The Atlantic: Why That Oscars Performance of ‘Shallow’ Was So Stunning

[FinnishGypsy 899]

The Atlantic:

Why That Oscars Performance of ‘Shallow’ Was So Stunning

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s live rendition of the duet from A Star Is Born was filmed like a movie—and made viewers feel like voyeurs.

Maybe what made Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s performance of “Shallow” so stunning at the Oscars is also what spoiled A Star Is Born’s Best Picture chances: It treated the dinged-up tropes of romance for romance’s sake as something that can still feel new, which is like treating the greeting-card aisle at CVS as the place for the next great American novel. Taking on a third remake of a story that feels more ancient than even the 1937 original, Cooper’s film insisted that intensity, great camerawork, and two perfectly mismatched leads could restore substance to mush. Which is to say, he relied on aesthetic, or on matters of taste. If many viewers drank it up, inevitably some would spit it out.  

The same could be said for Sunday’s supernaturally intimate rendition of “Shallow,” the building-then-boiling duet that would later win Best Original Song. The first brilliant thing that Cooper and Gaga did was break with the loud, fake-y, predictable rhythm of awards shows: After one acceptance speech ended, the guitar-picking began, without so much as a canned joke of a celebrity introduction. Cameras placed viewers at the back of the stage; the curtain lifted; crew members pushed a piano into place. Welding-hot lights from the stands of the theater, seen from a singer’s vantage, evoked the final scene of A Star Is Born. A slow-floating lens searched as if it were God’s eye, or a director’s. The TV gala, it seemed, had ended. A movie was beginning.

And then Gaga and Cooper got up.

Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/583525/

[Kimmo 80,403]

They are two very Artistic souls...

[Galagala 4,607]

That way of beginning is really fresh and amazing. 

[FinnishGypsy 899]

The acclaim for this performance is blowing me away, not because it doesn’t deserve it, but rather because I’m so used to her being judged way more harshly than her peers with regard to major performances.

And don’t get me wrong, the performance was beautiful and even made me cry. But technically, it was one of Gaga’s weakest vocal performances of any single, on any awards show, ever. 

So, I thought she’d get dragged for that. She’s certainly gotten dragged for less than one off-key note during an incredibly challenging song. In contrast, however, everyone is seemingly enamored with the authenticity they witnessed and prefer it to the stilted, boring, award show perfection they’re used to seeing. 

It’s like...the media and GP can finally see the talent that we’ve been very well acquainted with for a decade now. And it’s throwing me off. 

[Killa 17,360]

I prefer the Grammys Spider version

[Lazzarus 2,411]

42 minutes ago, FinnishGypsy said:

and made viewers feel like voyeurs.

this part is crucial 

[CannaeDrive 3,412]

A great read, as well as the Pitchfork article.  

[G U C C I 5,465]

I LOVE that picture of them! The article is great too. Here’s another one: 

https://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/9194002-bradley-cooper-and-lady-gaga-ought-to-be-ashamed-of-themselves/

I thought it was going to bash them but it’s pretty funny and accurate! 

[bloody g 31,740]

As soon as it was starting and I saw the camerwork, I knew it was going to be IT

[ode 1,528]

 

[Didymus 34,379]

Interesting analysis. Thanks for posting!

[zakariah 11,718]

I heard a rumor that bradley came up with the ideas for how the camera should move, I think it's true because you can just tell that it's directed extremely different than the rest of the Oscars ceremony, including the other performances

maybe it was his way of telling F U to the oscars for snubbing him for best director