The Oscars 2021: Are Live Musical Performances Worth It?

Continuing with the 2021 award season, the 93rd Oscars aired tonight on ABC. An award show centered on movies begs the question: is it really worth it to add musical performances (as the oscars have always done) during a global pandemic? With award categories such as “Best Original Song” and “Best Score”,  I think the answer lies in the amount of risks that the academy is willing to take. In this year’s case, though, the Oscars got creative.

All nominees for “Best Original Song” taped their performances in advance, and were aired on the pre-show, title “Oscars: Into the Spotlight”.

Performances from Celeste, H.E.R., Leslie Odom Jr., Laura Pausini, Daniel Pemberton, Molly Sandén and Diane Warren were included for the five original songs. Four of the five musical performances were recorded at the Dolby Family Terrace in Los Angeles. The fifth performance, “Húsavík” from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga,” was recorded in Húsavík, Iceland.

I think that this year’s Oscars were smart for pre-recording their performances. Why put more people at risk than need be – as most (if not all) in attendance were nominees for the night that already resided in Los Angeles, CA.

Catch all of the performances from the night on YouTube!