A Rundown of Who's Performing on The Academy Awards this Sunday

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper

Things are getting exciting. With approximately 48 hours left until this year's Oscars ceremony, it's time lo look forward to the ceremony. Knowing that there isn't any host, what is there to look forward to? Well, there's good news (and some bad) in regards to this year's music performers. As of this moment, four of the five songs will be performed at the ceremony. While some would think this is a side effect of the infamous cuts that the show temporarily had, it's merely a side effect from scheduling. To find out who is still on the show, please feel free to read on and prepare for what is shaping up to be one of the oddest ceremonies in the modern era.

It was only last month that it was reported that two of the five Best Original Song nominees would be on the broadcast. At the protest of Oscar-nominee Lady Gaga, she convinced The Academy to have all of the performers on. This came at a catch that is both expectant and shocking: most of the songs were not going to be performed by their original artists. This has happened consistently over the years and thankfully isn't too out of line this year. However, there's some odd picks given that the performers don't have any immediate ties to the films in question.

The most noteworthy is the Mary Poppins Returns nominated song "The Place Where Lost Things Go." Many would've assumed that it would be performed by lead actress Emily Blunt, as was the case in the film. One has to assume that it will be among the showier numbers with elaborate choreography or some razzle dazzle. As of this publication, Bette Midler is scheduled to perform alongside composer Marc Shaiman, who is also up for a Best Original Score nomination. Similarly, Tim Blake Nelson has traded in his performance of "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings" from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, handing duties over to Gillian Welch and David Rowlings. One can assume that this means it will be more of a duet than a central performance, which could play better in the show.

In a move that is more in line with Oscar ceremony gimmickry, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga will perform "Shallow" from A Star is Born. That isn't too much of a surprise. It's always been expected that the duo would perform given the song's inherent popularity and likely chance of winning. However, there has been news made regarding Cooper. He has claimed that he will be performing as "Bradley Cooper" and not his movie character Jackson Maine. It's hard to tell what that means. Will he have an accent, or will he just be performing in a suit and tie while he waits for his many Oscar shots? It's hard to say, though if the performance is anything like Lady Gaga's version on The Grammys a few weeks back, expect something wild. Similarly, Jennifer Hudson will perform "I'll Fight" from RBG, making her only one of two performers to both sing the original song and the planned Academy Awards performance.

Rounding out the list is the other performance that was scheduled to be aired in light of the brief cutting. Kendrick Lamar and SZA were to perform "All the Stars" from Black Panther at the ceremony. However, it was announced that they wouldn't be able to play due to schedule conflicts. As of this moment, it isn't considered any kind of protest from the performers. In fact, it's consistent with Lamar's recent attendance at awards shows. He was also scheduled to perform at the Grammys with more Black Panther-related nominations. He missed that show as well. Given that he's performed at the Grammy's in the past, this recent trend may just be unfortunate given that Black Panther stands to make history on Oscar Sunday.

To round out the list is an expected performance by Queen. Seeing as Bohemian Rhapsody has several nominations, it makes sense that they would have the surviving members perform. However, it won't be with the film's depiction of Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek). It will be Adam Lambert, who has been playing with the band in recent years. It's unclear what they will perform, though one can expect a medley of their biggest hits including "We Will Rock You" and maybe even "Another One Bites the Dust." It's unlikely that they will perform the titular track, if just because it's six minutes and The Academy still wants to try and end within three hours. 

For what it's worth, The Academy is piecing things together really well given their resources. While it's unfortunate to not see what Lamar and SZA would bring to the show, there's still plenty of other talent involved with the show. There's also plenty to be thankful for given that a series of controversial decisions have been overturned. While this season is far from perfect, it looks like there will be plenty of opinions to be had from what's set to air. One can hope that with everything now in place that things will prove to be surprisingly effective. It's an exciting year along with being one of the odder ones. Here's hoping it's a good ceremony.