressed...
Best Dressed Actress...
Which actress do you think will be the best-dressed?

Best Dressed Actor...
Which actor do you think will be the best-dressed?

Worst Dressed...
Worst Dressed Actress...
Which actress do you think will be the worst-dressed?

Worst Dressed Actor...
Which actor do you think will be the worst-dressed?

Oscar Categories...

Question: "Below are a number of different Oscar Categories and a list of the nominated movies and actors in each category. Even though you might not have seen any of the movies, please indicate who you think should win the Oscar for each category":

Best Motion Picture

Performance by An Actress In A Leading Role

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Two-thirds (65%) Will At Least Tune In To This Year's Academy Awards...

When it comes to this year's Academy Awards presented on February 25th, two-thirds (65%) indicate they will at least tune in:

• 9% "definitely, you never miss it";
• 12% "yes, you will watch this year";
• 44% "you'll probably tune in for a little while";
• 36% "you won't tune in at all".

• Women are more likely than men to say they will "definitely" watch the Oscars this year (12% vs. 5%).

Most (58%) Say "Finding Out Who Wins" Is The Most Interesting Part Of The Oscars...
What's more interesting to you and the part you enjoy most when you watch the Academy Awards?

• Women tend to be more interested than men in "the fashion" (37% vs. 16%), while men are more interested in "watching the host" (22% vs. 14%) and "the jokes" (32% vs. 13%).

Majority (61%) Say Ellen DeGeneres Will Perform About As Well As Other Oscars Hosts In The Past...

This year, Ellen DeGeneres will host the Oscars. How do you think she will perform in comparison to other hosts in the past like Billy Crystal?

For more information on this press release, please contact:
Paul Orovan
Ipsos Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900

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