Unless Amy Ryan prevails, Cate Blanchett is expected to scratch away the significance of Linda Hunt’s 1982 Oscar win. But wait: even if Blanchett fails to be the second person to win an Academy Award for playing a character of the opposite sex, John Travolta could also be up for that honor. On the eve of the announcement of the Golden Globe nominations, Travolta is expected to fill one of the five slots in the best supporting actor category for his performance as a big-boned mama in Hairspray.

The predictions come from two awards-season blogs, Scott Feinberg’s And the Winner Is … (via The Carpetbagger), and Tom O’Neil’s Gold Derby, with the latter claiming his to be “100% accurate” and based on information received from both “industry insiders” and “sources close to members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.” Feinberg, meanwhile, points out that with a Globe nomination, Travolta will be a “major threat” contender for the supporting actor Oscar.

I have no clue how this came about (or will come to be about, tomorrow) and feel that I must be exposed to the wrong critical radars, since I never once saw much praise directed at Travolta’s performance. If anything, in fact, I saw the complete opposite. Maybe HFPA members have been duped into thinking it was a stretch for Travolta to perform in drag, because of his “anti-gay” religion.

Having finally just seen Juno, I have to side with Karina and urge Oscar voters to ignore the Globes (if they go with Travolta) and consider instead Jason Bateman’s unobtrusive and contained, yet ultimately multifaceted performance for the dark horse slot. Maybe he actually learned something valuable from Teen Wolf Too, that you can be a winner without the wolf (or fat suit as it were).