> My wife and I went to a concert last night put on by the industry magazine
> Deadline where several composers and songwriters showcased songs and
> scores that are being pushed for the Oscars. There were suites from
> Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Creed III, which we already know,
> but there were also some 'premiere' suites of music from scores that
> haven't been released yet:

> - Saltburn, Anthony Willis. Really good, very classical, very English.
> Reminded me of classic George Fenton in places, lots of slow elegant
> strings.

Intrigued.

> - American Fiction, Laura Karpman. Upbeat, jazzy, lots of fun. Some really
> creative writing for jazz flute, lots of stylistic references to
> Theolonious Monk. It will have a limited appeal, but jazz lovers will
> REALLY love it.

Very intrigued. Also looking forward to the film.

> - Society of the Snow, Michael Giacchino. Slow, reverent, emotional, heavy
> on the strings. Gorgeous ethnic vocal work, classical guitar, ethnic
> woodwinds. If the film is a success this is a real contender.

Ooh, sounds like a change of pace for Giacchino.

> - Napoleon, Martin Phipps. Very classical, very French inspired as one
> might expect. Waltzes, period instruments. The theme for Napoleon has a
> really dramatic weight to it, and the action music is intense, heraldic
> horns, tumultuous drums. Could be the best and most large-scale thing he's
> written.

Exciting!

> - The Peasants, Lukasz Rostkowski. Poland's foreign language film entry,
> uniquely animated. This brought the house down - a huge celebratory dance
> of Slavic folk music, raucous, joyful, but also really well-done
> orchestrally, some really creative and challenging stuff for solo violin.
> The studio is REALLY pushing this, so this could be one of those totally
> out-of-leftfield contenders.

Ooooooh.

> Also: at least two songs from Barbie are getting nominated. Everyone loves
> 'I'm Just Ken,' and along with that they are pushing the Billie Eilish and
> Dua Lipa songs HARD.

Honestly I'm not sure what else is out there this year song-wise (though if Disney's Wish does well, that'll probably get a nomination), but I do know that Dua Lipa's "Dance the Night" is probably my most listened to piece of music this year.

> At this point, I expect the Best Score Oscar nominees to be:

> - Oppenheimer
> - Barbie
> - Killers of the Flower Moon

> and then two others from a big group of 10 contenders, including all those
> listed above, plus Elemental (Newman), Nyad (Desplat), Ferrari
> (Pemberton), Wonka (Joby Talbot), Rustin (Branford Marsalis), The Boy and
> the Heron (Hisaishi), maybe Williams and Indiana Jones 5.

That collectively, plus Haunting in Venice, and give or take a few left field picks (surprise Wallfisch/JNH/Bowers?) are probably this year's short list?

Thanks for the report!