They started the show started with a show-stopper.
The 87th Academy Awards kicked off with a visual of Dorothy clicking her red ruby heels as we heard “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home,” followed by quick clips of Los Angeles-set scenes in films such as “Rocky III,” “White Men Can’t Jump,” “Barbie,” “La Bamba,” “Chinatown,” “La La Land,” “L.A. Story” and, of course,“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
This was followed by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo performing a trio of songs related to “The Wizard of Oz,” and it made for an emotionally resonant and quite beautiful sequence. First it was Grande belting out “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” followed by Erivo’s rendition of “Home” from “The Wiz,” and the two great talents then singing “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked Part 1,” and yes, it also served as quite the promotion for “Wicked: For Good.”
Two-time Oscar host Steve Martin (who co-hosted a third time with Alec Baldwin) had one stipulation in taking the gig: that he come out first, cold, so as not to follow a filmed comedic bit or an show-stopping production number. That way, the audience would be enthusiastic and welcoming, and ready to laugh — as opposed to coming down from laughing and/or applauding some major routine. That eight-minute musical medley meant Conan O’Brien had to come out after the big performances, after the standing ovation — and he wisely opted for a taped and mildly funny and suitably gross bit playing off “The Substance” before taking the stage.
The monologue was solid, with O’Brien noting the 4 p.m. Los Angeles start time (“Everyone just had brunch, I don’t understand it”) and quipping, “A Complete Unknown, A Real Pain, Nosferatu. These are just some of the names I was called on the red carpet. I think two were fair.” Jokes about Netflix’s price increases and the length of “The Brutalist” were predictable but witty enough, and O’Brien went there, as they say, with this zinger: “Little fact for you, ‘Anora’ uses the f-word 479 times. That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofia Gascón’s publicist.” Oof.
O’Brien ended his monologue on a somber note, thanking all the behind-the-scenes workers who have “devoted their lives to making film. … Many people we celebrate tonight are not famous, they’re not wealthy, but they are devoted to a craft that can in moments, bring us all a little closer together … even in the face of terrible wildfires and divisive politics, the work continues.”
Cheers to that.