Oscars 2014: Pink stays grounded in tribute to ‘Wizard of Oz’

The musical performances at this year’s Academy Awards have tended toward the more stately. Rock stars U2 went acoustic. Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O stayed seated. Surely Pink would bring some showbiz excitement to the Oscars, no?

Not quite. Pink broke from what has been something of an award-show tradition for her and kept her feet on the stage during a tribute to the 75th anniversary of “The Wizard of Oz.”

Introduced by her real name, Alecia Moore, by Whoopi Goldberg, who was sporting some rather eye-catching ruby red slippers herself, Pink took to the Dolby Theatre stage in a twinkling red gown to show the world once and for all that she has as much musical chops as she does acrobatic ones. (Watching in the audience, incidentally, were Judy Garland’s three children -- Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft and Joey Luft.)

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Singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” Pink took a slower, more reflective approach than the rendition in the film by Judy Garland. Tackling the song is no easy task, as “The Wizard of Oz” and its music is ingrained in the minds of no doubt many an Oscar viewer, and Pink took some risks by deviating from the more recognizable arrangements.

If Garland’s take is dreamy and optimistic, complete with whistling birds, Pink’s was more about looking back. There’s an uplift to Garland’s phrasing, and Pink kept it more somber. She was slow, steady and adding pauses where one was expecting the song to spring to life.

As scenes from the film played behind her -- in black & white and in color -- strings fluttered, piano notes drizzled and then Pink’s vocals quivered ever so slightly. As the orchestra swelled in the chorus and Pink got louder, she let her voice purposefully crack, a somber acknowledgment, perhaps, that the rainbow is behind her.

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