The "Wicked: For Good" Oscar push gets live TV special for Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande

The event, which is fittingly happening at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, will air live on NBC and them hit Peacock the next day. We won't even do the "Wouldn't you know it, this event in LA is happening right before 'Wicked: For Good' hits theaters on November 21" bit, because nobody is hiding the intention here (beyond ratings for NBC). Jon M. Chu, director of both "Wicked" movies, made the announcement of this event, and he prefaced it by saying, "I am absolutely delighted to let you in on a centerpiece of our campaign for the second film."

So yeah, Erivo and Grande are singing songs from "Wicked" on TV right before "For Good" hits theaters fully to get the Oscar campaign up and running.

"Wicked" got a lot of Oscar nominations, but the wins were in tertiary categories. Some postulate that the fact everybody knew "For Good" was coming meant the powder was being kept dry. If "For Good" pops in the same way, it'll be the Oscars favorite. Erivo and Grande were both nominated for the first film, and one of them will likely emerge as the favorite in their category. This is going to be a heavy-duty Oscars campaign. Erivo and Grande, plus the overarching film, are getting something nobody else is really going to get: A TV special fully built around them.

That's bold, but people love "Wicked." This is going to be TV people who don't care about the Oscars will watch just to hear the songs. Live events, be they sports or otherwise, drive network television. NBC gets something here. Erivo and Grande get something here. Fans of "Wicked" get something here. This special makes almost too much sense.

(h/t Variety)