Last year Crazy Ex-Girlfriend took home its first Emmy Award for Rachel Bloom, Jack Dolgen, and Adam Schlesinger–an achievement four years in the making. Can you imagine the outrage (at least from me) if that show never won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Lyrics? Is there a rightful song waiting in the wings to win? I think there’s a clear frontrunner, but who are the other contenders who could fill out this category?
Names You Might Recognize
If we look through the ballot, we will find many famous faces of songwriters, musicians, and performers. The Television Academy doesn’t always name-check someone who releases popular music (this ain’t the Golden Globes), but there might be some clues as to who might fill out the rest of the nominees. In addition to the familiar faces listed below, there are songs from Nick Jonas, Kristin Chenoweth, Darren Criss, and Nicole Richie on the ballot.
Okay, okay, but hear me out! Yes, AJ and the Queen received a lashing from critics (…except me). Yes, AJ and the Queen has already been canceled. Yes, drag queens make fun of RuPaul’s music in roast challenges on RuPaul’s Drag Race. What “Ruby is Red Hot” has going for it is RuPaul herself. She is on the ballot for Reality Host (for RPDR), Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (for AJ and the Queen), and Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (for Saturday Night Live). Not only that, but her name is on the ballot in many other places for other talents’ programs like Fashion Photo RuView and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK: High Tea hosted by Miz Cracker. It also doesn’t hurt that this is the top submission when you open up the ballot. It could happen…
Unlike the Oscars, the Television Academy will actually give Diane Warren awards! Warren won this category for The Hunting Ground’s “Til It Happens to You” and she might find herself nominated for the documentary about Darrell Hammond’s struggle with self-harm and addiction.
Every single film project from John Carney has been noted for its music, but Amazon’s Modern Love is his most successful foray into television. Could people see his name on the ballot and remember how much the music of his films connect with them emotionally? One of the only things getting in Carney’s way is that there is a second song (written solely by Gary Clark) from the same show on the ballot. Could they split the vote?
The finale of Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere is packed with surprises and dramatic revelations. When the episode is over, however, Ingrid Michalson’s “Build It Up” begins to play. The song serves a balm to what we’ve just witnessed, and it excellently echoes the show’s themes of starting your life over. You can imagine Elena Richardson and Mia Warren both listening to this song and taking different meanings from it.
There is almost always an animated entry in the top five contenders of the year, and Central Park is an actual musical! While there are several entries on the ballot, the one that sticks out is the gentle ballad co-written by Emmy nominee Sarah Bareilles. With musical actors like Daveed Diggs and Josh Gad headlining the cast, people might pay attention.
The Top 15?
15. “Gay Spirit” / 35th Annual Independent Spirit Awards
This one just might be for me? Live performances from awards shows tend to show up in this category (more on this later), but this is a funnier entry to anything submitted to the Tonys or to Saturday Night Live. The Los Angeles Gay Men’s Chorus repeatedly belting out Laura Dern’s name is one of the most inspired things I’ve ever seen. Give Greg O’Connor and Jordan Firstman a special award just for surprising us.
14. “Wondering” / High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
This song from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is so surprising when it comes on because of the emotions behind Julia Lester’s vocals. It quite literally makes you sit up and pay attention, because her voice is so mature and it mixes well with Olivia Rodrigo’s (who has a song of her own eligible song in “All I Want”). There are a few songs from this show on the ballot, and this is the best of the bunch.
13. “The Way It Used To Be” / Watchmen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSZQkaqdh7I
Any time you mention the names Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, you get excited. Their song for HBO’s critically acclaimed limited series Watchmen could bring the duo their first nomination. The song doesn’t sound like anything they’ve done before, so the Television Academy might take notice of how these men are stretching themselves. The song has a classic but sinister sound, nothing like their Oscar-winning work for The Social Network or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
12. “Joan Song” / Saturday Night Live
There are SEVEN songs from Saturday Night Live this year. Seven. (They are more songs eligible than women eligible for Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.) The variety series has only missed this category three times since 2010, so it’s a safe bet that one slot is reserved for it, but the question is…which one? I am tempted to go with the simple, sweet “Joan Song” since it’s co-written by Aidy Bryant and features Harry Styles as the dog she loves. Yes….the dog.
11. “Your Boundary Is my Trigger” / Transparent Musicale Finale
Transparent was loved by the Television Academy at one point. Can it come back with some love for Jill Soloway’s sibling, Faith Soloway? The Musicale Finale is a strange beast, but the best song is sung by Judith Light halfway through the movie. Shelly Pfefferman sings about the expectations piled on her as a mother, and Light sings the hell out of the song.
