Barbra Streisand to perform at the Oscars

Credit: AP

Following news that Norah Jones and Adele would be performing on the 85th Academy Awards telecast, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that Barbra Streisand will also be performing at this year’s Oscars, marking her first performance on an Oscar telecast in 36 years.

Streisand was nominated for an Oscar in 1977 for Best Original Song for “Evergreen”. For that telecast, she performed the theme from “A Star Is Born”, before adding a second Oscar to her mantle upon winning for “Evergreen”. Streisand’s first Oscar win came in 1968, when she tied for Best Actress for “Funny Girl”, sharing the award with Katharine Hepburn in “The Lion In Winter”.

There’s no word on what she’ll be performing on the ceremony, though I would imagine she’d likely be doing the vocal tribute during the In Memoriam segment. Of course, I’d love to be wrong about that. I’m one of those people who don’t think those tributes should have vocals, as it seems to undercut the solemnity of the occasion. But hey, it’s not like it’s actively disrespectful or anything (especially when you consider how many dearly departed entertainment figures they tend to completely forget about during that montage). No matter what she ends up singing, though, it’ll be interesting to see Babs holding a mic on the Oscar stage for the first time in nearly four decades.

The 85th Academy Awards air February 24 on ABC.

Full story: HitFix