After seven nominations (five for best director), Martin Scorsese (at work on "The Departed") may finally win an Academy Award -- by abandoning heavy-handed campaigning altogether. Forest Whitaker, above, (who played Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland") and Helen Mirren, below, (as Elizabeth II, "The Queen") are likely to extend Oscar's winning streak for real-life portrayals. Leonardo DiCaprio, above, may score his third -- and fourth -- nominations for "The Departed" and/or "Blood Diamond," while "Dreamgirls' " Jennifer Hudson, below, is a shoo-in for a supporting nod. The award-winning"United 93" re-created the final minutes of the doomed Sept. 11, 2001 title flight with harrowing verisimilitude, but it's a long shot to land (m)any Oscar nominations on Tuesday.

If it's time to go for the gold, then it's time to break out the crystal.

The gold is that coveted gold statuette known as Oscar. (Sure, he's short and bald, but that hasn't stopped Tinseltown types from lusting after him for almost eight decades.)

And the crystal is the crystal ball that veteran Oscar watchers -- including yours truly -- consult when predicting nominations for the 79th annual Academy Awards.

At 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, we'll know which contenders have made it to the finals -- and which cinematic horses are headed back to the barn.

Until that magic moment arrives, however, here are a few fearless predictions from your humble Oscar prognosticator:

'DEPARTED'S' ARRIVAL

Director Martin Scorsese has never won an Academy Award. (Although plenty of winners owe their gold statuettes at least in part to Scorsese's direction, from Robert De Niro in "Raging Bull" and Joe Pesci in "GoodFellas" to Ellen Burstyn in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" and Paul Newman in "The Color of Money.")

An Oscarless Scorsese puts him in the same category as such cinematic legends as Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick. But Scorsese has been so desperate to grab the gold that he has resorted to active -- some might say overactive -- campaigning in 2002 for "Gangs of New York" and 2004 for "The Aviator." (He lost both times, first to Roman Polanski for "The Pianist" and then to Clint Eastwood for "Million Dollar Baby.")

This time around, however, Scorsese's letting his movie -- the gangbusters gangster drama "The Departed" -- do the talking. And while another showdown with Eastwood -- a two-time winner whose "Letters From Iwo Jima" could be a foreign-language contender -- is a possibility, this is shaping up as Marty's year.

Indeed, "The Departed" has picked up such steam that it's now a best picture front-runner, with Leonardo DiCaprio -- who also worked for Scorsese in "Gangs" and "Aviator" -- a likely acting nominee.

THE BIOGRAPHY CHANNEL

Famous folks playing other famous folks remains a surefire method for making Oscar's final five. Last year, "Capote's" Philip Seymour Hoffman and "Walk the Line's" Reese Witherspoon -- as country legend June Carter Cash -- emerged victorious, as did "Ray's" Jamie Foxx the year before for his uncanny Ray Charles portrayal.

This year, the trend continues unabated, with Forest Whitaker's Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland" and Helen Mirren's Queen Elizabeth II in "The Queen" emerging as leaders of the pack in their respective categories. (Of course, it helps that they've all but swept the critics' awards -- not that such pedigrees mean anything to Oscar voters.)

REVENGE IS SWEET

When Jennifer Hudson was booted from "American Idol" as sixth runner-up in 2004, resident know-it-all Simon Cowell pronounced her "out of your depth in this competition."

Undaunted, Hudson beat out more than 750 other performers for the "Dreamgirls" role of jilted, plus-size diva Effie White, whose "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is as big a showstopper on screen as it was onstage.

When Hudson won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for best supporting actress last year -- a victory she probably will repeat come Oscar night -- Hudson quipped, "Who cares what Simon Cowell has to say?" Certainly not Oscar voters.

"Dreamgirls" will figure in several Oscar categories, and may even sneak into the best picture final five. (Eddie Murphy's also a possible best supporting actor contender.)

LONG SHOTS

Plenty of pundits -- myself included -- consider the haunting docudrama "United 93" one of the outstanding movies of the year just past. But good luck getting anyone to watch it -- including Oscar voters, who will probably leave it off their nominating ballots. (The maverick directors' branch may nominate director Paul Greengrass, but even that's a long shot.)

A similar fate -- life among the also-rans -- probably awaits two of the year's outstanding performances, both from blistering satires: Sacha Baron Cohen as "Borat's" uproariously clueless Kazakh TV reporter and Aaron Eckhart as "Thank You for Smoking's" equally un-PC tobacco lobby spin doctor. Alas, not enough Oscar voters will probably get the jokes -- or the artistry behind them. After all, it has been 10 years since the best actor winner won for a comedic performance: Jack Nicholson in "As Good As It Gets." (The most recent best actress winner for a comedy? Gwyneth Paltrow in 1998 for "Shakespeare in Love.")

And speaking of Jack, don't be surprised if he collects his lucky 13th nomination for "The Departed." He already has three -- two for best actor, one for best supporting actor. Another victory would tie him with Katharine Hepburn as Oscar's most lauded performer.