Pharrell Williams kicked off the Oscars performances with a dancing-filled take on his “Happy (above), from Despicable Me 2 but also set for his solo album G I R L, out March 3. And yes: Although he’s donating the gazillion-gallon hat to charity, he was still sporting the Canadian mountie look. The hat came back around later so host Ellen DeGeneres could collect for the pizza she ordered mid-show.
Karen O elegantly delivered her tender Herballad “The Moon Song” with Vampire Weekend‘s Ezra Koenig on guitar and backing vocal. And U2 unplugged for “Ordinary Love,” their Golden Globe-winning Nelson Mandela tribute from biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Frozen star Idina Menzel let her voice soar in the last of the Best Original Song nominee performances, the Disney film’s inspirational “Let It Go” (which won the award).
Elsewhere, Pink — in a rare non-death-defying award show appearance — paid tribute to the 75th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and Bette Midler sang “The Wind Beneath My Wings” for the in-memoriam segment (which honored Philip Seymour Hoffman, among others lost this year). Although not officially billed as a performance, Darlene Love singing a cappella after 20 Feet From Stardom‘s Best Documentary win also definitely belongs here.
Karen O and Ezra Koenig, “The Moon Song”
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Darlene Love sung thank-you speech
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U2, “Ordinary Love
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Pink, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”
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Bette Midler, “The Wind Beneath My Wings”
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