Aside from killing the red carpet, rubbing shoulders with former First Lady Michelle Obama, and casually sweeping 3 out of 5 Grammy awards – just 2 weeks ago Lady Gaga (sans Bradley Cooper) finally performed her breakout hit “Shallow”, from her heavily Oscar-nominated debut film A Star is Born. Just hours ahead of tonight’s 91st Annual Academy Awards, let’s take a quick look back at the captivating song that catapulted Gaga’s debut film into another galaxy.
The 9-time Grammy winner (who also became the first person in history win at least one award in every Pop category) left with a very well-deserved armful of Grammys that night – including a non-ASIB award for her single “Joanne (Piano Version)” I was so surprised because I never thought this standalone single that I wrote about over a year ago would be winning an award now. Good job!
Although that win was not actually televised, the 32-year old activist used her “Shallow” win as a platform to quickly speak about mental health awareness. Continuously putting others above herself, Gaga said:
I’m so proud to be a part of a movie that addresses mental health issues. They’re so important. And a lot of artists deal with that, and we’ve got to take care of each other…if you see somebody that’s hurting don’t look away. And if you’re hurting, even though it might be hard, try to find that bravery within yourself to dive deep and go tell somebody and take them up in your head with you.
Okay back to “Shallow”: before the win, the pop chameleon switched out of her red-carpet look by changing from pumps to pleasers, and into a beautifully bedazzled jumpsuit. LG hopped onto the stage to give us a slow-rock rendition of the song – which was amazing. The track (which is usually done piano-side at her Las Vegas residency) took on a life of it’s own with this unexpected live arrangement which featured Mark Ronson alongside her longtime tour band. Anyone else feel this was totally meta? Like this was essentially Gaga performing a cover of an Ally song, but as herself – not Ally.
The red and blue lighting concept was such a striking start to the performance, and I am all the way here for the teetering and the hair whips – bringing a more anthemic vibe to a song that is typically just cried to on your couch. Oh wait – that still happened.
Clearly her vocals snapped and this performance was the peak of the night. Best performance and best memes, and I couldn’t really ask for more. I felt like this year, the awards all went to the right people – and by that I mean Gaga.
From Golden Globes to BAFTA wins, Critic’s Choice to Grammy awards – will Gaga finally win the Oscar she’s dreamed of? Find out tonight! Check out the stunning performance here, and let’s get ready for her and Bradley to sing TOGETHER tonight! Catch the Oscars this Sunday evening (Feb 24) LIVE on ABC at 7pm CST!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPM0wGhse9s