OSCARS
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Lady Gaga will perform “Hold My Hand” on the 2023 Oscars on Sunday (March 12) after all.
Variety first reported the surprise reversal. Oscars executive producer and showrunner Glenn Weiss stated that Gaga would not be performing during a press meeting with the Oscars creative team on March 8. He implied that the Oscars team and Gaga had mutually decided to pass because of the demands of her co-starring role in the Joker: Folie à Deux, which is currently shooting.
“We have a great relationship with Lady Gaga and her camp,” he said at the time. “She is in the middle of shooting a movie right now. Here, we are honoring the movie industry and what it takes to make a movie after a bunch of back and forth… It didn’t feel like she can get a performance to the caliber that we’re used to with her and that she is used to. So, she is not going to perform on the show,” Weiss said.
With Gaga now on the bill, all five of this year’s best original song nominees will be performed on the show. The other performers are Rihanna (“Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Sofia Carson and Diane Warren (“Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman), Stephanie Hsu, David Byrne and Son Lux (“This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once) and Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava (“Naatu Naatu” from RRR).
This will be the first Oscar telecast in three years to include performances of all five nominated songs.
Two years ago, all five songs were performed, but on a pre-show. That move was seen as disrespectful by many in the music community. Last year, Van Morrison declined to perform “Down to Joy” from Belfast, so only four of the nominated songs were performed on the telecast.
This will be Gaga’s fourth performance on the Oscars. In 2015, she performed a medley of four songs from The Sound of Music to honor that film on its 50th anniversary. In a memorable Oscar moment, Julie Andrews came out at the end of Gaga’s performance and the two stars embraced.
In 2016, Gaga sang the nominated song “Til It Happens to You” from The Hunting Ground. In 2019, she and Bradley Cooper sang “Shallow” from A Star Is Born, which went on to win the award. The staging of “Shallow” was memorable, with Gaga and Cooper stepping up from their front-row seats to take the stage.
“Hold My Hand,” which Gaga co-wrote with BloodPop, has thus far peaked at No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 (in June). The song may reach a new peak following the Oscars. Both of Gaga’s previous Oscar-nominated songs reached new peaks following the telecast. “Shallow” shot from No. 21 to No. 1 on the Hot 100 the week following the Oscars. It had previously peaked at No. 5. “Til It Happens to You” had failed to make the Hot 100 when it was first released, but entered the chart at No. 95 following the Oscars.
The most dramatic example of a televised performance reigniting a Gaga song came after she headlined the Super Bowl halftime show in In February 2017. “Million Reasons” re-entered the Hot 100 at a new peak, No. 4, following her performance. The song had previously peaked at No. 52.
It was a coup for the Oscars to book Rihanna and Gaga, two of the hottest singers on the planet, on the same show. But then, when Oscar calls, even the biggest stars usually say yes. Beyoncé opened last year’s show with a memorable performance of “Be Alive” from King Richard. Such other superstars as Adele, U2, Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, Sam Smith, Justin Timberlake, Sting, Elton John and Billie Eilish with Finneas have performed nominated songs on the Oscars in the past decade.
Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the 95th Oscars will be held Sunday (March 12) at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.
Ahead of the 2023 Academy Awards, Saturday Night Live hilariously mocked the red carpet segment of the Oscars pre-show during the iconic sketch comedy show’s cold open on March 11.
The eight-minute skit opened with SNL‘s Marcello Hernandez and Heidi Gardner portraying Access Hollywood hosts Mario Lopez and “Maria Menounos or Kit Hoover” interviewing a wide range of celebrities on the red carpet ahead of the Oscars in Hollywood.
“We are so excited to have been standing outside the Dolby Theatre for almost 153 hours,” Hernandez’s Lopez said. “But it’s all worth it to ask Angela Bassett if she really did the thing.”
After referencing Will Smith‘s infamous slap of Chris Rock during last year’s Oscars, the hosts welcomed the ceremony’s new head of security, former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson (played by Kenan Thompson).
“This year, to make sure nothing crazy happens, the Academy hired a new head of security: notoriously calm and sane person, Mike Tyson,” Gardner’s host said.
When asked about the Academy Awards’ new security measures, Thompson’s Tyson replied, “This year, all the nominees have been given tasers, all the seat fillers have been given guns and Jimmy Kimmel has been given a flamethrower.”
