The film academy announced the shortlists of Oscar contenders in 10 categories on Thursday, including Best Original Song.
The Color Purple remake has two songs in the category — “Superpower (I)” featuring Fantasia Barrino and “Keep It Movin'” featuring Halle Bailey and Phylicia Pearl Mpasi.
“Superpower (I)” is a powerful anthem about overcoming adversity, written by The-Dream with music composed by Kris Powers.
The up-tempo “Keep It Movin'” was created for the younger versions of the Nettie and Celie characters in the film (played by Phylicia Pearl Mpasi and Halle Bailey). The song was penned by Brittany Coney, Denisia Andrews, Halle Bailey, and Morten Ristorp.
Related Story: ‘The Color Purple’ Soundtrack to Feature Fantasia, Alicia Keys, H.E.R., Usher
In a recent interview with TheWrap, Andrews discussed Bailey’s contribution to the song.
“Halle, I think, was already cast in it,” Andrews said. “She had some sense of what her scenes were going to be and came in with some ideas. I’m happy that we didn’t see it beforehand, because I think it would have stifled our creativity. We would have been overthinking it.”
Dua Lipa’s catchy “Dance The Night” from Barbie and the Lenny Kravitz single “Road to Freedom” from Civil Rights drama Rustin also made the list.
In a featurette for the film, Kravitz said he was contacted by one of the movie’s producers about writing a song.
“I was immediately intrigued,” he said. “But first, I had to be educated because I didn’t know that much about Bayard Rustin, which in the end proved that his story needed to be told.”
Related Story: Obama Says Civil Rights Pioneer Bayard Rustin ‘Was Denied’ His Place in History
The complete list in the Best Original Song category is made up of:
“It Never Went Away” from American Symphony
“Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)” from Asteroid City
“Dance The Night” from Barbie
“I’m Just Ken” from Barbie
“What Was I Made For?” from Barbie
“Keep It Movin” from The Color Purple
“Superpower (I)” from The Color Purple
“The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot
“High Life” from Flora and Son
“Meet In The Middle” from Flora and Son
“Can’t Catch Me Now” from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
“Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon
“Quiet Eyes” from Past Lives
“Road To Freedom” from Rustin
“Am I Dreaming” from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The academy also announced the shortlists for Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film, International Feature Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Sound, and Visual Effects.
The lists will be narrowed down when the nominations for the 96th Oscars are unveiled on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024.
The awards will be handed out on Sunday, March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles and will air live on ABC.
The full shortlists in all 10 categories are listed here.
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