Hugh Jackman hosts the Oscars? Bring the smelling salts

If only he’ll wear those gold lamé pants.

As word got out Friday that Hugh Jackman will be this year’s Oscar host, a clip from the 2004 Tony telecast of his performance from “The Boy From Oz” made the rounds. If you happened to miss the 2004 Tonys, Jackman, playing the flamboyant Australian songwriter Peter Allen, sang, danced and writhed his way across the stage in a leopard skin top and skin-tight gold lamé pants.

Will the Oscar gift baskets include smelling salts?

Jackman, who has hosted the Tonys several times and won an Emmy for doing so in 2005, certainly knows how to hold a stage — he won a Tony for “The Boy From Oz” — and by choosing him, first-time Oscar producers Laurence Mark and Bill Condon are betting that Broadway can do what comedy could not.

Previous hosts — Jon Stewart, Ellen DeGeneres, Chris Rock — all followed the traditional stand-up model and the ratings have steadily soured. Obviously a change is required, and while I would lean toward thinking “television” rather than “Broadway” (why, I even wrote a piece about it, for this coming Sunday’s Calendar, before the host choice was announced), Jackman is, of course, another way to go.

Clearly Mark and Condon are less concerned with solving the ratings crisis as they are with creating a new vibe for the show. Jackman may have more talent in his little finger than most of us do in our entire bodies, but he doesn’t have the fan base of DeGeneres or Rock. If you are among the thousands who loved his hosting of the Tonys, you’re probably not only watching the Oscars anyway, you’re hosting your own annual Oscar party.

Yes, Jackman was just named People’s Sexiest Man alive, and yes, he is Wolverine of “The X-Men,” but do we want Wolverine hosting the Oscars? Probably not. Otherwise, Jackman’s movie career has been less than memorable, capped by this year’s box office dud “Australia.”  And as last season’s mercifully short-lived “Viva Laughlin” proved, one talented person does not a television show make. Or at least not a good television show.

But Mark and Condon are the team that brought us “Dreamgirls,” which actually makes Jackman an obvious choice. There’s nothing wrong with a big Broadway-esque opener similar to Billy Crystal’s famous musical clips but with more hip action. Beyond that, however, it gets a little worrisome. The Oscars has a prickly relationship with singin’ and dancin’ and as anyone who saw Rosie O’Donnell’s recent disaster knows, nothing fails bigger than a failed variety show.

What Jackman does have in his favor is an unapologetic, unabashed love for, and understanding of, theater. He isn’t snarky and he isn’t an outsider. He is a from-the-bottom-of-his-heart performer who seems utterly happy and at ease in front of an audience.

No doubt those in the Kodak will enjoy an energetic and dazzling evening. How it will play on television remains to be seen.

But maybe it’s time we stopped caring about that so much.

-- Mary McNamara

Over in his Big Picture blog, my colleague Patrick Goldstein has a different opinion.

Comments

[Claire Zulkey]

"What Jackman does have in his favor is an unapologetic, unabashed love for, and understanding of, theater. "

And also, his face.

[Maria]

If Hugh Jackman can make something as unbearably boring as the Tonys entertaining to have people who don't go to Broadway watch the awards show three years in a row (the three years he hosted), he can make miracles and make the Oscars good again. He'll certainly won't be doing standup comedy, or introducing Uma Thurman to Oprah Winfrey repeatedly, when it fell flat the first time around. Plus if they let him do his song-and-dance thing, the man will win everybody over right away. Trust me on this.

[foxie]

I take offense to the comment tha t "Australia" is a bomb-it is one of the best movies I have seen -watch it again and take in the view!!Nicole,Hugh and Australia make a memorable movie which will be remembered like Titanic--Hugh Jackman will be a brilliant host-he is one of if not the only real,sincere,funny,caring actors around!!

[MO]

I still think that the change that's needed has less (although, indeed a certain element) to do with the hosting and more with the structure of the show itself.

I think stewart, after tons of pointless clip-shows at the telecast, said it best: "oh, my god, I can't wait till we see 'Oscar's Salute to Montages'!"

[Steverino]

Should we move the movie industry to the East Coast as well?

More male leads in films SHOULD be tall, androgynous hotties like Hugh

And who cares about COMEDY on the Oscars? We need MORE dancing, MORE singing and especially more Andrew Lloyd Webber!

[MO]

Singing and dancing will entertain the audience in the kodak, hollywood insiders, and feverish bloggers, all folk that would be involved in the process regardless. If the purpose is to up ratings, on the other hand... no matter how pro a non-comedian is at other things, and jackman is certainly fantastic at what he does, I just don't think that will translate to the so-called, mythical "average" viewer.

In a nutshell, It's comedy that makes the whole 'stuffy' thing relatable.

[M]

I've admit, I've been a long-time fan of Hugh Jackman, so I won't even go into my (surely biased) defense of him here. I did e-mail Ms. McNamara, though (forgot that I could just post on this website!) to point out two other video clips. From my e-mail:

" ... But since you did mention the "Boy from Oz" YouTube video making the rounds in response to Jackman's selection, I'm compelled to point out two others that I think are much more relevant:

The 2004 Tony Awards opening number is by far the most spirited, enjoyable awards show opening (that I can recall) in recent memory. I'll let it speak (and sing, and dance) for itself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W10SpFW6Hlk

(and does it portend well that this number was built around a "Dreamgirls" song? I think "yes". Definitely yes.)

A medley from the 2005 show further shows a charming and flat-out talented performer who can more than adequately handle the stage in front of a live audience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMVQGj2yJY8

[M]

I admit, I've been a long-time fan of Hugh Jackman, so I won't even go into my (surely biased) defense of him here. I did e-mail Ms. McNamara, though to point out two other video clips. From my e-mail:

" ... But since you did mention the "Boy from Oz" YouTube video making the rounds in response to Jackman's selection, I'm compelled to point out two others that I think are much more relevant:

The 2004 Tony Awards opening number is by far the most spirited, enjoyable awards show opening (that I can recall) in recent memory. I'll let it speak (and sing, and dance) for itself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W10SpFW6Hlk

(and does it portend well that this number was built around a "Dreamgirls" song? I think "yes". Definitely yes.)

A medley from the 2005 show further shows a charming and flat-out talented performer who can more than adequately handle the stage in front of a live audience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMVQGj2yJY8

[Alfredo Herrera]

I guess there was no need for those smelling salts after all, don't you agree?