Shirley Bassey to make Oscars debut

British singer DAME SHIRLEY BASSEY will make her Oscars debut later this month (24Feb13) when she joins ADELE and BARBRA STREISAND among the great voices at the 2013 Academy Awards.

Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are refusing to release information about Bassey's performance, but insiders claim she'll be belting out her Bond themes to Goldfinger and Moonraker as part of a planned tribute to all things 007.

Zadan says, "We are thrilled to welcome the legendary Dame Shirley Bassey to our Oscar show. Her association with film music is world renowned and we are proud that she will be making her first Oscar appearance on our telecast."

Meanwhile, the producers have also revealed William Ross will be returning to conduct the orchestra for the Academy Awards.

Ross, who conducted for the 79th and 83rd Oscars, is a renowned composer and arranger with clients that have included Streisand, Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Michael Buble, Mariah Carey and the late Whitney Houston.

His film scores have included The Tale of Despereaux and Tuck Everlasting and he also adapted and conducted the score to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.