When the Oscar nominations are announced on Jan. 23, 2024, we could see two humorous songs in the running for best original song – “I’m Just Ken,” which provides one of Ryan Gosling’s funniest scenes in Barbie, and “Peaches,” which Jack Black sings in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Amusing songs are nominated occasionally in this category. Relatively recent examples include “Husavik” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020), “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), “Everything Is Awesome” from The Lego Movie (2014) and“Blame Canada”from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999).
Here are 10 early front-runners for nominations for best original song at the 96th annual Academy Awards. The awards will be presented on March 10, 2024.
Two veteran songwriters, Alan Menken and Diane Warren, are each hoping to collect their 15th nominations for best original song, a benchmark that has been reached by only five songwriters in Oscar history. Menken’s strongest contender is “For the First Time” from The Little Mermaid; Warren has two songs vying for a nod – “The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot and “Gonna Be You” from 80 for Brady. If one is nominated, she will tie the late lyricist Marilyn Bergman as the woman with the most best original song nominations.
And two songwriters, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt, are vying to become EGOT winners. Miranda is competing with the aforementioned “For the First Time” from The Little Mermaid; Platt with songs from Theater Camp.
We’re showing two songs from Barbie – “I’m Just Ken” and “What Was I Made For?” Current Oscar rules state: “No more than two songs from any one film, regardless of writers, may be nominated for the original song award.” Four films in Oscar history have spawned three nominated songs – Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Dreamgirls and Enchanted. None of the songs from the latter two films won the award, which demonstrated the very real risk of a film splitting its votes. In response, a new rule was instated in June 2008 that a film could have no more than two songs nominated.
As a result, the Dua Lipa hit “Dance the Night” and the Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice collaboration “Barbie” (with Aqua) may be squeezed out. “Dance the Night” is a trifle, but it has proven to be a most engaging one — and Lipa is at the level of fame that many previous pop stars were at when Oscar took notice. “Barbie,” which is built around a sample from Aqua’s 1997 hit “Barbie Girl,” may be ruled ineligible. Last year, the Academy did not consider Doja Cat’s “Vegas” from Elvis, which was built around a sample from “Hound Dog.”
A little more than four months remains in the eligibility year. Songs from a few upcoming films – Trolls Band Together, Wonka and The Color Purple – could also be contenders. Trolls Band Together, due Nov. 17, is the third installment in the Trolls franchise. Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” from the first Trolls was nominated in this category seven years ago.
Wonka is due Dec. 15. Neil Hannon, lead singer of The Divine Comedy, contributed original songs for the film. The first Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) did not spawn a best song nominee, though “The Candy Man” became a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for Sammy Davis Jr. and “Pure Imagination” was covered by several artists, including Lou Rawls.
A remake of The Color Purple is due on Christmas Day. Siedah Garrett, a two-time Oscar nominee for best original song (for “Love You I Do from Dreamgirls and “Real in Rio” from Rio), teamed with Stephen Bray and Brenda Russell to write the songs for the film. If one of them is nominated, Garrett will become the third Black songwriter, following Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie, to land three best original song nominations. Jones and Richie collaborated with the late Rod Temperton on “Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister)” from the original 1985 film, which was nominated in this category.
Here are 10 early front-runners for best original song nominations.