Next up on the red carpet was legendary actress Jamie Lee Curtis (portrayed by SNL‘s Chloe Fineman), who praised Ariana DeBose‘s show-opening musical medley at the 2023 BAFTA Awards.
“What Ariana DeBose did at the BAFTAs was fun. It was by far the best live rap performance I’ve seen all year. It was incredible,” Fineman’s Curtis said.
DeBose received backlash on social media after performing an original rap in honor of the female nominees at the Feb. 19 awards show in London. During the rap number, the West Side Story star named-checked famous actresses like Bassett, Curtis, and Viola Davis.
The 95th annual Academy Awards takes place at Hollywood’s Dolby Theater on Sunday (March 12). The show, hosted by Kimmel, airs at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ABC.
Watch SNL‘s “Oscars Red Carpet Cold Open” skit below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes as well.
Since 1934, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has handed out an Oscar for best original song, and many of those now-iconic tunes have more than lived up to that golden title. It’s impossible to think of The Wizard of Oz without hearing “Over the Rainbow”; Dirty Dancing without singing “(I’ve Had) The Time of my Life”; or Pinocchio without humming “When You Wish Upon a Star.”
With musical heavy-hitters like Rihanna, David Byrne, Mitski and previous Oscar-winner Lady Gaga all in the running for best original song in 2023, whoever wins will be in awfully good company. (And, who knows? Maybe this will be the year that long-time nominee Diane Warren finally gets her flowers.)
Whether it’s Billie Eilish becoming James Bond musical royalty in 2021 with “No Time to Die,” Eminem putting hip-hop on the Oscar map in 2002 with “Lose Yourself,” Bruce Springsteen bringing us all to tears in 1993 with the “Streets of Philadelphia,” Isaac Hayes making Oscar history as the first African-American to win the best original song category in 1971 for “Theme from Shaft” or Irving Berlin creating a perennial holiday classic in 1942 with “White Christmas,” these Academy Award winners have spanned generations — and made for one incredible, albeit wildly eclectic, soundtrack.
In no particular order, here are the 15 greatest Oscar-winning songs of all-time. And if you don’t see your personal favorite listed here, well, no disrespect is intended. Unless, of course, that song landed on our list of the 15 worst Oscar-winning songs of all time. In that case, well, sorry.
“Over the Rainbow,” Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg from The Wizard of Oz
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection
As timeless as they come. The legendary Judy Garland singing the splendid “Over the Rainbow” in The Wizard of Oz is pretty much the gold standard of movie magic.
“Lose Yourself,” Eminem from 8 Mile
Eminem’s amped-up anthem made Oscar history back in 2002, becoming the first-ever hip-hop track to win an Academy Award for best original song. While other hip-hop artists have been able to take home Oscars since, none of them have paid homage to both mom’s spaghetti and Mekhi Pfifer. Listen here.
“Falling Slowly,” Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová from Once
Basically every song from Once is Oscar-worthy (yep, even “Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy”), but “Falling Slowly” is the one that made everyone fall madly in love with the duo and their little movie (and eventually, Broadway show) that could. Listen here.
“Take My Breath Away,” Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock from Top Gun
Image Credit: ©Paramount / courtesy Everett Collection
This soaring, synth-y ballad not only took Berlin all the way to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, but to the dizzying heights of having performed a song that won an Academy Award (for songwriters Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock).
“Theme from Shaft,” Isaac Hayes from Shaft
The grooviest, funkiest and all-around coolest best original song winner not only made the Shaft soundtrack an essential record, but it made Oscar history when Isaac Hayes became the first African-American to win in this category. Don’t like it? Shut your mouth. Listen here.
“White Christmas,” Irving Berlin from Holiday Inn
There are two best original song Oscar winners that became bona fide Christmastime essentials: “White Christmas” from 1942’s Holiday Inn and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” from 1949’s Neptune’s Daughter. However, only one of these classics managed to remain an unproblematic fave. Listen here.
“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” Burt Bacharach and Hal David from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The incomparable Burt Bacharach earned five Oscar nominations and won twice in this category over the course of his career. Has there ever been a better song to get you out of a funk than this one? We’d be hard-pressed to find it. Listen here.
“Moon River,” Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer from Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection
Audrey Hepburn plucking her guitar and crooning out of her New York City window made its mark on cinema in 1961, and various covers (from Andy Williams to Frank Ocean) have kept it a pop culture staple over the years. Still, nothing beats the dreamy version seen in the film.
