Justin Timberlake was just nominated at the Golden Globes for Best Original Song for “Can’t Stop the Feeling” from the animated film “Trolls,” in which he also voices Branch, a cynical troll who reluctantly aids in a perilous rescue mission. He lost the Globe to the song “City of Stars” from “La La Land.” That musical romance is expected to sweep the music categories at this season’s film awards, but luckily for Timberlake he’ll have the Grammys all to himself.
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The Grammy eligibility period ended on September 30, 2016, before any music from “La La Land” was release, so that film won’t be eligible for Grammys until next year. So it’ll be smooth sailing for Timberlake in this race, right? He’s nominated alongside co-writers Max Martin and Shellback, the men behind Grammy nominated Taylor Swift hits “Shake it Off” and “Blank Space.” On top of that, Timberlake is already a nine-time Grammy winner and “Can’t Stop the Feeling” is the only nominee in the category to top Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart, so it may be tough to beat in this lineup.
But Max Martin and Shellback have a second nomination in this category. They also co-wrote “Just Like Fire” with Pink and Oscar Holter for the film “Alice Through the Looking Glass.” Pink has won three Grammys to date, though she has yet to win for songwriting.
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The recording academy has nominated two songs from “Suicide Squad,” which is the only film in this category also nominated for Best Visual Media Compilation. “Heathens” may be the stronger of the two contenders. Performed by Twenty One Pilots and written by lead singer Tyler Joseph, it’s the only song in this category with nominations elsewhere: it’s also up for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song. In addition, Twenty One Pilots’ song “Stressed Out” is up for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, so there’s a strong wave of support for the band that could benefit them here.
Also representing “Suicide Squad” is “Purple Lamborghini” by Skrillex and Rick Ross, which they co-wrote with Shamann Cooke. This is the only nomination for the song, but Skrillex is a Grammy darling, having already won eight awards since breaking through five years ago. And Skrillex has another big nomination this year: Album of the Year as a featured artist and producer on Justin Bieber‘s “Purpose.”
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Veteran singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel contends for “The Veil,” his song from Oliver Stone‘s docudrama “Snowden” about the controversial NSA whistleblower. Gabriel has won six Grammys over the course of his career. He hasn’t won in nine years, but that last victory came in this category for his Oscar-nominated song “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E.”
Rounding out the category is “Try Everything” from the Disney animated blockbuster “Zootopia.” As of this writing we’re predicting an Oscar nomination for this song written by Mikkel S. Eriksen, Sia and Tor Erik Hermansen. Sia is also nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (“Cheap Thrills,” with Sean Paul) and Best Pop Album (“This is Acting”) this year. She has yet to win in any category — wouldn’t it be interesting if she wins an Oscar before she wins a Grammy?
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