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 Print this article FMS FEATURE...  March 3, 2014 Oscar Music Scores The Power of Gravity Sensation "Let It Go" is Frozen in Hollywood song history by Jon Burlingame HOLLYWOOD—Gravity and Frozen took top musical honors at the 86th annual Academy Awards Sunday night, concluding a music-filled weekend of Oscar festivities in Westwood, Beverly Hills and Hollywood.  Steven Price The Oscars marked a return to tradition in that all four nominated songs were sung by the original performers: Pharrell Williams (with trademark hat) opened with a lively, infectious "Happy" (from Despicable Me 2) backed by a chorus of street dancers; Karen O performed her delicate, touching "Moon Song" (from Her), accompanied on guitar by Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig; and U2 earned a standing ovation for their "Ordinary Love" (from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom).  Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez It was another head-scratching musical decision by Oscarcast producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, especially given Pink's musical miscasting to sing "Over the Rainbow" during a 75th anniversary tribute to The Wizard of Oz (which ran three and a half minutes), and Bette Midler's anticlimactic, post-In Memoriam "Wind Beneath My Wings" (even longer at three minutes, 40 seconds). The slicing of a third of "Let It Go" seemed misguided. Luckily, host Ellen DeGeneres correctly identified Menzel after her performance, which elicited another standing ovation from the crowd. Further, Oz musical tribute presenter Whoopi Goldberg failed to credit the 1939 film's only two Oscar wins, both for music – Herbert Stothart for scoring, and Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg for "Over the Rainbow."  Pharrell Williams performing "Happy" from Despicable Me 2  Karen O with Ezra Koenig performing "Moon Song" from Her  U2 performing "Ordinary Love" from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom  Idina Menzel performing "Let It Go" from Frozen The Lopez's acceptance speech was done in rhyme, and Price's acceptance was preceded by an enchanting shot of him sitting with, and congratulated by, fellow nominees John Williams and Thomas Newman. Robert Lopez now becomes only the 12th person in history to have managed the elusive EGOT – winning the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards. (Backstage, wife Kristen presented him with an EGOT macaroni necklace fashioned by their children.) As he did last year, musical director William Ross conducted a 60-piece orchestra at Capitol studios, a few blocks away from the Dolby Theatre where the show itself was being staged. They played John Barry's touching theme from Somewhere in Time during the In Memoriam necrology (which included one composer, Italian Riz Ortolani of Mondo Cane fame) and bits and pieces of many great film themes throughout the evening (among them Vertigo, To Kill a Mockingbird, Laura, Spartacus and Lawrence of Arabia). The three days leading up to the Oscar ceremony itself were filled with memorable moments. Thursday night, the Academy staged its first-ever "Oscar Concert" at UCLA's Royce Hall, where an 80-piece orchestra performed suites from all five nominated scores. About 1,700 attended.  Joseph Trapanese conducting Steven Price's suite from Gravity during The Oscar Concert at UCLA Royce Hall. Alexander Desplat conducted a seven-minute suite of his score for Philomena; Thomas Newman conducted an 11-minute suite from Saving Mr. Banks; and Joseph Trapanese (composer of Oblivion) conducted Steven Price's music from Gravity, which ran seven and a half minutes. Owen Pallett conducted his own arrangement of Her (running nine and a half minutes), co-written with William Butler, and John Williams conducted an eight-minute suite from The Book Thief. The nominated songs, introduced by Fox's fellow Academy governor Arthur Hamilton, began with "Let It Go," performed by its songwriters Bobby Lopez (at the piano) and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (singing well, and wisecracking that she was "no Idina Menzel"). Cristin Milioti (an actress from The Wolf of Wall Street) sang "The Moon Song" (with George Doering on ukelele), while Matt Cermanski (recent contestant on The Voice) sang U2's "Ordinary Love." Jill Scott brought the house down with her lively rendition of "Happy" with the help of a dozen little dancers from Debbie Allen's school. Standing ovations went to John Williams (twice) and veteran Disney songwriter Richard Sherman, who regaled the crowd with tales of working with P.L. Travers on Mary Poppins, the subject of Saving Mr. Banks. All of the composers chatted with film critic Elvis Mitchell about their challenges. On Saturday, the Society of Composers & Lyricists held its annual Oscar music reception at the Beverly Hills home of the late composer John Cacavas. About an hour into the festivities, during a downpour, a part of the plastic sheeting sheltering the 300 guests gave way, accidentally drenching Desplat from the knees down.  Left to right, (back row) Academy Governor Charles Fox, SCL President Ashley Irwin, William Butler, Steven Price, Owen Pallett; (center row) composer Charles Bernstein, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Academy Governor Arthur Hamilton; (front row) John Williams, Alexandre Desplat, Thomas Newman SCL president Ashley Irwin introduced all of the score nominees, all of whom were present. Newman, anticipating a 12th loss, drew laughter from the crowd when he said "right after the award is announced, you can find me at the bar, drowned in bourbon." English composer Price, a newcomer to the Oscar madness, said he had "never had such a warm welcome or such a lovely experience." Williams said "I can only be grateful to the music branch for putting up with me for so many years," while Robert Lopez suggested everyone join in "Singin' in the Rain" as an acknowledgment of the inclement weather and the roof accident. ©2014 Jon Burlingame  |
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