Votes in for the Academy Awards - WNCT | 9 On Your Side Greenville NC & Eastern NC News

Leonardo DiCaprio launched a campaign to stop crime against wildlife. The actor is heading the World Wildlife Fund's initiative to end the illegal trade in animal products like skins, horns and tusks. DiCaprio called on the government of Thailand to ban all ivory trade. And he sent a personal email to friends and supporters asking them to sign a petition addressed to the prime minister.

Record executive Clive Davis rang the closing bell on Wall Street. Sony music's chief creative officer is promoting his new memoir called "The Soundtrack Of My Life." The 80-year old Davis reveals that after his second divorce he started dating men and that he's been in a monogamous gay relationship for the last seven years.

The final ballots are in for this year's Oscars, which take place here at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

The voting officially ended Tuesday afternoon. The academy says it will not accept any ballots after the deadline. Right now the accounting firm Price Waterhouse Coopers is counting and verifying the votes for Sunday's Academy Awards show. This year there are nine films in the running for best picture.

Kyle Chandler is in two of the big contenders; Argo and Zero Dark Thirty. Next, he's set to star in the pilot for a Showtime drama called "The Vatican." The network hopes to turn it into a series about the power and politics of the Catholic church.