Queen, Lady Gaga to bring Grammys vibe to Oscars

There will not be a host and Sunday's Oscars ceremony will not open with the traditional monologue in which celebrities and politicians are skewered.Yet with rock band Queen, pop superstar Lady Gaga and two musicals in the race for best picture, the highest honors in the film industry will have an unusually strong music vibe as the Oscars seek to regain television audiences.

British band Queen, featuring Adam Lambert as lead vocalist, will open the February 24 show with a live performance celebrating the box-office success of best picture nominee "Bohemian Rhapsody," a representative of the band told Reuters.

Bette Midler, Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Lopez and record producer Pharrell Williams are also set to attend or present, along with James Bond actor Daniel Craig, tennis champion Serena Williams, 'Black Panther' star Chadwick Boseman, and comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

Under pressure to deliver a compelling show for viewers after last year's TV audience hit an all-time low, producers have made the most of the best original song contenders.Lady Gaga and actor-director Bradley Cooper will perform a live duet of her hit song 'Shallow' from their best picture contender 'A Star is Born,' while Jennifer Hudson has been tapped to sing 'Fight' from documentary 'RBG.'

Midler will do the honors for the 'Mary Poppins Returns' song 'The Place Where Lost Things Go' and country duo Gillian Welch and David Rawlings will perform 'When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings.'"That is one of the places where the star wattage can make a difference," said Alison Willmore, critic and culture writer at BuzzFeed News.

"Lady Gaga is a music superstar and I would imagine her hard core fans will be tuning in for her," Willmore added."I am not going to miss a lot of those little bits. That often feels like the part that makes the ceremony long, so maybe without a host it will not feel like it is dragging," said Willmore.