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Academy Awards

Page: 5

So, when exactly did Emma Stone fall in love with longtime friend Taylor Swift? When the two superstars were just teenagers, as it turns out! In a New Year’s Day The Graham Norton Show interview (Jan. 1), Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone opened up about her friendship with Swift, her Eras Tour experiences and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) vault track “When Emma Falls In Love.”
Stone, who won the best actress Oscar for her performance in 2016’s La La Land, revealed that she has attended the Eras Tour “three [times] so far,” including the tour’s opening show in her hometown of Phoenix, Ariz. “Mandy Moore, who was the choreographer of La La Land, was [Taylor’s] choreographer for the tour,” Stone explained. “So it was a bunch of lovely things all come together, and it was incredible to see.”

Moore’s choreography and Stone’s performance were two key elements that resulted in La La Land’s resounding success. At the 2017 Academy Awards, the Damien Chazelle-helmed film won six awards from 14 total nominations, a haul that helped the movie join All About Eve (1950) and Titanic (1997) as the most nominated films in Oscar history. Thanks to the La La Land soundtrack, Emma Stone is a Billboard-charting artist; “City of Stars,” her duet with co-star Ryan Gosling, reached both Digital Song Sales (No. 45) and the Bubbling Under Hot 100 (No. 8).

Nonetheless, Stone and Swift’s story stretches back years prior to their high-profile successes. According to Stone, the two met “at the Young Hollywood Awards when [she] was 18 in L.A.” She continued, “We just kept in touch ever since and became great friends.”

The most devoted Swifties have been well aware of the Stone-Swift friendship, and that knowledge provided the basis of fan theories regarding “When Emma Falls In Love,” a vault track from Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). Some fans believe that Stone is the titular Emma, but, for her part, the Easy A actress says, “You have to ask [Taylor]!” Naturally, her response drew hearty laughs from both the audience and her fellow Graham Norton guests, including Poor Things co-star Mark Ruffalo.

Watch Emma Stone spill all the Taylor Swift tea above.

At least 15 music docs are among 167 features that are eligible for consideration in the documentary feature film category at the 2024 Oscars. These include films that tell the stories of such varied musicians as Jon Batiste, Carlos Santana, Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd, Joan Baez, Little Richard, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Thelonious Monk and […]

Barbie is likely to be well represented when the Academy Award shortlists are revealed Dec. 21. At least two (and maybe even three) songs from the box-office juggernaut could be in contention for best original song (though only two from a film can be nominated, according to a 2008 rule change).
Diane Warren and Alan Menken are each looking to score their 15th best original song nominations, a benchmark that only five songwriters have reached. If John Williams and the late Robbie Robertson are nominated for best original score, each could make history.

“I’m Just Ken”Mark Ronson, Andrew WyattBarbie, Warner Bros.

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Ronson and Wyatt won in this category five years ago for co-writing “Shallow” from A Star Is Born. “I’m Just Ken,” sung by Ryan Gosling, provided one of the funniest sequences in Barbie. Ronson and Wyatt could have a second Barbie song on the shortlist — the bubbly “Dance the Night,” which they co-wrote with Dua Lipa and Caroline Ailin.

“What Was I Made For?”Billie Eilish, FINNEASBarbie, Warner Bros.

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The siblings won in this category two years ago for their title song to the James Bond film No Time To Die. They’re likely to be nominated for this tender ballad, which Barbie director Greta Gerwig has described as her movie’s “heart” song. Barbie is vying to become the first film with two best original song nominees since La La Land seven years ago.

“Keep It Movin’”Halle Bailey, Denisia Andrews, Brittany Coney, Morten RistorpThe Color Purple, Warner Bros.

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Bailey (as young Nettie) and Phylicia Pearl Mpasi (as young Celie) sing this song onscreen in this new iteration of The Color Purple. “Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister),” from the original 1985 film, was nominated in this category. Quincy Jones, who co-wrote that song with Rod Temperton and Lionel Richie, served as a producer of both films.

