Everyone loves this Oscars shot of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo: ‘Give the camera person a raise’
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande opened the Oscars with a Wizard of Oz medley. (Getty)
People have expressed their joy at a perfectly-captured clip of Ariana Grande looking adoringly at Cynthia Erivo, as the latter belted out “Defying Gravity” at the 2025 Oscars.
The Wicked stars opened the ceremony on Sunday (2 March) with renditions of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”, “Home”, by Diana Ross, and “Defying Gravity”.
On person wrote on X/Twitter: “Give this camera person and the director of the Oscars a raise for this shot of Ariana watching Cynthia sing.”
give this camera person and the director of the #oscars a raise for this shot of ariana watching cynthia sing defying gravity pic.twitter.com/MmavpNKnG1
— Nora Dominick (@noradominick) March 3, 2025
The photo, which has attracted more than 50,000 likes, also has numerous other comments, with people saying it “made my heart melt” and others highlighting the duo’s “magical friendship”.
One possibly lovelorn person said: “I want someone to look at me like this,” while someone else wrote, “The pull focus was absolutely stunning. I highly rate the camera person for this and for the wonderful storytelling.”
The pull focus was absolutely stunning. I highly rate the camera person for this and for the wonderful storytelling! https://t.co/Y0xWN0CO0J
— kesewaa (@kb__rowne) March 3, 2025
Another said: “Both of them sang incredibly, but that cameraman had his most valuable player performance too.”
Speaking to PinkNews in November about the impact of their roles, Ariana Grande, who plays Glinda, said: “She has given me a new strength and ability to listen to certain voices maybe I wouldn’t listen to before, from my inside, that ability to trust myself.
“Maybe, coming into this experience, I was a little bit of a recovering people-pleaser and Glinda, in the most graceful way, is very sure of what she needs. It’s OK to know that and to have boundaries.”
Cynthia Erivo, who plays Elphaba, admitted that before joining the cast she knew “vulnerability was one of my strong suits” but “didn’t get to share it as much”.
You can read a full list of all of the LGBTQ+ winners at the 2025 Oscars here.
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