Film academy explains why Lady Gaga will not perform her nominated song at 2023 Oscars
Sorry, Little Monsters: Lady Gaga will not be performing at Sunday’s 95th Academy Awards ceremony.
Oscars executive producer and showrunner Glenn Weiss slashed Gaga fans’ hopes when he confirmed Wednesday that the Oscar- and Grammy-winning entertainer, who is nominated this year for her “Top Gun: Maverick” power ballad “Hold My Hand,” will not take the stage to sing the song.
In a Zoom call with entertainment journalists Wednesday, Weiss explained that the artists who perform this year’s Oscar-nominated original songs were invited to perform, but the “Shallow” singer couldn’t make it work.
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“We invited all five nominees. We have a great relationship with Lady Gaga and her camp. She is in the middle of shooting a movie right now,” Weiss said.
“Here we are honoring the movie industry and what it takes to make a movie. And 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.”
However, it’s unclear if she’ll still attend the show, which is being held Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Gaga has previously performed during the internationally televised ceremony three times.
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In 2015, she sang a “Sound of Music” medley for the film’s 50th anniversary and was joined onstage by the film’s star, Julie Andrews. In 2016, then-Vice President Joe Biden introduced her performance of “Til It Happens to You,” her emotional ballad from the sexual-assault documentary “The Hunting Ground,” as she was flanked at the piano by sexual-abuse survivors. And in 2019, she performed an intimate duet with her “A Star Is Born” co-star Bradley Cooper — the same year the song earned Gaga her first Academy Award.
This year, the pop superstar shares her “Hold My Hand” nomination with musician BloodPop. They face off in the original song field against “Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman,” “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR” and “This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
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“Lift Me Up” singer Rihanna was the first to be announced as a performer for this year’s ceremony. Her announcement was followed by that of Sofia Carson, who, accompanied by songwriter Diane Warren, will perform “Applause.” That song marks Warren’s 14th Oscar nomination. She was previously nominated alongside Gaga for “Til It Happens to You” and received an honorary award at the Academy’s Governors Awards in November.
The Talking Heads’ David Byrne, also an Oscar winner, will take the stage to sing “This Is a Life” with supporting actress nominee Stephanie Hsu and music trio Son Lux. And “Naatu Naatu” singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava will make their Oscars debut performing their song.
Following up her Super Bowl LVII halftime show, Rihanna will take the stage at the 95th Academy Awards to sing her Oscar-nominated ‘Lift Me Up.’
Rock superstar Lenny Kravitz is also set to perform during the In Memoriam segment.
The 95th Academy Awards, hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel, will air live on ABC on Sunday at 5 p.m. Pacific.
Times staff writer Josh Rottenberg contributed to this report.
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