Hudson, Foxx, Pharrell get 'Happy' with Oscar music

The Oscars are going for all kinds of Happy with their musical numbers. All the Oscar-nominated songmakers practiced their hits Friday at the Dolby Theatre in preparation for their live performances on Sunday's Oscars telecast. Pharrell, who wore his now famous hat to the auditorium but took it off to practice on the Oscar stage, performed several house-raising renditions of his nominated hit song Happy from Despicable Me 2. Singing and dancing in front more than 30 young professional dancers, Pharrell worked the rehearsal crowd into an enthusiastic lather. Actress Kate Hudson, on hand for rehearsals, was dancing with such vigor that she had to take off her faux-fur vest. She alternated from bobbing in her seat to moving enthusiastically in the aisle. Actor Jamie Foxx and his daughter, Corinne, were also in attendance. Jamie Foxx even strolled up to the Oscar stage to show the professional dancers some impressive moves. Brad Pitt showed Corinne Foxx he knows a thing or two about taking a good selfie. "Move it over here to avoid the shadow," Pitt said with a smile as he posed with her for their photo. Slowing it down on stage, Yeah Yeah Yeah front woman Karen O practiced an intimate version of her nominated The Moon Song with Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig strumming on an acoustic guitar. The song is from director Spike Jonze's Her, and Jonze co-wrote the lyrics to the song. Jonze was a constant presence during Friday's run-through. Irish rockers U2 closed the rehearsal space to practice their song Ordinary Love from the Nelson Mandela biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Broadway sensation Idina Menzel had no problems opening the house to her rehearsal for the nominated song Let It Go from the Frozen soundtrack. Menzel practiced with a full orchestra whose sounds were piped in from a remote studio location. Menzel gave a number of vocal variations to the final line in the song.. "I don't know, I'll just have to try it out," Menzel said as she readied for her live performance on Sunday. "I'll just have to go for it then."