Who needs a host when the Oscars can open with Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, and Queen?
Aux Features FilmIn the lead-up to this year’s Oscars, the only story bigger than who might win the awards was the mountain of drama surrounding the Academy’s difficulty finding a host. Kevin Hart was happy to take the job when nobody else wanted it, but it turned out that he wanted to hold on to some old homophobic tweets more than he wanted to hold on to the hosting gig, so the Academy eventually decided to just give up and do the show without a host. The one and only other time that happened was an unmitigated disaster, so there was a lot for this year’s Oscars to live up to.
There was no Rob Lowe/Snow White musical number, unfortunately, but there was a musical number—and one that we’ve all known was going to happen for a while. In a fairly obvious move that the celebrities in attendance seemed to love in a weird way, Adam Lambert and Queen took the stage to play “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions” because, you know, Bohemian Rhapsody was a big deal and Brian May needs to keep that hair looking big and beautiful.
Then there was the usual reel of popular, successful movies that weren’t necessarily award-worthy, cut to some dramatic quotes. It, like “We Are The Champions,” was pretty much exactly what you would’ve expected from this year’s Oscars. After that, though, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, and Maya Rudolph took the stage to rattle off a handful of monologue jokes they would’ve made if they were the secret hosts of this year’s ceremony. They weren’t secret hosts, even though they definitely should’ve been, but they did have a handful of solid zingers. Can we get more of Maya Rudolph’s Sam Elliot impression, please?
32 Comments
I think you mean Queen w Adam Lambert, not actual Queen. Actual Queen had Freddie Mercury in it.
I disagree. Queen was never just Freddie Mercury, and I don’t object to the rest of the band continuing after his tragic death. There was a lot of talent on that stage. Bands aren’t just the frontman. Genesis was still Genesis after Peter Gabriel left.
You’re hilarious.
And correct.
But did Queen continue though? Genesis continued to evolve, Queen were almost an afterthought until Wayne’s World and freddie passing and theyve been coasting on that goodwill ever since.
Genesis continued to evolve Exactly. “In Too Deep” is the most moving pop song of the 1980s, about monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. The lyrics are as positive and affirmative as anything I’ve heard in rock.
It’s hard to argue that Queen has been creatively vital after losing Mercury. I just want to point out that I was responding to a post that emphatically stated that was ‘not Queen’, edited afterwards to say it was ‘Queen w Adam Lambert.’ If that had been the initial comment, I wouldn’t have even responded.I think the edit made my point.
But did Queen continue though? Genesis continued to evolve, Queen were almost an afterthought until Wayne’s World and freddie passing and theyve been coasting on that goodwill ever since.You can also say that about U2, and they’re still together.
I agree. Ripper Owens forever, Rob Halford never!
…Rest of the band minus John Deacon? Like I agree Queen was very much the sum of its parts, and half of that is missing from the current version of Queen. So that’s where I take abit of an issue with the ‘it’s still Queen without Freddie mindset’ as Deacon’s bass parts, and Freddie’s vocals/ piano parts, were important aspects of the Queen sound. And it’s not like they had a series of albums after Freddie’s death where they continued as a band with a new vocalist. So the comparison with Genisis isn’t exactly a perfect comparison.I get why Brian May and Roger Taylor continue to use the Queen name, but to me it’d be like if Paul and Ringo went out and toured as The Beatles.
“I get why Brian May and Roger Taylor continue to use the Queen name, but to me it’d be like if Paul and Ringo went out and toured as The Beatles.”I would be ok with that reunion, assuming they both still had their chops. I also thought Queen had 3 of the 4 (everyone but Freddie). It’s only after your comment and googling I see that Deacon retired, 20 years ago. My ignorance exposes me as not a diehard fan, which I admit. I like Queen. I’m more interested in the principle.I will say after some additional googling that the band shared songwriting duties more evenly than I expected. It’s not like The Beatles giving Ringo a couple songs. Mercury was the main draw, but he didn’t write anywhere near all the hits. The best source I could find says Mercury is credited with 71 songs, May with 64, Taylor with 33, and Deacon with 26 – all before Mercury died. It was a group effort. And Mercury was the star. But he wasn’t the band. Freddie is dead, and Deacon chose to retire. It’s not a Black Flag situation with dueling iterations of the band suing each other over who is the real Queen.
But the shared song-writing and collaborative nature of it all is exactly why I’m not a fan of them using the Queen name when they’re missing half the band. If it was something like Brian May was the bands primary songwriter and he was continuing to perform and record new music under the Queen name, I wouldn’t have as much of an issue with it. Like I suppose that’s why I have abit less of an issue with The Who continuing to use the name, cause Pete Townsend was the dominant creative voice of the band and Roger Daltry the voice.
