Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell could make Oscar history as youngest two-time winners for ‘Barbie’ song ‘What Was I Made For?’
When Billie Eilish won the 2022 Oscar for Best Original Song for “No Time To Die” from the James Bond film of the same name, she narrowly missed out on making history as the youngest winner in the category. At the time, Eilish was 20 years old — her brother and collaborator Finneas O’Connell was 24 — but 2008’s winner Markéta Irglová had her beat by one year, winning for the “Once” song “Falling Slowly” at just 19.
This time around Eilish and O’Connell have their eyes set on an even more impressive record. They’re eligible in the Best Original Song category this year for “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie,” a tearjerker of a song that plays over a pivotal final moment in Greta Gerwig’s film. According to our current combined odds, the song is far and away the frontrunner for the Oscar, leading a pack that also includes the “Barbie” standout track “I’m Just Ken.”
SEE Critics Choice Movie Awards: ‘Barbie’ sets record with whopping 18 nominations
If the songwriting duo land the nomination and go on to win the Oscar, they will become the youngest two-time winners in Academy Awards history. Only three individuals, all actors, have won two awards by 30. The first was Luise Rainer, who won for “The Great Ziegfeld” and then “The Good Earth” by age 28. Then came Jodie Foster, who earned prizes for “The Accused” and “Silence of the Lambs” by age 29. Most recently Hilary Swank pulled off the feat with wins for both “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Million Dollar Baby” by 30 years of age. But on the night of the 2024 Oscars on March 10, Eilish will be 22 and O’Connell will be 26. So if they prevail, they would set a new precedent.
“What Was I Made For” has already been on a streak with awards nominations. The tune has picked up citations from Oscar precursors including the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards. It currently leads our odds to win both. Even more impressively, it has had huge crossover appeal, as evinced by its five Grammy nominations for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, Best Song Written for Visual Media and Best Music Video. It leads our odds for Song of the Year, Music Video, and Visual Media Song.
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