OSCARS
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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.
Burt Bacharach, who died on Wednesday (Feb. 8) at age 94, was one of America’s finest composers and arrangers. He most deservedly won a lot of awards over the years, and just missed out on a couple of others.
Bacharach won six Grammys, three Oscars and an Emmy. He and his long-time collaborator Hal David were nominated for a Tony for best musical in 1970 for the musical comedy Promises, Promises, on which they teamed with playwright Neil Simon. Promises, Promises was nominated in that category the same year as the smash Hair, which brought rock rhythms (and full-frontal nudity) to Broadway. Surprisingly, neither of these shows won. The award went to 1776, also a long-running hit, but one that is less well-remembered today.
If Promises, Promises had won, Bacharach would have become an EGOT the following year when he won a Primetime Emmy for his special Singer Presents Burt Bacharach. That would have made Bacharach just the second person to achieve the EGOT, following Richard Rodgers, who completed the sweep of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards in 1962.
Another miss: Bacharach never received the Kennedy Center Honors. True, he and David received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, but many others have received both awards. It’s the Kennedy Center’s loss: Bacharach would have added luster to their roster of recipients.
Fortunately, Bacharach achieved so many awards feats that we don’t need to dwell on the shoulda-woulda-couldas. He had a 58-year span of Grammy nominations, from 1963 (a song of the year nod for the suave, if sexist, “Wives and Lovers”) to 2021 (a nod for best musical theater album for Burt Bacharach and Steven Sater’s Some Lovers).
Here are 11 times Burt Bacharach made awards show history.
After a year away from his annual charity event, Sir Elton John is ready to return to his Oscars party — and he’s bringing along the perfect guest to join him.
On Thursday (Feb. 9), the Elton John AIDS Foundation announced that pop singer-songwriter Rina Sawayama would serve as the headline performer at the organization’s annual Academy Awards viewing party. John and his husband, David Furnish, will serve as the evening’s hosts, while stars such as Eric McCormack and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez are set to make appearances as special guests.
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In a tweet celebrating the news, Sawayama thanked John for the opportunity, and touted the organization’s stated goal of ending the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS. “Beyond excited to be performing at #EJAFOscars on March 12 in support of @EJAF,” the singer tweeted. “Founded by my wonderful friend @eltonofficial, they’re on an incredibly important mission to end HIV stigma and inequalities around the world, and to spread more love and compassion.”
In his own statement, John shared his excitement at getting to attend the party this year after he was unable to do so in 2022 due to scheduling conflicts with his record-breaking Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. “I am overjoyed to be reuniting with old and new friends on one of my favorite nights of the year,” the “Rocket Man” singer said. “As always, I am so appreciative of every attendee, donor and sponsor who continues to support the Foundation’s work across the globe in the fight to end AIDS. With such meaningful generosity, we can make a healthier and more inclusive world.”
While John may not have been present for last year’s festivities, the star had good reason. Earlier this month, Billboard Boxscore announced that John had broken the record for the highest grossing tour of all time, with his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour raking in a stunning $818 million thanks to a recent leg of Australian shows from the pop icon.
The Songwriters Hall of Fame’s seventh annual “A Conversation With Oscar-Nominated Songwriters for Best Original Song” will premiere on Monday, Feb. 13, at 9 a.m. PT. The SHOF corralled writers or co-writers of four of the five nominated songs to participate in the panel, which was taped on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
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The virtual event is free to the public with advance registration required via Eventbrite. It will also be available to watch for a limited time on the Songwriters Hall of Fame website, songhall.org.
The panel features Chandrabose, co-writer of “Naatu Naatu” from RRR; Ludwig Göransson, co-writer of “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Ryan Lott and David Byrne, co-writers of “This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once; and Diane Warren, the sole writer of “Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman.
The songwriters converse on such topics as how they got here, their writing process and the challenges of writing for a film.
The only best original song contender not represented by at least one of its writers is “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick (co-written by Lady Gaga and BloodPop).
Warren, who is in the Oscar race for the 14th time, is the only one of this year’s best original song nominees who is in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She was inducted in 2001.