But because it was such a group effort (and each of the band members wrote a handfull of the bands iconic songs), continuing on with only two members just feels like a tribute act to me…especially with the way their show still makes use of Freddie’s vocals for some of the songs.But obviously you have different thoughts. Cause to go back to The Beatles example- the thought of McCartney and Starr going on tour as the Beatles, with some session musician filling in for George and John, sounds very unappealing to me.
Now that there are only two Monkees left, McCartney and Starr should tour with Dolenz and Nesmith.
You should look up the mess The Doors have gone through since Morrison died.
Without Mercury they’re not fully Queen. They’re Queen with Adam Lambert. If Mercury wasn’t pivotal to the band they would have kept going after his death with a new front man, with new material. Instead all they do is legacy shows with Adam Lambert. Queen itself truly died with Freddie.
There was a Genesis after Peter Gabriel left?haha… I kid.
Your sentiment is not wrong, but I don’t think what you’re arguing is what was said. Queen w Adam Lambert signifies Adam Lambert with Queen, not “Queen is Taylor, May, Deacon & Lambert”. As far as “Actual Queen” goes, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody who wouldn’t list “actual Queen” as Deacon, May, Taylor, and Mercury. It’s not that we didn’t get actual Queen because it’s not THE BAND without Mercury, it’s that we didn’t get actual Queen because the true quartet wasn’t on stage.
Your comment initially said ‘that was not Queen’. That’s what I disagreed with. I don’t disagree with the edited version. Yes, that was Queen with Adam Lambert. Yes, there is no replacement for Freddie Mercury. I just wanted to credit the surviving members of Queen for their contributions. It’s not like a glorified tribute band that still has one of the original Four Tops. That’s Queen with Adam Lambert.(Disclaimer – I am not Brian May.)
Are…are you Brian May?
If you’re really Brian May — or, should I say, Dr. May — explain what you learned from your study of the radial velocity of interplanetary dust!No, seriously, that’s (roughly) the astrophysics research he did to get his PhD. I have a friend on the New Horizons mission (Pluto, Ultima Thule) and Brian May was a consultant on the project. Dr. May also wrote a song for the mission.
Dare him to do an astrophysics equation. Then we’ll know….
AND John Deacon.No Deacon, no Queen.
Rachel Dratch was on John Oliver though, so Wanda Jo for the win.
Opening with an Adam Lambert-fronted Queen sure is one way to make people appreciate Rami Malek’s Mercury impersonation all the more.
Hey – you know whart’s much less annoying than a funny host? A casting show participant trying to sing Queen. Yeah, that’ll do.
Tonight was honestly a Queen appreciation night, which I’m sure Queen fans are satisfied with.Best sound mixing? I like the Queen songs! (casts vote)Best sound editing? I liked it when the Queen songs were put into the movie. (casts vote)Best film editing? It is a good thing that they did not cut out any of those Queen songs! (casts vote)Best actor? He did a good job of looking like Freddie and then moving his lips during the Queen songs! (casts vote)
Two of those awards are for sounds. A song is a kind of sound. Whaddaya need, a road map?
Unpopular opinion: Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, and Maya Rudolph have been doing the same sort of schtick at these sorts of things for years now, and it’s starting to feel sort of stale.
I didn’t miss having a host at all this year.
I like Fey and Poehler well enough but the unquestioned assumption that they are everyone’s favorite people has become pretty obnoxious. Granted, the same applied to Billy Crystal.
Yeah, he felt stale by his last couple appearances too.
Forget about the stupid costume changes, or telling everyone to have a good evening when the show’s over. An Opening Monologue is all the host does anyway before they basically disappear for the rest of the night. As far as I’m concerned, the Oscars stealthily still gave us one.
I appear to be in the tiny minority of people who missed a host. Certainly, I was delighted we didn’t have to worry about time-wasting snoozefest shit like Ellen Degeneres ordering pizza or Jimmy Kimmel bringing in a bus-load of norms to gawk at the celebrities. But I like a bit of comedy filler between introductions, and most of the celebrity presenters fell extremely flat in that aspect, as they typically do. More importantly, a host can do callbacks all night long. We all needed a running bit about how long and awkward those hair and makeup people were, and don’t pretend we didn’t. Let me rest my case with this: any amount of time-wasting tediousness is worth it to set up a solid gold bit like Jimmy Kimmel making fun of We Bought a Zoo: