Contrary to what was planned, Lady Gaga will not perform on stage at the 95th Academy Awards, which will take place this Sunday, March 12 in Los Angeles. Blame it on the filming of the sequel to the film “Joker”, currently in progress.
There is no longer any doubt. Unlike Rihanna who confirmed her arrival, Lady Gaga, also named in the best song category for her title “Hold My Hand” in “Top Gun: Maverick”, will not sing during the Oscars ceremony. The ceremony’s showrunner, Glenn Weiss, confirmed the artist’s absence on Wednesday during a press conference, several American media reported.
In question, the schedule of the 36-year-old artist, explained the latter. “We invited the five nominees. We have a great relationship with Lady Gaga and her team. She is in the middle of a shoot right now,” he explained, quoted by Variety, before specifying: “Here, we honor the film industry and what it takes to make a film… I didn’t feel like she might pull off a performance of the caliber that we’re used to with her, and that she’s used to. So she’s not going to play in the show.”
All the other nominees on stage
For the record, Lady Gaga is currently filming “Joker: Folies à deux”, by Todd Phillips, alongside Joaquin Phoenix. The singer and actress takes on the role of Harley Quinn. A shoot that monopolizes him full time and therefore prevents him from preparing a performance at the height of the Oscars ceremony. It is indeed traditional that all the nominees in the best original song category occur during the great mass of Hollywood cinema.
This will be the case of Rihanna who, following the Super Bowl, will perform this time on stage her title “Lift Me Up”, designed for the feature film “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”. The other three songs in the running will also be played during the ceremony, like “Naatu Naatu”, from the film “RRR”, or “Applause”, performed by Sofia Carson and Diane Warren.
Failing to perform in front of the public, Lady Gaga should however be present in the room, believes however to know Deadline. It remains to be seen whether she will win a new Oscar for best song on her list, following having already won this award in 2019 for “Shallow”.