For our second Rundown article, we review the melodies nominated in the other music category. After the jump, you’ll find our winner and runner-up predictions for Best Original Song as well as general commentary about the race. Friday, we’ll cover one of the short film categories.

Best Original Song

Winner Predictions

• Applause – Tell It Like a Woman
• Hold My Hand – Top Gun: Maverick
• Lift Me Up – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Naatu Naatu – RRR (WL O) (PP O) (TB O) (TL O)
• This Is a Life – Everything Everywhere All at Once

Runner-Up Predictions

• Hold My Hand – Top Gun: Maverick (WL O) (PP R) [New] (TB O)
• Lift Me Up – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (TL R) [New]

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Wesley Lovell: I’m not fond of either of the frontrunners for this award. “Naatu Naatu” is a Bollywood track that feels overly familiar, though those in Hollywood who don’t watch those films might not realize that. Bollywood (and Bollywood adjacent) haven’t gotten a lot of nominations, but this makes the second that seems to be a frontrunner. I’m also not a fan of “Hold My Hand” and have zero memory of “This Is a Life,” so I’d have to personally pick “Lift Me Up,” but it’s unlikely to win.
Peter J. Patrick: The catchy “Natuu Natuu” seems to be the runaway favorite with Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” the likeliest upset winner.
Tripp Burton: (Commentary added 2/17/23) Since RRR blanked on the other categories, I feel like Naatu Naatu isn’t the lock that it seemed a month ago, but I don’t know what else here could upset it.
Thomas La Tourrette: Naatu Naatu looks poised to win for best original song. Not only will it be the first one to win from an Indian-language movie, but it was the first to even be nominated. It is said to be a fun, rambunctious number, and I confess that I have not seen the film yet, but am looking forward to it. It should make for a stunning performance on Oscar night. Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick both have their adherents, and could upset, but that seems fairly unlikely. All the nominees outside of Naatu Naatu boast some impressive credentials, but Lady Gaga, Rihanna, David Byrne, and Diane Warren (on her 14th nomination without a win!) look to go home empty-handed. Perhaps the writers of Naatu Naatu are well known in India, but they certainly were not a known quantity here beforehand. It is still rare for a song not in English to win, but it looks like there will be another one now.

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