The event is once again moderated by songwriters and SHOF inductees Nile Rodgers, who currently serves as SHOF chairman, and Paul Williams, a 1977 Oscar winner for co-writing “Evergreen” from A Star Is Born with Barbra Streisand.
The annual Oscar nominees luncheon is set for Monday, Feb. 13. Final-round voting extends from March 2 at 9 a.m. PT to March 7 at 5 p.m. PT. The 95th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 12.
Talk about good timing! Rihanna’s performance at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday (Feb. 12) comes just 18 days before final-round voting begins for the 2023 Oscars. Rihanna, of course, is nominated for best original song for co-writing “Lift Me Up,” her soulful ballad from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
While it’s not yet known if “Lift Me Up” will be in Rihanna’s setlist during her halftime show, it’s very likely that it will be. You don’t get to be one of the biggest music stars on the planet without seizing golden opportunities. If Rihanna does perform the song during her set, this will amount to the most-viewed “For Your Consideration” ad of all time.
The annual Oscar nominees luncheon is set for Monday, Feb. 13, the day after the Super Bowl. Final-round voting extends from March 2 at 9 a.m. PT to March 7 at 5 p.m. PT.
This exquisite timing makes up for a rare bit of bad timing in Rihanna’s gilded career last fall when “Lift Me Up” was released. The song debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated Nov. 12, 2022, kept out of the top spot by Taylor Swift’s megahit “Anti-Hero,” then in its second week on top. “Lift Me Up” just missed becoming Rihanna’s 15th No. 1 on Billboard’s flagship songs chart.
Rihanna co-wrote “Lift Me Up” with Tems, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Göransson. This year’s other nominees for best original song are “Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman (Diane Warren), “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick (Lady Gaga and BloodPop), “Naatu Naatu” from RRR (M.M. Keeravaani and Chandrabose) and “This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once (Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski).
The 95th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 12.
Diane Warren is getting up there on the all-time list of top Oscar nominees for best original song. Her nod this year for “Applause,” sung by Sofia Carson in Tell It Like a Woman, is her 14th — a tally equaled by only seven other songwriters in the 89-year history of the category).
Moreover, this is the sixth year in a row she has been nominated, the longest continuous run streak of nominations in this category since Alan Bergman and his late wife Marilyn Bergman were nominated six years running from 1968-73. (Their streak was bookended by two winners – “The Windmills of Your Mind” and “The Way We Were.”)
Only two other songwriters in Oscar history have had six or more consecutive nods. Mack David, the older brother of Hal David (of Bacharach & David fame), was nominated every year from 1961-66. He never won. Sammy Cahn holds the all-time records both for the most consecutive years with a best original song nod (eight, from 1954-61) and most total nods in that category (26). Cahn won a record-tying four Oscars in the category.
If you’re looking for a common denominator among Warren’s best original song nominees – besides quality – good luck. Three of them reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, but several others didn’t even crack the chart. Three are from blockbuster action films, but several others are from smaller indie films that barely made a dent at the boxoffice.
Four of the 14 songs, including the current one, are from films directed by women. That’s far higher than the industry-wide percentage of films directed by women. The only director Warren has worked with on two nominated songs is Michael Bay. She wrote songs for his blockbusters Armageddon (“I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”) and Pearl Harbor (“There You’ll Be”).
Warren received an honorary Oscar in November. She’s only the fifth person in Oscar history – and the first person from the world of music – to receive an honorary Oscar and a competitive Oscar nomination in the same awards year. Warren, 66, has the work ethic of a songwriter half her age, one still trying to make her mark. That could be her secret.
Let’s take a closer look at Warren’s best original song nominees. The films’ worldwide box-office receipts are taken from boxofficemojo.com (rounded off to the nearest million). In two cases where the film grossed less than $1 million, we show the exact tally.
When the nominations for the 2023 Oscars were announced on Tuesday (Jan. 24), just one Black woman was among the 10 women nominated in acting categories – Angela Bassett for best supporting actress for her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Viola Davis in The Woman King and Danielle Deadwyler in Till were thought to have a strong chance of being nominated for best actress, but both were passed over – a fact that has stirred some controversy, such as this pointed commentary in The Los Angeles Times on Thursday (Jan. 26).
