Doja Cat’s new single “Vegas,” from the upcoming Baz Luhrmann film Elvis, is likely to be a smash, but unlikely to be an Oscar nominee for best original song.
Here’s the rule taken from the Oscar eligibility guidelines: “An original song consists of words and music, both of which are and written specifically for the motion picture. There must be a clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition of both lyric and melody, used in the body of the motion picture or as the first music cue in the end credits.”
Doja Cat’s soulful exhortation on the key line “you ain’t nothin’ but a …” owes more to Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton’s original 1953 version of “Hound Dog” than to Presley’s 1956 cover version.’s R&B charts for multiple weeks in 1953. Presley’s 1956 version, paired with “Don’t Be Cruel,” was one of the biggest double-sided hits in music history.
Thornton’s recording was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013 and the National Recording Registry in 2016. Presley’s rendition was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1988, but has yet to be honored by the National Recording Registry.