After tonight, we’re all going to be holding space for Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s 2025 Oscars performance.
The duo kicked off the 97th Academy Awards ceremony by performing a medley of songs from the Wicked cinematic universe. Grande, who received her first Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role as Glinda, changed out of her pink couture Schiaparelli dress into a glittery ruby red ball gown for a touching rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
Afterward, Erivo—whose performance as Elphaba earned her a nomination in the Best Actress category—walked onto stage to perform Diana Ross’s “Home,” also executing an outfit swap from her emerald green Louis Vuitton gown and into a floral-embellished white dress from Vivienne Westwood, which she paired with Marli high jewelry. With the nighttime view of the Griffith Observatory looming behind her, Erivo’s performance clearly paid tribute to Los Angeles in the aftermath of the city’s recent wildfires.
Thereafter, Grande reappeared onstage for the duo to perform the powerful final duet from act one of Wicked, “Defying Gravity.”
Wicked is one of this year’s major film contenders that are poised to sweep the ceremony, having nabbed a total of 10 nominations including for Best Picture, Best Original Score, Best Costume Design, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Director Jon M. Chu previously talked to Harper’s Bazaar about adapting the beloved Broadway production for the screen. While the story is set in the fantasy world of The Wizard of Oz, its themes and core message couldn’t be more relevant to modern audiences, he said.
“It is the most iconic fairy tale in the most iconic American medium, which is cinema, and in the most American genre, which is the musical,” Chu mused. “And we deconstruct that with a woman who’s green, who isn’t what everyone expects as the hero of the story.”
He added, “The Wizard even says, ‘Truth is what we all believe in.’ Of course, that’s always been around and propaganda has always been around, but it’s really come into focus now, because of the power of technology and how fast the information can spread and who’s in control of that information.”
