SIDE NOTES: 2018 Oscars Performances Recap
On Sunday, March 4, the 90th Oscars aired. This year was full of laughs, wonderful films, excellent hosting by Jimmy Kimmel, and, of course, five stellar performances from five deserving artists! This year, the artists up for Best Original Song in a Major Motion Picture were (in order of performance): Mary J. Blige for “Mighty River” from Mudbound, Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez for “Remember Me” from Coco, Sufjan Stevens for “Mystery of Love” from Call Me By Your Name, Common for “Stand Up For Something” from Marshall, and Benj Pasek & Justin Paul for “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman. All five performances were fantastic in their own ways and all had unique aspects that made them so memorable. The award went to “Remember Me,” but could have easily gone to any of the five! For those who missed the Oscars, I will give some quick recaps of all five performances, but I do recommend watching them all.
First for the night was the amazing Mary J. Blige with her song “Mighty River.” In the past, Blige has won numerous awards including 9 Grammys over her career. She is an R&B veteran who has 11 studio albums under her belt and has gone on countless tours. Her performance last night truly set the bar for all to follow, ditching elaborate sets and outfits for a spotlight and unbelievable gospel sound. At one point, Mary dropped the lyrics she was singing to embrace the moment and make the song just that much more powerful. Full of emotion and the power of gospel singing, Mary J. Blige truly started the Oscar performances with one smashing intro!
Next was a bit of the cast of the Best Animated Feature winner, Coco, performing “Remember Me.” Disney’s Coco was a loveable movie about family and knowing your roots. The movie features wonderful music, most of which was scored by Michael Giacchino, with other songs thrown in. The main song, “Remember Me,” consists of colorful orchestration and beautiful lyrics in both English and Spanish. The performance began with actor Gael Garcia Bernal performing a stripped-down version of the song, which transitioned into Miguel and Natalia LaFourcade performing the studio version with full orchestration and a colorful and wonderful set featuring costumed dancers and neon Day of the Dead-related objects! The performance was definitely one of the most extravagant of the night.
Following Coco was first-time nominee (and one of my favorite artists of all time), singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens. Sufjan has been around since the early 2000s, releasing countless albums ranging from the folk-inspired Michigan, the grand, baroque pop Come On, Feel the Illinoise, to even a glitch pop and rock record titled The Age of Adz. Sufjan is no stranger when it comes to the music scene, but this was the first time Sufjan performed on live television in a long while!, The fantastic team of St. Vincent, Chris Thile, and Moses Sumney backed his performance of “Mystery of Love,” written for the beautiful Call Me By Your Name. The group appeared from out of the floor, with Sufjan wearing a pink and dragon embroidered jacket, and gave the audience a truly mesmerizing performance, full of beautiful orchestration, soft vocals, and gorgeous harmony.
Next was one of the most powerful staging and surprises of the night, which was Common performing “Stand Up For Something.” The Chicago rapper born Lonnie Lynn Jr. dropped his first album under the name Common in 1992, titled Can I Borrow a Dollar? Since then, he has many albums under his belt as well as a couple Grammys. Common has also acted in various movies and TV Shows. Recently, he has been big in the education reform scene as well. At the Grammys, Common took all he knew from all areas of his life to produce an amazing song featuring Andra Day. The song talks about standing up for things one is passionate about, and especially when it comes to standing up for others or for good causes. During the performance, after Common rapped his first verse and Andra Day sang hers, spotlights began to show up in the back, revealing ten activists, incuding Tarana Burke (#MeToo), Nicole Hockley (Sandy Hook Promise), and Bryan Stevenson (Equal Justice Initiative). The sheer power of the two performers’ voices plus the activists surrounding them led to an unforgettable performance and a standout moment of the night.
Lastly, closing out the night was Keala Settle and the cast of The Greatest Showman performing “This Is Me.” The song has a powerful message telling everyone to embrace who they are and not let anyone put them down for being themselves! The performance lived up to the movie with Keala belting her heart out with the backup singers performing beautiful choreography. It was certainly the best way to close out a night of five amazing performances.
If you missed any of these I recommend watching them all as soon as you can. While the Oscars is a night of movies and acting, music definitely stood out for the 90th anniversary of the award show.
-Jacob Tracey
