The Oscar nominations in the Original Song category unveiled Tuesday feature a high-wattage lineup that sets up intriguing potential performances at next month’s Oscarcast.
The nominees — with music and lyrics from the likes of Beyoncé, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Van Morrison and Billie Eilish & Finneas O’Connell and a Diane Warren song performed by Reba McEntire — count among them 41 Grammys and now 18 Oscar noms.
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Listen to all five songs in their official videos below.
Warren is the Oscar record-holder with her 13th nomination and fifth in a row for “Somehow You Do,” from Vertical Entertainment’s indie drama Four Good Days. But the songwriter behind such Oscar-nommed pop smashes as “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” “How Do I Live” and “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” still is looking for her first Academy Award.
Diane Warren Lands 13th Oscar Nomination For ‘Four Good Days’ Song “Somehow You Do”
This is the first Best Song Oscar nom for all-time Grammy co-champion Beyoncé, pop queen Eilish and her brother and for Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Morrison. The Belfast-born Morrison might present some trickiness for the March 27 Oscar show as he’s been vocal about his anti-vaccine beliefs and has recorded several songs attacking Covid lockdowns. The oft-cantankerous singer-songwriter also is being sued by the Northern Ireland’s Health Minister over his pandemic remarks.
Notably absent from today’s nominees is “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” an ensemble song from Disney’s Encanto that is spending its second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. But the track wasn’t submitted in the Best Original Song category.
The Encanto tune “Dos Oruguitas” marks the second Best Song nomination for Miranda after “How Far I’ll Go,” from the 2016 Disney/Pixar film Moana.
Here are the Best Original Song nominees for the 94th annual Academy Awards:
“Be Alive”
from King Richard
Music and Lyric by Dixson and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
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“Dos Oruguitas”
from Encanto
Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda
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“Down to Joy”
from Belfast
Music and Lyric by Van Morrison
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“No Time to Die”
from No Time to Die
Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
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“Somehow You Do”
from Four Good Days
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
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