Say what you will about the bloated pomp of the Oscars, but if they get Sufjan Stevens to perform with St. Vincent, Moses Sumney, and Chris Thile on a national telecast, then they're doing something right. There's some precedent for this kind of indie underdog story at the Oscars, of course, with Elliott Smith's "Miss Misery" performance at the 1998 ceremony. Still, it was fun to see Suf (in a tux for the first time!) perform "Mystery Of Love," his Best Original Song-nominated contribution to the Call Me By Your Name soundtrack, even if the performance itself seemed weirdly short and a little underwhelming. Watch Stevens, alongside the aforementioned musicians plus Casey Foubert, James McAlister, and Thomas Bartlett, below.
Here's Miguel performing "Remember Me" from Coco with Natalia Natalia Lafourcade and Gael García Bernal:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=XK3N2j_Otjk
Here's Mary J. Blige performing "Mighty River" from Mudbound:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=cT-xZETlY8w
And here's Common and Andra Day performing "Stand Up For Something" from Marshall:
"It all means nothing if you don't stand up for something..." @common and @andradaymusic bring us together with "Stand Up For Something" from Marshall. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/lb7AN2bcaA
— Channel 9 (@Channel9) March 5, 2018
Oh, and also? Moses Sumney livetweeted his entire experience at the Oscars:
Should I live tweet my backstage Oscars experience y/n
— Moses Sumney (@MosesSumney) March 5, 2018
Right now a nervous white lady is doing my makeup and making me look like the lion from The Wizard of Oz
I’m waiting ‘till she finishes to decide which bathroom to wipe it all off in
— Moses Sumney (@MosesSumney) March 5, 2018
She didn’t have my shade (Black Panther Charcoal)
— Moses Sumney (@MosesSumney) March 5, 2018
We got the best seats in the house pic.twitter.com/Sl6l9uz0L9
— Moses Sumney (@MosesSumney) March 5, 2018
What’s been happening??? I took a nap
— Moses Sumney (@MosesSumney) March 5, 2018
Best part of Oscars backstage is listening to @christhile play endlessly TBH pic.twitter.com/DKMHZRfdYs
— Moses Sumney (@MosesSumney) March 5, 2018
