The Oscars are trumpeting the “first live performance of ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’” from Encanto for their show on March 27.
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks, an astonishing showing for a multi-character theatrical piece. The song is performed by Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz and the cast of Encanto on the Encanto soundtrack, which is currently in its ninth nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Another of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s songs from Encanto, “Dos Oruguitas,” is competing for best original song at the Oscars.
The Academy hasn’t officially announced that all five best original song nominees will be performed on the show, but that is widely expected. If they are, on top of the performance of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” the show will have a strong music focus.
If the Oscars are able to book all of the original performers – and they are the Oscars, after all — Sebastián Yatra would perform “Dos Oruguitas,” Beyoncé would perform “Be Alive” from King Richard, Van Morrison would perform “Down to Joy” from Belfast, Billie Eilish would perform No Time to Die from the film of the same name, and Reba McEntire would perform “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days.
The Oscars air on ABC one week before the Grammys air on CBS. The two shows have never previously aired in such close proximity to each other.
Music could also factor into a planned salute to 60 years of James Bond. Dame Shirley Bassey sang “Diamonds Are Forever” to open the BAFTA Film Awards on March 13, as that show’s salute to the Bond franchise. That still leaves “Goldfinger,” perhaps the greatest of all Bond theme songs (also sung originally by Bassey), for an Oscar telecast salute.
The Oscars also announced a salute to The Godfather on its 50th anniversary.
As a sign of the times, the announcement was made through a video on the Academy’s Twitter feed rather than through an old-school press release: “We don’t talk about Bruno…except at this year’s #Oscars! Catch the 94th Oscars, hosted by Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes live Sunday, March 27 on ABC.”
Several music stars, including Shawn Mendes, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and Halle Bailey, have been announced as presenters, along with music and film superstar Lady Gaga.
The Academy stirred considerable controversy when it announced that it would shift the live presentation of eight awards to the hour preceding the start of the live telecast, and would then sprinkle edited versions of those presentations into the telecast. They were aiming to save a minute here and two minutes there so they would have time for additional musical numbers and anniversary salutes. That will do little to quell the controversy, but it may give the show more entertainment value and boost ratings, the Academy’s obvious aim.
We don't talk about Bruno…except at this year's #Oscars!
Catch the 94th Academy Awards hosted by @MoreReginaHall, @amyschumer, and @iamwandasykes LIVE Sunday, March 27 on @ABCNetwork! pic.twitter.com/9DZ23urvSM
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 16, 2022