The Oscars love them some Bond songs.
Sam Smith’s song, “The Writing’s On The Wall”, is the second James Bond theme tune to win an Oscar in the “Best Original Song category”, after Adele’s “Skyfall” to home the award in 2013. Like Adele, Smith had already won a Golden Globe for Best Song prior to the Oscars.
Accepting the Oscar gong with Smith for the “Spectre” theme song was co-writer Jimmy Napes. During his acceptance speech, Smith dedicated his award to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community as well as acknowledging all the other nominees he was up against in this category, including Lady Gaga.
“I actually can’t breathe right now, oh my gosh. Gaga you’re incredible. I read an article a few months ago by Sir Ian McKellen and he said no openly gay man had ever won an oscar. I want to dedicate this to the LGBT community all around the world. I stand here tonight as a proud gay man and I hope we can all stand together as equals one day,” Smith stated, smiling from ear to ear.
Variety reports that previous gay winners include Elton John, who won Best Song for “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” from “The Lion King” in 1995 and Bill Condon, for his contribution in “Gods and Monsters”.
Presented by last year’s winners, Common and John Legend (who won for “Glory”) Smith beat out Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, J. Ralph, and David Lang to claim the highly-coveted trophy. Among his fellow nominees: Gaga’s anti-rape ballad “Til It Happens To You” from the documentary “The Hunting Ground” and The Weeknd’s “Earned It”, from “Fifty Shades of Grey”, were also thought to be strong contenders for the prize.
Speaking ahead of the ceremony, the British singer joked that he would try not to hurt anyone if he doesn’t win. “You’ve just got to go in there, smile and not hit someone if you lose,” Smith told Mirror when asked about how he was feeling.
Well, looking at Smith’s favourable outcome, we’re glad he didn’t need to resort to any physicality.
Check out his acceptance speech below:
.@SamSmithWorld: "I hope we can all stand together as equals one day." https://t.co/vG5LjQdCo9 #Oscars https://t.co/bACtLSviUU
— ABC News (@ABC) February 29, 2016
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To find out who won what at the 88th Annual Academy Awards, head on over here.
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Sources: Mirror, The Guardian, Variety, Forbes.
