Every year, the build-up to the Oscars appears to be more dramatic and contested than the previous year. Finally, we’ve arrived at the doorstep of the 2023 Academy Awards.
While we can’t predict everything that will happen on the night (no one could have predicted last year’s slap), we can look at who has been nominated and what has happened throughout the rest of the awards season.
With 11 Oscar nominations, Everything Everywhere All At Once has absolutely dominated this year, winning at the Golden Globes, the SAG Awards, GALECA’s Dorian Film Awards, and within our hearts, so the EEAAO team may make a few speeches. The Banshees of Inisherin and All Quiet on the Western Front, both with nine nominations, could also have a strong night.
This year’s nominations were dominated by first-time acting nominees, so we could see some emotional wins.
Unfortunately, Black talent has been severely underrepresented at this year’s Oscars, which we hope to see addressed onstage this year. In fact, it’s on our list of things we’d like to see.
Here’s what we’d like to see at the 95th Academy Awards.
Rihanna one-upping her Super Bowl performance
Yes, she’ll be there, and she’ll be performing “Lift Me Up,” her nominated song from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It will be the track’s first live performance; there was no room for it in her hit-filled Super Bowl performance, where she commanded the Smash Bros-style stage with no complicated dance moves or stunts. Only Ms. Fenty knows whether that was a purely artistic decision or if her range of motion was limited by the pregnancy she announced on the night, but it sent a clear message: all she needs is a microphone.
Rihanna may shine in a stripped-down performance a la Lady Gaga, but it’s also possible that the Academy will pull out all the stops and stage an epic performance honoring the late Chadwick Boseman. They definitely need to redo that one.
No jokes about the slap
It’s been a year since Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on the Oscars stage, and the cultural debate has died down. Even the debate in the immediate aftermath of the slap was exhausting and overwrought, dwarfing the actual Oscar winners from last year. It would be like reopening a stale can of worms to bring it up again at this year’s ceremony. Besides, both men have already spoken out: Smith accepted his Academy suspension, and Rock recently discussed the incident in a stand-up special. Can we just let it go now?
The show running on time
Every year, I hope for a three-hour Oscar show, and every year, I am disappointed.
Hosting bits and performances bloat the ceremony to the point of insanity, when all I really want to see is who wins the gold. However, there is one advantage to the Oscars being delayed: we can all complain about it together.
Jimmy Kimmel resisting the temptation to upstage award winners
This year’s Oscars will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and if the late-night show host can avoid any disrespectful or self-serving remarks onstage while award winners are honored, that would be fantastic. Kimmel was widely chastised for sabotaging Quinta Brunson’s Emmy win for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for her work on Abbott Elementary’s pilot episode last year. Kimmel was dragged onto the stage by comedian Will Arnett and remained to lie at Brunson’s feet throughout her acceptance speech. Kimmel apologized to Brunson on his own show, and hopefully, the host learned that stealing someone else’s moment and making it all about you isn’t funny.
Someone calling out the Black women shutout
Whoever presents Best Animated Short to giggle reading out “My Year of Dicks”
Angela Bassett saying “I did the thing” if she wins
Angela Bassett, the star of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is up for Best Supporting Actress, and if she wins, it will be Marvel’s first acting Oscar. She’s up against Kerry Condon, who won the BAFTA for The Banshees of Inisherin, Jamie Lee Curtis, who won the SAG for Everything Everywhere All at Once, fellow EEAAO star Stephanie Hsu, and The Whale’s Hong Chau, who won the Golden Globe for her flawless performance as Queen Ramonda. But if Bassett wins, we’re hoping for an acceptance speech that includes a reference to Ariana DeBose’s now-famous BAFTAs rap.
“Naatu Naatu” dominating the Oscars stage
The performances of the nominees for Best Original Song are frequently hit-or-miss, but thanks to RRR’s smash “Naatu Naatu,” this year’s Oscars have a chance to deliver a truly iconic number. The infectious Telugu-language song, composed by M. M. Keeravani and written by Chandrabose, is set to a spirited dance-off between RRR’s leads (Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr.) and a crowd of British colonists. The Oscars will feature a live performance of “Naatu Naatu” by its original singers Rahul Sipliganj and Kaala Bhairava, who will be joined by L.A.-based dancers. Seeing the hook step and suspender choreography from “Naatu Naatu” on the Oscars stage is a surefire way to get the audience out of their seats —
