The British singer Adele, along with her co-writer Paul Epworth, triumphed at the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles yesterday evening (February 24) when the pair won a well-deserved Oscar for Adele’s smash-hit theme song to the 007 movie Skyfall.
The award for Skyfall, for Best Original Song, was announced on stage by the actor Richard Gere. Adele, accepting the Oscar on stage along with her co-writer Paul, was clearly overcome with emotion and joy. In a short acceptance speech, the 24-year old singer, who comes from London, thanked Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson at EON Productions, along with Sony Pictures, MGM, and ‘Paul Epworth for believing in me all the time’.
Adele’s co-writer, Paul Epworth, standing next to her, also spoke from the stage, commenting: ‘I can’t really believe I’m up here to receive this!’ As Adele left the stage, she also shouted to the audience ‘You’re all amazing as well!’
The theme song to the latest James Bond movie has already won major awards, such as a Golden Globe and a Brit Award, and it has sold more than 2 million copies globally. At one point, it reached no.2 in the UK’s singles charts.
As well as the Oscar for Best Original Song, there was also some other excellent news for Skyfall. The movie won in the Best Sound Edited category, in an unusual tie with another movie, Zero Dark Thirty. The only disappointment for Bond fans was that Roger Deakins did not win in the Best Cinematography category, which went to Life of Pi.
Tribute to the Bond Franchise
The 85th Academy Awards evening also saw a special celebration of the James Bond movie franchise. Former Bond woman Halle Berry (who played Jinx in Die Another Day) introduced the Bond films tribute, which then went into a special reel of clips from the last 50 years of the 007 movies, sequences which had been chosen (apparently) by the Oscars event organisers themselves.
Dame Shirley Bassey, wearing a golden dress, then continued the proceedings in great style when she belted out her iconic theme song for Goldfinger (1964), which many people regard as one of the most famous and memorable of all the 007 theme songs. Dame Shirley earned a standing ovation for her performance of the song, the first standing ovation of the evening.
There was also a special performance of Skyfall by the singer Adele, the first time she has delivered her award-winning song live on stage. This also received a rousing reception from the audience. And, as we discovered shortly afterwards, the song was then officially recognised by the Academy.
There was also lots of strong praise for Adele and her Bond song from other famous stars and celebrities at the Oscars event. John Travolta, interviewed by the BBC backstage, said that, as a singer himself, he recognised just how perfect Adele’s vocal tone and pitch was. Similarly, speaking afterwards at the famous Vanity Fair Oscars party, Shirley Bassey was also extremely complimentary about Adele’s song and performance.
It is clear that the song is already being regarded as something of a ‘classic’ Bond song. Many congratulations, Adele!