The 86th Academy Awards ceremony was already shaping up to be a music concert on par with Band Aid or at least the Warped Tour, as the four music artists nominated for Best Original Song are signed on to perform. That means Pharrell Williams, Idina Menzel, Karen O and U2 will be on-hand to perform their respective songs, after which they’ll watch Bono, the Edge and the other guys take the stage to accept the Oscar for “Ordinary Love,” because let’s not kid ourselves.
But the Academy wasn’t content with just those four acts singing their nifty little ditties. So it was announced today that Bette Midler will also perform at the Oscars for the first time ever in her incredible career that included two Oscar nominations of her own. Hopefully, she’ll get all crazy during one of the presentations and steal a statue while threatening to cut Anne Hathaway, because people love drama.
“We are thrilled to have Bette perform on the Oscars for the very first time,” said Zadan and Meron. “We believe she will make our Oscar telecast an especially moving evening.”
Midler received Oscar nominations for Actress in a Leading Role for “For the Boys” and The Rose.” She has recorded 13 studio albums, the first of which, 1972’s “The Divine Miss M,” sold over a million copies and earned her a Grammy for Best New Artist. Midler has gone on to sell over 30 million albums worldwide and win two additional Grammys for the songs “The Rose” (Best Female Pop Vocal Performance) and “Wind Beneath My Wings” (Record of the Year). She has been honored with three Emmy® Awards and a special Tony Award® in 1974 for her contribution to that year’s Broadway season. (Via Deadline)
We don’t know what exactly she’ll be singing or during which part of the broadcast, but I assume the comment of “an especially moving evening” means that she’ll be singing during the “In Memoriam” segment. She has so many touching songs that would make for a good tribute to all of the talented people that we’ve lost in the last year, but none, in my opinion, bigger and better than this classic that touches on life’s long journeys.