 Aaliyah reported that various journalists and celebrities kept informing her that the ceremony was expected to be the most-watched Academy Awards telecast ever.The first of five Academy Award-nominated musical performances that evening, Aaliyah shared with Roche that she was feeling nervous during the moments prior to her performance.She confided in singer Michael Bolton who was scheduled to perform "Go the Distance" from "Hercules" (1997) immediately after her, asking him "are you as nervous as I am?"