Cynthia Erivo And Ariana Grande opened it 2025 Oscars With an epic performance mixture of three songs in the universe “The Wizard of Oz”.
Large, dressed in a sparkling red dress, started the set with a powerful interpretation of “SomeWhere Over The Rainbow”, amazing the crowd while it was emerging from a cloud of smoke with a nightfish.
Cynthia Erivo (L) and Ariana Grande occur on stage during the 97th Oscars Annual Hollywood on March 2, 2025.
Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images
While Grande left the stage, Erivo was released in a large white dress to interpret a blanket of “The Wiz” by Diana Ross from the 1978 film of the same name.
The two then united their forces to shoot the house with “Wicked“Favorite” “defying Gravity” while the crowd roared in a standing ovation.
In a touching moment, the camera turned to the star of “Wicked” Star Ethan Slater in the crowd. He had tears in his eyes when he proudly applauded for performance.
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande play on stage on the 97th Oscars Annual on March 2, 2025 in Hollywood.
Kevin Winter / Getty images
Erivo, large and Slater played in the film “Wicked” 2024. Erivo portrayed Elphaba Thropp, the film’s protagonist, who is misunderstood because of his green skin. Slater depicts Boq.
Elphaba forges an improbable friendship with Glinda (large). At the end of “Wicked: Part One”, Elphaba and Glinda’s relationship reached a crossroads after meeting the Magician of Oz and their life takes different paths.
The film directed by Jon M. Chu is an adaptation of the Broadway musical based on the novel by Gregory Maguire in 1995, “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West”. Maguire’s book explores the characters of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum and his consequences.
Upon entering the awards presentation show, “Wicked” had 10 Oscar nominations, including the best film.
Erivo and Grande were also nominated for the best actress and the best support actress, respectively.
For large, the role of Glinda was the one she always wanted to play.
“I had the incredible privilege of seeing the original cast of Broadway from” Wicked “when I was 10 years old, and I just felt an immediate link”, great said In a Featurette Universal Pictures for “Wicked” released last year.
Erivo also explained how the role of Elphaba is the one it is expensive.
“I felt like I recognized something in the character,” Erivo said “The view” in November. “This feeling of being outside, of being a little different, of not adapting. And so there was something that seemed familiar, and I felt that it was important to be part of this narration, because I can understand it.”
She added: “I always felt like I was different. I am a little strange, often. I walk in the room, and especially in this particular area of work, I am different … and I don’t know how to be anything other than that.”
