Oscars
Oscars 2022: Beyonce Lands First Nomination, Billie Eilish and Van Morrison Lead Best Song Nominees
Musicians are taking over this year’s Oscars. The nominees were announced this morning, and singers, producers, and composers are up for the film industry’s biggest award. Five generational icons, Van Morrison, Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Diane Warren, are up for the Best Original Song category. Morrison grabbed a nom for “Down To Joy,” from Belfast, where Queen B is up for co-writing “Be Alive,” from King Richard with producer DIXSON. This marks Beyoncé’s first-ever Oscar nomination. Eilish and her brother Finneas co-wrote the newest Bond theme, “No Time To Die,” and Miranda wrote the track “Dos Oruguitas” for Disney’s Encanto. If he wins, his Oscar will secure Miranda with EGOT status. This is Warren’s 13th Oscar nomination, making her the most-nominate...
2022 Oscar Nominations: See the Full List, Updating Live
As the last few years have shown us, you can always count on awards shows to persevere, even in the most trying of times. The 2022 Oscars nominations, if nothing else, represent the inspiring endurance of this annual tradition, while also highlighting some of the year’s most exciting creative achievements in film. This year’s nominees represent a number of significant trends. Take, for example, Netflix, which has established a presence in the Oscar race and has some serious contenders in its stable, including The Power of the Dog, Passing, Don’t Look Up, and The Lost Daughter. Oh, not to mention tick, tick…Boom!, which is not just one of many musicals in contention for recognition this year, but also one of the several projects which might help Lin-Manuel Miranda complete his EGOT. (Though...
Early 2022 Oscar Predictions: What Are the Most Likely Best Song & Score Nominees?
When the 2022 Oscar nominations are announced next week (on Feb. 8), there could be some A-list musicians in the mix, from Jay-Z and Beyoncé (separately!) to Billie Eilish and Finneas (together!). But who from the 15 shortlisted finalists for best original song and best original score will get the five coveted spots in each of those musical categories? On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith consulted with Billboard awards editor Paul Grein to get his picks for the sure things, the likely contenders, and the dark horses. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Listen to the full show below to hear who’s leading the Oscar hopeful pack: Also on the show, we’re talking all about “Bruno.” A week after chatting with Lin-Manuel Miranda on th...
Pete Davidson May Host This Year’s Oscars
It looks like the Oscars may not let Tom Holland host this year’s ceremony. Instead, according to Page Six, the Academy is eyeing Pete Davidson to be the award show’s first host since 2018. Oscars officials have toyed with the idea of this year’s show having multiple hosts, and they’ve also thrown around big names like Dwayne Johnson and Chris Rock. Per Page Six, however, after years of declining ratings, the Oscars are looking for a “reset,” and think Kim Kardashian’s boyfriend would help bring in younger viewers. “He gets a demographic that is hard to get,” an unnamed source told the publication. “He is in a good space, his career is doing well and he is on the rise. He is a sex symbol, unlikely, but he is big with a certain generation.” To Davidson’s credit, he does have hosting ex...
In 1983, Alan & Marilyn Bergman Were First to Land 3 Oscar Nods for Best Song in 1 Year
With the announcement on Saturday (Jan. 8) of the death of Oscar- and Grammy-winning lyricist Marilyn Bergman at age 93, it’s a good time to look back on one of the most impressive feats in Oscar history. When the nominations for the 55th annual Academy Awards were announced on Feb. 17, 1983, lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman accomplished an unprecedented feat: They had three of the five nominees for best original song. What’s more, all three songs were from different films and were written with with different composers. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news In the nearly four decades since then, four other songwriters or songwriting teams have landed three best original song nods in the same year, but, in each case, all were from the same film. The...
Denzel Washington’s Top 10 Performances, From Malcolm X to Macbeth
This feature originally ran in September 2014. We’re reposting it in celebration of Denzel Washington’s 67th birthday today. Top Performances is a recurring feature in which we definitively handpick the very best performances from an iconic actor or actress. Six-time Academy Award nominee and two-time winner. Can play it over-the-top, but knows when he needs to play it cool, to play down. One of the more gracious actors you’ll ever see on the big screen. I’m talking, of course, about Denzel Washington, and through careful consideration, Leah Pickett and I have gone through his filmography to select his 10 finest performances. Keep in mind these rankings are based on Washington’s performances, not the movies in which he performed. Did we forget anything? Did we place a performanc...
