Already, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's hot Oscar moment has reached Leo and Kate immortality

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper did more than just soar during their intimate Oscar performance of "Shallow" Sunday night.

They flew into screen couple immortality, Leo and Kate "Titanic"-style.

From the moment the "A Star Is Born" duo stepped from the audience, hand-in-hand, to the perfectly lit Oscars stage, and Cooper sang, "Tell me something, girl," people could felt the heat.

That only grew as Gaga keyed up the song's intensity behind the piano, and Cooper left his mic stand to join her on the bench. The duo sang the final moments impossibly close, eyes closed, camera right there, giving a final history-sealing look into each other's eyes before the thunderous standing ovation in the Dolby Theatre.

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It was such a devastatingly romantic performance that some have paid it the highest compliment in thinking the passion is real.

Just as fans fervently wished that Leo DiCaprio (as Jack) and Kate Winslet's (Rose) shared kiss on the bow of the Titanic was also real. It was acting; the two never dated.

But those hopes have endured for decades, reigniting as DiCaprio and Winslet reunited two decades later on the Oscars red carpet. In 2017, when they were photographed together, Winslet had to let fans down, again, by saying they still weren't dating.

The impact of Gaga and Cooper's burning Oscar moment was clear before the audience sat down from its ovation.

The Internet memes were instant and unrelenting, given the romantic universe of Ally (Gaga) and Jackson (Cooper) that's already cemented in the minds of fans who have poured $425 million of worldwide box office into "A Star Is Born."

Many had trouble accepting that it was a carefully choreographed, rehearsed Oscars routine where every gesture was planned in advance.

As USA TODAY's Andrea Mandell reported from the Oscar wings. Gaga wanted to know, “Did I nail it?” as she stepped backstage, telling Cooper, “I’m so (expletive) proud of you," for executing the moment just as they had rehearsed.

But even my brother felt compelled to ask on a family text thread if Bradley and Gaga are a couple, prompting my mother to respond, "Bradley is there with his girlfriend! They are actors!" We don't normally have these kind of conversations.

Twitter swooned, joked and wondered. "Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga getting married For President 2020," Jake Baldino tweeted. "Bradley Cooper 100% sleeping on the sofa tonight," Alec Flood wrote.

David Spade posted on Instagram that the two must be intimate, in NSFW terms, to which Cooper's ex-wife Jennifer Esposito responded, “Ha." This one word took on a multitude of interpretations.

Their passion seemed so real that former Spice Girl Mel B said on "Good Morning Britain" that Gaga had broken a "code" by getting that intimate on the piano bench with Cooper. Mel B was uncomfortable for Cooper's Russian supermodel girlfriend Irina Shayk in the audience.

“I would like to think it was part of the whole performance, because there’s a women’s code," Mel B said. "Hopefully, it’s only professional."

It was ridiculous statement, but a testament to the power of the performance. For the record, Shayk was the first to stand in applause at the duet's end and gave Gaga a big hug after she won her Oscar for "Shallow."

When Gaga posted the video Tuesday on Instagram, she gushingly remembered the "special" moment, while calling Cooper "a true friend."

This tittering about whether the two have something beyond a professional relationship will pass. But the memory and the YouTube replays will not – as Maria Shriver noted on Instagram, she is "still watching this" and plans to all week.

This immortal Oscar moment has gone forever, as Rose would say, "to the stars."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Already, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's hot Oscar moment has reached Leo and Kate immortality