2026 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

With just a week until the winners of Best Original Song for the 98th annual Academy Awards are announced, here's a rundown of this year's nominees. For her seventeen nomination (the most of any individual without a win), Diane Warren has written a song for a movie that is about herself. "Dear Me" is featured in the documentary, "Diane Warren: Relentless" which covers this songwriter's impressively prolific career with her writing over four hundred songs for some of the biggest pop artists in history. The ballad, "Dear Me", handpicked by Warren to be performed by Kesha, was written about overcoming difficult times while offering a message of hope. "KPop Demon Hunters", which became the most-watched original title in Netflix history, featured a song that attained worldwide commercial success and garnering millions of streams. In this animated movie, "Golden" is performed by the fictional K-pop girl group, Huntr/x who lead double lives as demon hunters. "I Lied To You" is a rousing, blues number in the supernational thriller and box-office smash, "Sinners", performed by musician-turned-actor, Miles Caton and written by the film's composer, Ludwig Göransson and r&b musician, Raphael Saadiq. "Viva Verdi!" is a documentary that looks into the lives of veteran opera singers and musicians that are mentoring young music students. A song from the film, "Sweet Dreams of Joy" is written by English composer, Nicholas Pike and performed by Puerto Rican soprano, Ana María Martínez. And American composer, Bryce Dessner and Australian rocker, Nick Cave have teamed-up to create the title track for the intimate, period drama, "Train Dreams" that details the challenging life of an American railroad laborer.

The nominations are very strong this year with each song more than worthy of winning. But there can only be one winner and I think it will be that brightly exhilarating K-pop song that will get the gold statue this time. And once again, the show does not plan to have all of the nominated songs performed during the telecast. Only "Golden" and "I Lied To You" will be done in special musical segments which is really not fair to the other nominees.

"Dear Me" from "Diane Warren: Relentless" (Music and Lyrics by Diane Warren)



"Golden" from "KPop Demon Hunters" (Music and Lyrics by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park)



"I Lied To You” from "Sinners" (Music and Lyrics by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson)



"Sweet Dreams Of Joy" from "Viva Verdi!" (Music and Lyrics by Nicholas Pike)



"Train Dreams" from "Train Dreams" (Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner; Lyric by Nick Cave)

2025 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Less than a week away, the Oscars will be announcing their selection for Best Original Song in a motion picture. The musical-drama, "Emilia Pérez" has two songs in this category and both were written by French pop artist, Camille and Clément Ducol, a film composer and arranger. "El Mal" (which was co-written with the film's director, Jacques Audiard) is a rap-rock song that translates in Spanish as "The Evil" that looks at the hypocrisy of criminals contributing to a nonprofit organization that was founded by Emilia Pérez who was a former male drug dealer. "Mi Camino", performed in the film by actress/pop star, Selena Gomez and means "My Way", explores the inner desires of her character (who is the wife of the drug lord and unaware of his transition) to accept herself completely despite her flaws and poor judgement. Adrian Quesada, a songwriter best known for his work with the alt-soul band, Black Pumas, teamed up with musician, Abraham Alexander to write and perform the song, "Like A Bird" for the acclaimed prison drama, "Sing Sing", based on the real-life, Through the Arts, a rehabilitation program set-up at the Maximum Security Prison. Elton John earned his fifth Oscar nomination (and a two time winner) for "Never Too Late", a song co-written with Brandi Carlile for the documentary,  "Elton John: Never Too Late" on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road concert tour. And this year's Diane Warren nomination is for the unremarkable ballad, "The Journey", her contribution to Tyler Perry's war drama, "The Six Triple Eight" about the little known story of the African-American women who served in the army during World War II. 

