'Sinners' Oscars performance fires up the stage with Misty Copeland, Shaboozey, more stars

The simmering blues-rock fusion of “I Lied to You” captivated in “Sinners,” and the performance of the Raphael Saadiq-penned track for its Oscars bow was equally riveting.

Miles Caton, the Brooklyn-born musician who made his film debut alongside Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, was joined by Saadiq, as well as stage full of luminaries including ballet icon Misty Copeland, musicians Shaboozey, Brittany Howard (whose “Pale, Pale Moon” is also on the “Sinners” soundtrack), Eric Gales and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram (whose fiery guitar playing contributes to the score) and other familiar faces from the record-breaking film – Buddy Guy, Jayme Lawson and Li Jun Li.

The “Sinners” musical homage during Sunday’s show took the same slow-burn direction as the movie, as Caton, on a replica of the darkened juke joint, sauntered through the song. Dancers gyrated to his swampy guitar lines as a camera trailed the stage, zooming in Shaboozey leaning into a verse and DJ D-Nice, sporting his signature hat, behind the turntables.

The fever dream continued with Howard wailing on guitar and vocals, the production morphing into a beautiful stew of blues rock and given an exclamation point – and a standing ovation – with Copeland spinning out of the shadows.

“I Lied to You” joined “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters” as the only other best original song nominee chosen to be showcased live.

The other nominated songs that were addressed in pretaped segments were from Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner ("Train Dreams" from "Train Dreams"), Nicholas Pike ("Sweet Dreams of Joy" from "Viva Verdi!") and perennial nominee Diane Warren ("Dear Me" from her documentary "Relentless").

Though “I Lied to You” has scooped up a few trophies on the awards circuit, such as the Guild of Music Supervisors (best song written and/or recorded for film) and the Hollywood Music in Media Awards (feature film and song, onscreen performance), its Oscar nomination was its biggest recognition.