The REAL Must List: Nikki Blonsky

In between the articles and the reviews, Entertainment Weekly has a regular feature called The Must List, a collection of 10 pop culture items that are the highlights of the week. Recently, the magazine has begun soliciting reader recommendations for the final entry in a given week and unfortunately, I think I missed my chance to get in the magazine this week simply by tossing in my nomination a day or two too late. Therefore, you're going to get it here instead. Handy, huh?

If you saw any of the trailers for the new version of "Hairspray," then you probably saw how New Line made it their mission to turn this movie into a John Travolta vehicle. It makes some sense, since Divine was certainly a presence in the original, and having a huge Hollywood movie star don both a fat suit and do drag is certainly noteworthy. But the other thing that's noticeable in the ads is that the real star of the movie get buried under the guise of that old "introducing" credit that always appears at the end (and sometimes not at all). While it's true that Nikki Blonsky is making her movie debut -- she was still working at Cold Stone Creamery when she got the news that she got the part -- it honestly just seems kind of unfair to demote her to the end of the credits just because its her first movie, especially when she turns in a performance as perfect as this one. Remember last year when everyone was talking about that Jennifer girl that made her debut in a musical? Yeah, Nikki's better. Not only is she completely adorable (see left-- how can you not have a crush on her?), but she's got this infectious energy that just makes the entire movie happy. Seriously, I just couldn't stop smiling while watching this movie. Right from the opening number (the infectious Good Morning Baltimore), she owns this movie. Other people try to come in and usurp it (I'm looking at you, Elijah Kelley!), but then she sings again and its clear that no one's going to be able to top her. Out of all the reviews I've seen, I have yet to see a bad review of Nikki's performance, and with good reason. Everyone else takes some heat from at least somewhere, but never Nikki, which is why she gets the inaugural spot on my must list, a spot which she clearly deserves.