Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo & More to Perform at 2025 Oscars
Written by djfrosty on February 24, 2025
Six powerhouse women – Doja Cat, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, LISA of BLACKPINK, Queen Latifah and Raye – will perform at the 2025 Oscars on Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The show also will feature a special appearance by the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
Erivo and Grande are 2025 Oscar nominees for their roles in Wicked. Queen Latifah was nominated in 2003 for her role in Chicago.
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Erivo and Grande are expected to open the Oscar telecast with one or more songs from Wicked. All of the songs featured in Wicked were taken from the Broadway musical, so none were nominated for best original song, but the score by John Powell and Stephen Schwartz was nominated for best original score. Wicked received a total of 10 nominations.
The other women are expected to participate in “performances celebrating the filmmaking community and some of its legends.”
When the Oscars announced that this year’s nominees for best original song would not be performed on the telecast (but that there would instead be a single spot focused on the songwriters of those songs), some feared that music would get short shrift on the awards show. This announcement proves that that is not the case.
Oscar producers historically have focused on the best original song nominees, but they have been known to pivot when doing so would yield a prized booking. Three years ago, the Oscars featured a performance of the Encanto song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks, even though that song had not been submitted for Oscar consideration and was not nominated.
Raye performed her song “Oscar Winning Tears,” from her album My 21st Century Blues, on the Grammy telecast on Feb. 2, where she was a best new artist nominee. Raj Kapoor, executive producer and showrunner of the 2025 Oscars, was an executive producer of this year’s Grammy telecast as well. These bookings constitute major coups for the British star, who swept the Brit Awards a year ago.
Kapoor and Oscars executive producer Katy Mullan will continue to announce talent joining the show leading up to the ceremony.
Hosted by Conan O’Brien, the 2025 Oscars will air live on ABC and stream live on Hulu on Sunday, March 2, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, with the official live red carpet show airing at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.