In my humble opinion, I believe "El Mal" will be taking home the Oscar this year but we shall see on March 2nd. But in a ridiculous move, it has been decided that none of the five nominated songs will be actually performed on the Oscars telecast. So here is your opportunity to hear these nominated songs together:

"El Mal" from "Emilia Pérez" (Music by Clément Ducol and Camille, Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard)



"The Journey" from "The Six Triple Eight" (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)



"Like a Bird" from "Sing Sing" (Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada)



"Mi Camino" from "Emilia Pérez" (Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol)



"Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late" (Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin)

2024 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

The Oscars are just a little over a week away and here is a spotlight on the musical compositions that received nominations in the Best Original Song category. "Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)", from Martin Scorsese's drama, "Killers of the Flower Moon", was written by Osage Nation member, Scott George and created to celebrate their rich heritage and traditions. Two songs from the summer blockbuster, "Barbie" received nominations: previous Oscar-winners, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, who won for their work in the 2018 "A Star is Born" remake, are recognized for their contribution to the soundtrack, "I'm Just Ken" while pop-star, Billie Eilish and her brother, Finneas, who both won Oscars for their James Bond theme song, "No Time To Die", are here again for the ballad, "What Was I Made For?". Musician Jon Batiste was honored along with co-writer, Dan Wilson for the song, "It Never Went Away" from the documentary, "American Symphony" that examines a busy year in Batiste's life which he has to balance while his wife, the writer Suleika Jaouad, struggles with leukemia. And Diane Warren has received her fifteenth career nomination (and seventh consecutive) in this category for her song, "The Fire Inside" for actress, Eva Longoria's directorial debut, "Flamin' Hot" which is about the invention of Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

I don't think this is a particularly great year in this category, but the strongest songs are from "Barbie". The best out of the two for me is Eilish's gentle lullaby about the feelings of self-doubt and a search for purpose which the song also recently won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year.

"The Fire Inside" from "Flamin' Hot" (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)



"I'm Just Ken" from "Barbie" (Music and Lyric by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt)



"It Never Went Away" from "American Symphony" (Music and Lyric by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson)



"Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)" from "Killers of the Flower Moon" (Music and Lyric by Scott George)



"What Was I Made For?" from "Barbie" (Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell)

2023 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

In a matter of days, one of these five songs will receive this year's Oscar for Best Original Song, an eclectic bunch of compositions that adds some real intrigue to this category. There are a couple of nominees that created music for two of the biggest box-office hits of 2022 who also happen to be two of today's greatest pop superstars. Lady Gaga contributed the '80's styled, power-ballad, "Hold My Hand" to the long-awaited sequel, "Top Gun: Maverick" which displayed Tom Cruise still has a need for speed. After a few years away from working on new music, Rihanna returned with a mournful ballad for the soundtrack to "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" with the director, Ryan Coogler also nominated for co-writing the song. The teaming of the idiosyncratic artists, David Byrne, Mitski and Ryan Lott of the band, Son Lux was the perfect combination to come up with, "This is a Life" for the absurdist comedy-fantasy, "Everything Everywhere All at Once". Lott along with bandmates, Ian Chang, and Rafiq Bhatia were also recognized for creating the original music score for the film. I'm still shocked that the only nomination that the epic Indian action drama, "RRR" received was for the song, "Naatu Naatu", a Telugu-language song that was used in the high-energy dance sequence which is one of many highlights in this movie. And Diane Warren received her fourteenth nomination for the ballad, "Applause" from the little-seen, anthology film, "Tell It like a Woman". I'm afraid to say Warren will probably have to continue enjoying the Honorary Oscar she received last year.

As for the winner, I think it could be Gaga's "Hold My Hand" if the Academy is feeling safe but the more adventurous "Naatu Naatu" would be the more thrilling selection. Here are the five nominated songs to hear and judge for yourself:

"Applause" from "Tell It like a Woman" - (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)



"Hold My Hand" from "Top Gun: Maverick" - (Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop)



"Lift Me Up" from "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" - (Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler)



"Naatu Naatu" from "RRR" - (Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose)



"This Is A Life" from "Everything Everywhere All at Once" - (Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne)

2022 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

In little over a week, the winner of this year's Oscar for Best Original Song will be announced and the nominees are a particularly strong group of songs. Beyoncé performs a moving ballad, "Be Alive" for the Venus and Serena Williams bio-pic, "King Richard" which she co-wrote with DIXSON.  The only song nominated from the hit soundtrack of the Disney animated feature, "Encanto" is the Spanish language tune, "Dos Oruguitas", written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and performed in the film by Colombian singer-songwriter, Sebastián Yatra. For Kenneth Branagh's semi-autobiographical drama, "Belfast", Van Morrison (a native of the Irish city) composed the score, which uses eight of his classic songs, and wrote a new song, "Down For Joy". Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas wrote the haunting theme song for Daniel Craig's final turn as James Bond with the title track, "No Time To Die". The song was originally released in February 2020 with the film due in May but the pandemic changed those plans. "No Time To Die" finally reached theaters in September 2021, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of the year. And country legend, Reba McEntire performs "Somehow You Do", the inspirational song by Diane Warren for the film, "Four Good Days" that features Glenn Close and Mila Kunis. This is Warren's thirteenth nomination in this category without a win and while she is greatly admired, I don't think this will be her year.

