The Oscars may be all about the best films of the year, but nothing sets a film apart like it's music! This year's show did not disappoint as Grammy-winning musicians took the stage to give us all a break from the intense Academy Award atmosphere.
Each of the performances reflected one of the five nominees in the Best Original Song category. This year, four films were represented through five song nominations: "Audition (The Fools Who Dream), La La Land, "Can't Stop the Feeling," Trolls, "City of Stars," La La Land, "The Empty Chair," Jim: The James Foley Story and "How Far I'll Go," Moana.
The night kicked off with an upbeat performance from Justin Timberlake as he sang his Trolls hit. The NSYNC frontman paraded down the aisles surrounded by dancers, as nominees got a chance to get on their feet and sing along. While the ten-time Grammy winner tried his best to pump up the crowd, his clear partial lip-syncing display coupled with the fact that the energy at the Oscars vastly differs from that of a music industry awards show, led the performance to fall a bit flat.
One of the high points of the night came a bit later when it was time for the crew from Moana to take the stage. Songwriter, Lin Manuel Miranda, introduced the film's star, Auli’i Cravalho, with one of his famous raps, before the 16-year-old blew everyone away with her raw rendition of the movie's anthem. Cravalho first ever film role came when she voiced the films titular character and after that performance we're sure she's here to stay.
Sting paid a touching tribute to journalist James Foley during his acoustic performance of "The Empty Chair." The emotional performance culminated with a quote accompanied by a picture of Foley. The quote read, "If I don't have the moral courage to challenge authority...we don't have journalism."
The final and most anticipated performance of the night, came when La La Land stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling together announced the medley performance of their nominated songs, by none other than John Legend. Many were disappointed when it was revealed that neither Stone nor Gosling would reprise their role on the Oscar stage and that it would be fellow cast mate and producer, Legend, that would take over.
In the film, "City of Stars," appears as a duet between Stone and Gosling, while "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)," is an emotional ballad sung by Stone alone. However it was most likely Stone and Gosling themselves that opted against performing live, and it turned out to be successful nonetheless.
Legend's performance was a beautiful tribute to the film's magic, as he sat at a piano surrounded by dancers and a sky full of stars. Though we would have given anything to hear Stone belt out "Audition," Legend was able to convey the significance of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul's lyrics, and show why "City of Stars," deserved to take home the statue.
There has been a critical error on your website.<\/p>
Learn more about debugging in WordPress.<\/a><\/p>","data":{"status":500},"additional_errors":[]}