Academy Awards
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The 2023 Academy Awards took over Hollywood on Sunday night (March 12) with star-studded musical offerings by Rihanna, Lady Gaga and more for the best original song performances by the nominees.
The Super Bowl Halftime Show performer hit the stage in a custom Maison Margiela Artisanal outfit designed especially for her by John Galliano for the live debut of the Oscar-nominated “Lift Me Up,” one of her two offerings on the soundtrack to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Meanwhile, Mother Monster took the opposite route by stripping down to a simple black tee, ripped jeans and a makeup-free face for her last-minute performance of “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick. “It’s deeply personal for me, and I think that we all need each other,” she said prior to launching into the song as the camera zoomed in for the closest of close-ups on her face. “We need a lot of love to walk through this life. And we all need a hero sometimes, there’s heroes all around us in unassuming places. But you might find that you can be your own hero, even if you feel broken inside.”
Elsewhere during the ceremony, 14-time nominee Diane Warren accompanied Sofia Carson through “Applause” from the anthology film Tell It Like a Woman, and eventual best original song winner “Naatu Naatu” from RRR became the biggest song-and-dance spectacle of the evening led by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava.
Plus David Byrne teamed up with best supporting actress nominee Stephanie Hsu and Son Lux for a trippy, cerebral take on “This Is a Life” from fan favorite Everything Everywhere All at Once — giant hot dog fingers included.
Besides the performances of the best original song nominees, Lenny Kravitz soundtracked this year’s In Memoriam segment with his 2004 single “Calling All Angels.”
Watch each of the performances at the 2023 Oscars below.
Jimmy Kimmel has seen, heard and, let’s be honest, told way too many Will Smith–Chris Rock 2022 Academy Award slap jokes. But on Sunday night (March 12), the late night talker will be back on the Oscars stage for his third go-round as the night’s host and in his first one-on-one interview promoting the show he assured Good Morning America‘s Lara Spencer on Thursday (March 9) that there will be no such incidents on his watch.
“I’ll tell you what, nobody got hit when I hosted the show,” Kimmel joked about his 2017 and 2018 stints keeping the trains running on movie’s biggest night. Kimmel said he’s given it a lot of thought and he knows that “a million jokes have been made about it, a million think pieces have been written on it… There has been a lot said about it, so whatever I say has to be I think — you know, it has to be good.”
So rest assured that Kimmel has plenty to say about the thing that will undoubtedly be on everyone’s mind. “Everybody’s gonna be waiting for that moment. And that will be part of the show, but certainly not the focus of the show,” he said of the notorious incident that birthed a million headlines after Smith shocked viewers by storming the stage and slapping comedian Rock across the face after the stand-up made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Besides, Kimmel knows what happens when things go sideways at the Oscars, as they did in 2017 when Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway presented the best picture award and accidentally said La La Land instead of the correct winner, Moonlight.
“We had a little envelope problem the first time,” Kimmel said. “That was that. And then — but I’ll tell you what, nobody got hit when I hosted the show. Everybody was well-behaved at my Oscars.”
Kimmel said he’s also really excited for Rihanna‘s performance of her Oscar-nominated Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ballad “Lift Me Up.” After the singer revealed that she is pregnant with her second child during this year’s Super Bowl LVII halftime performance, Kimmel said Sunday’s set should be equally dramatic.
“Rihanna is more pregnant than the Super Bowl,” he said. “She’s bigger, it’s bigger. Come see Rihanna have a baby!” And as for Kimmel’s long-time A-list nemesis, actor Matt Damon, you can surely imagine what Jimmy had to say about that. “Matt Damon… was not invited, was not nominated, and I hope he’s never invited or nominated again.”
Watch Kimmel on GMA here.
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Rihanna, fresh from rocking the Super Bowl Halftime Show earlier this month, will find herself again on the stage at one of the most prestigious events of the year. The Barbadian superstar and business mogul will perform the soul-stirring “Lift Me Up” at this upcoming Oscars ceremony.
Rihanna is currently expecting her second child while still running her massive Savage X Fenty fashion and beauty empire, but it looked like the prospect of a new album is further in the rearview. However, with the halftime show and the impending Oscars performance, which was announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday (Feb. 23).
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As one of the featured songs from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack, the Oscar-nominated “Lift Me Up” is nominated for Original Song and serves as Rihanna’s first Oscar nomination. The song was written by Rihanna, Ludwig Göransson, Ryan Coogler, and Tems.
