Oscar Music Shortlists Arrive: Yes to Multiple ‘Barbie’ and ‘Color Purple’ Song Submissions, but No to Bruce Springsteen, ‘Wonka’ and ‘Wish’
variety.comJon Burlingame Oscar’s music branch has had its say, naming 15 original scores and 15 songs to its shortlist for possible nomination at the 96th Academy Awards, with few surprises.
As expected, all three “Barbie” songs that were entered — Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For,” Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” and Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” — made the 15-song list.
Only two can be nominated. The mild surprise was the citing of two new songs from “The Color Purple” (“Keep It Movin'” and “Superpower”) and two from “Flora and Son” (“High Life” and “Meet in the Middle”), while two of the biggest musicals of the season, “Wonka” and “Wish,” failed to make the cut in either category.
The Bruce Springsteen song from “She Came to Me,” Golden Globe-nominated, is also missing from Oscar’s preliminary list, as are the *NSYNC reunion on a song from “Trolls Band Together” and Jack Black’s shot at Oscar fame with “Peaches” in “The Super Mario Bros.
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