Why Not Justin Timberlake for Oscar Host?

Justin Timberlake's been touting his music career recently with the release of his album The 20/20 Experience, but the jack-of-all-trades entertainer within may have a big role to fill—that is if the National Enquirer's source is right. 

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Mike Walker reports in his gossip column that "Oscar's suddenly swooning over a brand-new stud-muffin"—yes, "stud-muffin." An "inside source" says discussions are already underway with Timberlake (a/k/a "stud-muffin") and adds that "he'd been considered before, but they always thought he was too young and not seasoned enough. Now, he's the frontrunner for the job—after showing he knows how to sing, dance, act, host, and improvise on the spot." 

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Of course, as much as we are sometimes loathe to admit it, Justin Timberlake is probably a pretty good choice for the Oscars. His singing-dancing-funny schtick is exactly what the Oscars want. After a year of toeing the offensiveness line with Seth MacFarlane, the Oscars could use someone like Timberlake, who has the same demographic appeal without the volatility. Timberlake's basically been dressing for this gig already, and already has ties to the Oscars' movie star world with his own acting career. Perhaps he could see himself pulling a Hugh Jackman—host the thing and then come back a couple years later as a nominee. 

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That said, given that this news comes from the Enquirer (which is better known for scooping sex scandals than movie industry news) we're taking it with a grain of salt. Walker also mentioned in his column that a "secret short list of hosts" includes Bill Clinton at the top, and, yeah, we're just not buying that. Another "source"—this one "close to Timberlake"—tells Gossip Cop that all this talk is "premature and ridiculous." 

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"Premature and ridiculous" as it may be, it's also not a bad idea.