The 95th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The live event will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmell.
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Reaching the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 has been a goal for songwriters since the chart’s inception in 1958. Winning an Oscar for best original song has been on most songwriters’ bucket lists even longer than that – the category dates back to 1934.
A total of 27 songs have achieved both of these milestones. That number could jump to 28 when the 95th annual Academy Awards are presented on March 12 if Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” wins the award. The song debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 in November 2022. The number could also jump to 28 if one of the other nominees wins and makes a big enough splash on the show that it belatedly reaches the top 10.
Five artists have each made the top 10 with two Oscar-winning songs – Barbra Streisand, Irene Cara, Jennifer Warnes, Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. Streisand and Cara each co-wrote one of those songs.
Scroll through a gallery featuring the 27 songs that both made the top 10 on the Hot 100 and won an Oscar for best original song. (Hits between 1934-57 don’t appear because they pre-dated the Hot 100.)
First, let’s give a quick shout-out to an Oscar-winning classic that just missed the top 10 – twice. Two versions of “Moon River,” the 1961 champ, peaked at No. 11 – one by its composer Henry Mancini and another by R&B singer Jerry Butler.
Now let’s fire up that time machine. (All chart references are to the Hot 100.)
Rickey Minor will serve as music director of the 2023 Oscars, airing live Sunday, March 12, on ABC. Minor last served as the show’s music director in 2020.
Raj Kapoor, who has been associated with the Oscars telecast for six years, returns as a producer. Kapoor has been one of three executive producers (along with Ben Winston and Jesse Collins) of the Grammy Awards the last two years.
These were two of the key announcements on Thursday (Feb. 9) as Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, executive producers and showrunners for the 95th Oscars, unveiled members of their production team.
Minor has received 14 Emmy Award nominations for outstanding music direction, winning twice. He has been nominated three times for his work on the Kennedy Center Honors, twice for the Oscars, twice for the Grammy Awards and twice for “Grammy Salutes” specials to the Bee Gees and Aretha Franklin. He has also been nominated for the following specials: Genius: A Night for Ray Charles, An Evening of Stars: Tribute to Chaka Khan, Smithsonian Salutes Ray Charles: In Performance at the White House, Taking the Stage: African American Music and Stories That Changed America and Celebrating America – An Inauguration Night Special.
Minor’s other television credits include We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, American Idol and The Primetime Emmy Awards. Minor has also worked with Adele, Jon Batiste, Beyoncé, John Legend, Ed Sheeran and many more.
Kapoor won his first Primetime Emmy last year as an executive producer of Adele: One Night Only, which won as outstanding variety special (pre-recorded). He has also been nominated three times for outstanding variety special (live) for the Grammys.
Kapoor’s recent credits include Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration, Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter, The Latin Grammys, several The Disney Family Singalong specials and Stand Up to Cancer. Returning members of the production team are Rob Paine, co-executive producer; Taryn Hurd, talent producer; Agathe Panaretos, writer; Dave Boone, writer; and Robert Dickinson, lighting designer.First-time members of the production team are Sarah Levine Hall, producer; Erin Irwin, producer; Jennifer Sharron, producer; and Nefetari Spencer, writer. Irwin and Sharron are both executive producers of Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Kimmel is hosting the Oscars for the third time.
The 95th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 12 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.
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Renowned actress Angela Bassett secured an anticipated Oscar nomination for Wakanda Forever, one of a few for the blockbuster film.
On Tuesday morning (Jan. 24), the Academy announced the list of nominees for the 95th Academy Awards. Angela Bassett was nominated for her role of Queen Ramonda in the Black Panther sequel film Wakanda Forever, making history in a three-fold fashion. She’s the first person of color, the first woman, and the first Marvel Studios actor to obtain an Oscar nomination for a role in a film adapted from a comic book.
Her nomination stands out among the few nominations that the 2022 blockbuster received from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. The Rihanna & Tems single “Lift Me Up” (written with composer Ludwig Göransson and Ryan Coogler) was nominated for Best Original Song. Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick were nominated for Best Visual Effects. Legendary industry designer Ruth E. Carter received a nomination for Best Costume Design, and Camille Friend and Joel Harlow were nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
For the 64-year-old veteran actress, this is her second Oscar nomination. She had been nominated for Best Actress in 1993 for her portrayal of Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do with It. Bassett is considered to be the favorite to win this go-round even as critics’ favorite Everything Everywhere All At Once (which dominated the 2023 Oscars nomination list) has two actresses in the category in Stephanie Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Her riveting work recently won the Critics Choice Award and most recently the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. During her acceptance speech for the Globes award, she spoke of how the cast and crew banded together to honor the late Chadwick Boseman in filming Wakanda Forever.
