Doja Cat's ‘Vegas’ is unlikely to land an Oscar nod for Best Original Song

[Teletubby 149,422]

Doja Cat’s new single “Vegas,” from the upcoming Baz Luhrmann film Elvis, is likely to be a smash, but unlikely to be an Oscar nominee for best original song.

“Vegas” interpolates the key phrase “you ain’t nothin’ but a …” from “Hound Dog,” a blockbuster hit for Elvis Presley in 1956. Doja Cat repeats that line 14 times in “Vegas”‘s 3:04 running time.

The final determination on the song’s Oscar eligibility will be made by an Oscar music subcommittee. Its ruling will hinge on how much of “Hound Dog” is in the new song and if the committee members feel there is enough original material in “Vegas” for it to qualify it as an original song.

The rule from the Oscar eligibility guidelines:
“An original song consists of words and music, both of which are original (emphasis added) and written specifically for the motion picture. There must be a clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition (not necessarily visually presented) of both lyric and melody, used in the body of the motion picture or as the first music cue in the end credits.”

Doja Cat’s soulful exhortation on the key line “you ain’t nothin’ but a …” owes more to Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton’s original 1953 version of “Hound Dog” than to Elvis’ 1956 cover.
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[GAGAVENUS 591]

stupid and honestly racially motivated considering that samples are so ingrained in hip hop

[RAMROD 109,537]

9 minutes ago, GAGAVENUS said:

stupid and honestly racially motivated considering that samples are so ingrained in hip hop

?

It's not the samples itself, but how much of it was used. After all the award is called Best Original Song. 

[Roughhouse Dandy 11,511]

4 minutes ago, RAMROD said:

?

It's not the samples itself, but how much of it was used. After all the award is called Best Original Song. 

It's definitely an original song is the thing. It uses approximately 1 line from a different song and it sounds nothing like the original. 

[Hyperobject 66,771]

interesting, well, I guess since she repeated this sampled line 14 times it’s fair. but I always wonder how Bond’s theme songs win when they always use the same melody incorporated in them. correct me if I’m wrong tho! 

[SEANGT 5,294]

The way this is worded at the end is....so bizarre. "Doja's soulful exhortation..." ... she's not singing it! Of course it sounds more like Willie Mae than elvis, it's literally a sample of Willie Mae's version! lmao

[RAMROD 109,537]

13 minutes ago, Roughhouse Dandy said:

It's definitely an original song is the thing. It uses approximately 1 line from a different song and it sounds nothing like the original. 

 

 

"Vegas” interpolates the key phrase “you ain’t nothin’ but a …” from “Hound Dog,” a blockbuster hit for Elvis Presley in 1956. Doja Cat repeats that line 14 times in “Vegas”‘s 3:04 running time.

That's the issue. It was repeated enough that it could make a whole verse and causing it to not be so original.

Call them strict, but when they said Original, they really mean it, even if they had to be picky about it, since this isn't the first time Academy deemed a song isn't eligible for different reasons. Queen weren't nominated for the Freddie Mercury biopic few years ago, because the songs in the movie weren't written with the  movie in mind. Neither  did Celine Dion with Ashes that she sang for Deadpool 2 soundtrack because apparently the song had been written prior to the film’s production.

Which causing a lot of adapted screenplay from stage play that were turned into movies would have a new song that weren't in the original Broadway counterpart, (examples includes: Beyonce's Listen for Dreamgirls, Madonna's You Must Love Me for Evita, among others), so they could be eligible for nomination in this category 

[RichAssPiss 4,924]

Oscars have strict rules about interpolation. Whole scores have been disqualified because they interpolate pre-existing music. I think there are complaints about the consistency in what is allowed or not, but there is a precedent for this. The bigger issue is that even if eligible, the Academy will probably not go for this song or this movie.

[Meat 18,962]

1 hour ago, GAGAVENUS said:

stupid and honestly racially motivated considering that samples are so ingrained in hip hop

And yet multiple hip hop artists have won Oscars over the years. What was so different then? 

[Roughhouse Dandy 11,511]

34 minutes ago, RAMROD said:

 

 

"Vegas” interpolates the key phrase “you ain’t nothin’ but a …” from “Hound Dog,” a blockbuster hit for Elvis Presley in 1956. Doja Cat repeats that line 14 times in “Vegas”‘s 3:04 running time.

That's the issue. It was repeated enough that it could make a whole verse and causing it to not be so original.

Call them strict, but when they said Original, they really mean it, even if they had to be picky about it, since this isn't the first time Academy deemed a song isn't eligible for different reasons. Queen weren't nominated for the Freddie Mercury biopic few years ago, because the songs in the movie weren't written with the  movie in mind. Neither  did Celine Dion with Ashes that she sang for Deadpool 2 soundtrack because apparently the song had been written prior to the film’s production.

Which causing a lot of adapted screenplay from stage play that were turned into movies would have a new song that weren't in the original Broadway counterpart, (examples includes: Beyonce's Listen for Dreamgirls, Madonna's You Must Love Me for Evita, among others), so they could be eligible for nomination in this category 

Yeah, I get that I guess. What's tripping me up is even though it's used enough to fill however many lines or verses or whatever, Doja's bars have more original lyrical content than a lot of songs they usually end up nominating. 

But honestly I don't care enough to worry about it. Doja wrote a good, original song and that's what I'm gonna focus on. 

[Dennis 8,391]

nah it'll be nominated. The Oscars are thirsty for starpower.

[thatfoxyfeeling 13,017]

Wait what I love Doja but this song isn’t it and definitely doesn’t an Oscar nomination. 

[JazzGa 14,621]

Lemme guess at the lyrics

 

You ain't nothin but a huh

You ain't nothin but a hmm

You ain't nothin but a brrrrrrr

You ain't nothin but a yuh yuh yuh 

[StrawberryBlond 14,862]

8 hours ago, GAGAVENUS said:

stupid and honestly racially motivated considering that samples are so ingrained in hip hop

Black artists have won for original song before, including in 2021, so I really don't think it's that. Not all hip hop songs use samples and if you want to get nominated for an Oscar, you have to make sure your track matches all the criteria as it's known for its really strict rules. It's on you if you don't read the requirements. They may be unfair and unnecessary, but rules nonetheless. Madonna famously missed out on her first ever Oscar nomination with her song Masterpiece purely because it was the final song during the credits and the rules state that the song must appear in the first 2 minutes of the credits to be eligible. She missed out on her only Oscar nomination on a technicality that should've been spotted if she was aiming for an Oscar. She won a Golden Globe, though, as the rules aren't as strict there, but she wanted that Oscar. But if you want it that bad, you have to read the rules. I guessed this would happen as soon as I heard that the original Hound Dog would be sampled. But I don't know if this song is going to be Oscar baity anyway.

7 hours ago, Ororo Munroe said:

interesting, well, I guess since she repeated this sampled line 14 times it’s fair. but I always wonder how Bond’s theme songs win when they always use the same melody incorporated in them. correct me if I’m wrong tho! 

It's not literally the same melody, though, just style. There's nothing wrong with a franchise making a stylistic choice over and over, it's quite another if the song full-on copies and pastes parts of another song into it.

[Adelita 3,177]

10 hours ago, GAGAVENUS said:

stupid and honestly racially motivated considering that samples are so ingrained in hip hop

Stfu please