“Jai Ho,” A. R. Rahman and Guizar from Slumdog Millionaire
Before Marvel movies were keeping people planted firmly in their seats as the credits rolled, Slumdog Millionaire had audiences dancing in the aisles to this Indian pop crowd-pleaser. (It’s also the only Oscar-winning song to date to get its very own treatment by The Pussycat Dolls.) Listen here.
“The Way You Look Tonight,” Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields from Swing Time
If anyone could make audiences feel like they were floating on air during the Great Depression, it was Fred Astaire. One of the most romantic songs ever written, if you haven’t heard one of its many iterations on the big screen, you’ve most certainly heard it at a wedding or two hundred. Listen here.
“(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” by Franke Previte, John DeNicola & Donald Markowitz from Dirty Dancing
Image Credit: ©Vestron Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection
Nobody puts Baby in a corner. In fact, Baby stars in one of the most satisfying movie finales ever set to ’80s pop perfection.
“Last Dance,” Paul Jabara from Thank God It’s Friday
Sure, it’s from the worst movie on this list by a mile, but this disco staple — performed by dancefloor queen Donna Summer — has been telling party-going night owls to call it an evening since 1978. Listen here.
“When You Wish Upon a Star,” Leigh Harline and Ned Washington from Pinocchio
Disney is no stranger to winning in this category, but it’s hard to top the OG recipient: “When You Wish Upon a Star.” Perhaps the song still most associated with the movie studio to this day, this Jiminy Cricket (Cliff Edwards) tune has been packing a big punch since 1940. Listen here.
“Streets of Philadelphia,” Bruce Springsteen from Philadelphia
Neil Young’s “Philadelphia” (which was also nominated that year) may actually pack the bigger emotional wallop in the 1993 drama, but you can’t argue with the power of The Boss and the aching sense of hope lost in this powerful ballad. Listen here.
“Shallow,” Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando & Andrew Wyatt from A Star Is Born
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
When you think of “Shallow” and its big night at the 2019 Oscars, it’s all but impossible not to conjure up sexy, smoldering thoughts of that swoon-worthy live performance by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Their chemistry truly sent us all off the deep end.
For every time the Oscars gets something so very right (i.e. Parasite winning best picture in 2019), the Academy Awards can also get other things so very wrong (remember when Crash triumphed over Brokeback Mountain or how they were so transparently skewed they generated the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite?).
The best original song category is no stranger to some regrettable follies. After all, this is a category that has nominated living legend Diane Warren 14 times and sent her home empty handed every single time. (“I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” “Because You Loved Me,” and “‘Til It Happens To You” sure seemed like locks at the time, and then, nadda.) It’s also the same category that controversially nominated a track from an obscure Christian flick back in 2014, only to have to revoke it later.
Of course, some of the most egregious Oscar moments have come from giving an Academy Award to confounding song selections. From forgettable Disney ditties to treacly disaster flick ballads (the only thing worse than perishing in The Towering Inferno or The Poseidon Adventure was the music accompanying them), there have been more than a few times when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) showed that they can be utterly tone deaf. (Apologies in advance to talented icons Phil Collins, Barbra Streisand, Elton John and repeat offender Randy Newman.)
In no particular order, these are one critic’s picks for the 15 worst Oscar-winning songs of all-time. Hey, you can’t get them all right.
“Writing’s on the Wall,” Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith from Spectre
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
Putting aside the fact that this is one of the more lackluster James Bond songs (we dare you to try and hum this one from memory), what was even more bleak was having it triumph over Lady Gaga’s “Til It Happens to You,” a harrowing ode to survivors of sexual assault, from The Hunting Ground.
“You’ll Be in My Heart,” Phil Collins from Tarzan
A forgettable song from a forgettable movie, Phil Collins’ snoozer inexplicably beat out both Aimee Mann’s haunting “Save Me” and Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman’s hilarious “Blame Canada.” It’s the Crash of best original song winners: its victory remains baffling as ever. Listen here.
“The Morning After,” Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn from The Poseidon Adventure
Talk about a disaster: this waterlogged ballad bested Michael Jackson’s far superior “Ben.” Listen here.
“You Must Love Me,” Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice from Evita
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
Must we? Because, honestly, Madonna has had infinitely better and more deserving songs from movies, including the Oscar-winning Stephen Sondheim composition “Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)” from Dick Tracy. Worst of all, this drowsy ballad unreasonably won over the toe-tapping perfection that is “That Thing You Do!”
