It's a treasure trove of movie musical who's who -- we have Jennifer Hudson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit, Samantha Barks, and Helena Bonham Carter. What? Sacha Baron Cohen is not available? The entire cast of "Les Miserables" are all performing except for Cohen. And he was fantastic as Thenardier!
Oh well, he will be missed in this grand celebration honoring movie musicals of the last decade.
According to show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, "We are pleased to have been able to amass so much talent to create the celebration of musicals of the last decade that we envisioned,” and that they are "thrilled that so many talented actors have agreed to bring our vision to life.”
Hudson, Zeta-Jones, Jackman, Hathaway, Crowe, Seyfried, Redmayne, Barks, Tveit and Bonham Carter join a stellar list of previously announced performers including Adele, Dame Shirley Bassey, Norah Jones and Barbra Streisand and presenters including Jennifer Aniston, Michael Douglas, Jamie Foxx, Paul Rudd, Salma Hayek Pinault, Melissa McCarthy, Liam Neeson, John Travolta, Ben Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Mark Wahlberg, Ted and "Marvel's The Avengers" cast members Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo; returning 2011 Oscar winners Jean Dujardin, Christopher Plummer, Octavia Spencer and Meryl Streep; "Chicago" cast members Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, Renée Zellweger and Zeta-Jones; and special guests Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Daniel Radcliffe, Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron.
And then, the Oscars will actually have a happy ending! Zadan and Meron (producers of the hit NBC show "Smash") want viewers to stay with the Academy Awards until the very end. So their solution? Give the show a proper close!
Hurray!
Smart!
Brilliant!
And the best part? First-time host Seth MacFarlane will retun to the stage for a final number with Broadway star, Miss Galinda herself, Kristin Chenoweth!
Now it gets exciting! I can't wait for the Oscars this Sunday! I will be glued in front of my TV as soon as I wake up!
