2010-02-10 02:47:19 -

EMILY BLUNT was named a last-minute recipient of a 2010 Chopin Virtuoso A= ward - after GABOUREY SIDIBE was unable to attend the Santa Barbara Inter= national Film Festival in California.
Sidibe was selected for her stand-out performance in Precious: Based

on= the Novel Push by Sapphire, alongside Carey Mulligan (An Education), Sao= irse Ronan (The Lucky Bones) and Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man) to rec= eive the prize, which recognises emerging actors in Hollywood.
But scheduling conflicts prevented the newcomer from attending the cere= mony, so Young Victoria star Blunt joined the SBIFF Virtuosos winners lin= e-up on Sunday (07Feb10), accepting a statuette and participating in a qu= estion and answer session with her fellow honourees.
Sidibe will accept her Virtuoso Award on Friday (12Feb10) during a spec= ial segment in the SBIFF Cinema Vanguard Awards, where The Lovely Bones s= tar Stanley Tucci will be honoured.
Last year's (09) Virtuosos were Viola Davis, Rosemarie DeWitt, Sally Ha= wkins, Richard Jenkins, Melissa Leo and Michael Shannon.