Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Reba McEntire and Sebastián Yatra will perform this year’s nominated songs on the 94th Oscars, producers Will Packer and Shayla Cowan announced on Tuesday.
Van Morrison, the writer and performer of the fifth nominated song, declined to appear on the show, and his song will not be performed.
The Oscars will air live on ABC on March 27.
This year’s Original Song nominees and performers are as follows (in alphabetical order by song title):
“Be Alive” from “King Richard” – Performed by Beyoncé
Music and Lyric by Dixson and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
“Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto” – Performed by Sebastián Yatra
Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda
“Down To Joy” from “Belfast”
Music and Lyric by Van Morrison
“No Time To Die” from “No Time to Die” – Performed by Billie Eilish and Finneas
Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
“Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days” – Performed by Reba McEntire
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
According to an Academy press release, Morrison was invited to perform but turned down the invitation because of his tour commitments. The Northern Irish singer-songwriter, who has been an outspoken opponent of COVID restrictions that have reduced the capacity of live venues, is scheduled to perform a concert in Gateshead, England on Thursday, March 24, and another in Madrid, Spain on Tuesday, March 29. The Oscars fall between those two shows, on March 27.
According to Steve Pond’s analysis for Best Original Song, the front runners for the Best Original Song award are Billie Eilish and Finneas for “No Time to Die” from the James Bond movie of the same name, and Lin-Manuel Miranda for the Spanish-language song “Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto.”
Variety first reported the news about Beyoncé performing at the Oscars.