Major Break in Tradition Announced for Tonight’s Oscars Ceremony

Tonight’s Oscars will look (and sound) a little different than year’s past. In a break from tradition, none of the songs nominated for Best Song will be performed at this year’s Academy Awards.

This year’s performers are Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Queen Latifah, Lisa (of Blackpink), Raye and Doja Cat. Erivo and Grande will (of course) be reprising their roles from Wicked, which is already the highest-grossing musical screen adaptation of all time and will soon be on streaming services. It is still unknown what the other four will be performing.

The nominations for Best Song are an original Elton John song from his concert documentary Elton John: Never Too Late, two songs from Emilia Pérez (El Mal and Mi Camino), Like a Bird from Sing Sing, and Diane Warren’s song “The Journey from The Six Triple Eight” from Netflix’s movie The Journey. None of the songs nominated will be performed. It is unknown how much the scandal surrounding Emilia Pérez has to do with the Academy’s decision.

It’s basically the opposite of last year’s ceremony, where all five songs nominated were performed during the Oscars. Last year, representatives from the Osage tribe performed Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People) from Killers of the Flower Moon, Billie Eilish and Ryan Gosling played their Barbie, Jon Baptiste performed It Never Went Away from American Symphony, and Becky G did her song The Fire Inside from the Cheetos biopic Flamin’ Hot.

The 2025 Academy Awards will be hosted by Conan O’Brien. They will air live on ABC and Hulu on Sunday, March 2 at 7 PM EST. For a list of all nominees, click here.