They are slated to perform “Glory” from “Selma.”
“Common and John Legend are artists who have always lifted our spirits and made us think,” said Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, producers. “The Oscar stage is that much more profound because of their presence and we welcome them.”
“Glory” was written by John Stephens (Legend) and Lonnie Lynn (Common).
EARLIER: Now is the time when presenters and performers will slowly be announced for the upcoming Academy Awards. The first performer: Adam Levine.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) made the announcement today (Jan. 26). Levine is a member of the group Maroon 5 and is also a judge on NBC’s “The Voice.”
Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced that bit of news. “Adam Levine is an exceptional and dynamic artist. We’re thrilled to have him make his Oscars stage debut this year,” said Zadan and Meron, in a release.
He will perform “Lost Stars” from “Begin Again.” It was written by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois. The movie the song is in is titled “Begin Again.”
The four other nominated songs are:
“Everything Is Awesome” from “The Lego Movie”
“Glory” from “Selma”
“Grateful” from “Beyond the Lights”
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from “Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me.”
Others will be announced as it gets closer to the date in February. This does keep Oscar in the news over the next few weeks. At this stage, if any song is the favorite right now it would be “Glory” from “Selma.” The song from John Legend and Common has a few wins under its belt already.
Legend performed at the Governors Ball last year, so it is likely he would not turn down an invitation this time around. Campbell is in an Alzheimer’s facility as of now.
Meanwhile, in other news, the first round of Oscar winners will be handed out Feb. 7. On that night, “21 scientific and technical achievements represented by 58 individual award recipients will be honored,” they noted.
One item of note is that the theater in which the awards are presented is called Dolby (used to be Kodak). Dolby® Laboratories executive David W. Gray is going to be honored as well. He is set to receive the Gordon E. Sawyer Award (an Oscar® statuette). AMPAS noted that this is given “to an individual in the motion picture industry whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry.”
As for the others, they said: “Our honorees represent an enormous range of technologies, from camera rigs to software systems, with names as colorful as ‘Biscuit Jr.,’ ‘Barbershop’ and ‘PhysBAM,’” said Richard Edlund, Academy Award®-winning visual effects artist and chair of the Scientific and Technical Awards Committee. “They exemplify the phenomenal creativity of professionals in the scientific and technical community, and the invaluable contributions they make to what is arguably the most creative industry in the world.”
The Oscars will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. It will air on Sunday, Feb. 22, live on ABC.