“Out Alpha the Alpha”Marius de Vries, Josh Sharp, Aaron Jackson, Karl Saint LucyDicks: The Musical, A24

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Megan Thee Stallion sings this ribald song onscreen in Dicks: The Musical, which is based on an off-Broadway show with an even more risqué title, F–king Identical Twins. The rap star is also in the cast, along with another famous Megan (Mullally), as well as Bowen Yang and Nathan Lane. Megan Thee Stallion took part in an all-star performance of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” on the Oscar telecast two years ago.

“The Fire Inside”Diane WarrenFlamin’ Hot, Hulu/Searchlight Pictures

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Warren has been nominated in this category the last six years in a row. If she makes it again this year, she’ll have the longest consecutive streak of best original song nods since Sammy Cahn was nominated eight years running (1954-61). The indefatigable Warren has a second song in play, “Gonna Be You” from 80 for Brady.

“High Life”Gary Clark, John CarneyFlora and Son, Apple

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In addition to co-writing this song, Carney wrote and directed the film. Two of Carney’s previous films, Once and Begin Again, yielded best original song nominees (and a winner in the case of Once). Clark, a Scottish musician-songwriter, was the frontman of 1980s pop band Danny Wilson. Eve Hewson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Orén Kinlan and Jack Reynor sing “High Life” onscreen in Flora and Son.

“Can’t Catch Me Now”Dan Nigro, Olivia RodrigoThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Lionsgate

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The Hunger Games franchise has yet to receive an Oscar nod in any category, but the red-hot Rodrigo is at the point in her career that the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is likely to pay notice. She and Nigro have received two Grammy nods for song of the year, for “drivers license” and “Vampire.” Will the moody and atmospheric “Can’t Catch Me Now” find favor here?

“For the First Time”Alan Menken, Lin-Manuel MirandaThe Little Mermaid, Disney

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Menken is an EGOT winner, and Miranda will be one as soon as he wins an Oscar. Menken won his first of four Oscars in this category for “Under the Sea” from the original 1989 iteration of The Little Mermaid. Halle Bailey sings “For the First Time” onscreen in the film. Two other Menken-Miranda songs from the film, “Wild Uncharted Waters” and “The Scuttlebutt,” are also in play.

“Find a Way”Linda PerryNyad, Netflix

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This would be the first Oscar nod for Perry, a two-time Grammy nominee for song of the year. Annette Bening and Jodie Foster star in the film, which tells the story of Diana Nyad who, at age 64, undertook a 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida. Perry named her song after the title of Nyad’s book, on which the movie is based.

“Road to Freedom”Lenny KravitzRustin, Netflix

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Kravitz, a four-time Grammy winner for best male rock vocal performance, could score his first Oscar nod for this song from a biopic about Bayard Rustin, a lesser-known but crucial figure in the civil rights struggle. The film’s director, George C. Wolfe, helmed the 2020 movie Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which received five Oscar nods.

“Addicted to Romance”Patti Scialfa, Bruce SpringsteenShe Came to Me, Vertical Entertainment

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Springsteen won an Oscar in 1994 for “Streets of Philadelphia” and was nominated again two years later for “Dead Man Walkin’.” This would be his first nomination with a collaborator — his wife, Scialfa. The original score was composed by The National’s Bryce Dessner. Peter Dinklage and Marisa Tomei star in the film.

“Am I Dreaming”A$AP Rocky, Metro Boomin, Michael Dean, Peter Lee Johnson, Roisee, ScriptpluggSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Sony Pictures

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Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse won an Oscar for best animated feature film five years ago, though its biggest hit, “Sunflower” by Post Malone and Swae Lee, missed out on a best original song nod. Metro Boomin curated the soundtrack to this film, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 in June. A$AP Rocky’s partner, Rihanna, was nominated in this category last year.

“Peaches”Jack Black, Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Eric Osmond, John SpikerThe Super Mario Bros. Movie, Illumination/Nintendo/Universal

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This was the year’s second-­biggest hit at the box office, behind Barbie. In addition to co-writing and performing the song, Black was in the animated film’s voice cast as Bowser. This would be the first Oscar nomination for Black, who won a Grammy for best metal performance nine years ago for a track he recorded with Tenacious D for a Ronnie James Dio tribute album.