“We have joy in knowing that with this historic Black Panther series, it is a part of his legacy that he helped to lead us to we showed the world what Black unity, leadership, and love looks like beyond, behind, and in front of the camera.”
The 95th Academy Awards will be held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, California Sunday, March 12, and will be aired live on ABC.
The Weeknd opened up about “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength),” his theme song from Avatar: The Way of Water, being shortlisted for the 2022 Oscars race in a new interview on Monday (Jan. 9).
“I feel honored to be part of that list. Any kind of recognition for it feels like a blessing,” the R&B crooner told The Hollywood Reporter. Should his Na’vi-inspired ballad make the leap from the best original song shortlist to official nominee, it would mark the second time the artist otherwise known as Abel Tesfaye has earned a nod from the Academy following his nomination for “Earned It” from 2015’s Fifty Shades of Grey. “It’d be great,” he added of clinching another nomination. “But I’m just happy that I got to be part of such a historic film.”
However, The Weeknd clarified during the chat that the process behind crafting “Nothing Is Lost” was markedly different from writing the slow jam for the story of Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey. “The song in the film for Fifty Shades of Grey is just so sexy and sexual,” he said. “Working on this song was fun as well, but that felt a little bit more fun and loose, while this one felt a little bit more scientific. I couldn’t veer away from what [director James Cameron wanted]. Because the song is so connected with the film, I had to make sure that it didn’t feel like we just plopped in a pop song at the end of the credits. I couldn’t be as vague as ‘Earned It.’”
Even with a more rigorous set of guidelines, the singer had nothing but good things to say about being enlisted by the Oscar-winning filmmaker for the soundtrack to the long-awaited sequel. “He is a genius, and I just felt honored that I got to collaborate with him,” he said. “The best part about writing the song was getting notes from James and making sure that all the lyrics and the tones fit the themes of the film. I think I rewrote the song maybe six times to make sure it was perfect.”
The Weeknd also notched his 16th career top 10 hit this week as his 2016 Starboy-era single “Die For You” surged to No. 8 on the Hot 100 (chart dated Jan. 14) and released the music video for “Is There Someone Else?” on the one-year anniversary of 2022’s Dawn FM.
Read The Weeknd’s complete chat with THR here.
Since the Academy Awards handed out their first statuettes for best original song in 1935, almost two-thirds of the winners have been writing duos, including such legendary twosomes as Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.
Now, 87 years after composer Con Conrad and Herb Magidson won the inaugural trophies for penning “The Continental” from the 1934 film The Gay Divorcee, some observers say the Oscars need to update their rules to better reflect how songs are now created.
Current academy rules favor fewer songwriters at a time when the number of writers per song is increasing. So far this year, the average number of songwriters credited on a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 is 6.4, compared with 4.77 over a decade ago in 2009.
Yet the academy considers any combination of more than two writers for a best original song contender an exception. According to the rules, if there are three or four songwriters, “a third statuette may be awarded when there are essentially equal writers of a song. The Music Branch Executive Committee has the right, in what it alone determines to be a very rare and extraordinary circumstance, to award a fourth statuette.”
If there are five or more credited songwriters, only one statuette is awarded to the collective, and the rules state “each songwriter must agree to the single ‘group statuette’ option by signing and returning a Group Award form prior to the submission deadline.” (Though a handful of other categories limit the number of eligible nominees, only best original song and best original score have the group statuette option.)
To deny all eligible songwriters their own statuette, regardless of the number, is “antiquated thinking,” says a senior A&R executive at a major label who has worked on Oscar-nominated songs. “The creation of art evolves over time. And as an organization that represents art — whether it’s visual media art or recorded art — you have to adapt and evolve.”
The academy (which declined to respond to the anonymous opinions in this piece) is clinging to a tradition “going back decades, that the way a song got written was essentially by two people, a composer and lyricist,” says the head of music at a movie studio. “They’re out of touch.”
