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