Watch ‘Wicked’ stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo open 2025 Oscars with ‘Defying Gravity’

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Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo opened the 2025 Oscars with a medley of ‘Defying Gravity’, ‘Home’ and ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ – watch footage of the moment below.The duo took to the stage at last night’s (March 2) Academy Awards ceremony after a montage of clips from previously Oscar-nominated films were shown.Grande kicked off the performance by singing the Wizard of Oz classic ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, with Erivo taking on Diana Ross’ ‘Home’ from The Wiz.

Later that night, Queen Latifah performed another Wiz cut, ‘Ease On Down The Road’, in tribute to Quincy Jones.After Erivo’s solo, the pair launched into Wicked‘s ‘Defying Gravity’ – Grande stepped aside to let Erivo belt the song’s iconic battle cry as the floor elevated to lift her into the air, stirring a big reaction from the audience at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theater.Both Grande and Erivo were nominated for their respective Wicked roles, with Grande nominated in the Supporting Actress category and Erivo as Best Actress.The ‘eternal sunshine’ singer’s competition included Felicity Jones (The Brutalist), Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown), Isabella Rossellini (Conclave) and Zoe Saldaña, who won the category for role in Emilia Pérez.Her co-star was up against Karla Sofia Gascon (Emilia Perez), Demi Moore (The Substance) and Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here), with Mikey Madison winning out for Anora.Earlier this month, it was reported that the Academy decided to open the show with a Wicked medley, but it was later revealed that it wasn’t set in stone at the time, prompting Erivo to say the idea felt like “wishful thinking”.It was previously that this year’s ceremony will not include live performances for the Best Original Song category, where.