Miranda Lambert, Nick Cannon & More Unexpected Artists Up for Oscar's Best Original Song
A total of 74 songs are in contention to be nominated for a
Best Original Song Oscar, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed
on Friday. But of that massive list, only five will actually wind up vying for
the coveted statuette come Sunday, Feb. 28.
Scanning through the current list of eligible tunes, we
couldn’t help but get excited for a few unexpected names. While Wiz Khalifa—the
rapper behind the Paul Walker tribute, “See You Again," from Furious 7—is
pretty much a lock at this point, Nick Cannon, Miranda Lambert, and Charli XCX could
potentially go up against him.
Let’s look at the most unexpected eligible nominees:
1-3. Tove Love, "Love Me Like You Do" from Fifty Shades of Grey
While Ellie Goulding sings on the record, the Swedish
artist, Tove Lo, is one of the four writers on this hit track from the Fifty
Shades of Grey soundtrack. Meanwhile, The
Weeknd’s “Earned It" -- also on the short list and co-written by the Canadian
breakout -- was a much bigger hit on the charts. However, it didn’t get nominated
for a 2016 Golden Globe, potentially hurting its chances come Oscar time. Sia rounds out the list of eligible
songs from the soundtrack with “Salted Wound” -- though it’s a shame her “Elastic Heart” from Catching Fire wasn’t
eligible the year before.
4. Nick Cannon, “Pray
4 My City” from Chi-Raq
In addition to starring in Spike Lee’s latest film, Nick
Cannon also contributed several songs to its soundtrack. “Pray 4 My City” is
the only of his being considered, but another track -- “I Run” sung by Jennifer
Hudson -- made the short, er, long list
as well.
5. Tessa Thompson, “Grip”
from Creed
If you’re not familiar with Tessa Thompson, then it’s time
to get to know this multi-talented entertainer. She appeared on Veronica Mars before making a name for
herself with notable appearances in Dear
White People and Selma. Now, she’s
starring opposite Michael B. Jordan in Creed,
for which she co-wrote “Grip.”
6. Charli XCX, “Red
Balloon” from Home
Charli XCX has had great success with soundtracks -- “Boom Clap”
from The Fault in Our Stars, anyone? -- and
now her track for the animated film, featuring the voices of Rihanna and Jim
Parsons, could earn her Oscar gold.
7. Miranda Lambert, “Two
of a Crime” from Hot Pursuit
While her ex-husband, Blake Shelton, will make a run for the
GRAMMYs, Miranda Lambert could be staring down a new man named Oscar. The girl-powered
anthem was co-written by Lambert and her two songwriting sidekicks, Nicolle
Galyon and Natalie Hemby.
8. Lady Gaga, “Til
It Happens to You” from The Hunting
Ground
Wiz Khalifa’s biggest competition comes in the form of Lady
Gaga, who channeled her own real-life experience with rape into this chilling
theme song for the documentary about college-based sexual assault. Following
her show-stopping Sound of Music medley during last year’s ceremony, Gaga is an Oscar favorite.
9. Mark Ronson, “Johanna”
from Mortdecai
Most people will probably admit to forgetting that Mortdecai, starring Johnny Depp and
Gwyneth Paltrow, was a thing that happened. But one surviving artifact is the ‘60s-influenced
theme, “Johanna,” from super producer Mark Ronson.
10. Meghan Trainor, “Better
When I'm Dancin'” from Peanuts
The breakout star of 2014 kept things moving with a hit
album and a soundtrack contribution to the latest movie adaptation of Peanuts. Considering she was an unknown
songwriter just over a year ago and now she’s up for GRAMMYs’ Best New Artist
and potentially an Oscar, the girl has made it!
11. Jessie J, “Flashlight”
from Pitch Perfect 2
Jessie J rounds out the list of many, many pop stars with
Oscar-eligible theme songs thanks to Pitch
Perfect 2’s original number, “Flashlight.” The song provided an unexpected
twist for the a cappella-themed movie about performing chart-topping numbers by
lady singers with their mouths. But it was a welcomed one.
"Everyone loves to sing, and everyone loves to sing
songs that they know," Jessie told ET in a behind-the-scenes look at the
music video for the song. "What's so great about this movie, there's a
twist. The big song, the big finale, the big final song is a song that no one
knows, which is 'Flashlight.'"
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