Roo op serenade for 93rd Oscars

The five songs nominated at this year’s Oscars will be performed from the top of the Academy’s gleaming new film museum – and a tiny fishing town in Iceland – as producers aim to shake up the format of the pandemic-hit ceremony.

Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr, pictured, will be among those performing from the roof terrace of Los Angeles’ still-unopened Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which has been in development for years but, like the Oscars, saw its launch delayed due to Covid-19.

His song, Speak Now, from civil rights drama One Night in Miami, will form part of a special Oscars pre-show as will the ballad Husavik from the Will Ferrell comedy Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, performed from the Icelandic port of the same name.

“We’ve come up with some serious pre-game and post-game action to enhance our main event,” Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh and his fellow gala co-producers said on Friday.

“Our suggestion is just tune in for the whole shebang, otherwise you’ll miss something really unexpected and fun.”

This year’s Oscars are following an “awardsshow-as-a-movie” theme, and will primarily be held, with social distancing de rigueur, at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.

Harrison Ford, Brad

Pitt and Reese Witherspoon are among the A-list line-up of presenters, marking the first time Tinseltown’s biggest names will gather on the red carpet since last spring. Venues in Britain and France will also be set up for international nominees unable to travel to Los Angeles.

Musical pre-show Oscars: Into the The 93rd Academy Awards take place on 25 April, while the group’s museum will open on 30 September.

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