There is no place like Hollywood. And there is no opening like a “Wizard of Oz”-themed medley from “Wicked” stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
Grande opened the 97th Academy Awards by singing “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz,” as the Best Actress nominee glistened in a ruby red ensemble complete with ruby red slippers and the stage was adorned with a glistening backdrop of Los Angeles.
Cynthia Erivo then took the stage and began a moving rendition of “Home” from the 1975 Broadway musical “The Wiz.” The play is an adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s children’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and the original production won seven Tony Awards including Best Musical and broke barriers as one of the first shows to feature an all-Black cast.
To end the medley, Grande and Erivo took the stage together to sing their rendition of “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked.” The performance was the first time the two stars performed the song together live for an audience during a telecast. The performance got an immediate standing ovation from the audience at the Dolby Theater.
You can watch the full performance in the video below:
This year’s opening number came as the Academy decided to not include live performances of the songs nominated in the best original song category, which include “El Mal” and “Mi Camino” from “Emilia Pérez,” “The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight,” “Like a Bird” from “Sing Sing” and “Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late.”
“Wicked” received 10 Oscar nominations including Best Actress in a Leading Role for Erivo and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Grande. The other nominations include, Best Picture, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Sound and Best Visual Effects.
