Snubs & Surprises in the 2025 Oscar Shortlists: Music Edition
These shortlists constitute an early holiday present for those who made it, and a “sorry, it’s not going to be your year” to those who didn’t.
Miley Cyrus performs at the Gucci and Miley Cyrus Event to Celebrate Summer at Chateau Marmont on July 18, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Gilbert Flores for WWD
There were snubs and surprises aplenty in the Oscar shortlists that were announced on Tuesday (Dec. 17). Every year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences releases shortlists in 10 categories, including best original song, best original score and best documentary feature. These shortlists constitute an early holiday present for those who made it, and a “sorry, it’s not going to be your year” to those who didn’t. (At least the ones who aren’t shortlisted can get their disappointment out of the way now rather than carry false hope all the way through to the reveal of the nominations on Jan. 17.)
Many things in the shortlists went as expected. Of the five songs that were nominated for best original song at both the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards, four made the Oscar shortlist — “Compress/Repress” from Challengers, “Kiss the Sky” from The Wild Robot, and “El Mal” and “Mi Camino,” both from Emilia Pérez.
Also shortlisted is “Forbidden Road” from Better Man, which was nominated for a Golden Globe, and “Harper and Will Go West” from Will & Harper, which was nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award.
Hans Zimmer’s score for Dune: Part 2 was nominated for both a Golden Globe and a Critics’ Choice Award but didn’t make the Oscar shortlist. But you can’t really call it a snub. The Academy had ruled that it wasn’t eligible on the grounds that it contains too much music that was in Zimmer’s Oscar-winning score for the first Dune. That’s bound to be a disappointment for the two-time Oscar winner, but it’s not really a snub. (Happily, Zimmer is shortlisted for another score, Blitz.)
Diane Warren made the Oscar shortlist for best original song for “The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight. Warren has been nominated (not just shortlisted) in that category the last seven years in a row. If she’s nominated again this year, she’ll tie midcentury lyricist Sammy Cahn for the most consecutive nominations (eight) in the history of the category.
Here are the biggest snubs and surprises in the 2025 Oscar shortlists – music edition.
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Snub: Miley Cyrus
“Beautiful That Way,” which Cyrus, Lykke Li and Andrew Wyatt wrote for The Last Showgirl, was nominated for best original song at both the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards, but failed to make the Oscar shortlist in that category.
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Snub: Lady Gaga
Image Credit: Stefania D’Alessandro/WireImage We all know that Joker: Folie à Deux missed the mark with both critics and audiences, but some thought Academy voters would basically give Gaga an “A for effort” by shortlisting “Folie à Deux” for best original song. After all, Gaga is a three-time nominee (and one-time winner) in that category. It didn’t happen.
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Mixed verdict: Elton John
John is no doubt pleased that “Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late, which he cowrote with Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin, made the best original song shortlist. But he was probably disappointed that the film was passed over on the best documentary feature shortlist.
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Snub: The Greatest Night in Pop
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix © 2024 The Greatest Night in Pop, the Netflix film about the recording session that produced “We Are the World,” failed to make the shortlist for best documentary feature. The filmmakers, including song co-writer Lionel Richie and Harriet Sternberg, a former executive in the company headed by event organizer Ken Kragen, will just have to be content with their Grammy nomination for best music film and Primetime Emmy nod for outstanding documentary or nonfiction special.
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Snub: I Am: Celine Dion
Celine Dion has introduced two best original song winners, “Beauty and the Beast” from the film of the same name, and “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic. She even sang both songs on the Oscar stage. So, Oscar voters are very familiar with her. And her valiant battle with Stiff Person Syndrome, chronicled in this film, gives the film a compelling emotional element. Still, the film failed to make the shortlist for best documentary feature.
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Mixed verdict: Twisters
Twisters has been one of the year’s top soundtrack success stories. Twisters: The Album reached No. 3 on Top Country Albums and No. 7 on the all-genre Billboard 200. So, it wasn’t unreasonable to think that two songs from the film might make the Oscar shortlist for best original song. It didn’t happen. “Out of Oklahoma” by Lainey Wilson, Luke Dick and Shane McAnally made the shortlist, but “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” by Jessi Alexander, Luke Combs and Jonathan Singleton did not.
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Snub: John Williams
Image Credit: Shannon Finney/Getty Images Williams, 92, has received more Oscar nominations (54) than any other living person. Among all individuals, living or dead, he’s second only to Walt Disney (59). But that didn’t carry Music by John Williams to a nomination for best documentary feature.
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Surprise: Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach
The documentary feature shortlist includes Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, a film about the political activities of jazz musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach during the Cold War. Lincoln, who died in 2010, and Roach, who died in 2007, are not as broadly famous as Brian Eno, the subject of the other music doc on the shortlist, but they had a big impact. Roach received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2008, the year after his death.
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Surprise: John Powell
John Powell’s score for Wicked is on the shortlist for best original score. Stephen Schwartz’s songs from the 2003 Broadway musical, including “Defying Gravity” and “Gravity,” were obviously not eligible for best original song consideration. But you can bet that Oscar producers will ask Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo to sing on the telecast anyway. Grande has already said that she’ll say yes if invited.
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Snubs: Alexandre Desplat, Michael Giacchino
Desplat and Giacchino are both past Oscar winners for best original score, but they didn’t even make the shortlist this time out. Giacchino, who won in 2010 for Up, was vying to make the shortlist this time with IF. Desplat, who won in 2015 for The Grand Budapest Hotel and in 2018 for The Shape of Water, was vying to make the shortlist with The Piano Lesson.
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Mixed verdict: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Image Credit: Gilbert Flores Reznor and Ross are shortlisted for best original score for Challengers, and for best original song for “Compress/Repress” from that film. But they were passed over for the shortlists for their work on Queer (and its song “Vaster Than Empires”). Moral of the story: While it would be great to be double-listed on two shortlists, if you’re listed at all, take it and be happy.
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Mixed verdict: Moana 2
“Beyond” by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear is shortlisted for best original song, but the score by Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foaʻi failed to make the best original score shortlist. It’s similar to the fate of the music from the first Moana: Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “How Far I’ll Go” was nominated for best original song, but Mark Mancina’s score was not nominated.
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Mixed verdict: Mufasa: The Lion King
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Tell Me It’s You” is shortlisted for best original song, but the score by Nicholas Britell, Dave Metzger and Pharrell Williams failed to make the best original score shortlist. If Miranda’s song is nominated, it will be his third Oscar nod. If it wins, he’s got an EGOT.
Link to the source article – https://www.billboard.com/lists/2025-oscar-shortlists-snubs-surprises-music-edition/
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