Lady Gaga will not perform her Oscar-nominated song from Top Gun: Maverick, “Hold my Hand,” at this year’s Academy Awards. Executive producer and showrunner Glenn Weiss confirmed in a press conference that all other nominated artists would perform their songs live, but that Gaga had scheduling conflicts.
“We invited all five,” Weiss said of this year’s nominees for best song. The other four nominees are confirmed for the show. “We have great relationship with Lady Gaga, but she is in the middle of shooting a movie,” said Weiss, referencing her part in the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux. “It didn’t feel like she could get a performance to the caliber that she prefers, so she isn’t going to perform at the show.”
The other songs slated for performance are “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.
Producers also promised to address last year’s live debacle — when actor will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock on-stage. Executive producer Molly McNearney told reporters, “We are going to address it and then we are going to move on.” For his part in the violence, Smith received a 10-year ban from the Academy, and the ripple effect of that moment has led to a fundamental change in how the show will run. Because he won best actor for King Richard last year but can no longer attend the ceremonies, the Academy decided to trash one of their longstanding traditions: no longer will the previous year’s winner of a category present the award to the this year’s winner.
Lady Gaga won an Oscar for “Shallow” four years ago, which appeared in A Star is Born
The Academy also ruffled feathers in recent years by awarding “smaller” craft Oscars (like editing and sound) to recipients off-stage in order to save screen time during the notoriously-long telecast. Producers also promised an about-face for these awards as well, assuring reporters that all recipients of craft awards would get their moment on stage.
Executive producer and showrunner Ricky Kirshner asserted that “one of the themes [of this year’s show] is honoring the crafts. We are going to show what it takes [to make a movie] and honor the people [who do this work.]” He also hinted at a QR code system which would allow viewers to scan and watch more background information about the crafts on their phones.
Everything Everywhere All at Once heads into Sunday’s ceremony with 11 nominations, the most for any film this year. It will compete for best picture alongside All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, The Fabelmans, Tár, Top Gun: Maverick, Triangle of Sadness and Women Talking.
In the concluding moments of the press conference, Weiss also offered a nod to moviegoers who returned to theaters after the pandemic, thanking them for their support.
