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The 2025 Academy Awards incorporated music in a big way. And it wasn\u2019t just in awards for Best Original Score that this year\u2019s 97th Oscars took an especially musical turn.<\/p>\n
Opening up the night<\/b><\/p>\n
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande presented the first musical number of the 2025 Academy Awards in a medley that included \u201cOver the Rainbow\u201d from The Wizard of Oz<\/i>, \u201cHome\u201d from The Wiz<\/i>, and \u201cDefying Gravity\u201d from Wicked. <\/i>Super fans may have caught composer Stephen Schwartz\u2019s Beethoven-inspired triads and hidden references<\/u><\/span><\/a> to \u201cOver the Rainbow\u201d in the melody of \u201cDefying Gravity.\u201d<\/p>\n The host\u2019s obligatory song and dance<\/b><\/p>\n As has become requisite for an Oscars host, Conan O\u2019Brien closed his opening monologue with an original song and dance<\/u><\/span><\/a> featuring the Sandworm from Dune 2 playing Chopsticks on the piano.<\/p>\n An inexplicably long James Bond tribute<\/b><\/p>\n This year, the Oscars opted not to have Original Song nominees perform their nominated songs. Instead, audiences were treated to performances of major songs from James Bond performed by Raye, Doja Cat, and Lisa. The franchise, which was recently acquired by Amazon, was marking its 60th anniversary in what some remarked felt like an In Memoriam. Why Adele didn\u2019t perform her hit song, \u201cSkyfall,\u201d is anybody\u2019s guess. Eagle-eyed Swifties also noticed 5 Eras Tour<\/u><\/span><\/a> dancers onstage for the medley. \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n Late musicians honoured over movie directors<\/b><\/p>\n Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg reunited onstage to honour the late composer, arranger, trumpeter, and producer Quincy Jones, followed by a tribute to Jones sung by Queen Latifah. All this would\u2019ve been fine if Jones hadn\u2019t already received a lengthy Grammys tribute while the 4-time Oscar nominee David Lynch, who died on January 16th, only got a 4-second mention.<\/u><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Prepared piano and synth pop takes a trophy<\/b><\/p>\n The experimental musician and producer Daniel Blumberg took home a trophy for Best Original Score for The Brutalist. His versatile and expansive score draws inspiration from jazz, synth-pop, and John Cage\u2019s use of the prepared piano<\/u><\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n