BARBARA WALTERS TALKS WITH GEORGE CLOONEY, PATRICK DEMPSEY, MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY AND MARIAH CAREY FOR THE 25th ANNUAL OSCAR EDITION OF �THE BARBARA WALTERS SPECIAL� ON ABC

Special to Air on a New Date and Time, Wednesday, March 1, 10:00 p.m., ET

Four of the hottest stars in show business � George Clooney, Patrick Dempsey, Matthew McConaughey and Mariah Carey -- sit down with Barbara Walters for a star-studded and electrifying hour on �The Barbara Walters Special.� This year, for the first time, the annual Oscar edition will air on the last night of sweeps and following an original episode of �Lost,� on WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1 at 10:00 p.m., ET.

Walters says: �This special has the three hottest men in film and television today and the biggest female pop artist in the world all together for one hour� George Clooney made me laugh, Matthew McConaughey offered to give me a foot massage, Patrick Dempsey juggled for me, and Mariah Carey showed me the biggest closet I�ve ever seen in my life.�

GEORGE CLOONEY: Three-time Oscar nominee George Clooney has had a very good year. It is the first time in history that a person has been nominated in the same year for directing -- and co-writing --one movie (�Good Night and Good Luck�), while being nominated for acting in another (�Syriana�). Clooney told Walters he doesn�t expect to win any awards. He says: �Paul Giamatti�s been winning an awful lot and he�s really good in the film (�Cinderella Man�)� I think Ang Lee will probably win� [director, Brokeback Mountain]. He also discusses his famous statement from a 1995 �Barbara Walters Special� that he will never marry again, as well as his ongoing relationship with a 19-year-old pot-bellied pig named Max.

PATRICK DEMPSEY: New television heartthrob Patrick Dempsey is aptly nicknamed �Dr. McDreamy� on ABC�s hit drama, �Grey�s Anatomy.� Dempsey was delightfully forthcoming with Walters and gave her a personal tour of the operating room soundstage. But he is hardly an overnight star -- he left high school during his senior year, joined a vaudeville troupe in Maine and caught the show business bug. Dempsey appeared in his first film at the age of 20 and has starred in almost forty films since. He shares with Walters his thoughts and perspective on when his career began to slide. He confesses that he was difficult to work with, saying, �You can�t have temper tantrums. You have to be professional and I don�t think I understood that at the time.�

MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY: He certainly lives up to his title, �the sexiest man alive.� McConaughey is charming and engaging -- he sits down with Walters in his LA bedroom and candidly opens up about some of his eccentricities: he chews tobacco, sleeps naked, owns chickens and goats and hasn�t worn deodorant in twenty years. He has been romantically linked with some of his leading ladies and has been involved with his �Sahara� co-star, Penelope Cruz, for the last two years. McConaughey talks to Walters about marriage and says, �I�m not married yet and I�ve never been married. I do take that seriously� you have to find the right woman, and it�s gotta be the right time. Have I met the right woman? Possibly.�

MARIAH CAREY: Three-time Grammy winner Mariah Carey climbed to the top of the charts this year with her No. 1 selling CD, �The Emancipation of Mimi.� Walters says, �She not only opened up her home to me, but she let me see her private shoe, clothing and lingerie closets as well.� Carey�s 12,000-square-foot Manhattan apartment also includes a festive Moroccan room, a mermaid room, a Hello Kitty bathroom and her glorious living room, which houses Marilyn Monroe�s piano. She opens up about her bi-racial ethnicity, the breakup of her marriage to music mogul Tommy Mottola and her emotional breakdown. To the people who have counted her out these last few years, Carey says: �Well, if they counted me out, then they just have to count me back in.�

These superstars share their thoughts on their meteoric year with Barbara Walters. �The Barbara Walters Special� is a Barwall Production. The special is produced and directed by Bill Geddie.