The Academy Awards' "In Memoriam" section is facing backlash online over a "tone deaf" addition to this year's show.
Alongside 2024's video, which included clips of stars who passed away over the past year, the segment featured an interpretative dance on the Oscars' stage. The routine was accompanied by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and his son, Matteo Bocelli, who sang his 1995 hit Time to Say Goodbye.
Viewers slammed the Academy over the performance, calling it "not necessary" and a "bad call."
The Context
"How tacky to have a dance number during an in memoriam presentation," said Lydia on X, formerly Twitter.
"The dancers during in memoriam are weird and distracting," wrote Sarah Slothanova.
"Nobody wants to watch the interpretive dance during In Memoriam. Show the people being honored in full screen!" said Scott Faldon.
"Okay In Memoriam performances are never good but an interpretive dance cannot be the answer," commented @sydneyjanexo.
"Interpretive dance during the in memoriam is..a choice," wrote Liv, while Amber Kennedy said: "I don't need interpretive dance, I need to be able to read the screen."
Newsweek has reached out to the Academy for comment via email.
The Views
The performance wasn't the only issue for viewers. Others called out the academy for missing a few late stars from the "In Memoriam" footage.
Everwood actor Treat Williams, The Wire star Lance Reddick, screenwriter and producer Norman Lear, Rocky star Burt Young, Three's Company legend Suzanne Somers, This is Us actor Ron Cephas Jones and director Terence Davies were all excluded from the video, with their names featured on a slide at the end of the montage.
Others hit out at the exclusion of Euphoria actor Angus Cloud. The rising star, who played Fezco in the HBO teen drama, passed away from an accidental drug overdose in July.
"Who compiled the list??!" asked @LenaVandross.
"The in memoriam at the Oscars having an etc list is genuinely embarrassing," said Jo. "Especially as the list was basically unreadable in the broadcast unless you paused."
"Fire the imbeciles who approved this travesty and be more respectful next year," wrote AFPV.
"I shouldn't have to strain my eyes to figure out the 15 or so who were mentioned," said @mmtexas.
However, others defended the omissions.
"If they were TV actors or producers, they are memorialized at the Emmys, not the Oscars," said Siobhan Marie Day, pointing out that Cloud and Norman Lear were primarily known for their TV work and were honored at the Emmy awards.
@naturistfred agreed with the reasoning, writing: "Angus Cloud would be a TV actor, he was in Euphoria on HBO."
Update 03/11/24 at 3:12 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include further information about the "In Memoriam" section.
Uncommon Knowledge
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