Zac Efron was in Las Vegas, Nevada yesterday to accept his award for Breakthrough Performer of the Year at the ShoWest 2009 ceremony, held at the Paris Hotel.

Zac was honored for his performances in both Hairspray and High School Musical 3: Senior Year.

Of Zac, co-managing director of the event Mitch Neuhauser, said:

“His undeniable onscreen presence and charm have connected with fans around the world, and with the impending release of the comedy 17 Again, Zac Efron is poised to break out as a true Hollywood star. We are so pleased to be able to present him with the ShoWest 2009 Breakthrough Performer of the Year Award.”

ShoWest is an exclusive event for the cinema exhibition and distribution community.

Congrats, Zac!

5 MORE PICS of Zac under the cut! Read more

Zac Efron has been named the 2009 Breakthrough Star of the Year at ShoWest!

ShoWest managing director Mitch Neuhauser says that Zac was “an easy choice” this year what with his success of the High School Musical movies and his upcoming comedy 17 Again:

Neuhauser says, “When Zac Efron made his debut with the cast of Hairspray at ShoWest 2007, many in attendance took notice of this young actor’s incredible talent. His undeniable onscreen presence and charm have connected with fans around the world.”

ShoWest is an exclusive event for the cinema exhibition and distribution community. Zac will be honored at an awards gala on April 2 in Las Vegas.

Congrats, Zac!

[source][image: bauer-griffin]

This rumor is actually pretty funny because it’s piggy-backing on yet another rumor:

Apparently, because Zac’s girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens is even being considered for the role of Leah the werewolf in the next Twilight movie, it means Robert Pattinson is surely trying to steal her away from Zac. He’s supposedly wanted for the next Hairspray movie with him, so why not hook him up with his girlfriend too?

I’d say this one’s really reaching, but at the same time it’s one of the funniest (if not dumbest!) rumors I’ve heard in a while (and someone please explain the definition of “literally” to entertainmentwise.com).

The Hairspray 2 rumors are picking up speed! Director Adam Shankman has apparently confirmed it, though, and said that the sequel could be out by July 2010. The tentative title is “Hairspray 2: White Lipstick,” referring to the popular 60’s trend (and also the original title of Hairspray itself!)

Part of the speculation had Zac’s character, Link Larkin, taking drugs:

“Shankman admitted that while Waters does indeed want squeaky-clean Zac Efron to take acid (“or something like that”), the director will likely yank out that controversial story detail before they go to script.

“‘I think that’s probably part of the treatment that won’t get used. And in the treatment, [Efron’s drug use] is an accident,’ he said, explaining that he also won’t be asking the ‘High School Musical’ star to have trippy conversations with the acne on his forehead. ‘That’s the kind of stuff where you’re like: ‘Yeah, I don’t know if that’s going to work.’’”

Thanks heavens for that!

[image: newscom]

There’s talk of a script for Hairspray 2 in the works!

At first it was speculated that John Travolta would be the only cast member not returning but now the rumors say that everyone, even Zac, has signed on and John Waters has already completed a first draft.

Zac’s imdb profile doesn’t say he’s lined up for anything beyond Footloose still, so it should be interesting to see if this plays out!

Zac’s (and several others’ too, of course!) performance of “Without Love” on Hairspray. I think this was one of my favorites!

So someone had a lot of time on their hands and put together this montage of Zac kissing a whole lot of co-stars!

He really lays one on Nikki Blonsky off the big screen, doesn’t he? Maybe he and Vanessa will get as much lip action in High School Musical 3!

Ok, this clip of Zac on The View is from last year just before High School Musical 2 aired, but I hadn’t seen it yet.

In it Zac talks about High School Musical 2, Hairspray, what it’s like to “suddenly” have fans, his early musical experiences (which included flying and toupees), and dodged the dreaded dating question for probably one of the last times!

And heads-up - there’s some Footloose remake talk!

Zac looks totally freaked out when his name was called for the Breakthrough Performance award at last night’s MTV Movie Awards!

And how cute are Vanessa Hudgens and Nikki Blonsky?

Zac won Breakthrough Performance for his work in Hairspray at last night’s MTV Movie Awards!

He didn’t walk the red carpet beforehand but thankfully he was able to take time off from filming High School Musical 3 in Utah to make it to Universal City, CA.

MORE PICTURES after the cut!

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