“Better Place”Amy Allen, Shellback, Justin TimberlakeTrolls Band Together, DreamWorks Animation

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Animated characters portraying *NSYNC perform this song onscreen in the movie. Timberlake was nominated in this category seven years ago for co-writing “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” for the first Trolls film. He and the other members of *NSYNC are in the voice cast, along with Anna Kendrick, Kid Cudi, Troye Sivan, Camila Cabello and Anderson .Paak, among others.

“This Wish”Julia Michaels, Benjamin Rice, JP SaxeWish, Disney

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Michaels and Saxe received a Grammy nod for song of the year three years ago for their collaboration “If the World Was Ending.” It was Michaels’ second nod in that category; her first was for co-writing her breakthrough hit, “Issues.” Ariana DeBose, an Oscar winner for the West Side Story remake, sings “This Wish.” She’s also in the voice cast, along with Chris Pine and Victor Garber.

American Fiction (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM)Laura Karpman

Karpman could be headed for her first Oscar nod for her score to this satirical film that was written and directed by Cord Jefferson (in his feature directorial debut). The film stars Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae and Sterling K. Brown. Karpman won a Primetime Emmy three years ago for scoring The Discovery Channel’s Why We Hate.

Barbie (Warner Bros.)Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt

Ronson and Wyatt, who executive-produced the hit soundtrack album — and were involved in writing and producing several of its tracks — could be headed for their first nod in this category. Wyatt has co-written songs for several Ronson albums. In 2012, the two musicians collaborated on a ballet score for The Royal Ballet of London.

Elemental (Pixar)Thomas Newman

If Newman is nominated, this would be his 15th nod in the category, a total so far achieved by only eight composers in Oscar history. Unlike them, though, he has yet to win. Newman is the youngest son of the late Alfred Newman, who amassed 41 nominations in this category, winning a record nine times.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Disney)John Williams

This would be Williams’ record-extending 49th nod in a scoring category and his fourth for a film in the Indiana Jones franchise. In total, it would be Williams’ 54th Oscar nomination (the other five are for best original song), which would pull him closer to Walt Disney’s all-time record of 59 for an individual.

The Killer (Netflix)Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

This would be the fourth nod in this category for Reznor and Ross following The Social Network, Mank and Soul (a collaboration with Jon Batiste). David Fincher, who directed The Social Network and Mank, also directed The Killer. Reznor and Ross won for both The Social Network and Soul. Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton star in The Killer.

Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple)Robbie Robertson

This was the 12th and last Martin Scorsese film that Robertson worked on. Robertson, who died in June at age 80, would become the first composer to be nominated in this category posthumously since Bernard Herrmann was cited in 1976 for both Obsession and Taxi Driver. Two other Scorsese regulars, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, star in the film.

Nyad (Netflix)Alexandre Desplat

This would be Desplat’s 12th nomination in this category, all since 2006. That’s more than anyone else has accumulated in that period. The French composer has won twice, for The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Shape of Water. This would be Desplat’s first nod in the 2020s, following three in the 2000s and eight in the 2010s.

Oppenheimer (Universal Pictures)Ludwig Göransson

The Swedish composer won in this category five years ago for scoring Black Panther. He was nominated for an Oscar last year for co-writing a song for the sequel. Oppenheimer was the year’s fifth-biggest box-office hit, a strong showing for a three-hour adult drama. The Christopher Nolan film was based on the book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Clockwise: Elemental, Killers of the Flower Moon, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Oppenheimer.

Disney/Pixar; Melinda Sue Gordon; Sony Pictures.

Origin (Neon)Kris Bowers

Origin is the fifth feature film directed by Ava DuVernay. Her 2014 historical drama, Selma, yielded the Oscar-winning song “Glory” by Common and John Legend. Bowers was nominated for documentary (short subject) three years ago for co-directing A Concerto Is a Conversation, which centered on his conversations with his jazz pianist grandfather. This would be his first nod in a scoring category.