Black women fared much better in the marquee categories in the 2023 Grammy nominations, which were announced on Nov. 15. Three Black women were among the 10 lead artists nominated for album of the year, widely viewed as the most prestigious Grammy Award – Beyoncé for Renaissance, Lizzo for Special and Mary J. Blige for the deluxe edition of Good Morning Gorgeous.
Beyoncé is regarded as the front-winner to win in that category, after having lost in her three previous bids. I Am…Sasha Fierce lost to Taylor Swift’s Fearless; Beyoncé to Beck’s Morning Phase; and Lemonade to Adele’s 25.
Oscar and Grammy voters have not always been generous to Black women. Only one Black woman has won the Oscar for best actress – Halle Berry for Monster’s Ball (2001). Amazingly, you have to go back even further than that to find the last Black woman to win the Grammy for album of the year as a lead artist. It hasn’t happened since Lauryn Hill took the 1998 prize for The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
Black women have fared far better at the Oscars in supporting roles than in lead roles, with nine Black actresses winning best supporting actress – Hattie McDaniel in Gone With the Wind (1939), Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost (1990), Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls (2006), Mo’nique in Precious (2009), Octavia Spencer in The Help (2011), Lupita Nyong’o in 12 Years a Slave (2013), Davis in Fences (2016), Regina King in If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) and Ariana DeBose in West Side Story (2021).
It’s worth noting that Davis played the female lead in Fences. She had won the Tony for best lead actress in a play for the same role in 2010, but agreed to be slotted in the supporting category at the Oscars to boost her chances of winning. (The lead actress winner that year was Emma Stone – Davis’ former costar in The Help – for the blockbuster La La Land.)
If Beyoncé wins album of the year, she’ll become the fourth Black woman to take that award as a lead artist. Natalie Cole was the first for Unforgettable With Love, a tribute to her late father Nat King Cole (1991), followed by Whitney Houston two years later for The Bodyguard soundtrack and then Hill five years after that.
The perception of disrespect for Black women in this year’s best actress nominations will probably work to Bassett’s advantage in the voting. She is seen as the front-runner to win best supporting actress, 29 years after she was nominated for best actress for playing Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do With It. She would become the 10th Black woman to win best supporting actress; the eighth in the past two decades.
The way that Black women can fairly easily win Oscars in the supporting category, but have a hard time winning in the lead category, is analogous to a situation at the Grammys, where Black women (and men, for that matter) do very well in terms of numbers of overall awards, but less well in the vaunted Big Four categories.
Beyoncé is one of only three artists in Grammy history to amass 28 or more Grammys, but just one of those awards has come in a Big Four category – her 2009 song of the year win for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).”
At this year’s Grammys, she is likely to tie or surpass Sir Georg Solti for the most wins by anyone in Grammy history. (The late classical conductor won 31 awards.) While that statistic is likely to grab the headlines, her expected win for album of the year – the biggest of the Big Four categories – may be even more significant.
Lady Gaga took to her Instagram on Wednesday (Jan. 25) to thank the Motion Picture Academy for her fourth Oscar nomination, for co-writing “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick with BloodPop. The power ballad is nominated for best original song.
“Thank you so much to the Academy for nominating my song ‘Hold My Hand’ for an Oscar this year!” Gaga wrote. “Writing this song for the film Top Gun: Maverick was a deep and powerful experience that I will never forget. So grateful for the magic of music and cinema. Love you my co-writer @bloodpop I’m on set filming now big love to little monsters!”
This is Gaga’s third nomination in the category. She and Diane Warren teamed to write “Til It Happens to You” from the 2015 doc The Hunting Ground. She teamed with Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt to write “Shallow” from the 2018 remake of A Star Is Born, which won the award. Gaga was also nominated that year for best actress for starring in the film alongside Bradley Cooper.
Gaga’s Instagram came one day after her friend and collaborator Tony Bennett issued a tweet congratulating her. “Congratulations to the amazingly talented @ladygaga on her 4th Oscar nomination! Today, Lady Gaga makes history as the first artist to receive three nominations in the Best Original Song category at the #Oscars. So proud of you!”
