Oscars 2023: Creative team reveals ceremony theme; to address last year’s slapgate incident

Aside from celebrating Hollywood film music and its composers, this year’s ceremony would delve into the 95th anniversary of the awards
| Photo Credit: Chris Pizzello

The creative team behind the 95th Academy Awards has confirmed that Lady Gaga will not be performing her Oscar-nominated song ‘Hold my Hand’ from ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ at Sunday’s Oscars telecast.

The Will Smith factor was also addressed at a Wednesday press conference by the creative team, which included executive producer and showrunner Glenn Weiss, executive producer and showrunner Ricky Kirshner, musical director Rickey Minor, writers Dave Boone, Nefetari Spencer and Agathe Panaretos and producer Sarah Levine Hall, reported Variety.

Traditionally, the previous year’s best actor winner presents the best actress award. But Will Smith, who resigned from the Academy following his slapping of host Chris Rock is banned from attending the Oscars for 10 years. Executive producer Molly McNearney said, “We’re going to acknowledge it, and then we’re gonna move on.” She added, “We don’t want to make this year about last year. It’s certainly something we can and will address in a comedic fashion.”

Kirshner, a new addition to the team, emphasised that this was a new show that was going to differ from what regular viewers are used to. “There’s no more ‘This is what we used to do.’ We’ve rethought the show and we’ve got presenters that make sense for the categories.”

The show will encompass many themes. Bill Kramer, CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed to Variety last year that all categories will be included in the live telecast, and that will be evident during the show. Kirshner said this year’s show is about “honouring the crafts and what it takes to make a movie.”

He added, “Most people see just the actors in front of the camera, but as you know, there are hundreds of people that make movies and a lot of people across the country don’t know what it takes, but we’re going to show that.”

In terms of what audiences can expect from the musical aspect, Minor who last served as the show’s music director in 2020 said, “As a team, we talk about not only the presentation of the music but the diverse music that’s in all of these beautiful films and the great writers.”

The orchestra will be on stage and featured throughout the show. Aside from celebrating Hollywood film music and its composers, Minor reiterated the ceremony would delve into the 95th anniversary of the awards. “It’s a treasure trove. We have a lot of material to choose from,” he said.