Karen O, U2, Pharrell Lead Nominations For Best Original Song Oscar

The 2014 Oscar nominations have been announced and stadium-filling U2, Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O and super smooth crooner Pharrell Williams are amongst the the artists up for a Best Original Song win.

U2 may have just picked up a Best Original Song Golden Globe for their Nelson Mandela-inspired song Ordinary Love, but Bono and company will face stiff competition from Mr Williams and his cut from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack, Happy, which also featured the world’s first 24 hour music video.

Karen O has been nominated for the nod for The Moon Song, written and performed for Spike Jonze‘s latest flick Her. It’s not the first time the pair have teamed up, with O soundtracking his 2009 movie Where the Wild Things Are.

Also up for the Oscar is Disney ballad Let It Go from the film Frozen, written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and a suprise nomination in the form of Alone Yet Not Alone, taken from a Christian movie of the same name about sisters kidnapped by a Native American tribe.

As for films, the stylin’ ’70s comedy American Hustle and 3-D space epic Gravity lead the Academy Awards with 10 nominations each, including Best Picture. The other contenders in that category are 12 Years a Slave, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Her, Nebraska, The Wolf of Wall Street and Philomena.

Best Director contenders include David O’Russell for American Hustle, Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity, Alexander Payne for Nebraska, Steve McQueen for 12 Years A Slave and Martin Scorsese for The Wolf Of Wall Street.

Leonardo DiCaprio may finally take home the Best Actor award with his fourth Oscar nomination for his performance in The Wolf of Wall Street, but faces a good run for his money from Christian Bale for American Hustle, Bruce Dern for Nebraska, Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 Years a Slave and Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club.

Cate Blanchett is the favourite to win Best Actress for Woody Allen‘s Blue Jasmine after taking out the Golden Globe. Also nominated are Amy Adams for American Hustle, Sandra Bullock for Gravity, Judi Dench for Philomena and Meryl Streep for August: Osage County.

The 86th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, 2nd March.

The 86th Academy Awards Nominees

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

Bradley Cooper – American Hustle

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years A Slave

Jonah Hill – The Wolf of Wall Street

Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress

Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Lupita Nyongo’o – 12 Years A Slave

Julia Roberts – August Osage County

June Squibb – Nebraska

Original Song

Alone Yet Not Alone – Alone Yet Not Alone

Happy – Despicable Me 2

Let It Go – Froze

The Moon Song – Her

Ordinary Love – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (U2)

Adapted Screenplay

Before Midnight

Captain Phillips

Philomena

12 Years A Slave

The Wolf Of Wall Street

Original Screenplay



American Hustle

Blue Jasmine

Dallas Buyers Club

Her

Nebraska

Animated Feature

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Ernest & Celestine

Frozen

The Wind Rises

Best Documentary Feature

The Act Of Killing – Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen

Cutie And The Boxer – Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher

Dirty Wars – Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill

The Square – Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer

20 Feet From Stardom – Nominees to be determined

Foreign Language Film

The Broken Circle Breakdown – Belgium

The Great Beauty – Italy

The Hunt – Denmark

The Missing Picture – Cambodia

Omar – Palestine

Best Director

David O’Russell – American Hustle

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Alexander Payne – Nebraska

Steve McQueen – 12 Years A Slave

Martin Scorsese – The Wolf Of Wall Street

Best Actress

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Judi Dench – Philomena

Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

Best Actor

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Leonardo Dicaprio – The Wolf Of Wall Street

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years A Slave

Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

Best Picture

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Nebraska

Philomena

12 Years A Slave

The Wolf Of Wall Street

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