Ariana Grande changed out of her ‘lampshade’ dress to honor Dorothy for Oscars performance, and thank goodness she did

Ariana Grande fans are losing their minds over her opening performance at the Academy Awards, not least because it allowed her to change out of *that* red carpet dress.

In case you missed it, the pop star and actress turned heads with her Schiaparelli dress during the pre-awards festivities at this year’s Oscars, but not in the way she might’ve hoped. The sculpted frock featured an outurned corset that allowed the tulle skirt to cascade to the floor, which for some fans was instantly reminiscent of a lampshade. 

Ariana Grande looks stunning but also a little bit like a lampshade #Oscars pic.twitter.com/xrO9aO19Gj

— Dani (@danidelle23) March 2, 2025

listen ariana grande will look stunning in just abt anything but that oscars dress looked like a lampshade let's not kid ourselves

— fond of hats (@omgyourebald) March 2, 2025

“It’s giving lampshade,” one onlooker wrote of Grande, with another noting that while the actress “will look stunning in just about anything,” the dress nonetheless “looked like a lampshade let’s not kid ourselves.” Thankfully, any goodwill lost from Grande’s red carpet dress was quickly recuperated moments later, when she appeared on stage to open the Oscars ceremony with a duet with Cynthia Erivo. 

The stars, who are both nominated for their respective roles in Wicked, delivered a goosebumps-inducing rendition of The Wizard of Oz classics. For her part, Grande busted out a performance of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”, while Erivo sang “Home”, which is lifted from The Wiz — another Broadway rendition of The Wizard of Oz. The pair finished off the tribute opening with a joint performance of “Defying Gravity,” which had been escapable from this writer’s brain for basically the last three months. 

Every singer tries their hand at Somewhere over the Rainbow, at some point in their career. Few do it justice.

Ariana Grande captures the magic at #Oscars2025

Stunning opening from her and Cynthia Erivo pic.twitter.com/Zza1PFDxOz

— It's a lawyer's life (@itsalawyerslife) March 3, 2025

While Grande’s unmatched vocals caught the most attention, that was not to be outdone by her dress, which channelled major Dorothy vibes in a seeming ode to the character’s ruby slippers. Hammering the tribute home, the back of Grande’s dress even featured a slipper sculpture, sending our collective excitement about Wicked: For Good into the stratosphere. “Ariana Grande changed out of her lampshade and into Dorothy’s left slipper,” one fan surmised, with another adding that the singer” sounds so ethereal.”

Another quipped that Grande “defines elegance,” with a fourth declaring it “a stunning performance.” Sadly, “Defying Gravity” was not nominated for Best Original Song (since it was lifted from Wicked’s broadway show and so is not technically “original”), but it did score a whopping 10 nominations across multiple categories. At the time of writing, Wicked already collected a win for Paul Tazewell for Best Costume Design, making Oscars history as the first time a Black man has received the award. It also won the award for  Best Production Design, with Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales accepting the honor.

Ariana Grande changed out of her lampshade and into Dorothy’s left slipper. #Oscars

— Nicky Frank (@NickyFrank30) March 3, 2025

Grande was up for Best Supporting Actress alongside Monica Barbaro, Felicity Jones, Erzsébet Tóth, Isabella Rossellini, Zoe Saldaña. Saldaña, who was the frontrunner, unsurprisingly came out on top for Emilia Pérez. In the other acting categories, it was Kieran Culkin who collected the Best Supporting Actor gong for A Real Pain — which is coincidentally the three words I used to describe the moments after Grande exited the Oscars stage. Thankfully, we’ll see her again when Wicked: For Good hits cinemas in November of this year. 

Ariana Grande performing Over The Rainbow at the #Oscars dressed as Dorothy’s ruby slipper was pure perfection pic.twitter.com/Z1eBZi555B

— mizge (@mihailo____) March 3, 2025

Oh, we also might see her in A24’s Jennifer Lawrence-starring murder mystery based on The Real Housewives, which is a sentence I’ll never tire of reading. In the meantime, I’m off to rewatch Grande and Erivo’s Oscars opening performance and see whether there’s any more tears left to cry in my tear ducts.