Only two best original song winners have had four songwriters (“Arthur’s Theme” in 1982 and “Shallow” in 2019), and no Oscar has gone to five or more songwriters. Only once have more than five writers been nominated, when all seven members of Counting Crows earned a nod for “Accidentally in Love” from Shrek 2 in 2004. The next year, the limitation on the number of statuettes was introduced.
As a result, when there are more than four songwriters, it’s often up to them to make a hard decision. In January 2019, “All the Stars,” from Black Panther, received a best original song nod, but only four of the five songwriters — Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Sounwave and Anthony Tiffith — were credited. Fifth collaborator Alexander Shuckburgh (aka Al Shux) was not listed, even though a month earlier, when “All the Stars” received a Grammy nod for song of the year, his name was. (Shux did not respond for a request for comment.)
“Because of the constraints of the rules, we’ve had to have really uncomfortable conversations with songwriters to say, ‘Hey, you guys, go away and figure this out,’ ” says the movie studio executive, adding that in some cases, the writers have come back with participating songwriters left off to cull their total to four. “It’s hurtful and unfair.”
At least two tracks that could potentially make the shortlist of 15 songs to be announced Dec. 21 have five or more songwriters. “Lift Your Wings” from Netflix’s My Father’s Dragon has five credited songwriters. It was entered as a group submission so all writers would be recognized. The title track to My Mind & Me, Apple Original Films’ documentary about Selena Gomez, has six songwriters.
The group submission form requests a detailed explanation of the creative process, and songwriters may be deemed ineligible at the Music Branch committee’s discretion.
“I understand from the perspective of the academy that they want to keep it special and not be perceived as handing [awards] out like a participation prize,” says another label executive, “but some of the best songs of the past 20 years have been written by an army of collaborators, [and] we’ve seen an evolution of thought in terms of how those songs are regarded.”
The head of music at another movie studio sees the issue as more nuanced and, while not necessarily agreeing with the limitations on the hardware handed out, appreciates the seriousness of the academy’s deliberations when there are several songwriters.
“Each song can be a unique situation, and you have to be able to consider that,” the executive says. “You do have to look at who has done the majority of the work. It’s really important that you have music that was determinately created from scratch for that project. You have to put guardrails somewhere.”
This story will appear in the Nov. 19, 2022, issue of Billboard.
The 94th annual Academy Awards telecast in March got off to a strong start, with Beyoncé singing her best original song contender, “Be Alive,” from King Richard on the tennis courts where Venus and Serena Williams practiced as children. Depending on how the 2023 Oscar nominations shake out, the producers of next year’s telecast just might be able to book an opening number with comparable star power.
When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reveals its shortlists of 15 contenders for best original song and best original score (as well as 10 other categories) on Dec. 21, Rihanna is a strong contender for “Lift Me Up,” which she co-wrote for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. So are Doja Cat for “Vegas” (Elvis), Taylor Swift for “Carolina” (Where the Crawdads Sing) and Lady Gaga for “Hold My Hand” — the last of which could be in contention along with fellow Top Gun: Maverick song “I Ain’t Worried” by OneRepublic. If Gaga’s power ballad and OneRepublic’s joy bomb both make the shortlist, it will mark the first time that two songs from the same film have done so since 2019, when two tracks from the reboot of The Lion King made the cut.
Nominations-round voting is open Jan. 12-17, 2023. Nominations will be announced Jan. 24. Final-round voting is open March 2-7. The awards will air March 12 on ABC. Expect the shortlists for best original song and best original score to look something like this.
“Lift Me Up”Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, Rihanna, TemsBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel
“All the Stars” from the original Black Panther was nominated in this category four years ago. Coogler directed and co-wrote both Black Panther and this sequel. The four co-writers could hardly be more international: Coogler was born in the United States, Göransson in Sweden, Rihanna in Barbados and Tems in Nigeria.
“Vegas”Rogét Chahayed, Doja Cat, David SprecherElvis, Warner Bros.
The academy’s music committee will determine whether this song, which borrows heavily from the 1950s classic “Hound Dog” is eligible. (Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who wrote the Elvis Presley hit, would not be.) Incredibly, no song from a movie Presley starred in was ever nominated for best original song.
“This Is a Life”David Byrne, Ryan Lott, MitskiEverything Everywhere All at Once, A24
Byrne won an Oscar 35 years ago for best original score for The Last Emperor. Lott is a member of the trio Son Lux, which performs this song, with backing by Byrne and Mitski. This would be the first Oscar nod for both Lott and Mitski.
