Tonight's the night — for the Oscars, that is, and there are plenty of Santa Fe/New Mexico connections to look for (not least of which is co-host Steve Martin, a former City Different resident).

Keep your eye out for Susan Fiore, wife of Tony Mark, executive producer of Best Picture nominee The Hurt Locker.

For the entire awards season, Fiore has been wearing gowns by Laura Sheppherd Salon de Couture. That includes the Golden Globes, the Directors Guild and, of course, the Oscars tonight. Both attended those ceremonies as nominees (Mark as producer and Susan as assistant director, for Lifetime's Georgia O'Keeffe, which was shot in New Mexico. Said Fiore, "It's wonderful to be able to stay local with such as talented designer as Laura, and to attend these awards ceremonies feeling like a million bucks! She truly has such a wonderful eye for detail, while at the same time giving personalized and impeccable service."

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More for the Oscars! Will Hobbs native Ryan Bingham win an Oscar for his co-written theme (with T-Bone Burnett) to Crazy Heart? Will Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal take home acting Oscars for the same film, also made in New Mexico. Even Best Picture nominee Avatar has a New Mexico link — local Wes Studi is in the film; Best Actor candidate Colin Firth was directed to his nomination by part-time resident Tom Ford, a Santa Fe Prep graduate, in Ford's first film, A Single Man.

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Ariana Chris, a Santa Fe Opera Apprentice in 2006 and 2007, was seen by millions of television viewers worldwide performing the Greek National Anthem at last Sunday's Closing Ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. A Canadian of Greek heritage, she was part of an illustrious lineup of her fellow countrymen, including folk-rock star Neil Young, crooner Michael Bublé and tenor Ben Heppner. Santa Fe audiences will remember the young mezzo as the fiery Juno in 2007's hugely popular production of Platee.

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Santa Fe native and Indian Market jeweler Erick Begay has been commissioned to make a crown for a life-sized icon painting at a church in Nevada. The crown will be approximately 8-10 inches wide and 5-6 high. It will be created with silver, emerald and turquoise.
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James McGrath Morris, Tesuque author (most recently of a Joseph Pulitzer biography) is back home from the first leg of his book tour. Recently, he has been featured on the PBS Newshour and CSPAN, and Jonathan Yardley of The Washington Post said that, "There have been other biographies of Pulitzer, most notably W.A. Swanberg's published in 1967, but James McGrath Morris's is the best. It is authoritative, lucid and fair to its complicated subject." The book is titled Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, Power (HarperCollins). More cross-country touring is ahead later this spring, including stops at the Newseum and the United States Capitol Historical Society in Washington, D.C.

Send your news to elmitote@sfnewmexican.com.