Past Lives (A24)Christopher Bear & Daniel Rossen

Past Lives was written and directed by Celine Song in her feature directorial debut. The film, which stars Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro, follows the relationship between two childhood friends over 24 years. Bear and Rossen are members of veteran indie rock band Grizzly Bear, which has landed two top 10 albums on the Billboard 200.

Rustin (Netflix)Branford Marsalis

This would be the first Oscar nomination for jazz saxophonist Marsalis, who is a three-time Grammy winner. Marsalis received a Primetime Emmy nod two years ago for outstanding music composition for a documentary series or special for Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre, which aired on the HISTORY Channel.

Saltburn (Amazon/MGM)Anthony Willis

This would be the Australian composer’s first Oscar nod after building a reputation with his scores for How To Train Your Dragon: Homecoming (2019), Promising Young Woman (2020) and M3GAN (2022). Saltburn is the second film to be written, directed and co-produced by Emerald Fennell following Promising Young Woman. Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi and Rosamund Pike star in the psychological thriller.

Society of the Snow (Netflix)Michael Giacchino

This would be Giacchino’s third nomination in this category following Ratatouille (2007) and Up (2009). He won for the latter. Society of the Snow is a 2023 survival thriller about a 1972 flight disaster in Argentina’s Andes Mountains. The cast comprises Uruguayan and Argentine actors, most of whom are newcomers to the craft. The film is scheduled to be released in theaters on Dec. 15.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures)Daniel Pemberton

The English composer has yet to be nominated in this category. His only Oscar nod is for co-writing “Hear My Voice” from The Trial of the Chicago 7, a best original song nominee three years ago. This film is a sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which Pemberton also scored.

The Zone of Interest (A24)Mica Levi

The English composer was nominated in this category seven years ago for Jackie. The Zone of Interest, based on a Martin Amis novel, revolves around Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife and their plans to build a dream life next to the concentration camp. The film, which was written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, is set to be released in the United States on Dec. 15.

Additional reporting by Melinda Newman.

This story will appear in the Nov. 18, 2023, issue of Billboard.

Jimmy Kimmel is set to host the 2024 Oscars, which will be held March 10, 2024, at its usual home, the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. It will mark Kimmel’s fourth time as host. “I always dreamed of hosting the Oscars exactly four times,” Kimmel quipped in a statement.
Kimmel first hosted the Oscars in 2017, the year of the debacle in which La La Land was announced in error as the best picture winner, before Moonlight was declared the actual winner. Kimmel returned to host the show in 2018 and 2023.

Kimmel will become only the sixth person to host the Oscars four or more times. Bob Hope hosted the show 19 times, followed by Billy Crystal (nine), Johnny Carson (five), and Whoopi Goldberg, Jack Lemmon and now Kimmel (four each).

Molly McNearney, who serves as executive producer and co-head writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, will return for the second consecutive year to serve as an executive producer for the Oscars.

“We are thrilled about Jimmy returning to host and Molly returning as executive producer for the Oscars,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Janet Yang said in a joint statement. “They share our love of movies and our commitment to producing a dynamic and entertaining show for our global audience.”

McNearney is nominated for two Primetime Emmys this year as an ep of Jimmy Kimmel Live! (which is up for outstanding talk series) and the 2023 Oscars (which is up for outstanding variety special (live).

Kimmel, 56, has hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! since it debuted on ABC in January 2003, making him the longest-running of all current late night television hosts in the U.S. He is also an executive producer of the show. He also hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2012, 2016 and 2020.

Kimmel received back-to-back Primetime Emmys in 2019-20 for outstanding variety special (live) as an executive producer of Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All in the Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons’ and Live in Front of a Studio Audience: ‘All in the Family’ and ‘Good Times.’

The Oscar ceremony, which will air on ABC, will be executive produced by Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan, with Kapoor also serving as showrunner.

“Jimmy has cemented himself as one of the all-time great Oscars hosts with his perfect blend of humanity and humor, and Molly is one of the best live TV producers around,” Kapoor and Mullan said in a joint statement.

