The race for Best Original Song at the 98th edition of the Academy Awards comes down to one word: momentum. Hours before the ceremony begins on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, one nominee has quietly built the strongest path to victory — “Golden” from the animated film KPop Demon Hunters.
Hosted this year by Conan O’Brien, the 2026 Oscars arrive with unusually high musical stakes. The category remains one of the ceremony’s longest-running honors, dating back to the 7th Academy Awards in 1935, when the Academy first recognized original songs written specifically for film.
Five contenders remain in the running. Among them is “Dear Me,” written by Diane Warren for the documentary Diane Warren: Relentless. Warren’s presence in the category is practically tradition; the legendary songwriter has accumulated more than a dozen nominations across four decades.
Another nominee, “I Lied to You,” arrives from the record-breaking horror film Sinners, which leads the entire 2026 Oscars field with 16 nominations. The track was written by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson, two musicians with strong Academy credibility.
Elsewhere in the lineup are “Sweet Dreams of Joy” from Viva Verdi!, written by Nicholas Pike, and “Train Dreams” from the film Train Dreams, composed by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner.
Yet the conversation repeatedly circles back to one track. “Golden.”
Performed by the K-pop trio HUNTR/X — consisting of EJAE, Rei Ami, and Audrey Nuna — the song has built a rare crossover narrative across film, music charts, and awards season.
Numbers tell part of the story. “Golden” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming one of the most commercially successful songs tied to a film in the past year.
Awards momentum followed quickly. The track secured a Golden Globe earlier this year and later won Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 68th Grammy Awards. That victory marked the first time a K-pop song captured the Grammy in that category.
History could expand tonight. If “Golden” wins Best Original Song, it would become the first K-pop track ever to claim the Oscar. Even the nomination already broke new ground, marking the first time the genre has entered the category’s lineup.
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