How Tems set tongues wagging at OSCARS 2023
Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems attends the 95th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 12, 2023. (Photo by Robyn BECK / AFP)
By Benjamin Njoku
Tems knows how to turn heads when it comes to walking the red carpet. And the Grammy award-winning singer’s fairy-tale outing, Sunday night, for the 2023 OSCARS, is a pointer to this claim.
The Nigerian alternative singer, who was nominated for Best Original Song for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever track, ‘Lift Me Up’, stormed the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, the venue of the biggest night of movies, wearing an enormous headpiece that left the audience sitting behind her unable to see the stage.
She paired the headpiece with a puffy white gown that wrapped around the back of her head. Her abstract outfit has since sparked mixed reactions on all social media platforms.
While many have praised her boldness to step with the abstract showstopping white hooded gown, made by LA-based fashion designer, Lessja Verlingieri, of Lever Couture, others have knocked her for it. But the good thing is that Tems has set tongues wagging in the entertainment world because of how she dressed at the Oscars.
Though she hasn’t said anything about her dress till now, the songstress is believed to be enjoying the global limelight that her talent has brought her into. Her unique and bold fashion choice certainly stood her out at the star-studded event.
On the red carpet, Tems turned heads, but her headpiece quickly became a subject of discourse on social media, as viewers inside the Dolby Theater reportedly struggled to get a glimpse of the stage.
The avant-garde gown featured pleated structural details that ebbed and flowed from her shoulders, around her waist, and even to the top of her head, wrapping around her cheeks. The sculptural dress additionally included a high slide slit and dramatic train.
Tems looked like the cloudy, feathery landscape of heaven itself. The songstress is accessorized with sparkling dangling earrings, rings and matching bracelets for some major bling.
Talking about her makeup, Tems went with perfectly defined brows, a vibrant eye look featuring fluttery lashes and her signature glossy lips paired perfectly with a slicked-back updo complemented by well-laid edges. She literally stole the show for some at the Oscars. But others criticized her outfit on the ground that it restricted the view of those who sat behind and around her, which sparked mixed reactions on Twitter.
“I’m cryinnnnnnn,” one user tweeted alongside a video of Tems in the audience. “Tems got that lady fighting for her life.”
Another person tweeted:”Imagine waiting your whole life to be at the Oscars and you end up sitting behind a stratus cloud.” “I guess the people behind the white veil don’t get to see the show,”said the third user.
Meanwhile, not everyone criticized Tems for her dress. Some Nigerians yesterday took to their Instagram pages to hail the 27-year-old singer, saying ‘she registered her attendance at the show through her dress.
If for anything, Tems is steadily making inroads into establishing herself as a global brand.
