Oscars: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Finneas, Reba McEntire and Sebastián Yatra to Perform
The Oscars have announced the musical performers for this year’s nominees for best original song, which will include Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Finneas, Reba McEntire and Sebastián Yatra.
Four of the five songs will be performed, while nominee Van Morrison, who penned and sang “Down to Joy” from “Belfast,” was invited but will not attend the ceremony due to his tour schedule.
As a result, the song will not be performed on the broadcast.
Final voting for the 94th Oscars ended at 5 p.m. PT today, and the original song race is one of the most competitive of the night. The nominated songs and credited songwriters this year are: “Be Alive” from “King Richard” (music and lyrics by Dixson and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter), “Dos Origuitas” from “Encanto” (music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda), “Down to Joy” from “Belfast” (music and lyrics by Van Morrison), “No Time to Die” from “No Time to Die” (musical and lyrics by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell) and “Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days” (music and lyrics by Diane Warren).
“No Time to Die” has already won multiple accolades this awards season, including the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards and last year’s Grammy Award for record of the year and song written for visual media. If 20-year-old Eilish wins, she would be the youngest winner in the category’s history, surpassing last year’s winner H.E.R. (for “Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah”), who was 23 at the time. The category could also make Lin-Manuel Miranda the latest EGOT recipient, while Diane Warren looks to finally win a long-overdue statuette after 13 nominations.
Variety exclusively reported that Beyoncé’s camp was in deep talks with producers to mount a satellite performance of her nominated song, “Be Alive” — one that could possibly open the show and broadcast live from the tennis courts in Compton, Calif. The location is where sports legends Venus and Serena Williams practiced relentless drills in their youth under the watchful eye of their father, Richard. However, the announcement from the Academy did not specify where the performances would be taking place.
This year’s ceremony, produced by Will Packer and Shayla Cowan, takes place on March 27 at the Dolby Theatre and will air live on ABC at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT and in more than 200 territories worldwide. In addition, American Sign Language (ASL) provided by Certified Deaf Interpreters, live closed captioning and audio description will be available during the live broadcast.