Mixed results for pop stars in the nominations
Wednesday, February 9, 2022 at 8:46PM by Elisa Giudici
The most surprising snub of this round of Oscar Nominations was Lady Gaga missing her earned spot in the Leading Actress category. I am not speaking of quality, but about campaign effort. She did and said literally anything 'an Italian girl living in NY' can to fit the profile of an Oscar-nominated actress, at least 1990s style. I have to confess I am going to miss her ability to offer up a new small, crazy detail or anecdote each interview about how immersive and challenging it was to play Patrizia Reggiani in House of Gucci.
She is in good company. With their glamorous attitude and dazzling personas pop stars tend to catch the attention of Hollywood, but this year the results with Academy voters were not all welcoming...
Lady Gaga got the press for missing the Actress lineup but Ariana Grande was also out on nomination morning, missing a Best Original Song nod for "Just Look Up" despite Don’t Look Up performing well in other categories. Grande sang her catchy tune about the end of the world directly on screen, in a long scene that turns the movie into a sort of live Ariana Grande concert. There is a parodical element to it, sure, but she owns the stage of the last concert in human history after putting Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio in his place in her intro scene! So that's another beloved female pop star who missed the chance to perform live during the Award Ceremony and maybe win an Oscar herself.
But thankfully there is another.
Billie Eilish might already have the Oscar in her hands with her James Bond song "No Time To Die". But though she did secure that Song nomination the documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry missed in the Doc Feature category despite being a surprise finalist. Considering the subject, that doc got a lot more attention and eyes than documentary features usually do.
No one says no to Queen Bey, not even the Academy. Beyoncé was nominated along with Billie Eilish in the Best Original Song category for "Be Alive" (featured in King Richard). However the other half of the Carter couple missed: Jay-Z's "Guns Go Bang" (from The Harder They Fall) didn't make it in the same category, denying us a third married couple with two Oscar nominations in the same year! We get Cruz & Bardem and Dunst & Plemons from the acting categories but we don't get Beyoncé and Jay-Z competing against each other in the same category!
The Academy sent mixed message about pop stars with the nominations this year. It's one more way they arguably showed little patience for the pressure of choosing their favourites on the basis of box office and popularity (See also: Spider-Man: No Way Home and House of Gucci)
Reader Comments (10)
I have to say I’m quite confused at Oscar ignoring truly iconic Bond themes of the past 30-40 years and then all of sudden rewarding forgettable Bond numbers by Adele and Sam Smith. It’s really rather odd.
david -- i have often wondered what is going on there too. It's like as soon as Daniel Craig was Bond they were like "oh, these films have songs!" STRANGE.
elisa -- i'm still stuck on THE SPARKS not being able to perform "So May We Start" to open the show. Such a missed opportunity!
I would've loved for Sparks to perform at the Oscars. It would've gotten more people to realize the genius that is... Sparks.
I actually like the song by Adele from Skyfall but yes, the one for Spectre was just bland and forgettable.
Adele yeah fine but not another unimaginative pastiche Bond song winning with supposed singers who can't seem to open their mouths and deliver a song,wonder what Shirley thinks.
Alana Haim and Jonny Greenwood aren't considered pop stars? My "fam" are more familiar with their respective acts.
I heard on the Little Gold Men podcast that Taylor Swift just missed the eligibility deadline for her long version video of All Too Well.
I'm sure all those people will be asked to be presenters at the Oscars, heck, wouldn't Lady Gaga get the first phone call to actually host the show?
And in my opinion, anyone other than Lin-Manuel Miranda winning the Oscar for Best Song is a problem. Sure, it would be for his body of work this year but there are far worse reasons to give someone an Oscar.
Dave--love your idea about Gaga hosting. I think she would kill it and show everyone what a great sport she is. Love it!
I'll never understand why Gaga didn't write a song for House of Gucci. That movie was practically begging for a crazy over the top song. Given the shortlist, she probably wouldn't have had a problem making the cut.
As for Grande, maybe she gets a nom next year for Wicked. In either acting or songwriting- you know something original is going to come from the movie!
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