Among its 8 Oscar nominations, A Star is Born received a nomination for Best Original Song. That means that at the upcoming 91st Academy Awards, actor Bradley Cooper will join his muse Lady Gaga on stage to perform the song “Shallow” from his directorial debut in front of the entire Dolby Theatre, and all the people watching at home. When asked about his upcoming live performance at the awards show, Bradley Cooper offered no false bravado, saying:
I’m sure I’ll be terrified.
At least he’s honest. Bradley Cooper made it clear when speaking to E! News at the DGA Awards, he will be extremely nervous when he has to get up on stage and perform at the Oscars. Despite his incredible performance and how convincing he was as a musician onscreen in A Star is Born, in a live performance he doesn’t have the option to yell cut and do another take. That’s scary.
Bradley Cooper isn’t going in entirely cold turkey though. When filming A Star is Born, Lady Gaga insisted, to Bradley Cooper’s great panic, that they sing the songs live instead of just lip-syncing over playback in order to make it authentic. So he has some live experience there.
The director also recently joined Lady Gaga onstage at her Las Vegas show, in what could be construed as a practice session for their Oscars performance. Together, in the show’s closing number, they sung “Shallow” for an enraptured crowd. That was no walk in the park for Bradley Cooper either though, saying about the experience:
That was terrifying. I just had to like, Zen out and just pray that I wouldn’t ruin her show. Because, think about it, she just crushed it or two hours… and I thought, ‘Please let me just be on pitch.’
Bradley Cooper was afraid of ending Lady Gaga’s show with a thud and was just hoping to be on pitch. His worries were unfounded though, because he and Lady Gaga left audiences elated at their duet. Hopefully he can take something from that performance into their performance at the Oscars. And no matter how disastrous things go, he can take solace in knowing that it won't be as bad as Jackson Maine’s Grammys fiasco in the film.
“Shallow” will not be the only song performed at the Oscars either. At one point it seemed that the plan was for only A Star is Born’s “Shallow” and “All The Stars” from Black Panther would be performed during the ceremony, but now, after righteous backlash, all five nominees for Best Original Song will be performed. It seems the ceremony will still go without a host though.
Now if only someone can right the miscarriage of justice that is Bradley Cooper not receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Director.
The 91st Academy Awards air on Sunday, February 24 at 8 p.m. E.T. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all your Oscars coverage and check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see all of the biggest movies heading to theaters this year.
