Billie Eilish Wins For ‘No Time To Die,’ But Oscar Fails Its Music

Billie Eilish and her brother, Finneas O’Connell, won the Academy Award Sunday night for Best Original Song for “No Time To Die,” from the eponymous film that is the 25th in the James Bond franchise. They grabbed the Oscar in an impressive field that included fellow nominees Beyoncé, Van Morrison and Lin-Manuel Miranda. They also prevented Diane Warren from nabbing her first Oscar on her 13th try.

But despite the level of artistry that musicians brought to film in the last year, Oscar could have done better in its recognition and production of music in its awards show.

Eilish and FINNEAS, as well as Queen Bey, Reba McEntire and cast members of “Encanto,” including Megan Thee Stallion in a surprise appearance, performed their nominated songs in a broadcast that was most notable for a confrontation between eventual Best Actor Will Smith and presenter Chris Rock.

Beyoncé opened the show with a taped performance of “Be Alive” from “The King” from a tennis court in Compton, Calif., decked out in tennis-ball neon green, including the costumes of the on-court orchestra. The sports choreography harkened to her Super Bowl halftime performance, and was a fitting opener to the broadcast, even if not actually performed on the Dolby Theater stage in Hollywood.

But the music performances felt, by and large, underwhelming and perfunctory. Eilish and FINNEAS performed “No Time To Die,” a somber enough song, decked out all in black, from Billie’s hair to FINNIAS’s piano. Eilish did acquit herself well with a powerful vocal performance that was a highlight of the musical performances of the night. 

McEntire’s set lacked the spark she usually brings to the stage. Despite being backed by Blink-182’s Travis Barker, percussionist Sheila E. and jazz keyboardist Robert Glasper, the performance of the Diane Warren-penned “Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days” wasn’t well served by the show’s production. 

Disney’s “Encanto,” which won the Oscar for best animated feature, had one nominated song but two performances during the broadcast, both penned by Lin-Manuel Miranda – “Dos Oruguitas” and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” ubiquitous but not actually nominated, included a new, Oscar-referential verse added by Megan Thee Stallion that broadcaster ABC Television Group – owned by Disney – likely loved but did not add to the original song and which was, in fact, a distraction from the beautiful performance of the Best Original Song nominee, “Dos Oruguitas,” performed by Sebastián Yatra.

Possibly the biggest whiff by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was its failure to acknowledge during the broadcast the music of its winner of the Best Documentary award – “Summer of Soul (…Or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” in its musical performances when so many of the documentary’s performers, including Stevie Wonder and Mavis Staples, remain active.