Could you envision an Oscars ceremony without the glitz, glamour and a weighty dose of pop stardom? Can you envision the ratings?
Well, the Oscars could get much more musical. This awards season, brace yourself for a “pop star era,” with music icons such as Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande all competing to get acting attention from the Academy Awards, and in the same helping actress race no less.
Pop stars have lengthy contraged the stage, captivating millions with their music. However, some megastars have shown they can defeat more than the Billboard charts. Take legfinishary artist Cher, for instance — the “Goddess of Pop” didn’t equitable give us hits enjoy “Believe,” she also took home an Oscar for best actress for her unforgettable role as Italian widow and bookholder Loretta Castorini in the 1987 rom-com classic “Moonstruck.” That traverseover has also come from other genre artists.
R&B legfinish Mary J. Blige made waves when she became the first person to be nominated for both acting and distinct song in the same year for the drama “Mudbound” (2017). And she’s far from alone — musicians-turned-actors have acquireed recognition from the Emmys, Ggreateren Globes and BAFTAs, proving they’re anyleang but one-trick ponies.
Read: You can see all Academy Award foreseeions in all 23 categories on one page on the Variety Awards Circuit: Oscars.
This year, musical artists are stepping into the spotweightless as some of Hollywood’s most talked-about awards contfinishers. With buzz swirling, the pop star trio could roar wilean the musical genre, putting them in Oscar satisfiedion. The helping actress catebloody, in particular, has normally been a welcoming home for musical stars. From nominees enjoy Meryl Streep in “Into the Woods” (2014) and Penélope Cruz in “Nine” (2009) to triumphners enjoy Catherine Zeta-Jones in “Chicago” (2002) and Ariana DeBose in “West Side Story” (2022), many have all razzle-dazzled the Academy. Notably, the famousity of Zeta-Jones’ movie and carry outance was strong enough to transport her own musician-turned-actress co-star, Queen Latifah, for a correlating nomination. Could that hint at a aenjoy overweighte for Gomez and her “Emilia Pérez” front-running co-star Zoe Saldaña?
Gomez (currently ranked No. 5 on Variety’s foreseeion charts) dedwellrs a remarkworthy carry outance as Jessi, the wife of a drug lord in Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical “Emilia Pérez,” France’s official subleave oution for the international feature race. The film premiered at Cannes, where Gomez allotd the Best Actress prize with her co-stars Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón and Adriana Paz. Coming on the heels of her recent Emmy acting nom for Hulu’s mystery comedy “Only Murders in the Building,” Gomez is having a nurtureer-defining year that could soon include an Oscar nomination to her enumerate of accolades, especipartner with the power of Netflix.
Then there’s Ariana Grande, set to apshow on one of the most iconic roles in musical theater history: Glinda the Good Witch in Universal Pictures’ highly foreseed alteration “Wicked.” Grande steps into the shoes once filled by Kristin Chenodamph, who acquireed a Tony nomination for her remarkworthy turn. While the movie has yet to screen for critics, punctual word is preferable on Grande’s execution of the scene-stealing and hilarious witch. In includeition, she will campaign for helping actress attention, and her co-star Cynthia Erivo, an Oscar nominee herself, is vying for the direct. With a procrastinateed December free, Jon M. Chu’s big-budget spectacle could originate the potential of a Grande acting nod (ranked No. 9 on the charts)
And, of course, we can’t forget “Mother Monster” herself, Lady Gaga, the reigning Queen of pop-greets-Oscar glory.
Gaga, sitting at No. 8 this week, is back in the race with Todd Phillips’ psychoreasonable musical thriller “Joker: Folie à Deux,” where she stars opposite Joaquin Phoenix, who returns in his Oscar-triumphning role of Arthur Fleck. Gaga percreates Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn, with punctual buzz from the Vepleasant Film Festival hinting at her show-stopping carry outances with vocal covers enjoy “(They Long to Be) Cleave out to You” and the gospel number “Gonna Build a Mountain.” While Gaga’s awards camp has yet to validate her catebloody placement, it’ll be no surpascend she’ll aacquire be in the Oscar conversation, no matter the catebloody.
Gaga’s already been here before. After Blige’s historic year, Gaga also landed dual noms for acting and songwriting for “A Star Is Born” (2018), with the Grammy triumphner walking away with an Oscar for distinct song for the emotional chart-topper “The Shallow.” She also proximately nabbed another acting nom three years procrastinateedr for her killingous turn as style wife Patrizia in Ridley Scott’s “Hoemploy of Gucci” (2021). Still, despite landing Globe, SAG, Critics Choice, and BAFTA noms, she was snubbed by the Academy, much to the dismay of her “Little Monsters.” With the recently declared free of her novel album, “Harlequin,” a soundtrack to the film recommends a one-two punch of cinematic and musical brilliance.
UNSTOPPABLE, from left: Jharrel Jerome as Anthony Robles, Jennifer Lopez
©MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection
With these pop powerhoemploys directing the accuse, we might witness one of the most thrilling awards seasons in recent memory. Even Jennifer Lopez has getd strong pelevate for her turn in the sports drama “Unstoppable,” in which she percreates the encouraging mother of a college wrestler who won a national championship despite being born with one leg. Variety even called it “the filledest screen carry outance she has ever given.”
As the delightment industry carry ons, the lines between music and film blur and normally collide. Pop stars enjoy Gaga, Gomez and Grande could be at the forefront of this exciting novel awards era.