“We May Never Love Like This Again,” Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn from The Towering Inferno
Kasha and Hirschhorn gave us yet another musical mishap from a ’70s disaster flick, toppling a better song; in this case, the self-titled, gut-busting theme to Blazing Saddles. Listen here.
“Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah,” Allie Wrubel and Ray Gilbert from Song of the South
Like Splash Mountain, it’s time to once and for all bid this song from this racist garbage adieu-dah. Listen here.
“You Light Up My Life,” Joseph Brooks from You Light Up My Life
While other wistful ballads have managed to stand the test of time, this one is about as corny as it gets. It’s best known as something you dread hearing in the dentist chair. Plus, it somehow beat a killer Bond song! (In this case, Carly Simon’s “Nobody Does it Better.”) Listen here.
“Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” Elton John and Tim Rice from The Lion King
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
Disney had the best original song category in a chokehold for the ’90s (see: “Beauty and the Beast,” “A Whole New World,” “Colors of the Wind.”). But it was The Lion King that dominated in 1994, garnering three song nominations with “Circle of Life,” “Hakuna Matata” and the eventual winner, which was the weakest of the bunch, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.” Not a bad song, but “Circle of Life” soars higher.
“The Shadow of Your Smile,” Johnny Mandel and Paul Francis Webster from The Sandpiper
Awarding this cocktail lounge ditty over “What’s New, Pussycat”? Whoa-ah-ohhhh-ah-no. Listen here.
“Sweet Leilani,” Harry Owens from Waikiki Wedding
Like being stuck in the luau from hell, this sappy island tune somehow bested the Gershwins’ legendary “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” Listen here.
“I Need to Wake Up,” Melissa Etheridge from An Inconvenient Truth
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
This song means well, it really does. But for a song that’s supposed to capture the urgency of the global warming crisis, it barely scratches the emotional surface of the rapidly melting iceberg. Sorry to put you in second place again, Al Gore, but this one belonged to “Listen” from Dreamgirls.
“Secret Love,” Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster from Calamity Jane
As painful as it is to put the incomparable Doris Day on a worst-of anything list, this saccharine ballad doesn’t quite hold a candle to the song it beat out: Dean Martin’s absolutely essential “That’s Amore.” Listen here.
“We Belong Together,” Randy Newman from Toy Story 3
There was no way Randy Newman was ever going to be able to top “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” in the Toy Story universe, but maybe the Academy felt bad for snubbing that one all the way back in 1995 and awarded this subpar entry instead. Listen here.
“If I Didn’t Have You,” Randy Newman from Monsters, Inc.
Sorry to do this to you twice, Randy! But Enya’s “May It Be” from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings is the one song to rule them all. Listen here.
“Evergreen (Love Theme From A Star Is Born),” Barbra Streisand and Paul Williams from A Star Is Born
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo
With all due respect to music/screen/stage legend Streisand, this song is no “Shallow,” and as far as 1976 is concerned, that year’s theme song was “Gonna Fly Now” from Rocky.
Lady Gaga is as real an artist, performer and person as they come. The only thing that’s fake about her? Her latest wax figure, which was recently unveiled as the newest addition to the Madame Tussauds Hollywood collection.
Little Monsters wanting to pose with Mother Monster were able to do the next best thing beginning March 8, when Gaga’s figure was first made available for viewing at the museum. Frozen forever in the middle of blowing an air kiss, the “Rain on Me” singer’s wax model is complete with perfectly recreated freckles, tattoos, makeup and hair color.
It’s a replica of Gaga’s glamorous look worn to the Oscars in 2019, where she won best original song for A Star Is Born‘s standout track “Shallow.” She wore an elegant black gown, matching opera gloves and a white and yellow diamond Tiffany necklace worth millions of dollars to the star-studded ceremony.
“Lady Gaga represents so many positive attributes in this world, and to have another wax figure added to Madame Tussauds is incredible,” said Tom Middleton, general manager at Madame Tussauds Hollywood, in a statement. “It made the most sense to have her Hollywood figure be inspired by the night she was nominated for Best Actress and took home the award for Best Original Song for ‘Shallow.‘”
Speaking of Gaga and the Oscars, it was recently revealed that the 13-time Grammy-winner won’t be performing at this year’s ceremony on Sunday (March 12) deespite being nominated again in the best original song category for “Hold My Hand,” her contribution to the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack. In a press meeting via Zoom, the show’s executive producer Glenn Weiss explained that she’s been too busy filming a movie — presumably Joker: Folie à Deux, in which she’s starring as Harley Quinn opposite Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker — to pull together an Oscars-worthy showcase.
