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“We are so grateful,” said Camille, letting out a great “whoo hoo” as she and Clément Ducol accepted the Oscar for Best Original Song for El Mal in Emilia Perez. “We wrote El Mal as a song to denounce corruption and we hope it speaks to the role that music and art can play and continue to play as a force of the good and progress in the world.”
The pair wrote the music and, in a rare occurrence, shared the lyric credit with Jacques Audiard, director of the much-nominated Netflix musical crime drama
Ducol and Camille are also up for Best Original Score for Emilia Pérez. Saldana, who performs with Karla Sofía Gascón, just won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
The film received 13 nominations, the most of any in the field. But it’s been dogged by controversy over resurfaced racist tweets by trans star Gascón. She plays a ferocious Mexican cartel boss who undergoes surprising transition with the help of Rita, Saldana’s character.
In El Mal, Saldana jumps and dances from tabletops, exposing the hypocrisy of the Mexican elite. The composers have said they wrote six versions of the song. “We wanted to make the song feel like a cabaret in hell,” Ducol said in a video clip as a dapper looking Mick Jagger introduced the category.
Jagger said he was the second choice to introduce the award – that Bob Dylan was the first. “Producers really wanted Bob Dylan to do this. Bob didn’t want to do it, because he said the best songs this year were in the movie A Complete Unknown.
Saldana performs with Karla Sofía Gascónperform the song, which has been a frontrunner throughout awards season, sweeping the field.
El Mal was up against another Emilia Perez song, Mi Camino, music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol, performed by Selena Gomez with
It also beat out The Journey from The Six Triple Eight, music and lyric by Diane Warren in her 8th consecutive nomination (out of 16 total); Like A Bird from Sing Sing, music and lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada; and Never Too Late from Elton John: Never Too Late, music and lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin.
In a major change at this year’s Oscars, there are no performances of the five best song nominees, a move that surprised the nominees and Academy music branch. The Society of Composers & Lyricists, whose members include many of the industry’s top songwriters and film composers, asked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to reconsider its decision, announced the day before nominations hig, of eliminating performances of the five nominated songs at this year’s ceremony.
AMPAS CEO Bill Kramer said had said the category presentation will move away from live performances to focus “on the songwriters. We will celebrate their artistry through personal reflections from the teams who bring these songs to life. All of this, and more, will uncover the stories and inspiration behind this year’s nominees.”
There are musical performances — including by Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who opened the ceremony, by Doja Cat, Blackpink‘s Lisa, Queen Latifah and Raye.
There was a also tribute to the music of the revered 007 franchise which is set to get a reboot from Amazon MGM Studios after longtime franchise producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson ceded creative control.
