Watch Darren Criss lead a star-studded ‘Spirited’ singalong to kick off Oscar race
What happens when you get Broadway singers and Emmy-, Grammy-, Oscar- and Tony-winning songwriters in a room with a piano during awards season? Singalongs. Lots of them.
Diane Warren joined in Wednesday night in Hollywood as “Glee’s” Darren Criss and a crowd of music lovers belted out her Oscar-nominated “Armageddon” ballad “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing.”
David Foster tickled the ivories with a medley of his own greatest hits — including his Whitney Houston showstopper “I Have Nothing” from “The Bodyguard,” Oscar-nominated for best song in 1993. “RRR” composer M.M. Keeravani, who took home a historic Golden Globe the night before for “Naatu Naatu,” made an early appearance.
Once the music began at the bash — for Benj Pasek and Justin Paul‘s 2023 Oscar-hopeful tune “Good Afternoon,” from the Apple Original Films musical “Spirited” — it didn’t stop. Hosted by Darren and Mia Criss at their piano bar Tramp Stamp Granny’s, the FYC event kicked off with a performance of Pasek and Paul’s “Good Afternoon,” from the Ryan Reynolds-Will Ferrell “Christmas Carol” retelling, with a Golden Globes-inspired twist.
Oscar-winning “La La Land” composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul put an award season spin on their “Spirited” tune “Good Afternoon” (warning: mature language)
“In the movie, the phrase ‘good afternoon’ is the Dickensian way of saying ‘f— you,’ ” said Pasek, joined by Paul and co-writers Sukari Jones, Mark Sonnenblick and Khiyon Hursey. “But tonight we’re going to enlist all of you to say it with us.”
New lyrics for the night took aim at the recent L.A. rain, COVID-19, Elon Musk, the HFPA’s attempt at a public image makeover, the reference to The Slap that Eddie Murphy delivered at the Globes the night before (“Good afternoon, just shout it out/unlike Jada’s name please keep it in your mouth”) and those responsible for the 2017 Oscars snafu that mistakenly awarded “La La Land” best picture instead of “Moonlight.”
Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez and J. Lo are among the well-known artists all over this year’s Oscars original song contenders playlist.
“Good Afternoon” is among 15 songs that made the Oscar shortlist, including entries from LCD Soundsystem (“White Noise” from “White Noise”), Alexandre Desplat (“Ciao Papa” from “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”) and Warren (“Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman”).
Also bringing pop star power to the category this year are Lady Gaga (“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick”), Rihanna (“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”), the Weeknd (“Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength” from “Avatar: The Way of Water”), Taylor Swift (“Carolina” from “Where the Crawdads Sing”) and Selena Gomez (“My Mind & Me” from “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me”).
Award-winning music producer David Foster appears at an FYC event for Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s “Good Afternoon,” a 2023 Oscar contender for best original song.
Songwriting duo Pasek and Paul, who won the Oscar for their “La La Land” song “City of Stars,” went on to lead singalongs of their hits from “Dear Evan Hansen” and “The Greatest Showman” with Criss on the microphone.
Grammy-winning, Oscar-nominated singer-songwriter Siedah Garrett later joined Criss singing “Man in the Mirror,” which she co-wrote with Michael Jackson, before “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical” composer Emily Bear took to the piano to accompany Broadway touring singer Sis (“Oklahoma!”) on the “Little Mermaid” classic “Part of Your World.”
Oscars nominations voting is underway through Jan. 17. Nominations will be announced Jan. 24.
Oscar-nominated singer-songwriter Siedah Garrett, joined by Darren Criss, sings her hit song “Man in the Mirror”
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