Oscars: The Case of Ariana Grande in Wicked

As we do every year on this here blog, Oscar nominations lead to my Case Of series. What are they? Glad you asked. These are 35 posts covering the nominees for Picture, Director, and the four acting contests. For each one, I give you the case for the movie/director/actor winning and the case against it with a verdict tidying it up. It’s like a trial, but no one goes to prison.

It began with the ten Best Picture contenders and now alternates alphabetically between the hopefuls in the other five races. The BP nominee posts are up and they’re readily available for your perusing pleasure. Today is our second entry in Best Supporting Actress and that’s Ariana Grande in Jon M. Chu’s Wicked. If you missed my post on Monica Barbaro in A Complete Unknown, it’s linked at the bottom.

Previous Acting Oscar Nominations:

None

The Case for Ariana Grande:

As Glinda the Good in the hugely popular adaptation of the stage play, Grande scored big love from audiences and critics. It resulted in nominations at the Globes, SAG, Critics Choice, and BAFTA. This is an opportunity for the Academy to recognize one of the most widely seen performances of the evening.

The Case Against Ariana Grande:

At the Globes and Critics Choice, she’s fallen short to another musical performance in Zoe Saldaña from Emilia Pérez.

The Verdict:

Grande is in the same boat as my previous post with Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown. Both are considered the runner-ups because they’ve yet to win a significant precursor. Like Chalamet, I think Grande needs to take SAG in order to have any real shot of taking gold over Saldaña. She could score a mild upset if the recent Pérez controversy extends beyond Karla Sofia Gascón.

My Case Of posts will continue with the next contender in Supporting Actor and that’s Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain…

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