Billie Eilish says her performance at last week’s Academy Awards ceremony was “trash.” In a new interview, the 18-year-old Grammy-winning singer blasted her rendition of The Beatles’ classic “Yesterday” during the “In Memoriam” segment of the star-studded awards show.
The “In Memoriam” portion of the show made headlines — but not due to Eilish’s performance. Rather, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences omitted numerous fan favorites who passed away the past year, including Luke Perry, Cameron Boyce, and Tim Conway, among others. But Eilish, who took the stage at the Oscars with her brother Finneas on the piano, had a bigger problem — her own voice, which served as the backdrop for the slideshow that paid tribute to the many actors, filmmakers, and other members of the Academy who died last year.
The slideshow featured images of Doris Day, Peter Fonda, John Singleton, Kirk Douglas, Andre Previn, Peter Mayhew, Kobe Bryant, and many more icons as Eilish and her brother performed the 1965 Beatles song. But while many fans thought it was a touching and beautiful tribute, in an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple’s New Music Daily , the Grammy winner said she “bombed” her performance.
“That sh*t was trash,” she said of her performance, revealing she was sick with a cold that day. The young singer also admitted she was way out of her comfort zone while on stage at the 92 nd Academy Awards.
“The Oscars is not my …I’m not used to that,” Eilish said. “At least the Grammy’s wasn’t as scary because it was, like, artists… and it felt like my people. It felt like, oh look, a bunch of artists, and I knew a lot of them already and I’d met them and they knew of me. The Oscars, I’m like, these are movie stars. Totally different, the show is so scary… it was so scary.”
She added that she doesn’t usually get nervous when doing performances, but said the Oscars, were different.
‘That sh*t was terrifying,” she confessed, admitting she was “just glad it was over.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKmqtaxIS3Y
Fans did not agree with the singer’s review of her own performance. In comments to ABC’s YouTube post of the “In Memoriam” segment, many fans praised Eilish’s “angelic” voice and “stunning” performance.
With the Oscars now behind her, she told Lowe she is way more excited about her upcoming tour, which kicks off in March. The singer said she is “ready” to get back on the road, where the real magic happens.
While Eilish isn’t a fan of the Oscars, she could find herself there again next year, however, if her James Bond theme song,” No Time To Die,” gets a Best Original Song nod for 2021.