John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Sting and Lin-Manuel Miranda and Auli’i Cravalho will perform the five nominated songs on the 89th Academy Awards, the Academy and Oscars show producers Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd announced on Friday.
Legend will perform “City of Stars” and “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” from “La La Land,” Timberlake will perform “Can’t Stop the Feeling” from “Trolls,” Miranda and Auli’i Cravalho will perform “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana” and Sting will perform “The Empty Chair” from “Jim: The James Foley Story.”
Last year, only three of the five nominated songs were performed on the Oscars.
Sting‘s performance is particularly notable. This nomination marks the third Oscar song nomination for the song’s co-writer, J. Ralph, but the first time one of his songs is being performed on the show.
Ralph’s previous nominated songs, “Before My Time” from “Chasing Ice” in 2013 and “Manta Ray” from “Racing Extinction” in 2016, were left out of those shows by Oscars producers who opted to only feature performances of three of the five nominees.
All of this year’s performances will be by the artists who performed the songs in the films, except for the two “La La Land” songs. Although Legend appears in that film, “City of Stars” was originally performed by actors Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, while “Audition” was performed by Stone.
With both actors nominated for Academy Awards and neither of them a professional singer, it’s no surprise that they will not add singing to their slate on Oscars night.
The 89th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 26 at the Dolby Theatre in the Hollywood & Highland Center.