Ahead of this weekends The 94th Academy Awards ceremony, the show’s producer Will Packer called in to chat in with The Big Tigger Morning Show on Audacy's V-103 in Atlanta, all about the entertaining evening he has planned.
LISTEN NOW: Oscars producer Will Packer shares some insider scoop on "Hollywood's Biggest Night"
After starting the chat off with pleasantries, Packer got right to it asking Tigger and his morning show crew, “when was the last time y’all watched the Oscars?” After a handful of answers were shared, the general conscious was that it's been a minute.
"You might not have watched it in awhile, but I’m telling y’all family, do not miss this Sunday, I need y’all to tune in this Sunday,” exclaimed Packer. “I got some action-packed ENTERTAINMENT-packed elements of this show that you do not want to miss.” After which he asked, “can I go there, can I tell you…” The answer, of course was — "Yes."
Already excited Regina Hall, Wanda Sykes, and Amy Schumer are set to host the evening's festivities, the morning show couldn’t wait to hear more.
Here for the excitement about the trio of funny and talented ladies, Packer pointed out that the combo of those three “hilarious” and “crazy” comedians could result in anything happening. Jokingly adding, “It’s a live show, so I think I know what’s gonna happen, but I’m gonna be watching it like y’all.”
Also on the agenda, according to Will — along with Sebastián Yatra’s performance of “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto, the Oscars will have “the first live performance of ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno.’” Which Packer promises to be “dope” and “not exactly what you expect.”
Next Will went on to confirm the previously announced line-up of Best Original Song nominee performances — which along with “Dos Oruguitas” includesBeyoncé making her return “for the first time in five years” to perform “Be Alive” from King Richard. Reba McEntire with “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days, and Billie Eilish and FINNEAS with “No Time To Die” 007 theme song.
Fishing for a confirmation to those tennis court performance rumors, Tigger asked Will if there was any truth to them. And though he didn’t actually answer yes or no, he did say “don’t believe everything you read,” and that it will be be a “performance we’re talking about for quite some time.”
Switching gears, Tigger asked Will about whether he feels any added pressures to make this year's ceremony more inclusive “for everybody, but especially for our community to feel represented and to watch.”
"Absolutely, you know that, I mean anything that I do I’m gonna make sure that it feels inclusive that it’s for everybody. Not just for a particular audience or not just for folks that watch all the nominated films,” which he also mentioned there’s nothing wrong with, adding “we’ve got some great films nominated.”
“But this is an entertainment show,” Packer declared, “this is a show that is going to have stuff for everybody… and of course I’m doing it, so I’m gonna have as much representation as possible.”
Running off a few examples, Will shared that this year, for the first time ever, students from HBCUs will be giving out the awards to winning recipients. Additionally New York-based collective of chefs Ghetto Gastro will be collaborating with Wolfgang Puck on the Oscars dinner menu. And that the voice of the this year’s Oscars “will be a Black female,” concluding, “there’s just a lot of things that we’re doing different this year to make sure it feels inclusive — and that’s behind the scenes.”
“On stage,” Will expressed, “it’s gonna be an entertaining show that looks like the world… I’m telling you it’s gonna be the biggest Oscars in years.”
The Oscars will air live Sunday, March 27, at 8PM ET / 5PM PT on ABC, and will also be available to stream on abc.com with TV provider information. For those without cable, you can watch the Oscars on the following live TV streaming services that include access to ABC — Hulu + Live TV, Fubo TV, and YouTube TV.
Check out Will's entire interview above.
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