10. “Anything Goes In Florida” / Big Mouth
Everyone likes taking a swing at Florida, right? In a song that celebrates manatee sex and bath salt binges, Big Mouth really has gone batshit with this entry. The Netflix animated series was nominated last year for “Totally Gay” but this song (also written by Mark Rivers) doesn’t take any prisoners.
9. “Grandma’s Got a Boyfriend” / John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch
If we can’t have the absurdity of “Music Everywhere,” this is the next best thing (but, seriously, Netflix WTF). “Grandma’s Got a Boyfriend” feels like a great John Mulaney story set to music, and it’s one of the highlights of the Sack Lunch Bunch (more please). The golden girl trio calling back to kids singing the song is the perfect touch.
8. “All For Us” / Euphoria
This would make Euphoria fans go…ballistic. Euphoria is a very emotional experience for the audience (we can only imagine what it was like to act it), but the end of the first season is a surreal surprised. After snorting a line, Zendaya’s Rue goes on a musical trip that is, truly, the perfect way to end the bonkers first season. Zendaya sings through a modern dance nightmare set through a suburban cul-de-sac that encapsulates how trapped this teen actually feels.
7. “Jail” / Dave
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcepQ6QTmgc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTJWMjtoX5g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET8GwhTwhks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7YVUv7kGJw&t=5s
Could…could this…get nominated? When you watch the final episode of Dave‘s first season, you have no idea where this song is going. You watched all four parts, right? Rap isn’t generally recognized in this category, so this might be a long shot. This is the one song from Dave‘s first season that FX is pushing, and it definitely tells a story. With all the press talking about how the comedy is the most-watched show in the network’s history, could this sneak in as well? There is definitely nothing like it.
6. “Afterlife” / Dickinson
There is something very musical in the styling of Apple TV+’s Dickinson and the modern themes lend itself really well in Hailee Steinfeld’s “Afterlife.” She penned the song with Kennedi Lykken, Erik Hermansen, and Mikkel Eriksen,, but she’s also a Lead Actress in a Comedy Series contender. When people interview Steinfeld during phase one, her songwriting is bound to come up and voters can take that also into consideration. The video is very striking, and Steinfeld is very passionate about including it into her first major television project. The lyrics of the song reflect the emotional circumstances of Steinfeld’s character, so “Afterlife” is a perfect companion to Dickinson.
5. “Live!” / 73rd Annual Tony Awards
A tribute to live theater may sound like a cheesy concept, but a pandemic forcing everyone into their homes might make audiences yearn for the days they could hear an old bitty noisily unwrap a butterscotch as an overture plays. The Tony Awards had a three-year winning streak between 2012-2014, but Neil Patrick Harris hosted all three of those ceremonies. The awards ceremony hasn’t been nominated since. Is James Corden the Tony Awards’ bad luck charm for the Emmys or will COVID-19 be a cause to celebrate a song that celebrates live theater?
4. “In These Streets” / Godfather of Harlem
Who doesn’t love John Legend? The EGOT winner probably doesn’t need more awards, but his work on this song could propel him to yet another nomination. The only thing that stands in the way of this nomination is perhaps that Harlem isn’t as well seen as its competition and there is another emotionally charged entry from the same show from Emeli Sandé, Tyrone Johnson, and Swizz Beatz.
3. “Misbehavin'” / The Righteous Gemstones
A comedy about televangelists and megachurches might seem like the most appealing to a broad audience, but The Righteous Gemstones features a song with a fun hook in “Misbeavin’.” There’s a lot of gaudy pageantry in Gemstones’ church scenes, but the song is a lot more fun than you might think. Danny McBride is a lyricist (along with Joseph Stephens and Edi Patterson), and it could be his first Emmy nomination.
2. “The Eddy” / The Eddy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI27F4SN92A
If your song or show is about music, you probably already have a leg up on everyone else. Is Damien Chazelle’s The Eddy a dark horse across all categories? Are we underestimating it? The song is moody, forlorn, and very romantic to the point where you can imagine yourself sitting in a smokey French cafe.
1. “One Less Angel” / The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
There are several reasons why this is the song to beat. The hook to this Mizer & Moore song is so catchy to the point of addiction. There is a simplicity in how the song is structured that allows the tune to wiggle into your brain and live there for days or weeks. Amazon could’ve thrown all of Season 3’s songs on the ballot, but that would’ve probably ensured vote splitting and no nominations (for the record, “Bottle of Pop” is a bop and “No One Has to Know” will make your heart sigh). The show is wise to show Shy Baldwin singing this song multiple times throughout the season, so just when you think the song is out of your head, you’re back to dancing in your seat when it comes back on. It doesn’t hurt that it’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and this year the comedy series has the potential to wake up to an insane amount of nominations in a few weeks. The final point? “One Less Angel” is a great song that everyone can fall in love with. That alone should be ensure a nomination.
