If you're a Movieline reader, you've probably been following along with us the Twitter updates of Oscars producer Adam Shankman, the vivacious Hairspray director and So You Think You Can Dance panelist who once polled his followers, "So weird question; would u watch the oscars with more exitement [sic] if I cast some sytycd dancers if there are musical #s?" The answer to that question, of course, is a big, disco-ball-shaped YES. Assuming, then, that these tireless reality TV gypsies will be there Oscars night to translate the ten Best Picture nominees into something Generation Gaga can understand, we've now dipped into the SYTYCD vaults for a preview of what to expect.
District 9
In this contemporary pas de deux, government worker Wikus Van De Merwe learns he's become the hunted; with nowhere else to run, he takes refuge in his prawn enemy Christopher Johnson. The two develop an unlikely friendship, and pledge to help each other flee the planet.
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Avatar
Taking James Cameron's game-changing technical marvel as a jumping off point, Shankman outfits his vaguely ethnic looking "others" in flowy tribal garb inspired by the cool blues, greens and purples of the Avatar palette. The number ends in the spectacular destruction of the neon Hometree erected upstage.
An Education
Relaying the subtle, coming-of-age story of a British school girl caught in the rigidly sexist class-system of the 1960s is a challenge for any choreographer, which is why we're thrilled that Shankman has chosen to embolden the themes with the following routine. The essence of the story is still very much there -- he's just made it "pop" for television.
Inglourious Basterds
The risks in turning this material into an Oscars musical number are manifold, starting with the fact that most standards-and-practices departments would not be kosher with a group of muscular Inglourious dancers "jazz-scalping" a line of goosestepping chorus boys. We think the approach they took here, then -- all stiff military maneuvers, berets, and mimed forehead-carving -- was definitely the way to go.