Oscar Nominations 2023: 8 Ups & 9 Downs

2. The Diane Warren Debacle Continues

With another year of nominations comes another nod for veteran songwriter Diane Warren, who secured her 14th nomination without a win for the song "Applause" from a film that's definitely not made-up - Tell It Like a Woman.

Warren's perennial presence on the Oscar circuit has been a running gag among Oscar pundits for years and years, that despite the near non-existent visibility of the films she writes songs for, her high standing in the industry results in her friends voting her to a nomination near-annually.

And yet, because neither the songs nor the films they're in are typically all that good, the support hasn't ever extended to Warren actually winning the gong outright from the wider voting body.

Though Warren received an Honorary Oscar last November, she's evidently still keen to nab a competitive award outright.

And considering how her aggressively milquetoast songs basically steal a slot from a more deserving nominee each year, perhaps voters should just collectively agree to give her the win this time so the annual sympathy parade stops.