I would love to see Beyoncé win the award but I think it's likely that Billie Eilish will take home the Oscar since the Academy really loves a James Bond theme. Here are the five nominated songs to hear and judge for yourself:

"Be Alive" from "King Richard" (music and lyric by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter)



"Dos Oruguitas" from "Encanto" (music and lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda)



"Down to Joy" from "Belfast" (music and lyric by Van Morrison)



"No Time to Die" from "No Time to Die" (music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell)



"Somehow You Do" from "Four Good Days" (music and lyric by Diane Warren)

2021 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

This year's Oscar nominees for Best Original Song features another group of strong contenders with any one of them being a good choice for the award. The Netflix musical-comedy of the annual Eurovision Song contest, "The Story of Fire Saga" has their only nomination with the pop-power ballad, "Húsavík (My Hometown)" which actress, Rachel McAdams lip syncs in the film to the vocals of Swedish pop singer, Molly Sandén. "Hear My Voice", from "The Trial of the Chicago 7", was written by composer, Daniel Pemberton and rising British soul singer, Celeste who also performs the tune. Actor Leslie Odom, Jr. does double duty; playing soul legend, Sam Cooke in the film, "One Night in Miami..." and co-writing (with Sam Ashworth) and performing the nominated song, "Speak Now". R&B vocalist, H.E.R. delivers a powerful anthem, "Fight For You" for the bio-drama, "Judas and the Black Messiah" which involves the tragic betrayal of Black Panther chairman, Fred Hampton by an FBI informant. And there is "Io Si (Seen)" from the feature film "The Life Ahead" which is highlighted by the return of screen legend, Sophia Loren. This ballad was co-written by Italian pop star, Laura Pausini (who also performs the song) and Diane Warren, making this her twelfth Oscar nomination yet she still hasn't taken home the prize.

My prediction is that the award will go to the sentimental favorite, Diane Warren for her well-admired work over her lengthy career. But who knows? Here are the five nominated songs to hear and judge for yourself:

"Fight for You" from "Judas and the Black Messiah" (Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas)



"Hear My Voice" from "The Trial of the Chicago 7" (Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite)



"Húsavík" from "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga" (Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson)



"Io Si (Seen)" from "The Life Ahead" (Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini)



"Speak Now" from "One Night in Miami..." (Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth)

2020 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

This year's Oscar nominations were announced on January 13th and the awards will be presented on February 9th which makes it the earliest the awards have ever been given out. And without any nonsense about eliminating the Best Original Song nominees from the show, that means that all of the singers of these songs have been invited to perform at the 92nd annual ceremony. This year is particularly strong in this category with any of them being a worthy winner. But I have to say I'm leaning towards Elton John's song from "Rocketman". This Motown-inspired, foot-stomper, "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" has John collaborating with his long-time co-writer, Bernie Taupin and this would only be the second award this legendary team has ever won together following their recent Golden Globe win for this song. Here are all five Best Original Song nominees for your listening pleasure:

"I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away" from "Toy Story 4"; music and lyrics by Randy Newman



"(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from "Rocketman"; music by Elton John; lyrics by Bernie Taupin



"I'm Standing With You" from "Breakthrough"; music and lyrics by Diane Warren



"Into the Unknown" from "Frozen II"; music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez



"Stand Up" from "Harriet"; music and lyrics by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo

2019 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

With the Kevin Hart hosting scandal creating some unwanted attention to this year’s Oscars, the Academy have found themselves in another mess but this time it appears to be of their own making. A rumor surfaced that the telecast would only invite two of the five Best Original Song nominees to perform (with the two being the pop hits from Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga). The issue intensified when the Academy did not deny this was accurate which created swift backlash. Lin-Manuel Miranda tweeted to the Academy his unhappiness with this plan and reminded them the importance of hearing all of the nominees on the program. I agree completely with Mr Miranda that the songs have always been an enjoyable part of the Oscars and feel strongly that you should either invite all or no one. I think it’s rude and disrespectful to the nominees to be picking and choosing who gets to perform on the show.

