True to form this year, there’s one last piece of Oscars drama before the ceremony on Sunday. While the producers of the show originally tried to get away with having only two of the Best Original Song nominees perform live on the telecast,Lady Gagarefused to take the stage for the biggest hit of the category—“Shallow”—if the other nominees weren’t also invited. So the Oscars producers relented and announced all five nominated songs would be performed. Now, however, we’ve learned that one of the biggest ones won’t be showcased: “All the Stars” fromBlack Panther.
The reasoning apparently has to do with scheduling issues for “All the Stars” performerKendrick Lamar, and indeed there were previously rumblings that Lamar andSZAhad not been locked down for the telecast just yet.Varietybroke the news, explaining that logistics and timing are behind the decision. Deadline adds that Lamar has been abroad recently and it became impossible to turn around a stage performance that would do “All the Stars” justice, so all parties involved mutually agreed to forgo a performance during the telecast rather than rush a subpar one to get it in front of cameras.
This is a bummer to be sure, but the other four Oscar-nominated songs will still be performed. Gaga andBradley Cooperwill take the stage to perform “Shallow” fromA Star Is Born,Bette Midlerwill take on vocal duties for “The Place Where Lost Things Go” fromMary Poppins Returns,Gillian WelchandDavid Rowlingswill perform “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” fromThe Ballad of Buster Scruggs, andJennifer Hudsonwill perform “I’ll Fight” fromRBG.
Additionally, the Academy confirmed thatQueenwill be performing on the telecast withAdam Lamberton vocals, no doubt tied to the heavily nominated filmBohemian Rhapsody.
