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.
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“I’m Just Ken” from Barbie
Songwriters: Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt
Notes: If “I’m Just Ken” is nominated, it will be interesting to see if Ryan Gosling performs it on the Oscar telecast. He and his La La Land co-star Emma Stone opted not to perform “City of Stars” on the telecast in 2017. John Legend, their co-star in the film, sang it instead. The song won the Oscar.
Ronson and Wyatt previously won an Oscar for co-writing “Shallow” from A Star Is Born (along with Lady Gaga and Anthony Rossomondo).
If It Wins: Ronson and Wyatt would be just the third songwriter or team of songwriters to win two Oscars for best original song since 2000, following Randy Newman and the team of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez.
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“Peaches” from The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Songwriters: Jack Black, Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Eric Osmond, John Spiker
Notes: While this song has five credited songwriters, current Academy rules hold that no more than four songwriters can receive Oscars for co-writing a song. Here’s the rule: “In cases where five or more credited songwriters function as collaborators, a single statuette may be awarded to the group. Each songwriter must agree to the single ‘group statuette’ option by signing and returning a group award form prior to the submission deadline. Final determination of the awardable songwriters in the group will be made by the music branch executive committee.”
So, in a case like this, the songwriters must either decide which of them will not take a credit or sign a statement that they agree to share one Oscar for the group, should they win. The Oscars are the class act of awards shows in many ways, but this is an absurd and outdated rule. Expecting songwriters to share a single “group statuette” is ridiculous.
Horvath and Jelenic co-directed The Super Mario Bros. Movie. If “Peaches” is nominated, this will be the second year in a row that a best original song nominee was co-written by that film’s director. “Lift Me Up,” which was nominated earlier this year, was co-written by Ryan Coogler, the director of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
If It Wins: Black would have an Oscar to go along with the Grammy he won in 2015 for best metal performance for The Tenacious D’s “The Last in Line” from the Ronnie James Dio tribute album This Is Your Life.
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“What Was I Made For?” from Barbie
Songwriters: Billie Eilish, Finneas
Notes: Eilish and Finneas won the Oscar in 2022 for “No Time to Die” from the James Bond film of the same name.
If It Wins: Eilish and Finneas would become the first songwriter or team of songwriters to win twice in the space of three years since Tim Rice achieved the feat in 1995 and 1997.
Moreover, Eilish, 21, and Finneas, 26, would become the youngest two-time winners in the history of this category. (Eilish will be 22 when the Oscars are presented.)
And Eilish and Finneas would be just the third songwriter or team of songwriters to win two Oscars for best original song since 2000, following Randy Newman and the team of Robert Lopez and Kristen-Anderson Lopez.
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“For the First Time” from The Little Mermaid
Songwriters: Alan Menken, Lin-Manuel Miranda
Notes: This would be Menken’s 15th nomination in this category; Miranda’s third (following “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana and “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto). Morever, this would be the fifth consecutive decade in which Menken has been nominated in this category. He received three best original song nods in the 1980s; seven in the ’90s; three in the ’00s; and one in the ’10s.
Menken won his first Oscar for best original song for “Under the Sea” from the first The Little Mermaid film. He has since won three more in the category.
If It Wins: Menken would become the first person in Oscar history to win best original song five times. (He’s currently tied with Sammy Cahn, Johnny Mercer and Jimmy Van Heusen with four wins each). Menken would also become the first songwriter to win best original song for two iterations of a film.
As noted above, Miranda would become an EGOT winner. Miranda, who will be 44 on Oscar night, would become the fourth-youngest to do so, trailing only Robert Lopez, who was 39 when he completed the awards sweep, John Legend, who was also 39, but closer to 40; and Jennifer Hudson, who was 40.
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“The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot
Songwriter: Diane WarrenNotes: The prolific Warren has a second song that may also be in contention – “Gonna Be You” from 80 for Brady. If either or both is nominated, this will be the seventh consecutive year that Warren has had a best original song nominee. Nobody has done that since Sammy Cahn was nominated eight years in a row, from 1954-61. If one of the songs is nominated, Warren will pull closer to Randy Newman as the songwriter with the most nominations for songs written without any collaborators. Newman has been nominated with 13 such songs; Warren has been nominated with 10.