But it seems the Academy have come to their senses (and apparently with a little nudge from Lady Gaga) and announced that all the five Original Songs will be performed live although in a shorter 90 second format. I’m not sure yet what is worse.

So that means we will see Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper recreating their moment in the movie, "A Star Is Born" with "Shallow"; Jennifer Hudson performing "I'll Fight", the theme song for the smash documentary, "RBG" about Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg which was written by Diane Warren who has received her tenth nomination in this category (and most likely to lose for the tenth time); David Rawlings and Gillian Welch, the writers of the song, "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings" from the Coen Brothers' western comedy, "The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs", will sing their nominated tune and a "Surprise Special Guest" will perform the song from "Mary Poppins Returns", "The Place Where Lost Things Go" since actress, Emily Blunt, who sang the song in the movie, declined. There is no official word yet if Kendrick Lamar and SZA will appear to perform their hit song, "All The Stars" from "Black Panther". As for the winner, I think "Shallow" has a slight edge to take the Oscar but my personal choice would be "All The Stars". But we will see on February 24th when the 91st Annual Academy Awards will be presented. Here are all five Best Original Song nominees for your listening pleasure:

"All The Stars" from "Black Panther": Music by Kendrick Lamar, Mark “Sounwave” Spears and Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith; Lyric by Kendrick Lamar, SZA and Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith



"I'll Fight" from "RBG": Music and Lyric by Diane Warren



"The Place Where Lost Things Go" from "Mary Poppins Return": Music by Marc Shaiman; Lyric by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman



"Shallow" from "A Star Is Born": Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt



"When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings" from "The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs": Music and Lyric by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch

2018 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

It has just been announced that all five of the Best Original Song nominees will be performed live on this year’s Oscars telecast and that will include appearances by the musicians who sang them in the films. So you will see first time nominee, Sufjan Stevens, the indie rocker who will perform his beautiful, “Mystery of Love” from one of my favorite films of last year, “Call Me By Your Name”. Another first time nominee is Mary J. Blige, a r&b veteran who will bring "Mighty River" to life on the show. In addition to the nomination for this song she co-wrote, Blige also received one for her impressive acting in the film, “Mudbound”. From the bio-pic, “Marshall”, Common, a previous Oscar winner for “Glory”, his song from the 2014 Martin Luther King drama, “Selma”, will appear with Andra Day to do “Stand Up For Something”, a song he co-wrote with Diane Warren, who has received her ninth Oscar nomination for Best Song yet still hasn’t taken home the prize. Keala Settle, a musical theater actress, had her first major film role in the sleeper hit, "The Greatest Showman" and will perform what I think is the best number from this original musical, "This Is Me" which was written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who won in this category last year for their work in "La La Land". And actor, Gael García Bernal, who sang the song in the film, and Miguel and Natalia Lafourcade, who recorded a pop version will all appear together to perform, "Remember Me" from the Disney animated film, "Coco" written by the team of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez who took home the Oscar in 2014 for their big hit from "Frozen", "Let It Go".

This is a particularly strong year and any one of these songs would be a great selection but I'm leaning towards "Remember Me". This moving ballad was used quite effectively throughout "Coco" and even had me boo-hooing all through the ending. Here are all five nominees that you can listen to and judge for yourself:

“Mystery of Love”, Music and lyrics by Sufjan Stevens from "Call Me By Your Name"



“Remember Me”, Music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez from "Coco"



“This Is Me”, Music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul from "The Greatest Showman"



“Stand Up For Something”, Music by Diane Warren; lyrics by Lonnie R. Lynn and Diane Warren from "Marshall"



“Mighty River”, Music and lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq, and Taura Stinson from "Mudbound"

