Who Should–Or, Hell, Could–Be The New Conrad Birdie?

In the latest entry to the “everyone out of ideas” sweepstakes, there’s trade-rag-worthy movement regarding the remake of Bye Bye Birdie, the beloved-by-me 1958 musical where a pop star decides to give his career a boost by giving a girl a smooch—on TV!—before he’s shipped off to serve the country. Whether or not the concept will be severely tweaked is still up in the air (what TV show could possibly stand in for The Ed Sullivan Show as far as something everyone watches—the Super Bowl? CSI: Miami?), but Adam Shankman, who directed the film of the musical version of Hairspray and the “Vin Diesel as aggrieved dad” vehicle The Pacifier, is the latest person to sign on for behind-the-camera duties.

This, of course, brings up a key question: Who will play Conrad Birdie—the “Birdie” in the title, for those of you who weren’t active in drama club back in the day—in the remake? Given that Shankman’s Hairspray had teen scream Zac Efron as its resident hottie, one would think that the definition of “cute” will be pretty straight-and-narrow. But are there really any heartthrobs out there who could pull off “One Last Kiss”?

My answer to this question is, of course, Ne-Yo, what with his ability to dance and sing and bump and grind and etc. But you’re probably not surprised by that. Feel free to make your own guesses in the comments!

ONE LAST KISS [Dailymotion] Adam Shankman in for ‘Birdie’ remake [Hollywood Reporter via leilacohan]