When this year's Oscar statues are handed out Sunday at the Kodak Theatre Slumdog Millionaire will be the unlikely heavyweight. It entered the awards season as an underdog, but with the big show looming it's the favorite to win most of the categories in which it's nominated, including Best Picture and Best Director. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button may have more nominations than Slumdog, but come Sunday Button seems unlikely to win more than 3 or 4 technical awards.

The real battle this year is for Best Actor. Momentum has shifted back and forth between Sean Penn (Milk) and Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler), with each winning several awards along the way. Penn's chances could be hurt by the fact that he's already won in this category before (for Mystic River), while Rourke's recent flirtation with Wrestlemania might have damaged his own campaign. Still, one of the two seems likely to take the prize. If there's a vote split, it could open the door for a win by a dark horse like Richard Jenkins (The Visitor).

Best Supporting Actress is an historically unpredictable category, so while Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) seems to be the favorite, don't be surprised if Viola Davis (Doubt) or Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) goes home with the little golden man.

Kate Winslet (The Reader) and Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight) appear to be safe bets to win Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.

Here are my complete predictions...

Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Actor: Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
Actress: Kate Winslet - The Reader
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Director: Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire
Original Screenplay: Milk
Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire
Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Costume Design: The Duchess
Original Score: Slumdog Millionaire
Song: "Jai Ho" - Slumdog Millionaire
Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Sound Mixing: The Dark Knight
Sound Editing: The Dark Knight
Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Animated Feature: WALL•E
Foreign Language Film: Waltz with Bashir
Documentary Feature: Man on Wire
Documentary Short: The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306
Animated Short Film: Presto
Live Action Short Film: Spielzeugland