Behind their "superficial" moment at the Oscars – Variety

While Hollywood discusses the merits of the "Green Book" as this year's best Oscar, the rest of America is still discussing the Sunday night issue of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. The "One Star is Born" duo played "Shallow" halfway through the Oscars, and it was one of the highlights of the evening.

For oscar producers, it was also an opportunity to do something different. Rather than having someone to present the performance, the first notes of the song – identifiable instantly, given its popularity and use in the marketing campaign of "A Star Is Born" – began to play. Cooper and Gaga, sitting in the front row of the Dolby Theater, locked themselves up and went on stage.

"Nobody knew where it would be in the series," said Rob Mills, executive vice president of alternative series, specials and late-night shows at ABC. Variety. "And the fact that it came out of a speech gave him that element of surprise. Normally, if you're at home, you'll find that Bradley and Lady Gaga are out of place. The fact that they went from the stage to the stage was such a big surprise. Obviously, the song is designed to be a kind of crescendo to this kind of energy. It was just electric in the house.

While celebrating the increase of the show's issue ratings – 3.1 million viewers and 13% of adults aged 18 to 49 from last year – Mills spoke Variety Monday afternoon for a dive into the deep end of this year's unmanned Oscars, including the cold Queen + Adam Lambert, the elaborate costumes of Melissa McCarthy and Brian Tyree Henry, and this memorable moment in the "Shallow".

Bradley Cooper, along with Lady Gaga, have staged their Shallow performance in collaboration with Academy Director Glenn Weiss.

"Bradley and Gaga, they really had this idea in mind the way they wanted," said Mills. "And the producers really worked step by step with them to make what they imagined a reality … while staying true to the spirit of the film. They really wanted to embody in a way all the characters in the movie in this three-minute issue. "

Mills said it had helped Weiss to be an executive producer at this year's Oscars, which made it easier to "work meticulously with Bradley on every element." They would walk around and how it would look like. really rehearsed hell, and they did it to make it fair.Even in rehearsal, you knew it was one of those things to play in the mounts of all time with the Oscars. "

It is not bad either that Cooper, as director of "A Star Is Born", and Gaga, who is no stranger to the staging of concerts, had the courage to do more than just present and sing.

"It was the thing he was able to work with Glenn and knew what he wanted to see, what look he wanted to be," Mills said. "It always goes very far. And Gaga too. She plays an important role in the staging of her shows. "

Cooper, Gaga and Weiss have been working on this number since "Shallow" was first named in January, but everything was set up during the weekend rehearsals. Everything was meticulously planned and choreographed, from the idea of ​​facing the camera to the outside (with the audience behind the singers), to Cooper moving his microphone before sitting at the piano next to Gaga.

Mills said that it was not surprising that Cooper and Gaga received a standing ovation at the end of the number, and again when they returned to their place behind the scenes. And yes, he also noticed their chemistry.

"It was definitely something you could feel at home. This went on the screen, it was everywhere, "he said. "There was a real warmth there."

Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey were given carte blanche to do whatever they wanted with the open.

No host, no problem. The SNL team members all have a lot of experience in hosting. So they were the easy choice to line up first as presenters, once it was clear that there would be no host at the Oscars this year.

"The offer was to do as much or as little as you want," said Mills. "If they had said that they wanted to greet, no one would have said no. No matter what they wanted, they were always welcome. We always knew that the first prize was going to be a person who was playing the role of host and could give a quick two minute comic monologue. "

"When you do not have a host, you can give presenters more time," he added. "So, if they're funny and want to use it, it's great. It was obvious. And they set out to open at least the show in the same way as you would with a fantastic host like Jimmy. [Kimmel]. "

The opening of Queen's was perhaps "Bohemian Rhapsody", but this idea was put aside because of time constraints.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" is not a short song. This is partly why Queen and Adam Lambert finally opted for the double "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions".

"We talked about" Bohemian Rhapsody "because it's a roller coaster of a number," Mills said. "But by the end of the day, these two songs really had good energy and you managed to get into the show."

The idea of ​​opening the show by Queen was inspired by the energy of 2017 when Justin Timberlake opened the ceremony.

"You rarely have the opportunity to organically include music," Mills said. "The queen just made sense because of the movie. It was great to be able to use a rocker to open the show. It's not the normal, majestic opening you normally see. "

Melissa McCarthy had the idea for her and Brian Tyree Henry to go out dressed in wild suits

In presenting the Oscar of Outstanding Costumes, the duo paid tribute to the nominees: McCarthy wore a dress inspired by "Mary, Queen of Scots" and was covered with stuffed bunnies in tribute to "The Favorite". Henry, for his part, wore an outfit inspired by "Mary Poppins Returns", "Black Panther" and "Mary, Queen of Scots".

Mills said McCarthy had the idea after this year's presenters learned that without the host, they could "go crazy if you have an idea."

"Melissa, that was completely her idea," Mills said. "And Melissa is no better able to make a straight reading by wearing this ridiculous costume with these stuffed animals. Bryan completely followed the path. It was fantastic. It was a great Oscar moment for me. "

In addition to Queen, Kendrick Lamar may have given the shot to the Oscars

But eventually, Lamar was not able to get to the show. That's why (as mentioned before), he and SZA were not there to play "All the Stars".

"There was talk at one point that it might open the show," Mills said. "It looks like Kendrick is writing and recording, it's hard to get out of it."

Where's Whoopi?

The hashtag #WheresWhoopi appeared on social media on Sunday night, as some conspiracy theorists had convinced themselves that Whoopi Goldberg might well present himself as the surprise organizer of the Oscars. But Goldberg, who had already been announced as presenter, did not show up at all.

But Goldberg has also not been seen in "The View" in recent days due to illness.

"She was really sick," said Mills, who added that they would not have kept the news of a secret host. "Keeping things secret does no good to anyone, believe me. If she were the host, we would have screamed from the top of the mountains. "

Not much was cut off from the show this year, as the show had already been reduced to an elegant, three-hour run time

"This thing has been reduced to nothing," said Mills. "As you've seen, the only editing we had was at the beginning, and it was only 90 seconds. Everything went as planned. Once we arrived at the dress rehearsal, he became the most laid back of the Oscars for years. You knew that there would not be much politics, you knew how the series was going to unfold. For us, we all knew the rhythms of the series and the speeches were the only part unpredictable. It was actually quite nice.

Despite the good ratings of the anchorless broadcast, it is still possible for a host to return next year.

"I think what you have learned is that you do not need a host, but a host," Mills said. "You see it works when there is no host, but you can not forget how great Jimmy Kimmel was, how great Billy Crystal was, how good Johnny Carson was. and Bob Hope have been great all these years.

"Imagine, what would have happened if all the envelope policy had taken place this year and if we had not had a host?", He added. "It's hard to imagine this moment now without Jimmy, who has been able to master the chaos and clear up a crazy situation. I think like everything, you look at what worked and what could have been better. I certainly think that a host will be in conversation for next year – but that does not mean you have to have it. "