Lana Del Rey’s bad luck with the Oscars didn’t end Thursday, when the nominees for the 87th Academy Awards were revealed — and both she and Sia, two of pop’s most viable divas, were left off in the category for Best Original Song.
Last year, Lana’s The Great Gatsby song “Young and Beautiful” (one of her most successful songs ever) wasn’t just snubbed, it was also the subject of an mysterious smear campaign that falsely alleged the song was ineligible to the Academy selection committee. Since it debuted in December, “Big Eyes,” one of two songs she recorded for the Amy adams-starring Big Eyes, has had similar praise and buzz: Billboard noted Lana’s “vocal theatrics,” The Hollywood Reporter called it “stunning,” and Indiewire said it had an “excellent shot” at a nomination.
Sia’s addition to the Annie remake, “Opportunity,” didn’t have the same vocal support behind it — maybe because Sia doesn’t have the same tragic history with awards recognition, or maybe it’s just the song itself — but as The Wrap points out, artists and songwriters who dare to update a musical with new material have often been rewarded with at least a nomination.
Certainly there are far more egregious snubs this year— The LEGO Movie was’t nominated for Best Animated Feature, though its “Everything Is Awesome” song was recognized — and the songs weren’t necessarily frontrunners, either: both Sia’s and Lana’s songs lost out to John Legend and Common’s “Glory” from Selma (a movie that only got a Best Picture nomination from the Academy) last weekend at the Golden Globes. But either Lana Del Rey is cursed, or this year’s nominations confirm what those who follow these categories have already known for some time: the Oscars just aren’t as open to pop as the Globes.
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Write to Nolan Feeney at nolan.feeney@time.com