“Turn Up the Sunshine”Jack Antonoff, Patrik Berger, Sam Dew, Kevin ParkerMinions: The Rise of Gru, Illumination/Universal Pictures
This would be the first Oscar nomination for all four songwriters. The Antonoff-produced soundtrack consists mostly of contemporary artists covering ’60s and ’70s songs. It also includes new tunes such as this one, recorded by Diana Ross and featuring the Parker-led Tame Impala.
“Naatu Naatu”M. M. KeeravaniRRR, Variance Films
This Indian Telugu-language song would be the first foreign-language track to win this category since “Jai Ho,” the festive Hindi song from Slumdog Millionaire that took the prize 14 years ago. The scene in which it appears was filmed at the Ukraine Presidential Palace in Kyiv a few months before the Russian invasion.
“My Mind & Me”Amy Allen, Jonathan Bellion, Selena Gomez, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Michael PollackSelena Gomez: My Mind & Me, Apple Original Films
This documentary was directed by Alek Keshishian, who also directed Madonna: Truth or Dare, as well as such music videos as Gomez’s “Hands to Myself.” The film follows Gomez on a six-year journey that has included both health challenges and professional successes, among them her first Emmy and Grammy nods.
“Do a Little Good”Benj Pasek, Justin PaulSpirited, Apple Original Films
Pasek and Paul have been nominated three times in this category, with two songs from La La Land and one from The Greatest Showman. They have no shortage of contenders this year — this song and “Good Afternoon” from Spirited, as well as two others from Lyle, Lyle Crocodile.
“Applause”Diane WarrenTell It Like a Woman, Samuel Goldwyn Films
With this song, Warren vies for her 14th nomination in this category. She would be the first songwriter or songwriting team to be nominated six years running since Marilyn and Alan Bergman’s 1968-73 streak. Warren will receive a Governors Award from the academy on Nov. 19.
“Stand Up”Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II, Jazmine SullivanTill, Orion/United Artists Releasing
D’Mile won in this category two years ago with “Fight for You” from Judas and the Black Messiah. If he triumphs again, he would become the first Black songwriter to win this award twice. Sullivan won her first two Grammys in April, for best R&B album and best R&B performance.
“Hold My Hand”BloodPop (Michael Tucker), Lady GagaTop Gun: Maverick, Paramount Pictures
This would be Gaga’s third nod in this category following “Til It Happens to You” from The Hunting Ground (2015) and “Shallow” from A Star Is Born (2018), which took the award. “Take My Breath Away” from the original Top Gun won the 1986 award in this category.
“I Ain’t Worried”Ryan Tedder, Brent Kutzle, Tyler Spry, John ErikssonTop Gun: Maverick, Paramount Pictures
The Oscars’ music committee will determine whether this is eligible. “I Ain’t Worried” borrows elements from “Young Folks” by Peter Bjorn and John. The writers of that 2006 song (Björn Yttling and Peter Morén) would not be eligible.
“Nobody Like U”Billie Eilish, Finneas O’ConnellTurning Red, Pixar
The siblings are the reigning champs in this category for the title song from No Time To Die. “Nobody Like U” is performed in the animated Turning Red by the fictional boy band 4*Town, which O’Connell helped voice. The film was written, directed and produced entirely by women.
“Dust & Ash”J. RalphThe Voice of Dust and Ash, Matilda Productions
This would be Ralph’s fourth nod in this category following “Before My Time” from Chasing Ice (2012), “Manta Ray” from Racing Extinction (2015) and “The Empty Chair” from Jim: The James Foley Story (2016). Ralph and Norah Jones sing this song on the soundtrack to the documentary.
“Carolina”Taylor SwiftWhere the Crawdads Sing, Sony Pictures
This Appalachian folk-style ballad could result in Swift’s first Oscar nomination. She has received three Golden Globe nods (for “Safe & Sound” from The Hunger Games, “Sweeter Than Fiction” from One Chance and “Beautiful Ghosts” from Cats).
“New Body Rhumba”Pat Mahoney, James Murphy, Nancy WhangWhite Noise, Netflix
LCD Soundsystem recorded this song for the soundtrack of the Noah Baumbach film. Mahoney, Murphy and Whang all belong to the Brooklyn-based band, which won the best dance recording Grammy five years ago for “Tonite.” The film stars Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig and Don Cheadle.
