Cynthia Erivo HitsThatNote at 2025 Oscars In Stunning OpeningWickedMedley with Ariana Grande

Mar. 15, 2025

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Cynthia ErivoandAriana Grandedefied gravity with theirOscars2025 performance.

The stars ofWickedbrought their powerhouse voices together to sing a trio of songs from variousWizard of Ozprojects, including one tune from their hit 2024 film.

Erivo followed up with the ballad “Home,” from the 1975 Broadway musicalThe Wiz.She wore a strapless white gown with purple flowers — which appeared to take inspiration fromDiana Ross' Dorothy in the 1978 film version. Her dress notably also included a nod to her characterWickedcharacter Elphaba as it transitioned to green at the bottom.

The pair held hands as they concluded their performance with a duet of “Defying Gravity” from their filmWicked,which is nominated for 10 Oscars.As the song continued, Grande stopped singing and moved slightly off to the side while Erivo took center stage to belt out the impossibly high closing notes of the song.

TheWickedcostars' performance is one of several musical moments throughout the night. Other performers scheduled to take the stage includeDoja Cat,Lisa of BLACKPINKand Raye.

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences previously confirmed that Grande and Erivo would take the stage for a “spellbinding” performance at the Academy Awards in asocial media postshared on their official page on Feb. 24.

The Academy shared a video showing clips of the pair in the Warner Bros. film together and on the red carpet at last year’s Oscars. In the caption, they teased that it would be a “performance you won’t forget.”

Grande admitted in interview on Amazon Music’sZach Sang Showthat “prepping for theWickedauditions was six months.” She noted that part of the preparation involved “voice lessons every day, acting lessons every day” — all while she appeared as a judge on singing competition hitThe Voice.

“I trained every single day,” remembered the Grammy winner, “to prove to [Wickedproducers] that I could handle taking on this other person."

Erivo — who earned a Tony award for her role in the musical revival ofThe Color Purple— has also opened up about the training required to pull off the singing — and physical work required for the role. She shared that she “would get up and work out for two hours before getting in the car” in prep for the scenes that required theTony winner to “fly” while strapped into a harnesswhile singing.

At a recentVarietyFYC screening, Erivo said that both she and Grande were willing to commit to such extreme requirements because of how much they cared about their roles.

“The training we both had to do on our voices in order to make those sounds took time, for both voice and body,” Erivo said of her and Grande, who plays future good witch Glinda. “It isn’t easy to sing in a harness up in the air. But these women deserve our all. So we threw ourselves into it—whether it was a 2 a.m. wake-up call, a 5 a.m. makeup call, or a two-hour workout.”

source: people.com