“We actually invited all five nominees,” Weiss said on the call. “We have great relationships with Lady Gaga and her camp. After a bunch of back and forth, it didn’t feel like she can get a performance to the caliber that we’re used to with her and that she is used to. … So, she is not going to perform on the show.”
See a close-up photo of Lady Gaga’s new wax figure below:
Courtesy of Madame Tussauds Hollywood
The 2023 Academy Awards are just days away, and songs by some of today’s biggest artists are up for the best original song Oscar.
Lady Gaga is nominated for “Hold My Hand” (Top Gun: Maverick) and Rihanna is up for “Lift Me Up (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever). This is Rihanna’s first and Gaga’s fourth Oscar nomination, and Gaga previously won for co-writing “Shallow” from A Star Is Born. Diane Warren also received her 14th Oscar nom for “Applause” (Tell It Like a Woman). David Byrne, Sox Lux founder Ryan Lott and Mitski are also Oscar nominees in the best original song category thanks to “This Is A Life” from Everything Everywhere All At Once, which is the most-nominated film this year with 11 nods.
Ahead of the Oscars, we at Billboard want to know which song you think should win the trophy. Let us know by voting in our poll below.
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Last year, all four of the actors who won Oscars – Will Smith and Jessica Chastain in the lead categories, and Troy Kotsur and Ariana DeBose in the supporting races — had won in those same categories at the Screen Actors Guild Awards one month earlier. Their Oscar coronations were not quite foregone conclusions, but nearly so.
It’s very different this year. Only one of the actors who won at the SAG Awards on Feb. 26 seems certain of also winning an Oscar on Sunday, March 12. That’s Ke Huy Quan for his supporting role in Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Michelle Yeoh, who won the SAG Award for her leading role in that same film, is probably the front-runner to also win the Oscar, but Cate Blanchett can’t be counted out for her acclaimed performance in Tár. Blanchett has already won two Oscars, which may work against her here.
Brendan Fraser, who won at the SAG Awards for his lead performance in The Whale, is a serious contender for the Oscar, but Austin Butler (for Elvis) and Colin Farrell (for The Banshees of Inisherin) could just as easily take it. This one is too close to call.
So is the race for best supporting actress. Jamie Lee Curtis won at the SAG Awards for her supporting turn in Everything Everywhere All at Once, and gave a great, self-deprecating speech, referring to herself a “nepo baby.” (Curtis is the daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, two of the top Hollywood stars of their era.) She could easily also win the Oscar – in the same category where her mom was nominated (and lost) for her unforgettable performance in Psycho.
But many will want to see the Oscar go to Angela Bassett for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, particularly after two other Black actresses — Viola Davis (for The Woman King) and Danielle Deadwyler (for Till) — were passed over for Oscar nods for best actress. This race, too, is too close to call.
How closely have the SAG Awards winners aligned with the Oscar winners in the four acting categories? Pretty closely, but not well enough for SAG winners to get overly confident.
Since the SAG Awards began in 1995 (honoring films released in 1994), all four SAG winners went on to win Oscars nine times. Three of the four went on to win Oscars 11 times. Let’s pause here: The SAG winners aligned with the Oscar winners in at least three of the four categories 20 times in the past 28 years – an impressive rate of agreement.
That leaves eight years where the agreement was less impressive. Just two of the four SAG winners went on to win Oscars six times. Just one of the four went on to win the Oscar twice. Those two years where the two voting bodies were far apart were 2001 and 2002, where they agreed only on Halle Berry in Monster’s Ball (2001) and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Chicago (2002).
The rate of agreement between the two shows has increased over time. In the SAG Awards’ first 14 years, they agreed on all four winners just twice. In the last 14 years, they have agreed seven times.
Benicio Del Toro (Traffic) and Kate Winslet (The Reader) were winners at both shows, but in different categories. Del Toro won the SAG Award for outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role, but he went on to win the Oscar for best supporting actor. It worked the other way around for Winslet, who won the SAG Award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a supporting role, but went on to win the Oscar for best actress. (Since they both won at both shows, we counted them as in agreement.)
