This year’s Oscars featured one of the more eclectic nights for musical performances in the recent history of the telecast. Not only did you have the massive A-listers, but there was also a Bollywood song, one of the most decorated songwriters, and David Byrne rounding out the night.
Coming into Oscars Sunday, it was assumed that Lady Gaga wouldn’t be on hand to perform her “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick.” But before the awards show, it was revealed that she would be attending and performing the song. Clearly, as you can see in her performance, the singer was very emotional while belting out the song.
There was also Diane Warren performing “Applause” alongside Sofia Carson, which was the first performance of the night. Warren is one of those songwriters who finds herself with an Oscar nomination every year (she has 14 of them, but no wins). David Byrne also took the stage with Oscar-nominated actress, Stephanie Hsu, and Son Lux to perform “This is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
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Perhaps the most electric performance of the night came from the duo of Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava, who performed “Naatu Naatu” from the film, “RRR.” On a night filled with fairly subdued musical breaks, it was nice to see a group of people clearly having a blast while singing and dancing all over the stage.
Obviously, the most anticipated performance came from Rihanna, who performed the nominated song, “Lift Me Up.” Coming off her show at this year’s Super Bowl, the singer delivered another memorable performance. However, unlike the Super Bowl, her Oscars moment was a much more somber affair, as the song and the context in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” is clearly focused on the passing of Chadwick Boseman.
You can watch all of the performances below: