Zach Anner could be Oprah's Next Replacement

From Disability's Scoop, Michelle Diament

A Texas man with cerebral palsy is turning into the latest online sensation as the top vote-getter in Oprah’s Search For The Next TV Star, with support from the likes of musician John Mayer.

Zach Anner entered Oprah’s contest with a humorous video pitching his idea for a travel show. In the audition tape he uploaded to Oprah.com, Anner tells viewers that he has “the sexiest of the palsies” and wants to “make a travel show for people who never thought they could travel and inspire people to go on an adventure.”

The video went viral, garnering praise from Mayer and plugs on sites like Digg and Reddit, bringing Anner’s vote tally to over 2.6 million. The next most popular video has fewer than 1.5 million votes.

Humbled, Anner took to the Web again on Sunday to post a thank you video, declaring, “I don’t know what happened, but the Internet is crazy and I love it.”

Anner specifically called out Mayer for his role in boosting the video’s popularity. Mayer returned the favor, posting his own video praising Anner’s humor and offering to write and perform a theme song for his travel show.

Public voting for the Oprah search is ongoing. The final winner — who will receive their own show on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network — will be selected from the winners of the online vote and those picked from a series of open casting calls across the country.

A Texas man with cerebral palsy is turning into the latest online sensation as the top vote-getter in Oprah’s Search For The Next TV Star, with support from the likes of musician John Mayer.

Zach Anner entered Oprah’s contest with a humorous video pitching his idea for a travel show. In the audition tape he uploaded to Oprah.com, Anner tells viewers that he has “the sexiest of the palsies” and wants to “make a travel show for people who never thought they could travel and inspire people to go on an adventure.”

The video went viral, garnering praise from Mayer and plugs on sites like Digg and Reddit, bringing Anner’s vote tally to over 2.6 million. The next most popular video has fewer than 1.5 million votes.

Humbled, Anner took to the Web again on Sunday to post a thank you video, declaring, “I don’t know what happened, but the Internet is crazy and I love it.”

Anner specifically called out Mayer for his role in boosting the video’s popularity. Mayer returned the favor, posting his own video praising Anner’s humor and offering to write and perform a theme song for his travel show.

To watch Zach's video, please click here.