Adam Shankman's Twitter followers, that's who. The Oscarcast producer last weekend solicited show-planning suggestions from his 48,000 devotees, sparking a torrent of feedback and burgeoning transparency that -- according to at least one report -- isn't making the Academy terribly comfortable. But with the downmarket promise wielded by solicitations like, "So weird question; would u watch the oscars with more exitement [sic] if I cast some sytycd dancers if there are musical #s," who wouldn't want to see just how far the hoi polloi can influence Hollywood's grandest show?
They're the viewers Oscar's courting, after all, tweeting back to Shankman en masse with replies like: "I will watch the Oscars no matter what, but my excitement factor will be ten-fold if you have SYTYCD alumns in the show. :)," "If Rob and Kristen present an award together, or even just Kristen since she wasn't invited (rude!) last yr, I'd 4 sure watch," and more than a few calls for a Lambert performance. The people have spoken, though good luck with that on ABC.
Either way, Shankman went unusually candid (at least for a producer) with the Oscar-development chatter: "We will C if thr R musical #s :). I h8 musical #s in shows when they dont make sense.. I'm choregraphing [sic], so the dancers will b amazing." Fine. So give the pseudo-fellatio some sort of Hurt Locker tie-in -- or better yet, see what co-hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin might have in mind for that. Magic awaits.