It’s unclear what Bennett meant by the comment about Gaga’s record-setting achievement. Other artists, such as Randy Newman and Lionel Richie, have received three or more nominations in that category.
“Hold My Hand” is one of six nominations that Top Gun: Maverick received, including best picture. The film fared better with Oscar voters than the initial Top Gun in 1986, which received four Oscar nods. It’s unusual for a sequel to outpace the original in the esteem of Oscar voters.
One year after Sebastián Yatra‘s moving performance at the Oscars, another artist with Colombian blood is hoping to perform at the Academy Awards ceremony: Sofia Carson.
The Florida-born actress and singer, whose parents hail from Barranquilla, is the voice of Diane Warren’s “Applause” from the movie Tell It Like a Woman, which received a nomination for best original song on Tuesday (Jan. 24.)
“We’re going to the Oscars @dianewarren,” Carson wrote in an Instagram post, sharing a sweet video of their reaction to the news.
Beautifully performed by the “Night Falls” singer, “Applause” is a ballad of empowerment and self-love that invites women to pause for a moment and celebrate their achievements.
“Recognize who you are/ Sometimes, I know it’s so hard/ But you shine/ You’re a supernova superstar,” the song says. “Give yourself some applause, you deserve it/ Give yourself some respect ’cause you’ve earned it/ Give yourself some love ’cause you’re worth it, you’re worth it.”
Last year at the Oscars, Yatra sang the sublime “Dos Oruguitas” from the Disney animated film Encanto in a colorful number that included a couple of dancers in Colombian costumes and elements such as yellow butterflies, alluding to the film and the South American country. Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, it was the first song in Spanish nominated to the award since Uruguayan Jorge Drexler won the trophy in 2005 for “Al Otro Lado del Río” from The Motorcycle Diaries. (That year, the Academy invited the better-known Antonio Banderas to sing Drexler’s song in a bittersweet moment for the composer and his Latin American fans.)
Warren, who now collects her 14th nomination in the category, also competed last year with “Somehow You Do,” from the movie Four Good Days. But the Academy Award went to Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell for “No Time to Die,” from the James Bond film of the same name.
This time around, the veteran songwriter — who has yet to win the prize — competes again with some music superstars. The contenders are: “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick, co-written by Lady Gaga; “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” with Rihanna among its composers; “Naatu Naatu” from RRR; and “This Is A Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once. (For a complete list of nominees, click here)
The Oscar for best original song goes to the songwriters, not to the performers. However, it is likely that Carson will take the stage of Hollywood’s Dolby Theater to sing “Applause” live, since it has become tradition that the nominated songs be presented at the ceremony — although the official program has yet to be announced and plans have changed from time to time.
The 95th annual Academy Awards will air live on ABC on March 12 at 8:00 pm ET.
Diane Warren achieved something remarkable on Tuesday (Jan. 24): She was nominated for an Oscar in the same awards year that she received an honorary Oscar.
The reason that’s so significant is that every member of the music branch of the Academy – whose votes determined the nominations – knew that Warren just collected an honorary Oscar at a ritzy event in Century City, Calif., on Nov. 19. There was no pressing reason to recognize her again so soon.
So the fact that she was nominated for her song “Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman says a lot about the depth of support for Warren in the Academy.
We already knew about that support. This was her 14th nomination for best original song – a total matched by only seven other songwriters in Oscar history. And this is the sixth year in a row she has been nominated, the longest continuous streak of nominations in that category since Alan Bergman and his late wife Marilyn Bergman were nominated six years running from 1968-73.
Those are impressive statistics. Here’s another one: Warren is just the fifth person in Oscar history to receive a competitive Oscar nod in the same awards year that he or she received an honorary Oscar. Warren is the only person from the world of music to do this. Two of the previous double recipients you probably know. The two others you may not, but we’ll fill you in.
First, let’s clarify something: Warren’s latest Oscar nomination was announced in 2023, and if she wins, she’ll receive the award in 2023, but the award is for the 2022 awards year. That’s how it’s listed in official Academy records. That’s also how her honorary Oscar is listed. So it all lines up.
Here’s a list of all five people who received a competitive Oscar nod in the same awards year that he or she received an honorary Oscar.