Jonny Greenwood, JAY-Z, Beyoncé, Brian Wilson, Billie Eilish on 2022 Oscars Shortlist
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has revealed its shortlists for 2022 Oscar nominees in several categories, including Best Original Song, Best Original Score, and Best Documentary Feature. In the original song category, a longlist of 84 initial nominees has been whittled down to 15. They include husband and wife JAY-Z and Beyoncé, who are nominated for “Guns Go Bang” (The Harder They Fall) and “Be Alive” (King Richard), respectively. Billie Eilish’s Bond theme “No Time to Die” is also on the shortlist, as are songs by Sparks (“So May We Start?” from Annette), Brian Wilson and Jim James (“Right Where I Belong” from Brian Wilson: Long Rode Promised), Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi (“Just Look Up” from Don’t Look Up), Jennifer Hudson (“Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)” from Respect)...
Will Jennifer Hudson Extend Oscar Nomination Streak for Biopic Performances?
Three times before this streak, actors received lead acting nods two years in a row for playing real-life music personalities. Jamie Foxx won best actor for playing Ray Charles in Ray (2004). The following year, Joaquin Phoenix was nominated in that category for playing Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, and his co-star, Reese Witherspoon, won best actress for playing June Carter Cash. Twenty years earlier, Tom Hulce was nominated for best actor for playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus (1984), while his co-star, F. Murray Abraham, won in that category for playing his rival, Antonio Salieri. The following year, Jessica Lange was nominated for best actress for playing country legend Patsy Cline in Sweet Dreams. The first time that actors received back-to-back Oscar nominations for playing r...
Samuel L. Jackson to Receive Honorary Oscar, Marking His First-Ever Academy Award
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is fixing some glaring blind spots. This afternoon, the board of governors announced their decision to give Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May, and Liv Ullmann each an honorary Oscar — marking the first time ever that any of them have received an Academy Award. Additionally, Danny Glover will be presented with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. “We are thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to four honorees who have had a profound impact on both film and society,” said Academy president David Rubin in a statement. “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, rever...
Forever No. 1: B.J. Thomas’ ‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head’
“When the film was released, I was highly critical — how did the song fit with the film? There was no rain,” Redford told USA Today in 2019, a half-century later. “At the time, it seemed like a dumb idea. How wrong I was.” “Raindrops…” was hardly the most sophisticated song that Burt Bacharach and Hal David — the duo who’d penned many of the most pristine and affecting pop songs of the late ’50s and ’60s, including most of Dionne Warwick’s signature smashes — ever wrote. But it may have been their most universal, a song that everybody who has ever had a bad day or a rough patch could relate to. David’s lyric has a dash of whimsical humor (“So, I just did me some talkin’ to the sun/ And I said I didn’t like the way he got things done...
2022 Oscar Telecast Has Been Pushed Back: Here’s the New Date
The eligibility period for Academy Awards consideration will return to the standard Dec. 31 deadline: A feature film must have a qualifying release date between March 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2021. As a result, this coming year will have 10-month eligibility period, while this past year had a 14-month eligibility period. Because the pandemic is still impacting theater attendance, eligibility requirements for the 94th Academy Awards will be consistent with the addendums made for the 93rd Awards season. Those can be found here. Complete 94th Awards rules and specialty category submission deadlines will be announced in June. Following this year, the Academy intends to expand the qualifying requirements for the 95th Awards. The 94th Oscars will be held at to the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & H...
Motion Picture Academy Seeks to Slow Rapid Rate of Membership Growth
The move follows five consecutive years in which the Academy invited 600 or more new members to join its ranks each year. In a surprise move, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday (May 26) that it is seeking to slow the rate of growth of its new members. “To ensure the necessary infrastructure, staff resources and environment to support all Academy members, this year’s growth in membership will be limited to roughly half that of recent years,” the Academy said in a statement. “This modification will enable steady future growth and allow the Academy to continue serving its membership in a more personal manner.” Last year, the Academy invited 819 people to join its ranks — 45% of them women, 36% underrepresented ethnic/racial minorities, and 49% from outsi...
