Lady Gaga on her makeup-free gig at Oscars 2023: ‘Wanted it to be raw’

Lady Gaga threw many surprises at Oscars 2023. While the singer-songwriter-actress turned heads on the red carpet in a see-through Versace corset gown, she is making headlines for a no-makeup performance of her nominated song Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick at the 95th Academy Awards.

The American star - who had won the ‘Best Original Song’ award in 2019 for the smash hit Shallow from the Bradley Cooper-starrer A Star Is Born at the - gave a stripped-down performance of her track, as she reportedly “wanted it to be raw”.

“She was really appropriate about the fact that this is a meaningful song to her, and she wanted to really strip it down and do it not as an ‘Oscar performance’, but as her. And that’s exactly what we tried to capture,” showrunner Glenn Weiss told The Hollywood Reporter.

Gaga had to initially turn down the performance due to scheduling conflicts, as she films the Joker sequel Folie à Deux. But then, it was said that she would be able to make it after all. This came out just hours before she stunned on the red carpet wearing a black Versace gown, a striking contrast from her makeup-free gig look.

Executive producer Ricky Kirshner added, “She wanted it to be raw and for people to see the real Gaga, and, with a voice like that, you don’t need much more than that.” Gaga went for a makeup-free look in a black T-shirt, ripped jeans and sneakers, as she sat on a stool and performed with her band onstage. She also said that the song is “deeply personal for me” during her intro.

“I think that we all need each other. We need a lot of love to walk through this life. We all need a hero sometimes. There’re heroes all around us in unassuming places. But, you might find that you could be your own hero even if you feel broken inside,” she said.

The ‘Best Original Song’ award ultimately went to RRR’s Naatu Naatu, leaving behind other nominees like Rihanna’s Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Diane Warren’s Applause from Tell It Like a Woman and This Is a Life by Son Lux, Mitski and David Byrne from Everything Everywhere All at Once.