The hills are alive with the sound of Gaga

Megan Brown

Only a few performances caught my eye at the 87th Annual Academy Awards. After host Neil Patrick Harris’ great, theatrical opening featuring Anna Kendrick and Jack Black, the majority of the performances were kind of bland. I mean, there were Lonely Island and Tegan and Sara performing “Everything is Awesome” from the Lego Movie, but it was a little bit chaotic, too much for the Oscars.

For me, Lady Gaga, Common and John Legend made it happen.

Common and John Legend performed “Glory” from the motion picture “Selma.” Winning Best Original Song, the two brought the audience to tears with this rendition. Chris Pine was even crying.

“One day, when the glory comes, it will be ours, it will be ours.”

A truly inspirational song, “Glory” shows the sadness and cruelty faced by people who are of different race or religion or fighting for something they believe in. The film depicts Martin Luther King Jr.’s campaign to gain equal voting rights through this march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. in 1965.

The hills came alive with the sound of Gaga, really. Lady Gaga gave an astounding performance paying homage to the 50th anniversary of 1965 Best Picture film, “The Sound of Music.”

Lady Gaga performed a medley of songs from the film including “The Sound Of Music,” “My Favourite Things,” “Edelweiss” and “Climb Every Mountain.” The audience, as well as those who watched from their TV screens, was taken aback at how different this kind of Gaga performance was. She wasn’t in a crazy outfit; she was dressed in a beautiful white, floor length dress with blonde extensions. She also rarely moved on stage, so people could focus just on her voice. However, I don’t understand why everyone was so shocked. Gaga has always had this glorious voice. After all, she grew up in New York, played classical piano as a child and studied music history. She also attended New York University’s Tisch School for the Arts.

After her performance, Julie Andrews took the stage, looking stunning at age 79.

“Dear Lady Gaga, thank you for that wonderful tribute,” Andrews said. “Oh my God, it really warmed my heart, it really did.”

I say let’s get Lady Gaga to perform next year and include more lively hosts and musical performances.

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