Attention Little Monsters: Be sure to set your DVRs for Sunday, February 24 as that’s when Lady Gaga will perform live at the 91st Oscars. Unlike the last two times she graced the Academy Awards stage as a solo performer, this time she’ll be joined by her “A Star Is Born” co-star/director Bradley Cooper for a duet of her nominated song “Shallow.” The dynamic duo will perform as themselves and not as their film characters, singer/songwriter Ally and gravely voiced country singer Jackson Maine.
“Shallow” won two Grammys earlier this month for Best Visual Media Song and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The song, which serves as an anthem for dealing with life’s darkest moments, was written by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt. This quartet performed a rocking version of “Shallow” together at the Grammys, but Cooper was overseas representing “A Star Is Born” at the BAFTA Awards that same day so he couldn’t join them.
Gaga most recently performed at the 2016 Oscars ceremony, singing “Til It Happens to You” from “The Hunting Ground,” which was nominated for Best Song for Gaga and Diane Warren. Even though Oscars viewers agreed that Gaga blew the roof off of the Dolby Theatre, she later lost the trophy to “Writing’s on the Wall” from “Spectre.” The first time the music superstar appeared at the Oscars was at the 2015 ceremony when she belted out a medley of “The Sound of Music” songs for the film’s 50th anniversary.
Gold Derby predicts “Shallow” will easily win Best Song at the 2019 Oscars over co-nominees “All the Stars” from “Black Panther,” “I’ll Fight” from “RBG,” “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns” and “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.”
Of course, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper are also nominated at the Oscars for their acting performances. Gaga’s competition for Best Actress is Glenn Close (“The Wife”), Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”), Yalitza Aparicio (“Roma”) and Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”), while Cooper’s Best Actor lineup includes Rami Malek (“Bohemian Rhapsody”), Christian Bale (“Vice”), Viggo Mortensen (“Green Book”) and Willem Dafoe (“At Eternity’s Gate”). Cooper finds himself nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay as well.
The Motion Picture Academy originally wanted only “Shallow” and “All the Stars” to be performed during the ceremony, but they quickly reversed their decision after a fierce backlash from fans. Now all five nominated songs will be performed live on stage in 90-second increments. In addition, Oscar producers Donna Gigliotti and Glenn Weiss announced that Queen and front-man Adam Lambert will open the show in a special tribute to nominated film “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
PREDICT the Oscar winners now; change them until February 24
Be sure to check out how our experts rank this year’s Oscar contenders. Then take a look at the most up-to-date combined odds before you make your own 2019 Oscar predictions. Don’t be afraid to jump in now since you can keep changing your predictions until just before winners are announced on February 24.
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