Barbara Walters: Last Oscars TV special the best

NEW YORK (AP) - Barbara Walters says her last Oscars television special will be her best.

Walters will sit down with actresses Sandra Bullock and Mo'Nique, both nominated for Academy Awards. Bullock is up for Best Actress for "The Blind Side," and Mo'Nique is nominated for Best Supporting Actress for "Precious."

Walters said she believes both will win. By bidding adieu, Walters is ending a 29-year-old tradition of talking to celebrities on Hollywood's biggest night. It wasn't until 1988, though, that she began interviewing nominees.

"For the first seven years we were not allowed to interview any of the nominees because the (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) thought it would interfere with their Oscar special," Walters said.

That year she sat down with Glenn Close and Cher, who were contenders for Best Actress. Cher ended up taking the award for her role in "Moonstruck."

While Walters, 80, is known for getting stars to open up and often tear up on camera, she says the celebrity interview has become less special in recent years and many stars are overexposed.

"I don't find it harder to interview celebrities now," Walters said. "I find it harder to interview a celebrity who hasn't been all over the place. And now everybody's a celebrity if that's the word you're using." Just because Walters is stopping her Oscars special doesn't mean she's done with TV.

"I am not retiring!" she insists. "I will still be doing the 10 most fascinating people, I will still be on 'The View,' which I love. I will still be doing pieces for ABC News."

Still, she recognizes the long-standing tradition her Oscars special has created for TV viewers, who made a point to tune in year after year.

"I'm kind of sad, too," she says, "but television has changed. Some nominees have just been in one movie. It's a different time, and I'd rather we left when people say, 'Weren't they wonderful?' than they said, 'Oh, I've seen that.' I want the memories to be fresh."

The Oscar Night edition of "The Barbara Walters Special" will air Sunday

What a heart-thRob

ROBERT Pattinson is arguably one of the biggest stars to have shaken up Hollywood and is the subject of almost every woman’s fantasy. In its March 1 issue, Galaxie takes a bite into the Pattinson phenomenon to uncover the man behind the vampire.

In terms of success, Pattinson has hit the jackpot. He appeared in a relatively small role in the Harry Potter franchise and was killed off in the end, yet after Twilight – in which he played the decade-old vampire Edward Cullen – Pattinson now generates more star power than Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint combined.

However, despite his status as a Hollywood “it” boy, Pattinson remains unaffected by the magnitude of his star power.

Many people have never failed to mention that on meeting Pattinson, they find themselves confronted by a huge celebrity who is totally laid-back, relaxed and unassuming.

“It’s strange because I don’t really know what my everyday life is. When you’re on a set, it doesn’t really matter if you’re famous or not because you’re doing the same thing,” Pattinson revealed in an exclusive interview with Galaxie’s US correspondent Philip Berk.

“You wake up at 5am and you go home very rarely. All I want to do when I’m not working is to go to bed. On movie promo trips, all I really get to see are a lot of nice bathrooms in hotels around the world.”

His ability to remain unfazed by fame and fortune has endeared Pattinson to the media, co-stars and the millions of people who idolise him. And even if he has admitted to having awful hygiene habits, everybody wants a piece of the heart-throb who is blazing his way through box-office glory.

This issue of Galaxie also sizzles with exposés on some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Kristen Stewart, Galaxie observes, has no problems stripping, while a Heroes’ star gets busted and Matthew McConaughey has to go without sex for 40 days.