BEIJING, March 3 -- There will be no F-word but the word "bitches" will be heard during the first-ever rap performance at the Academy Awards on Sunday.

    At the request of the Academy and ABC, which is broadcasting the Oscars show, the authors of best song nominee "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from the film "Hustle & Flow" have substituted less offensive words for the song's profanity-laced lyrics.

    "As long as the Academy approves it, it's cool," said rapper Jordan "Juicy J" Houston, a member of Three 6 Mafia, which wrote the song for the film and will be performing it.

    But he said he was told by actress Taraji P. Henson, who performed the song in the film and will sing onstage with Three 6 Mafia, that the show's producers were letting her keep the word "bitches," in the chorus. "Taraji said the Academy told her she can say 'bitches,'" said Houston.

    A spokesman for Gil Cates, the producer of the Oscars telecast, confirmed that the word "bitches" was not one of the words changed by the nominated artists.

    After being asked to perform the pimp song at the 78th Academy Awards, Houston, along with fellow songwriters Paul "DJ Paul" Beauregard and Cedric "Frayser Boy" Coleman, combed through the tune, line by line, substituting various words to make the lyrics meet ABC's broadcast standards.

    Just in case, ABC is also expected to use a five-second delay to aid network censors.

(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)