The musical opener kicked off with “Over the Rainbow” before segueing to “Home” from “The Wiz,” as well as “Defying Gravity.”

The 2025 Oscars were holding space for two pretty “Popular” divas to open Hollywood’s big night.

Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo hit the Academy Awards stage on Sunday to perform a Wizard of Oz-themed medley. Grande emerged under a spotlight in a ruby red dress, while Erivo donned a white gown adorned with glistening flowers of various colors.

Backed by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Hollywood’s Glinda began with a rendition of “Over the Rainbow” from the 1939 Tinseltown classic, which then blended into “Home,” from 1978’s The Wiz, performed by Grande’s Elphaba counterpart.

To close out such a medley of a show-starter, the pair went for a showstopper in its own right, “Defying Gravity,” Grande and Erivo’s epic closer to the Wicked movie. The star-studded audience erupted in applause when Erivo hit her final war-cry belt. Michelle Yeoh, who played Madame Morrible in Wicked, was seen wiping away tears.

“What Is This Feeling?” Chills.

The performance evoked memories of when the duo dueted on “When You Believe” from The Prince of Egypt together at the 2024 Met Gala. And now after their meme-making press tour promoting Wicked, people just can’t get enough of them together.

Both ladies are also Oscar nominees, with Erivo up for Best Actress and Grande up for Best Supporting Actress. The film also locked nominations for Best Picture, Film Editing, Production Design, Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, Original Score, and Visual Effects. Statistically.

Regardless of what happens when all is said and done with Oscars night, we’re not finished hearing the last of Wicked. Consider this medley the unofficial start to the 2025 promo tour for Wicked: For Good, which will release in theaters on Nov. 21 and realize the second half of director Jon M. Chu’s musical adaptation on the big screen.

Ariana Grande performs at 2025 Oscars.Kevin Winter/Getty

Previously titled Wicked: Part Two, the film will pick up after a time jump. Grande’s Glinda will be fully in her tenure as Glinda, the Good Witch of the North; Erivo’s Elphaba will be deep in her Wicked Witch of the West era; and their stories will mingle with that of a young Dorothy from Kansas and the main timeline of The Wizard of Oz. Also returning are Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, Marissa Bode as Nessarose, Jeff Goldblum as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Bowen Yang as Pfannee, Bronwyn James as Shenshen, and Yeoh as Morrible.

Wicked: For Good will also feature new music not included in the original Broadway musical, one of which Erivo cowrote. So perhaps we’ll be seeing Erivo back on the Oscars in 2026 as a nominee for a different category.

“If Part 1 is about choices, Part 2 is about consequences,” Chu previously teased to Entertainment Weekly of the sequel. “Choices are difficult to make, but when you do make those choices, sometimes the result isn’t what you expect it to be. It can be lonely, it can be hard…. There’s a lot of soul searching in movie 2. They’re asking, ‘Is this the right decision that you made?'”