The SAG Awards have had one tie in a Big Four acting category. In 1997, Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential) tied for outstanding performance by a female actor in a supporting role with Gloria Stuart (Titanic). Basinger went on to win the Oscar. (Since at least one of the SAG winners went on to win at the Oscars, we counted that as being in agreement too.)
The SAG Awards have presented two of their marquee film acting awards posthumously, to Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight and Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Only Ledger went on to win the Oscar.
John Travolta is set to present on the 2023 Oscars on Sunday, March 12. This will give the veteran actor another chance to prove that his inexplicable mangling of Idina Menzel’s name as Adele Dazeem on the Oscars nine years ago was just a once-in-a-lifetime verbal slip.
Halle Berry, who remains the only Black actress to win for best actress (and will remain so even after this year, since no Black actresses were nominated in that category this year), will also present on the show. Berry won the award for her 2001 film Monster’s Ball.
Past Oscar nominees Harrison Ford and Kate Hudson were also included in the third and final batch of presenters announced on Thursday (March 9). So were Paul Dano, Cara Delevingne, Mindy Kaling, Eva Longoria, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Andie MacDowell, Elizabeth Olsen and Pedro Pascal.
Previously announced presenters are Riz Ahmed, Halle Bailey, Antonio Banderas, Elizabeth Banks, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, John Cho, Glenn Close, Jennifer Connelly, Ariana DeBose, Andrew Garfield, Hugh Grant, Danai Gurira, Salma Hayek Pinault, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Nicole Kidman, Troy Kotsur, Jonathan Majors, Melissa McCarthy, Janelle Monáe, Deepika Padukone, Florence Pugh, Questlove, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver and Donnie Yen.
The presenters were announced by executive producers and showrunners Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner and executive producer Molly McNearney. Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the Oscars will air live on ABC and broadcast to outlets worldwide on Sunday, March 12, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
The 95th Oscars will be held at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, the show’s usual home since 2002. (The only exception was the show two years ago, near the height of the pandemic. That one was held at Union Station In Los Angeles.)
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.
The Oscars, which held their first awards ceremony at the stately Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in 1929 and their first TV broadcast in 1953, are meeting the digital age head-on: Producers of the 2023 Oscars telecast, which airs on Sunday, March 12, will put up QR codes at the end of most “acts” of the show, heading into commercial breaks, inviting viewers to learn more about a particular craft.
And they plan to address the incident that dominated, and in many ways derailed, last year’s show – the stunning moment when Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock after Rock told a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Those were two of the news breaks that came out of a Zoom call held on Wednesday, March 8 in which eight key members of the creative team met with entertainment journalists. The biggest news that came out the session is that Lady Gaga will not be performing her Oscar-nominated “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick on the telecast because she’s busy making a movie, Joker: Folie a Deux, in which she’s playing Harley Quinn opposite Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker.
The Oscar team understood her decision. “She is in the middle of shooting a movie right now, and here we are honoring the movie industry and what it takes to make a movie,” Glenn Weiss, one of the show’s executive producers and showrunners, said on the call. “After a bunch of back and forth, it didn’t feel like she can get a performance to the caliber that we’re used to with her, that she’s used to. So she is not going to perform on the show. However, this is all from our point of view of somebody making a movie and us completely understanding that that’s what’s a priority in this business, especially when we’re honoring movies.”
Oscar show production talent who participated in the Zoom call were Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, executive producers and showrunners; Molly McNearney, executive producer; Sarah Levine Hall, producer; Rickey Minor, musical director; and Dave Boone, Agathe Panaretos and Nefetari Spencer, writers. The session was moderated by Jacqueline Coley, awards editor for Rotten Tomatoes.
McNearney is not only executive producer of the 2023 Oscars, she is also executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and, since 2012, the wife of the host of both shows, Jimmy Kimmel.
Here are eight selected highlights of the conversation:
On Acknowledging ‘The Slap’
Molly McNearney: “We’re going to acknowledge it, and then we’re going to move on, because I think that’s probably what everyone wants, especially in that room. We don’t want to make this year about last year. But, yeah, it’s certainly something that we can and will address in a comedic fashion.”
On Bringing QR Codes to the Oscars
Ricky Kirshner: “At the end of most of our acts, we’re going to put up a QR code and let you go see the nominees that are going to come up. So, like, at the end of one of the acts, we will say: “To learn more about the cinematography nominees, scan the QR code on your screen,” and we will take you to a two‑ or three‑minute package to really humanize those people. You’ll meet all the nominees in that category and really give yourself a rooting interest for not only the film you might like, but the people you might like and learn a little bit more about what they do and who they are.”
