Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody, the youngest person ever to win the best actor award for his performance in Roman Polanski's 2002 holocaust drama "The Pianist", has been picked to unveil the nominations for the 2005 Academy Awards next week.

The handsome star will join Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Frank Pierson in unveiling this year's nominees before dawn on January 25.

The pair will announce the nods in 10 of the 24 categories marking the official start of the 2005 race for cinema's highest honours.

The race moved into a high gear earlier this week, when Tinseltown's second most prestigious awards, the Golden Globes, were handed out, with Martin Scorsese's biopic The Aviator and Alexander Payne's bittersweet comedy Sideways taking top honours.

The golden Oscar statuettes will be bestowed out in Hollywood on February 27.