GOING GAGA FOR AN OSCAR
RED CARPET GALLERY
THEIR chemistry propelled A Star Is Born to the front of the Oscars race and yesterday they showed why.
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper drew a standing ovation when they performed a pitch-perfect rendition of Shallow, their multi-award-winning theme song, at the 91st Academy Awards.
The performance was one of the most hotly anticipated moments of the Oscars and the first time they had sung it together during awards season.
Cooper, who directed, co-wrote and starred in the tragic love story about the price of fame, admitted he was “very nervous” about performing at the Oscars.
As she continued her Best Picture: Best Director:
Best Actress: Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Best Actor: Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Supporting Actress: Regina King,
If Beale Street Could Talk
Supporting Actor:
Foreign Language Film: Original Screeplay: Adapted Screenplay: clean awards-season sweep with a Best Original Song win, Gaga dedicated the win to her family and her co-star.
“There is not a single person on the planet who could have sung this with me but you, thank you so much for believing in us,” she said to Cooper, as he sat beaming in the audience. Gaga has won a slew of awards for the song, cowritten with Mark Ronson, including a Grammy and a Golden Globe, and she spoke of the toll and reward of creative endeavours. “All I have to say is, that this is hard work,” she said. “I have worked hard for a long time, and it’s not about winning, but what it’s about is not giving up.”
At a press conference after her win, Gaga also sent a message to Sydneysiders getting ready to celebrate next week’s Mardi Gras, saying she hoped that one day the Oscars would recognise all genders, rather than just men and women.
It was a good night for musical films, with Rami Malek winning Best Actor for his portrayal of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, which he described as a “monumental moment”.
The film shrugged off a series of controversies including sexual misconduct claims against its director Bryan Singer, to win several awards, and while Malek had picked up a BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award, he faced a strong field including Cooper and Christian Bale.
“I may not have been the obvious choice but I guess it worked out,” he said.
“Thank you Queen, thank you guys for allowing me to be the tiniest part of your phenomenal, your extraordinary legacy – I am forever in your debt.”
After a troubled lead-up, the Oscars largely went off without a hitch. Organisers managed to trim the telecast to just over three hours and the decision to proceed without a host was considered successful by most observers.
There were. however, some upsets in the biggest categories.
Veteran actress Glenn Close lost to British actress Olivia Colman despite being considered favourite for her role in The Wife.
With her seventh Oscar nomination, Close holds the record for most nominations without a win. Her first was in 1983 for The World According To Garp.
Colman was teary as she offered thanks to her costars and the creators of the royal farce, The Favourite,
drawing laughs and applause as she blew kisses to her fellow nominees and poked her tongue out iat organisers who tried to hurry her.
At a post-awards press conference, she said she planned to keep her first Oscar “in bed ... between me and my husband”.
No Aussies managed to nab an Oscar this year, after screenwriter Tony McNamara and his cowriter Deborah Davis, missed out for their work on The Favourite. Instead Best Original Screenplay was won by the Green Book.
It was the second award for the film, with Mahershala Ali earlier winning Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Dr Shirely.
Other winners included Spike Lee for Best Adapted Screenplay for the comedy biopic BlacKkKlansman, and Regina King, for Best Supporting Actress, in If Beale St Could Talk.