Adedokun Waliyu 
The much-awaited 2023 edition of the Oscar Awards is finally here. Many first-time nominees will be hoping to clinch the coveted gong while previous winners look forward to breaking personal records.
The award ceremony is scheduled to hold later today at the Dolby Theatre, Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, US.
It will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the American comedian and media personality.
Ahead of the awards, the attention of many Nigerians will be on Temilade Openiyi, the singer better known as Tems.
The ‘Damages’ crooner has been in the spotlight since ‘Lift Me Up’, a soundtrack off Marvel’s ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, got nominated for the Oscars.
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ is the sequel to Black Panther (2018).
‘Life Me Up’ was the the lead single from the film’s soundtrack album — which also featured Rema, Burna Boy, CKay, and Fireboy DML.
The track was shortlisted in the ‘Music (Original Song)’ category of the Oscars.
Rihanna co-wrote the track alongside Tems, producer Ludwig Göransson, and director Ryan Coogler.
The artistes wrote the single as a tribute to Chadwick Boseman, the ‘Black Panther’ actor, who died in 2020.
But will Tems get credit if Rihanna wins the category?
It remains to be seen if Tems will also become an Oscar award winner should Rihanna eventually clinch the category.
In its nominees’ list, Oscars listed Tems as one of those who contributed to the “music and lyrics” of the project.
It is, however, not clear if her contribution to the project is enough to make her a joint winner.
Oscars did not explicitly state the percentage of contribution expected from individuals in a collaborative project to be credited winner for such work.
In its guidelines for the 95th award ceremony, Oscars was only clear on the “Music (Original Score) category” where it states: “Only the principal composer (s) or songwriter(s) responsible for the conception and execution of the work as a whole shall be eligible for an award.”
“Expressly excluded from eligibility are all of the following: partial contributors (i.e., any writer not responsible for the overall design of the work), contributors working on speculation, producers and/or arrangers not responsible for the creation of the original song or score music supervisors,” it added.
While Tems indeed co-wrote ‘Lift Me Up’ with Rihanna, her quota to the project remains unknown.
The foregoing makes it difficult to ascertain the percentage of Tems’ contribution to the project, which largely determines whether she would be a joint winner for the project or not.
Tems could make history if her credit in the project guarantees her the prestigious gong in the case where Rihanna wins the category.
If that happens, the feat would make her the first-ever Nigerian artiste to clinch an Oscar award.
Tems has continued her impressive run in the global music landscape with series of awards and collaborations with heavyweights in the industry.
In February, the songstress snagged her first Grammy award for her role in ‘Wait for U’, the 2022 hit song by Future featuring Drake.
