Moana star Auli’i Cravalho was hit in the head with a flag during her performance with Lin-Manuel Miranda at the 2017 Academy Awards on Sunday, February 26, but she took it like a champ. Watch the snafu in the video above, and follow Us Weekly’s Oscars live blog for all the highlights from the show!
Fellow Moana star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson introduced the 16-year-old singer’s performance, joking, “I’ve been told that in these very politically charged times, there’s literally only one thing that can bring the entire planet together: Dwayne Johnson singing his song from the Oscar-nominated Moana, live in front of a billion people.”
The WWE wrestler, 44, then told the star-studded audience that the Academy quickly changed their minds after hearing his questionable vocals and, instead, chose his “twin” Cravalho.
Kicking off the performance, Hamilton creator Miranda, 37, who cowrote the music for Moana, took the stage at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre to deliver a prologue. Soon after, Cravalho, clad in a stunning red gown, joined him and belted out a powerful rendition of “How Far I’ll Go” from the Disney animated movie.
The Kohala, Hawaii, native brought Moana to life on stage as dancers pranced around her with ocean blue flags. In one split-second moment, a performer bumped Cravalho’s head with a flag, but she barely flinched and continued to show off her vocal prowess.
Moana is nominated for two Oscars tonight: Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song for “How Far I’ll Go.”
