Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo Perform Show-Stopping Mash-Up to Open Oscars 2025 [Video]

Before the 2025 Oscars began, there were rumblings that Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande would open the show with a musical number that was surprisingly long.

The stars of Wicked brought their powerhouse voices together to sing a trio of songs from various Wizard of Oz projects, including one tune from their hit 2024 film.

Grande kicked off the show in a sparkly red dress with matching heels — which channeled Dorothy’s iconic red ruby slippers from the original 1939 film — as she sang Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

Erivo followed up with the ballad “Home,” from the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz. She wore a strapless white gown with purple flowers — which appeared to take inspiration from Diana Ross’ Dorothy in the 1978 film version. Her dress notably also included a nod to her character Wicked character 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 film Wicked, 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.

Those gathered at Hollywood’s Dolby Theater gave the duo a standing ovation. The camera also panned to show Wicked director Jon M. Chu and costar Michelle Yeoh — who wiped away tears — as they applauded the pair.

The Wicked costars’ performance is one of several musical moments throughout the night. Other performers scheduled to take the stage include Doja Cat, Lisa of BLACKPINK and Raye.

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 a social media post shared on their official page on Feb. 24.

Grande admitted in interview on Amazon Music’s Zach Sang Show that “prepping for the Wicked auditions 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 hit The Voice.

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

Erivo — who earned a Tony award for her role in the musical revival of The 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 the Tony winner to “fly” while strapped into a harness while singing.

At a recent Variety FYC 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.”

via: People

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