Oscar Best Original Song: Rihanna Gets Her First Nomination For “Lift Me Up,” Faces Stiff Competition From Lady Gaga, Diane Warren & More

Oscar Best Original Song: Rihanna Gets Her First Nomination For “Lift Me Up,” Faces Stiff Competition From Lady Gaga, Diane Warren & More

The Oscar Best Original Song nominees list is packed with a powerhouse roster of talent, including Rihanna, Lady Gaga, David Byrne. That sets up a collision of current musical giants come Oscar night. Of course, there’s Diane Warren, the recipient of an Honorary Oscar last month and a musical giant in her own right. She’s garnered a 14th nomination in the category with “Applause,” from the little-seen doc Tell It Like a Woman.

Not on the list is Taylor Swift, whose “Carolina” from Where the Crawdads Sing was on the shortlist of 15 films in contention to be nominated.

While she is a seven-time Grammy winner, Rihanna’s nomination today is her first Oscar nod.

This morning’s list of Original Song nominees not only broadens the relevance to the Academy’s nominations, it adds star power.

Important to the organization — and broadcaster ABC — is the prospect of a Grammy-like show in which the acceptance speeches are leavened with genuinely-entertaining performances from pop-music superstars. Anyone who remembers Beyoncé opening last year’s telecast with a performance of “Be Alive” from King Richard or Lady Gaga’s showstopping duet of “Shallow” from A Star Is Born with Bradley Cooper in 2019 understands the possibilities.

Gaga, it should be noted, won in this category for Shallow and, while not in Diane Warren’s league in terms of all-time nominations, she already has three to date.

Here are the nominees:

“Applause” from Tell It like a Woman, Diane Warren

“Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick, Lady Gaga and Bloodpop

“Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Tems, Ludwig Göransson, Rihanna and Ryan Coogler

“Naatu Naatu” from RRR, Kala Bhairava, M. M. Keeravani, Rahul Sipligunj

“This Is A Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once, David Byrne, Son Lux and Mitski

Here are the 15 Oscar shortlisted songs from which today’s nominees were drawn:

“Time” from Amsterdam, Drake, Giveon Evans, Jahaan Akil Sweet and Daniel Pemberton
“Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)” from Avatar: The Way of Water, The Weeknd
“Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Tems, Ludwig Göransson, Rihanna and Ryan Coogler
“This Is A Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once, David Byrne, Son Lux and Mitski
“Ciao Papa” from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz and Guillermo del Toro
“Til You’re Home” from A Man Called Otto, Rita Wilson and David Hodges
“Naatu Naatu” from RRR, Kala Bhairava, M. M. Keeravani, Rahul Sipligunj
“My Mind & Me” from Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, Amy Allen, Jonathan Bellion, Selena Gomez, Jordan K
“Good Afternoon” from Spirited, Khiyon Hursey, Sukari Jones, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Mark Sonnenblick
“Applause” from Tell It like a Woman, Diane Warren
“Stand Up” from Till, Jazmine Sullivan and D’Mile
“Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick, Lady Gaga and Bloodpop
“Dust & Ash” from The Voice of Dust and Ash, J. Ralph
“Carolina” from Where the Crawdads Sing, Taylor Swift
“New Body Rhumba” from White Noise, LCD Soundsystem