‘KPop Demon Hunters’ and ‘Wicked’ Headline Musical Shortlist at the Oscars

There aren’t too many surprises on the shortlist for this year’s Best Original Song award at this year’s Oscars.

“Golden,” performed by the fictional band HUNTR/X from Netflix’s international phenomenon KPop Demon Hunters, leads the pack. It’s followed closely by two nominations for Wicked: For Good, for Ariana Grande’s “The Girl in the Bubble” and Cynthia Erivo’s “No Place Like Home.” Both were written by original Wicked playwright Stephen Schwartz.

In another case of a double threat, Ryan Coogler’s historical drama-musical-horror-epic Sinners also has two songs on the shortlist: “Last Time (I Seen the Sun),” which was written by Ludwig Göransson and the film’s stars Alice Smith and Miles Caton, who performed the song in the film, and “I Lied to You,” which was performed by Caton and written by Göransson and Raphael Saadiq. The latter song is a dark-horse favorite for the award, thanks to racking up a couple wins at smaller awards shows.

Of course, if you’ve ever followed the Oscars for any period of time, you won’t be shocked to see Diane Warren’s name on the list. Her song “Dear Me,” which comes from her own documentary Diane Warren: Relentless and was performed by Ke$ha, is her record-breaking 17th Oscar nomination without a win. Maybe this will be the year.

The most surprising omission is “Clothed By The Sun,” from The Testament of Ann Lee. Starring Amanda Seyfried, the historical-drama musical from Mona Fastvold and Brady Corbet—who you may recognize from garnering several Oscar nominations last year for The Brutalist—has shockingly missed every single shortlist at this year’s Academy Awards.

Last year, “El Mal” from Netflix’s musical Emilia Perez took home the top prize.

Here’s the full list of all 15 songs on the shortlist for Best Original Song at the 98th Academy Awards. Just five of them will advance to the actual award ceremony.

“As Alive As You Need Me To Be” from Tron: Ares
“Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless
“Dream As One” from Avatar: Fire and Ash
“Drive” from F1
“Dying To Live” from Billy Idol Should Be Dead
“The Girl In The Bubble” from Wicked: For Good
“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters
“Highest 2 Lowest” from Highest 2 Lowest
“I Lied To You” from Sinners
“Last Time (I Seen The Sun)” from Sinners
“No Place Like Home” from Wicked: For Good
“Our Love” from The Ballad of Wallis Island
“Salt Then Sour Then Sweet” from Come See Me in the Good Light
“Sweet Dreams Of Joy” from Viva Verdi!
“Train Dreams” from Train Dreams