Billie Eilish, Diane Warren Jon Batiste won the Oscars

The remaining nominees are “I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie” and “Wahzhazhe,” a surprise candidate from “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Billie Eilish, Jon Batiste, Diane Warren, “I’m Just Ken,” and unexpected challenger “Wahzhazhe” from Killers of the Flower Moon have emerged as the nominees for the renowned composition category in one of the closest contests for best original song at the 2024 Oscars.

This implies that a lot of excellent performers who were on the shortlist—among them, Lenny Kravitz, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, Halle Bailey, and others—weren’t chosen.

With the Barbie tune, Eilish—who co-wrote “What Was I Made For?” with her brother-producer Finneas—is the front-runner for the award. The pair’s performance of “No Time to Die,” from the eponymous James Bond movie, took them the Best Original Song Oscar in 2022. Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken,” penned by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt—the hitmakers who won best original song for “Shallow” from A Star is Born alongside Lady Gaga and Anthony Rossomando—returns the Greta Gerwig-directed box office hit.
Due to the fact that the Film Academy only permits two songs from a film to compete for best original song, Dua Lipa’s disco smash “Dance the Night,” which was among the biggest hits of the previous year, is not eligible. However, all three of the tracks are up for many Grammy awards during the ceremony on February 4. On March 10, the 2024 Oscars will be broadcast live.

Oscar winner Batiste is nominated for “It Never Went Away” from American Symphony, the documentary produced by the Obamas chronicling the singer’s ascent to fame and his wife’s battle with illness. Batiste also won an Oscar for co-scoring Disney’s Soul. Together with Dan Wilson, who has written songs for Adele and the Chicks, including “Someone Like You” and “Not Ready to Make Nice,” Batiste co-wrote the song.

Despite the strong field of past winners in the music category, Warren has garnered a record-breaking 15th nomination for best original song. This time, it’s for Becky G’s performance of Flamin’ Hot’s “The Fire Inside.” It occurs a year following the celebrated songwriter’s Academy Honorary Award receipt.

“Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon completes the group of five nominees. Osage Tribal Singers sing a Native American chant that was created by Scott George, a composer and music consultant for Osage Nation.