Babylon (Paramount Pictures)Justin Hurwitz
Babylon is the fifth film directed by Oscar winner Damien Chazelle. Hurwitz has scored all five, including most famously La La Land, for which he won in this category six years ago. Babylon’s cast includes Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Jean Smart.
The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)Carter Burwell
This would be Burwell’s third nomination in this category following Carol (2015) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017). The Banshees of Inisherin is a black comedy-drama written and directed by Martin McDonagh, who also did the honors on Three Billboards. It stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.
The Batman (Warner Bros.)Michael Giacchino
This would be Giacchino’s third nomination in this category following Ratatouille (2007) and Up (2009, for which he won). The Batman, a reboot of the Batman film franchise, stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman alongside Zoë Kravitz.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Marvel)Ludwig Göransson
Göransson won this honor four years ago for the original Black Panther. Should he do so for this sequel, he’ll become the second composer to win for two installments of the same franchise. Howard Shore did the same for two films in the Lord of the Rings franchise.
Empire of Light (Searchlight Pictures)Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Reznor and Ross are two-time category winners for The Social Network (2010) and Soul (2020, which they won in tandem with Jon Batiste). Should they win again, they’ll become the first composer or composing team to win three scoring Oscars in this century.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)Son Lux
The band, consisting of Rafiq Bhatia, Ian Chang and Ryan Lott, composed the music for the science fiction/action film that was written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. They produced it with siblings Anthony and Joseph Russo.
The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)John Williams
This would be Williams’ record-extending 48th nomination in a scoring category. Moreover, it would give him scoring nods in seven consecutive decades. If he wins, Williams, 90, would surpass James Ivory as the oldest Oscar honoree — Ivory was 89 when he won best adapted screenplay for Call Me by Your Name.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix)Alexandre Desplat
Desplat won for The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and The Shape of Water (2017). Should he win again, he’ll tie the late Maurice Jarre as the Frenchman with the most scoring Oscars. Jarre won for Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and A Passage to India.
Clockwise: Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Pattinson and Kravitz (left) in The Batman, Pinocchio (voiced by Gregory Mann) and Geppetto (voiced by David Bradley) in Pinocchio and Letitia Wright in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Illustration by Elena Scotti
A Man Named Otto (Sony Pictures)Thomas Newman
Newman is vying for his 15th nomination in a scoring category. He’s tied with the late Alex North for the most nods in this category without a competitive win. If Newman is nominated again and loses, he’ll hold the record outright.
The Son (Sony Pictures Classics)Hans Zimmer
Zimmer is the reigning category champ, having won in March for Dune. Should he win for The Son, he’ll become the first composer to take home back-to-back scoring awards since Gustavo Santaolalla, who won with Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Babel (2006). Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern star.
Strange World (Walt Disney Animation)Henry Jackman
This film marked Jackman’s third collaboration with director Don Hall, following Winnie the Pooh and Big Hero 6, and his fifth feature-length score for Walt Disney Animation. The film features the voices of Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Gabrielle Union and Lucy Liu.
TÁR (Focus Features)Hildur Guðnadóttir
This would be the second scoring nod for Hildur, who won three years ago for Joker. The Icelandic composer would become just the third woman to receive multiple nominations in this category following the late Angela Morley (who had two nods) and Rachel Portman (who has had three).
White Noise (Netflix)Danny Elfman
This would be Elfman’s fifth nomination in a scoring category following Good Will Hunting and Men in Black (both in 1997), Big Fish (2003) and Milk (2008). White Noise is a black comedy written and directed by Noah Baumbach, adapted from the 1985 novel of the same name by Don DeLillo.
The Woman King (Sony Pictures)Terence Blanchard
This would be Blanchard’s third nomination in this category, which would tie Quincy Jones for the most scoring nods ever by a Black composer. Jones was nominated for In Cold Blood, The Wiz and The Color Purple — he has yet to win.
Women Talking (MGM/United Artists Releasing)Hildur Guðnadóttir
Hildur is vying to become the sixth composer to have two films on the shortlist in this category since 2018, when the academy began making its shortlists public. She would follow Alan Silvestri (2018), Nicholas Britell (2018), Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (2020), Hans Zimmer (2021) and Jonny Greenwood (2021).
This story will appear in the Nov. 19, 2022, issue of Billboard.