Richard Roeper plays the percentages

Mark my words, or mock my words. "Slumdog Millionaire" will take home eight Oscars, "Benjamin Button" will win a handful of technical awards, Heath Ledger is the biggest lock of the night and Kate Winslet will win for the wrong role in the wrong movie.

My predictions in all the categories in a moment. First, a few words about voting for trophies.

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Richard Roeper

I’ve always found it strange (but entertaining) that the Downtown Athletic Club reveals the vote totals for the Heisman Trophy. Take a look at this year's results, tabulated according to votes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and total number of points:

Sam Bradford Oklahoma 300 315 196 1,726

Colt McCoy Texas 266 288 230 1,640

Tim Tebow Florida 309 207 234 1,575

Graham Harrell Texas Tech 13 44 86 213

Michael Crabtree Texas Tech 3 27 116 116

Shonn Greene Iowa 5 9 32 65

Sam Bradford just edged out Colt McCoy and the previous year's winner, Tim Tebow. The Texas Tech guys and Shonn Greene could have spent that Saturday afternoon studying or playing Wii games with their buddies for all the chance they had of winning.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is never going to reveal the vote totals for the Oscars, but wouldn't it be fun if they did? Maybe not so much if you're a nominee, especially if you found out you were just a couple of votes away from victory. (On the other hand, if you finished a distant fifth, you could honestly say it was an honor just to be nominated.)

Let’s take a look at my predictions for all 24 trophies that will be handed out Sunday. In the major categories I'll speculate on the percentage of votes that will go to each of the five contenders. (And just because I predict an actor will get a tiny percentage of the votes doesn't mean I don't have enormous respect for the actor and the performance.)

Remember: these are my PREDICTIONS, not my preferences.

Best Picture

“Slumdog Millionaire" ˜ 70%

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" ˜ 15%

“Milk" ˜ 9%

“Frost/Nixon" ˜ 3%

“The Reader" ˜ 3%

Best Actor

Sean Penn, "Milk" ˜ 40%

Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler" ˜ 35%

Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon" ˜ 17%

Brad Pitt, "Benjamin Button" ˜ 4%

Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor" ˜ 4%

Best Actress

Kate Winslet, "The Reader" ˜ 40%

Meryl Streep, "Doubt" ˜ 32%

Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married" ˜ 15%

Melissa Leo, "Frozen River" ˜ 7%

Angelina Jolie, "Changeling" ˜ 6%

Best Supporting Actor

Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight" ˜ 90%

Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt" ˜ 5%

Robert Downey Jr. ˜ "Tropic Thunder" ˜ 3%

Josh Brolin, "Milk" ˜ 1%

Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road" ˜ 1%

Best Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" ˜ 35%

Viola Davis, "Doubt" ˜ 24%

Amy Adams, "Doubt" ˜ 16%

Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler" ˜ 15%

Taraji P. Henson, "Benjamin Button" ˜ 10%

And the winners in the rest of the categories:

Best Director: Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"

Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black, "Milk"

Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog"

Animated Feature: "Wall-E"

Editing: "Slumdog"

Cinematography: "Slumdog"

Best Song: "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog"

Documentary: "Man on Wire"

Foreign Language Film: "Waltz with Bashir"

Sound Editing: "Slumdog"

Sound Mixing: "The Dark Knight"

Original Score: "Slumdog"

Art Direction: "Benjamin Button"

Visual Effects: "Benjamin Button"

Makeup: "Benjamin Button"

Costume Design: "The Duchess"

Documentary Short: "Smile Pinki"

Live Action Short: "Toyland"

Animated Short: "La Masion en Petits Cubes.”