Of coursethis year’s Academy Awards will feature performances of all of the nominees for Best Original Song—but there’s a surprising twist to the lineup. Given that entertainer extraordinaireJustin Timberlakeis a nominee this year for theTrollssong/sensational pop hit “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”, and given that the Oscars are always chasing higher ratings, it would been shocking if they didn’t make time for a performance from a crossover superstar. So yes, Timberlake will be performing “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” on the Oscars stage. However, whileLa La Landis a double-nominee in the category forEmma Stone’s “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” and theRyan Gosling-led “City of Stars”, neither Stone nor Gosling will actually be performing the songs at the Oscars.
Instead,La La Landco-starJohn Legendwill take the stage to perform both “Audition” and “City of Stars”, which isn’t a terrible tradeoff even though it would’ve been kind of neat to see Gosling and Stone singing live onstage—which is probably the reason the duo opted out of this performance. It’s understandable, as they’ve been on theLa La Landpress circuit for months now and are no doubt exhausted, and given that they’re also nominated for Best Actress and Best Actor, adding dual live performances to their to-do list would’ve been insanely nerve-wracking. Now they can just sit nervously in their seats and enjoy Legend’s rendition of the songs.
Stingwill, of course, be performing his Oscar-nominated song “The Empty Chair” from the documentaryJim: The James Foley Story, andHamiltoncreator/starLin-Manuel Mirandawill be returning to the stage to perform “How Far I’ll Go” fromMoana, which he wrote. Miranda will be joined in performance byAuli’I Cravalho, who voiced the lead character inMoanaand sang the nominated song in the film.
As I’ve been saying for months, Best Original Song is one of the most exciting Oscar categories this year. It’s positively stacked with talent, and it’ll be a treat to see these songs performed on the show when it airs live on ABC on Sunday, February 26th.