Hamish Hamilton will serve as director. This will be the first Oscars to include new eligibility rules to “improve diversity and inclusion.”

Today (Nov. 15) is the submission deadline for general entry categories. Preliminary voting runs from Dec. 18-21. Oscar shortlists will be announced on Dec. 21. The eligibility period ends Dec. 31.

Nominations-round voting runs from Jan. 11-16, 2024. Nominations will be announced on Jan. 23, 2024. The final round of voting extends from Feb. 22-27.

At the Oscars in February 1954 (see photo accompanying this list), Disney won four Oscars – best documentary feature (The Living Desert), best documentary short subject (The Alaskan Eskimo), best cartoon short subject (Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom) and best two-reel short subject (Bear Country). No one else had ever won more than two awards in one night.

On accepting his fourth award of the night, for Bear Country, Disney joked, “I’ve just gotta say one more word. It’s wonderful — but I think this is my year to retire.”

Happily, he did not retire. In the remaining 12+ years of his life, he opened Disneyland, launched an Emmy-winning TV series (initially called Walt Disney’s Disneyland) and co-produced the beloved film musical Mary Poppins.

Runners-up, with three Oscars in one night, are (listed chronologically): Billy Wilder (The Apartment, 1961), Marvin Hamlisch (The Way We Were, The Sting, 1974), Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Part II, 1975), James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, 1984), James Cameron (Titanic, 1998), Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2004), Ethan Cohen and Joel Coen (No Country for Old Men, 2008), Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) 2015), Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite, 2020) and Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once (2023).

The producers behind the 2023 Academy Awards revealed in a new interview Monday (March 13) just how Lady Gaga‘s performance came together at the eleventh hour.

As reported ahead of the awards show, the Oscar-winning pop star was originally not slated to perform due to her busy schedule filming the upcoming Joker sequel Folie à Deux opposite Joaquin Phoenix. However, that changed the morning of the show, when she was announced as a last-minute performer in a surprise about-face.

“Honestly, and this is not to pat ourselves on the back, because we’re very bad at that, but we’ve built up trust in the relationship with Gaga over the years,” Oscars executive producer Ricky Kirshner told The Hollywood Reporter. “I did the Super Bowl with her and Glenn has done many awards shows with her, including the ‘Shallow’ performance on the Oscars.

“She really wanted to do something,” he continued. “She honestly was shooting her movie — there was no trickery involved. And Thursday, at four-something, we got a text that she wanted to try something, didn’t have time to put together a big performance, but wanted it to be raw and people to see the real Gaga, and, with a voice like that, you don’t need much more than that.”

Mother Monster’s resulting performance of her best original song nominee “Hold My Hand” was far from a grandiose spectacle, with the singer opting instead to wear a simple black T-shirt and ripped jeans to run through a stripped-down rendering of the Top Gun: Maverick track. “It’s deeply personal for me, and I think that we all need each other. We need a lot of love to walk through this life,” she told the audience before launching into the song.

Revisit Gaga’s latest Oscars performance below.

After the Oscars, A-list music stars came out in droves for the famous Vanity Fair Oscar party on Sunday night (March 12).
Couples like Offset and Cardi B, Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner and Rita Ora and Taika Waititi all turned heads while hand-in-hand on the Vanity Fair carpet, while Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo were all smiles making one of their first public appearances as a couple following the Maroon 5 rocker’s recent texting scandal at the tail end of 2022.
The annual fête is also another chance for famous faces to turn the fashion up to 100 in the wake of the Oscars champagne carpet, and this year was no exception. Olivia Rodrigo served all the Y2K fantasy in a chic leopard-print gown by Valentino and Sabrina Carpenter stunned in a sheer illusion gown by Paco Rabanne with strategically placed appliqués adding to the high-fashion moment. Billie Eilish, on the other hand, opted for voluminous glamour in an all-black goth-inspired ensemble as she walked the carpet with boyfriend Jesse Rutherford of The Neighborhood.
In a night dominated by neutrals, Saweetie bucked the trend by donning a bright green, high-low ball gown with a dramatic capelet covering her shoulders. Chloe x Halle also reunited for the party after the latter premiered a new look at her upcoming live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid during the Oscars telecast with co-star Melissa McCarthy.
The menswear at the Vanity Fair bash didn’t disappoint either, whether it was Ricky Martin serving dashing old Hollywood glamour with a twist thanks to his tuxedo’s oversized lapels or a newly blond-ish Troye Sivan arriving in a Matrix-esque leather bodysuit and matching belt.
Click through all the looks from the Vanity Fair Oscar party below.