Becky G performs “The Fire Inside” for Flamin’ Hot. Dolly Parton, Belinda Carlisle, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan and Debbie Harry perform “Gonna Be You” for 80 For Brady.
If It Wins: Warren would, at long last, have a competitive Oscar to go along with the honorary Oscar she received in November.
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“Road to Freedom” from Rustin
Songwriter: Lenny Kravitz
Notes: Kravitz wrote and recorded this song for director George C. Wolfe’s Rustin. The film, due in select theaters on Nov. 3, stars Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin, who helped co-organize the historic March on Washington in August 1963. Rustin was gay and Black, so he was fighting for equality on two fronts. Kravitz’s recording of the song features Trombone Shorty.
If It Wins: Kravitz would have an Oscar to go along with his four Grammys. “Road to Freedom” would be the third song with a Black empowerment theme to win best original song, following “Glory” from Selma (2014) and “Fight for You” from Judas and the Black Messiah (2000).
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“Love Again” from Love Again
Songwriters: Dan Wilson, Rosaileen Scher
Notes: The soundtrack to this film includes five new Celine Dion recordings as well six of her past hits. Dion appears in the film, portraying a fictionalized version of herself. The film stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sam Heughan. “Love Again” was released as a single, as was “I’ll Be” (which was co-written by John Ryan, Ross Golan, Jacob Kasher Hindlin and Ian Kirkpatrick). Dion introduced two Oscar-winning songs – “Beauty and the Beast” from the film of the same name (in a duet with Peabo Bryson) and “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic.
If It Wins: Wilson would have an Oscar to go along with his two Grammys – song of the year for cowriting The Chicks’ “Not Ready to Make Nice” and album of the year for his work on Adele’s 21.
Moreover, Dion will become just the second woman to introduce three Oscar-winners for best original song. Jennifer Warnes was the first. She introduced “It Goes Like It Goes” from Norma Rae, “Up Where We Belong” from An Officer and a Gentleman (in a duet with Joe Cocker) and “(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing (in a duet with Bill Medley).
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“High Life” from Flora and Son
Songwriters: John Carney, Gary Clark
Notes: Carney and Clark co-wrote original songs from the film, which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Eve Hewson, Bono’s daughter. Clark also composed the score. Carney directed the 2007 film Once, which spawned the best original song winner “Falling Slowly,” and the 2014 film Begin Again, which spawned the best original song nominee “Lost Stars.” (Carney didn’t co-write either of those songs.)
If It Wins: Carney would become just the third director of two films released in this century that spawned Oscar-winning songs. He would follow Curtis Hanson, who directed Wonder Boys (“Things Have Changed,” 2000) and 8 Mile (“Lose Yourself,” 2002), and Sam Mendes, who directed Skyfall (the title song, 2012) and Spectre (“Writing’s on the Wall,” 2015).
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“Dear Allen (Who Made Art in Heaven)” from Asteroid City
Songwriters: Jarvis Cocker, Richard Hawley, Wes Anderson
Notes: Anderson has scooped up seven Oscar nominations in four different categories for The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Isle of Dogs. This would be his first best original song nod.
If It Wins: This would be Anderson’s first Oscar win.
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“Joan, Still Theme” from Theater Camp
Songwriters: Ben Platt, Mark Sonnenblick, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Noah Galvin
Notes: Most of the original songs in this musical occur during the production of the fictional film Joan, Still. Other songs include “Women Cannot Read,” “The Wall Street Noise,” “No Tomorrow,” Son Salutation” and “Camp Isn’t Home.”
If It Wins: Platt becomes an EGOT winner. In addition, he would also win an Oscar before his dad, producer Marc Platt, who has been nominated for best picture three times: for co-producing Bridge of Spies, La La Land and The Trial of the Chicago 7. Actually, the senior Platt was an Oscar winner for La La Land for about two minutes – but that’s probably something he would prefer not to be reminded about.
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