Eminem shocked the crowd at the Dolby Theater in L.A. on Sunday night (Feb. 9) when he rocked the Academy Awards stage with a surprise performance of “Lose Yourself,” the 8 Mile track that won the Detroit MC an Oscar back in 2003. Making up for more than a decade of lost time — the rapper said he didn’t show up way back then because he was sure he wouldn’t win — Em ripped the tune that has become an iconic pump-up song.
You know you’re in the presence of a song that has touched and motivated people when superstars worried about not losing track of their mortgage-priced jewels (or gripping their armrest while listening for their name to be called) let their guard down and rap along with joy to the song that finally got its long-awaited moment in the sunshine at the awards broadcast.
Em honored his landmark performance by tweeting out a video of Barbra Streisand announcing his win with the very B-Rabbit-like message, “Look, if you had another shot, another opportunity… Thanks for having me @TheAcademy. Sorry it took me 18 years to get there.”
Look, if you had another shot, another opportunity… Thanks for having me @TheAcademy. Sorry it took me 18 years to get here. pic.twitter.com/CmSw2hmcZo
— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) February 10, 2020
Need proof that he moved the room? Check out some of these tweets capturing the in-house response by everyone from Idina Menzel to Billie Eilish and Finneas, Martin Scorsese and Kelly Marie Tran.
THE REACTIONS TO EMINEM ARE PRICELESS #Oscars pic.twitter.com/KPpNrMRROJ
— Aniq ⎊ (@RaniqDesigns) February 10, 2020
Kelly Marie Tran rapping along to Eminem's "Lose Yourself" at the #Oscars #Oscars2020 pic.twitter.com/fZmWYsqEkX
— Daily Kelly Marie Tran (@tranIoan) February 10, 2020
Do you remember the words to Eminem's "Lose Yourself"? The #Oscars crowd definitely does: https://t.co/8kz7m5vtnF pic.twitter.com/hkDE5MfIul
— ABC News (@ABC) February 10, 2020
Clowns on Twitter are posting reaction pictures of people apparently being "confused" about Eminem performing at the #Oscars. That's not what happened though. They was loving it. Only legends get this level of respect: pic.twitter.com/GOkn5R3DZg
— Joaquin Phoenix's Oscar (@LDR_______) February 10, 2020
Idina Menzel (@idinamenzel) is everyone during @Eminem's surprise performance of "Lose Yourself" at the #Oscars https://t.co/US8LHQAufU pic.twitter.com/a1DT3zPOV7
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 10, 2020
Some of the #Oscars crowd was super into that surprise Eminem performance. https://t.co/8kz7m5vtnF #Oscars pic.twitter.com/GMcLHMyz00
— ABC News (@ABC) February 10, 2020
Here are all the audience reactions to Eminem’s surprise #Oscar performance… 😂😂pic.twitter.com/zO4YFSGTkO
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) February 10, 2020
