By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer
The “KPop Demon Hunters” hit “Golden” has been performed quite a few times over the past few months. Singers EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami have made stops at Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon’s shows, the Brit Awards and even the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. But when they take the stage at the Oscars on Sunday, it won’t just be their, well, usual song and dance.
The producers behind the 98th Academy Awards have set out to celebrate not just the song, but the cultural phenomenon of the film itself. That logic is why the only other nominated song that will get a moment on the broadcast is “I Lied to You,” from “Sinners,” a blockbuster hit and the most-nominated film of all time.
“We have two really unique stories that are going to be celebrated on the stage,” said Oscars executive producer and showrunner Raj Kapoor. “They’re bigger than just the songs. They’re really about filmmaking and craft.”
Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq will be on hand for the “Sinners” moment, which aims to explore the role music plays in the film with the help of Misty Copeland, blues musicians Eric Gales, Buddy Guy and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, actors Jayme Lawson and Li Jun Li as well as Brittany Howard, Bobby Rush, Shaboozey and Alice Smith. Kapoor said filmmaker Ryan Coogler has also been involved in putting it together.
Conan O’Brien is ‘bursting with ideas’
Kapoor and executive producer Katy Mullan, who won Emmys for their work on the 96th Oscars, have been toiling for months putting together Sunday’s show, which will see the return of host Conan O’Brien.
“His humor, his tone, his reverence to the art form? He really cares about making this a true celebration,” Mullan said. “We’ve been in tears of laugher … There are so many great moments that he’s going to bring to the show.”
One of the themes of the show this year is the human touch, Kapoor said, from the set design to the packages.
“It’s really the story of how we feel this connection and how this heartbeat of cinema is unmistakably human,” Kapoor said. “Hopefully the entire show and how Conan makes you feel and all of it is like it’s all touched by human hands and human creativity.”
A spotlight on the new casting award
The show is bringing back its “fab five” treatment, first used to spotlight the acting nominees in 2024, then costume and cinematography in 2025. This year, it’ll be for the new casting award.
“Because it’s a new award, we are going to celebrate that with a moment where we not only have incredible stars talking about the nominees, but also giving us context and some insight into what casting directors do,” Mullan said. “We’re going see a lot of stars that people love on that stage talking about the fabulous nominees this year.”
Should a ‘BAFTA moment’ happen
The people who produce the Oscars know firsthand how live broadcasts can lead to unexpected moments, good and bad. Just a few weeks ago, the global discourse turned to the British Academy Film Awards, not because of any big speeches or performances but because of a racial slur shouted by a Tourette syndrome campaigner while “Sinners” stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting an award.
While the Oscars producers didn’t go into specific details about how they would have handled that situation, after incidents from the slap to the best picture envelope mistake, they stressed that they feel prepared to address any manner of issues on the show.
“We have really strong protocols in place to address issues on our show, any kind of issues,” Mullan said. “We do a lot planning to make sure that those are in place. We work with the network and with the academy to make sure that we are as prepped as we can be to go into the show and have those protocols and that everybody understands them.”
Stars and surprises
As always, the producers want to keep an element of surprise. There have been lots of starry presenters announced, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Javier Bardem, Maya Rudolph, Anne Hathaway, Will Arnett and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, but they hope to keep even more under wraps until the show.
“If you saw the list of people that are going to be on the stage, it is literally jaw-dropping. And there’s people that have not been on the stage in an extremely long time,” Kapoor said. “I think our show is going to constantly, throughout the entire evening, have those moments that absolutely surprise and delight.”