Cardi B & Offset

Image Credit: Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

Cardi B and Offset arrive at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Billie Eilish

Image Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Billie Eilish attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Sabrina Carpenter

Image Credit: Amy Sussman/GI

Sabrina Carpenter attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Joe Jonas & Sophie Turner

Image Credit: Amy Sussman/GI

Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner attend the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Usher

Image Credit: Alberto Rodriguez for Variety

Usher Raymond at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Shawn Mendes

Image Credit: Jon Kopaloff/GI

Shawn Mendes attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

HAIM

Image Credit: Alberto Rodriguez for Variety

Este Haim, Alana Haim, and Danielle Haim arrive at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Donald Glover

Image Credit: Alberto Rodriguez for Variety

Donald Glover arrives at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Megan Thee Stallion

Image Credit: John Shearer/WireImage

Megan Thee Stallion attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Olivia Rodrigo

Image Credit: Jon Kopaloff/GI

Olivia Rodrigo attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Chloe x Halle

Image Credit: Jon Kopaloff/GI

Chlöe Bailey and Halle Bailey attend the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Christina Aguilera

Image Credit: Amy Sussman/GI

Christina Aguilera attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

David Byrne

Image Credit: Jon Kopaloff/GI

David Byrne and guests attend the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Saweetie

Image Credit: Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

Saweetie arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Hailee Steinfeld

Image Credit: Jon Kopaloff/GI

Hailee Steinfeld attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Finneas O’Connell & Claudia Sulewski

Image Credit: Jon Kopaloff/GI

Claudia Sulewski and Finneas O’Connell attend the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

M. M. Keeravani & Chandrabose

Image Credit: Amy Sussman/GI

M. M. Keeravani and Chandrabose attend the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Ricky Martin

Image Credit: Amy Sussman/GI

Ricky Martin attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Anderson .Paak

Image Credit: Amy Sussman/GI

Anderson .Paak attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Dove Cameron

Image Credit: Amy Sussman/GI

Dove Cameron attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Rita Ora & Taika Waititi

Image Credit: Amy Sussman/GI

Rita Ora and Taika Waititi attend the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Charli XCX

Image Credit: Jon Kopaloff/GI

Charli XCX attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Halsey

Image Credit: Amy Sussman/GI

Halsey attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Maggie Rogers

Image Credit: Amy Sussman/GI

Maggie Rogers attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Ellie Goulding

Image Credit: Amy Sussman/GI

Ellie Goulding attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Babyface

Image Credit: Jon Kopaloff/GI

Babyface attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Sofia Carson

Image Credit: Amy Sussman/GI

Sofia Carson attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Troye Sivan

Image Credit: Amy Sussman/GI

Troye Sivan attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Suki Waterhouse & Immy Waterhouse

Image Credit: Amy Sussman/GI

Suki Waterhouse and Immy Waterhouse attend the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Adam Levine & Behati Prinsloo

Image Credit: Amy Sussman/GI

Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo attend the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

Dominique Fishback

Image Credit: Amy Sussman/GI

Dominique Fishback attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.

The 2023 Academy Awards took over Hollywood on Sunday night (March 12) with star-studded musical offerings by Rihanna, Lady Gaga and more for the best original song performances by the nominees.

