There could be 100 renditions of “Shallow” in a room, but we only need this Lea Michele/Darren Criss one.
The Oscar-nominated hit from Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born is getting a ton of buzz ahead of its big debut at the Academy Awards, where it will be performed live for only the second time ever by the two stars (though Gaga will likely perform it solo this Sunday at the Grammys).
And Glee alums Michele and Criss, self-admitted fans of the song and movie, did their audience a solid by performing the song in San Francisco in October of last year, during a stop of their joint tour LMDC, which wrapped in December 2018.
Criss wraps up the performance by telling an anecdote about meeting up with his friend and “Shallow” songwriter AnthonyRossomando (casual), who was so excited to learn the song had reached number one in the U.K. song charts.
“I’m like, ‘Aw, that’s amazing, congratulations! We sing it on tour almost every night’ And he’s like, ‘That’s…way cooler,’”Criss laughs.
So, while we love a good Cooper/Gaga duet, we were surprised by the chills we got from Michele’s powerful vocals, and—dare we say?—the original might actually have some solid competition. Yep, it’s a throwback video, to be sure. But with all the buzz surrounding A Star Is Born, we couldn’t not share.
Perhaps Lady Gaga and Cooper could bring some extra vocalists to the Oscars stage come February 24? (Although, we’re not sure our fragile emotions can handle such a powerful performance, TBH.)
