Beyoncé is reportedly in talks with Oscars producers to perform her nominated song “Be Alive” from King Richard. The performance will be a special one, with Beyoncé singing from the same Compton, California tennis courts where Venus and Serena Williams played under the eye of their father, Richard Williams. The 94th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, starting at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Beyoncé’s team is reportedly in “deep talks” with the Oscars to possibly open the show with her performance, three sources told Variety Monday. One possible idea is to have King Richard star Will Smith appear with Beyoncé, and then get Smith to the Dolby Theatre by the time the Best Actor category is announced.
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Deadline also reported that Beyoncé would only perform at the Oscars if the other Best Original Song nominees were given the option to be pre-taped. Beyoncé “didn’t want special treatment,” according to the outlet. Beyoncé has not done much campaigning for the song, which she co-wrote with artist Dixson.
The other nominees for Best Original Song are Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto; Van Morrison’s “Down to Joy” from Belfast; Billie Eilish and Finneas’ title song from No Time to Die; and Diane Warren’s “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days. Surprisingly, the Academy has not announced performances of any of these songs.
However, the Oscars announced plans to have the Encanto hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” performed live. The song was not nominated for Best Original Song since Disney picked “Dos Oruguitas” to submit instead. Miranda, who has a chance to join the EGOT club if his song wins, told Variety he was “still proud” of “Dos Oruguitas” being nominated even though “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” became the movie’s breakout hit. “When those are the parameters, you have to pick the thing that best exemplifies the spirit of the movie, and it contains all of it inside this song – as opposed to a journey of a particular character. It’s the foundational story, but I’m not going to say it wasn’t hard [to choose],” he said.
Beyoncé has performed at the Oscars before. During the 2005 ceremony, she performed several of the Best Original Song nominees. She joined Jennifer Hudson and Anika Noni Rose to perform songs from Dreamgirls in 2007 and sang with Hugh Jackman during the 2009 show.
King Richard was directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green and was written by Zach Baylin. It tells the story of Richard Williams and his unconventional plans to make Venus and Serena Williams the best tennis players in the world. Smith is widely expected to win Best Actor for his performance. The movie was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress for Aunjanue Ellis, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing.