The Super Bowl Halftime Show performer hit the stage in a custom Maison Margiela Artisanal outfit designed especially for her by John Galliano for the live debut of the Oscar-nominated “Lift Me Up,” one of her two offerings on the soundtrack to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Meanwhile, Mother Monster took the opposite route by stripping down to a simple black tee, ripped jeans and a makeup-free face for her last-minute performance of “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick. “It’s deeply personal for me, and I think that we all need each other,” she said prior to launching into the song as the camera zoomed in for the closest of close-ups on her face. “We need a lot of love to walk through this life. And we all need a hero sometimes, there’s heroes all around us in unassuming places. But you might find that you can be your own hero, even if you feel broken inside.”

Elsewhere during the ceremony, 14-time nominee Diane Warren accompanied Sofia Carson through “Applause” from the anthology film Tell It Like a Woman, and eventual best original song winner “Naatu Naatu” from RRR became the biggest song-and-dance spectacle of the evening led by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava.

Plus David Byrne teamed up with best supporting actress nominee Stephanie Hsu and Son Lux for a trippy, cerebral take on “This Is a Life” from fan favorite Everything Everywhere All at Once — giant hot dog fingers included. 

Besides the performances of the best original song nominees, Lenny Kravitz soundtracked this year’s In Memoriam segment with his 2004 single “Calling All Angels.”

Watch each of the performances at the 2023 Oscars below.

Jimmy Kimmel has seen, heard and, let’s be honest, told way too many Will Smith–Chris Rock 2022 Academy Award slap jokes. But on Sunday night (March 12), the late night talker will be back on the Oscars stage for his third go-round as the night’s host and in his first one-on-one interview promoting the show he assured Good Morning America‘s Lara Spencer on Thursday (March 9) that there will be no such incidents on his watch.
“I’ll tell you what, nobody got hit when I hosted the show,” Kimmel joked about his 2017 and 2018 stints keeping the trains running on movie’s biggest night. Kimmel said he’s given it a lot of thought and he knows that “a million jokes have been made about it, a million think pieces have been written on it… There has been a lot said about it, so whatever I say has to be I think — you know, it has to be good.”

So rest assured that Kimmel has plenty to say about the thing that will undoubtedly be on everyone’s mind. “Everybody’s gonna be waiting for that moment. And that will be part of the show, but certainly not the focus of the show,” he said of the notorious incident that birthed a million headlines after Smith shocked viewers by storming the stage and slapping comedian Rock across the face after the stand-up made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Besides, Kimmel knows what happens when things go sideways at the Oscars, as they did in 2017 when Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway presented the best picture award and accidentally said La La Land instead of the correct winner, Moonlight.

“We had a little envelope problem the first time,” Kimmel said. “That was that. And then — but I’ll tell you what, nobody got hit when I hosted the show. Everybody was well-behaved at my Oscars.”

Kimmel said he’s also really excited for Rihanna‘s performance of her Oscar-nominated Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ballad “Lift Me Up.” After the singer revealed that she is pregnant with her second child during this year’s Super Bowl LVII halftime performance, Kimmel said Sunday’s set should be equally dramatic.

“Rihanna is more pregnant than the Super Bowl,” he said. “She’s bigger, it’s bigger. Come see Rihanna have a baby!” And as for Kimmel’s long-time A-list nemesis, actor Matt Damon, you can surely imagine what Jimmy had to say about that. “Matt Damon… was not invited, was not nominated, and I hope he’s never invited or nominated again.”

Watch Kimmel on GMA here.

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Rihanna, fresh from rocking the Super Bowl Halftime Show earlier this month, will find herself again on the stage at one of the most prestigious events of the year. The Barbadian superstar and business mogul will perform the soul-stirring “Lift Me Up” at this upcoming Oscars ceremony.
Rihanna is currently expecting her second child while still running her massive Savage X Fenty fashion and beauty empire, but it looked like the prospect of a new album is further in the rearview. However, with the halftime show and the impending Oscars performance, which was announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday (Feb. 23).

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As one of the featured songs from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack, the Oscar-nominated “Lift Me Up” is nominated for Original Song and serves as Rihanna’s first Oscar nomination. The song was written by Rihanna, Ludwig Göransson, Ryan Coogler, and Tems.
The 95th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The live event will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmell.

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