2017 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

With the show just a few weeks away, the Oscars have announced who will be performing the nominees for Best Original Song during the telecast. This year, all the songs will be represented on the program with Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer of "How Far I'll Go" from the Disney animated film, "Moana", performing the song along with the voice of the title character, Auli'i Cravalho. "The Empty Chair" from the documentary, "Jim: The James Foley Story" will be sung by writer, Sting. Justin Timberlake will do his inescapable pop hit, "Can't Stop The Feeling" he co-wrote for the animated film,"Trolls". And Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling will be spared embarrassing themselves in front of their peers by trying to sing live in front of them. Oscar-winner John Legend, who actually makes his living as a singer but made an acting appearance in the film, will perform the two songs nominated from the musical "La La Land", " "City of Stars" and "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)".

And who do I think will take the prize? Well, if it's a "La La Land" sweep as predicted, then " City of Stars" would be the best bet. If not, then perhaps Justin's feel-good "Trolls" song might sneak in there for the win. My personal choice would actually be "City of Stars" as it's a lovely, well-written, Hollywood-styled ballad that will stand the test of time.

But I guess we will have to tune in on February 26th to see who really wins during the 89th Annual Academy Awards.  Here are the five nominees for your listening pleasure:

"Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" from "La La Land", Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul



"Can’t Stop the Feeling" from "Trolls", Music and Lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster



"City of Stars" from"La La Land", Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul



"The Empty Chair" from "Jim: The James Foley Story", Music and Lyric by J. Ralph and Sting



"How Far I'll Go" from "Moana", Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

2016 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

It had been previously announced that pop stars the Weeknd, Sam Smith and Lady Gaga were invited to perform their nominated songs on the 2016 Oscars telecast next Sunday. Now, it's just been revealed that the other two nominees, J. Ralph & Antony Hegarty and David Lang were NOT invited to perform their songs.

The lame excuse is due to "time constraints" but I must ask when has the Oscars ever seriously been concerned about time? With the show to surely run well over three hours long, what's another ten minutes to give these performers their deserved moment in the spotlight? The real reason is clearly because these nominees are relatively unknown and their songs are not conventional enough to fit comfortably in to the star-filled evening. I think it's shameful, a disgrace and completely unfair. It should be all or nothing!

Let me get off my soapbox and let you listen to the two nominees snubbed from the show:

“Simple Song #3” from "Youth" (Music and Lyric by David Lang)



“Manta Ray” from "Racing Extinction" (Music by J. Ralph and Lyric by Antony Hegarty)



And here are the other nominees:

“Earned It” from "Fifty Shades of Grey" (Music and Lyric by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio)



“Til It Happens to You” from "The Hunting Ground" (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga)



“Writing’s on the Wall” from "Spectre" (Music and Lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith)

2013 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Most of the conversation about this year's Oscar nominations for Best Original Song has been about the disqualification of the tune, "Alone Not Alone". I had found it a little suspect that a song from a film that nobody never heard of (let alone ever seen) managed to earn a nomination but the real news is that the rest of the selections are actually a solid collection of songs. It's been quite a while since music from a motion picture has received serious radio play but two of our nominees have been climbing up the Billboard charts. One of this year's big Grammy winners, Pharrell Williams has a top-ten hit with "Happy" from the animation sequel, "Despicable Me 2" while "Let It Go", the breakout song from another smash animated film, "Frozen" is also moving up the top-forty.

The other two notable songs include rock legends, U2 who received their second Oscar nomination for the moving ballad, "Ordinary Love" which closes out "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom". Karen O from the art-punk band Yeah Yeah Yeah co-wrote "The Moon Song" with the director of the film, "Her", Spike Jones. A version of the song is performed in the film by actors, Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin Phoenix and by the artist during the end-credits.

The best news is that all of these great artists will be on the Oscar telecast, March 2nd to perform their songs. And the nominees for Best Original Song are:

"Let It Go" from "Frozen" -  Performed by Idina Menzel - (Music and lyric by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez)

"The Moon Song" from "Her" -  Performed by Karen O - (Music by Karen O, Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze)

"Ordinary Love" from "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" -  Performed  by U2 -(Music and Lyric by U2)

"Happy" from "Despicable Me 2" -  Performed by Pharrell Williams - (Music and lyric by Pharrell Williams)