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Oscars 2014: ‘Frozen’ out by a Disney princess in song category

Pharrell Williams, dancing with Amy Adams as he works the crowd, sings "Happy" from "Despicable Me 2."
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Book U2 frontman Bono for the Grammy Awards and perhaps only a Beatle or a Rolling Stone could upstage him. At the Oscars, however, the rock ‘n’ roll humanitarian had nothing on a Disney princess.

Idina Menzel stole the Dolby Theatre stage Sunday with “Let It Go,” the diva belter from Disney’s smash “Frozen,” which would go on to win the Oscar a few minutes later for original song.

“To our fellow nominees, you are all rock stars — literally,” said Kristen Anderson-Lopez as she accepted the Oscar with her husband, Robert Lopez.

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Indeed, the “Let It Go” competition included U2, hitmaker Pharrell Williams and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O.

The winners dedicated the honor to their two daughters and “the hope,” Anderson-Lopez said, “that you never let fear or shame keep you from celebrating the unique people that you are.”

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But it was the film academy that kept the audience from celebrating all of “Let It Go.” Three verses of the song were axed from the telecast, including the all-important, tough-as-nails transition that “the cold never bothered me anyway.”

That was puzzling, as this year’s telecast was hyped as one of the most pop-focused Oscars in recent history, even booking Pink to sing “Over the Rainbow” in a tribute to the 75th anniversary of “The Wizard of Oz.”

Pop’s Karen O teamed with Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig to perform “The Moon Song” from the film “Her.” She sang, tucked into a graceful red dress, while he strummed, sporting red socks, in a performance more intimate than any seen on the Oscars since perhaps Elliott Smith performed his song “Miss Misery” from 1997’s “Good Will Hunting.”

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U2’s “Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” is the type of slow-building arena rock number that Bono & Co. can churn out with ease, but the band muted the song Sunday night. On record, gospel-tinged electronics give way to a giant chorus. At the Oscars, the Edge’s signature twinkling guitar notes were replaced by far-less distinct acoustic strumming.

A far more stirring moment occurred earlier when Darlene Love broke into a few bars of “His Eye on the Sparrow,” giving a brief yet impassioned take onstage after “20 Feet From Stardom,” a film about the ups-and-downs of backup singers, including Love, won for documentary feature. That suggests Oscar would do well to loosen its tux a little — as Williams seemed to understand: His light-stepping “Happy” was the nominated song that shone most brightly on the Oscar stage.

But the category’s only real controversy was over a song that wasn’t performed at all. There were originally five nominees, the fifth being the little known hymn “Alone Yet Not Alone,” from the faith-based film of the same name. The song was ruled ineligible after its composer, a former governor of the academy, was judged to have breached the organization’s ethics by promoting the song to his fellow academy members.

todd.martens@latimes.com

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