Why Only ‘Sinners’ and ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Songs Will Be Performed at the Oscars

Five songs are nominated at the 2026 Academy Awards, but only two — “I Lied to You” (“Sinners”) and “Golden” (“KPop Demon Hunters”) will be performed at the ceremony.

“We really thought about how everything transforms throughout the evening,” Raj Kapoor, executive producer and showrunner of the Academy Awards, said. “For us, this year, it was this page turning, and then we are looking towards 100 years.”

Kapoor spoke in a press conference with other individuals behind the annual awards ceremony, including host Conan O’Brien and choreographer Mandy Moore. During the conference, Kapoor noted that a history-making morning for “Sinners” contributed to the inclusion of “I Lied to You” in the show.

“We are celebrating the films, and so this year, we chose ‘Sinners’ because it’s the most nominated film ever and has a beautiful music story,” Kapoor said. “It’s not just about the song. It’s really how Ryan integrated music and wove that into the entire story.”

In the past, the Academy Awards have traditionally featured live performances of all five nominated songs on Oscar night. Last year, they forewent all performances of nominees, instead featuring an opening including Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo from “Wicked.” The show also featured a James Bond music montage.

Kapoor noted that the production team worked closely with the team behind “Sinners” to craft the “I Lied to You” segment of the ceremony. The performance will reference a scene in “Sinners” where Preacherboy (Miles Caton) performs a song so powerful it pierces the veil and brings in dancers and cultures from throughout time.

“We are celebrating that film with the film’s costumer, Ruth (Carter), has come on board to help us. We have Aakomon Jones, who is the film’s choreographer, working with us. We have the music team that as well as like, not only given us the gift of that score, but that song. And then we have all these amazing cast members, plus new people that weren’t even in the film coming in to help celebrate that,” Kapoor said. “So we’ve kind of like blown it up. And, you know, we have the lovely, Misty Copeland making an appearance. We have all these talented dancers, and it’s going to be a real celebration, not only of the song, but of the film.”

The producers didn’t explain why all five could not be performed. The Oscars have historically made repeated attempts at cutting the length of the show down, whether that mean cutting categories from the telecast or, in this case, removing some of the musical performances.

The nominated songs from “Sinners” and “KPop Demon Hunters,” two of the biggest films of 2025, are both featured prominently within their films, with “Golden” going on to become a Grammy-winning phenomenon.

“Mandy (Moore)’s working on, ‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ celebrated again for being an animated feature, but also like a global phenomenon,” Kapoor said. And we have this lovely story celebrating Korean culture with authentic Korean drummers and singers and even choreography. So again, we’ve kind of expanded our reach, and we’re telling these global stories, celebrating International films that have had global impact, and doing things in a really different way.”

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