Glenn Weiss: “It’s allowing us not just to be a television show, but us to cross platforms and invite people to watch the show and, also, take in content, you know, digitally as well. It’s really important for us that people who are watching the show are invested. And the more they know about the nominees, for example, the more they might have rooting interest for who’s going to win. And in that case, it makes it more must‑see, so to speak.”
On Finding the Right Tone
Molly McNearney: “We don’t ‑‑ we’re not going to make anyone mad in the room. We’re trying to book those people on Monday [on Jimmy Kimmel Live!]. So we’re not here to insult. We’re here to help celebrate. We’re here to lift them up. It’s a big night. We’ll obviously have a lot of laughs, but not so much at people’s expense. You know, we might take a jab here or there, but we really want people to have fun and feel good because they should.
Dave Boone: “Yeah. At the end of the day, it’s not a roast, it’s a celebration.”
On Overseeing Music on the Show
Rickey Minor: “We’re looking into making sure that this is 95 years of great music. And so diving through that, it’s a treasure trove. I mean, it’s hard to make a commitment to which things that we’re going to do. So we have a lot of material to choose from. …It’s about pacing the music where it’s not all dramatic play‑ons or very, you know, emotional, but things with tempo, things with ‑‑ stylistically from different continents around the world. And so, musically, it’s a celebration of film. And it’s ‑‑ because we’re here in Hollywood doesn’t mean that this is where it only happens. It happens all around the world for many years. And so, we’re going to celebrate that.”
Ricky Kirshner: “We will have our orchestra on stage, and they’ll be featured a lot in the show this year. I know people like to see them. And obviously, Rickey likes his time on TV.”
Rickey Minor (playing along): “Yeah, it’s in the contract.”
On Juggling Jimmy Fallon Live! and The Oscars
Molly McNearney: “It was a lot of work doing [both shows] at one time. We’re dark now, this week, which is nice. So we can just focus on Oscars. But I will say there is definitely a greater sense of pride for a writer getting a joke on the Oscars than on Jimmy Kimmel Live! And I think it’s a much bigger audience, and these jokes are being quoted in the press the next day, and they ‑‑ everyone wants their hand on one of those moments. But it’s a very collaborative ‑‑ it gets really exciting in the room when someone says a joke and someone else makes it better. And I think that goes for the teamwork of the show too. Like, we’re all here to help each other look better.”
Glenn Weiss: “This has been ‑‑ I have done award shows for a very long time with very many hosts. This has been such a multi‑month collaboration with both Jimmy, Molly, and the rest of the staff. But, honestly, I’ve never seen a host as engaged, and it’s been a really, really great experience. Jimmy loves movies … and everything that has gone back and forth between, you know, the folks at Kimmel and folks at the Oscars, it has been a really great build and a great experience that has gone on for months. It’s not just, “We’re dark week of.” … You guys are putting in so much more than that.”
On What’s Keeping Them Up at Night
Molly McNearney: “Honestly, keeping us up at night in my house right now is just deciding which jokes are going to make it and which aren’t. Because, again, we have a lot of great writers and a lot of great material. And it’s a real science and the rhythm of the monolog and figuring out where to take the audience. And I would say that’s keeping us up at night. Thankfully, we’re in the world’s best hands with this team.”
Glenn Weiss: “I think the only thing keeping me up at night are text messages, goddamn text messages in the middle of the night. Molly and Jimmy are in the bathroom brushing their teeth, and then my phone buzzes, and then Bill [Academy CEO Bill Kramer] buzzes me, and then Ricky buzzes me. So if you guys stop texting at night, I would get sleep and the show would be great.”
Molly McNearney: “That’s when we come up with our ideas, okay? Right when you’re sleeping.”
On Whether They’re Concerned About Ratings
Glenn Weiss: “I will say there’s always concerns. But at the end of the day, I think what we have to do is keep going forward and make this as great and entertaining and respectful and reverent a show as we possibly can. You know, this entire business is going through a little bit of a transition. That said, our objective is to do our jobs well and to give you a really great show to watch. We can only hope the ratings go in the direction that we want them to, but we are just ‑‑ we’re committed to making this something that will be appreciated by everybody viewing it.”
Some Parting Words of Advice
Glenn Weiss: “You will not want to miss the top.”
Ricky Kirshner: “An opening you don’t want to miss.”