Ariana Grande performs onstage during the 97th Annual Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 02, 2025. Photo:
Kevin Winter/Getty; PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty
Ariana Grande paid a special style homage to The Wizard of Oz during her 2025 Oscars performance.
The singer and actress opened the Sunday, March 2 ceremony by performing “Defying Gravity” alongside her Wicked costar Cynthia Erivo wearing a red sequin gown and matching shoes.
The ensemble was a nod to the character Dorothy from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, which inspired the Oscar-nominated movie-musical. (Wicked is also based on the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire.)
Grande, 31, took the stage in a strapless Schiaparelli Haute Couture sequin gown with red tulle details on the skirt. She also wore red sequin heels with bows. The custom look was designed by Daniel Roseberry and was embroidered with over 150,000 Siam sequins, zillions and cut beads enhanced by a tonal tulle train with aerodynamic volume.
Ariana Grande performing at the 2025 Oscars. Kevin Winter/Getty
As an extra-special touch, the gown was adorned with a tonal 3D trompe l’oeil vintage shoe on the back.
Grande’s blonde hair was styled into a sleek bun and she wore a soft glam makeup look with her signature cat-eye liner.
Ariana Grande performs onstage during the 97th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre on March 2, 2025. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty
On the red carpet, Grande wore a blush pink Schiaparelli Spring/Summer 2025 Haute Couture strapless bustier gown with a bodice that extended into a sculptural peplum waist. The design also featured a voluminous skirt covered in more than 190,000 sequins and rhinestones that complemented her sparkly necklace.
Arianna Grande’s Oscar Schiaparelli Haute Couture performance gown. Courtesy of Schiaparelli
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According to the brand, the gown is enhanced with a clam basque inspired by an Alberto Giacometti lamp from the Maison archive.
Ariana Grande seen backstage at the 97th Annual Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 2, 2025. John Shearer/97th Oscars/The Academy via Getty
On the red carpet, Grande teased some new music might be on the horizon. When Variety asked about the deluxe edition of her 2024 album Eternal Sunshine being “in the can,” the singer shared: “The next step is… It means it must come out.”
However, the Grammy winner played coy about an exact release date.
“They did the Brighter Days Memory Erasure treatment to me so I’m having trouble remembering the details,” she teased, referring to the fictional clinic in the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. “They’re foggy, because at the Brighter Days Clinic, they do the Memory Erasure.”
Ariana Grande at the 2025 Oscars. Monica Schipper/Getty
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The Grammy winner is a first-time Academy Award nominee, up for Best Supporting Actress alongside Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown), Felicity Jones (The Brutalist), Isabella Rossellini (Conclave) and Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez).
With her stylist Mimi Cuttrell, Grande has been delivering Glinda-inspired looks all awards season long. Some of the star’s standout moments this year have been her archival 1966 Givenchy look for the 2025 Golden Globes, her ballerina-esque Louis Vuitton number for the 2025 BAFTAs and her most recent Loewe dress, which was covered in dreamy floral appliqués, for the 2025 SAG Awards.
See PEOPLE’s full coverage of the 97th annual Academy Awards, hosted by Conan O’Brien and airing on ABC.
