‘Golden’ and ‘Sinners’ Score Win in Music Categories at 2026 Critics Choice Awards
“Golden,” the fizzy global smash from KPop Demon Hunters, won best song at the 31st Critics Choice Awards, which were held at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif., on Sunday (Jan. 4). Ludwig Göransson’s music for Sinners won best score.
Both “Golden” and the Sinners score are nominated in those same categories at the Golden Globe Awards, which will be presented on Jan. 11. Both are also shortlisted for Oscars in those categories. Oscar nominations will be announced on Jan. 22.
“Golden” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks. It’s the first former No. 1 hit to win at the Critics Choice Awards since “See You Again” from Furious 7 a decade ago. That hip-hop smash topped the Hot 100 for 12 weeks. (“Shallow” from A Star Is Born also hit No. 1, but not prior to awards season. It hit No. 1 after it won the Oscar.)
“Golden” was cowritten by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Ido, 24 and Teddy. If it also wins at the Oscars, it would mark the first time the winning song has had as many as five credited writers. The Academy has a rule that no more than four statuettes will be presented in this category, so these five writers have agreed that, should they win, they will share one statuette for their song.
This is Göransson’s second Critics Choice Award for best score. He won two years ago for Oppenheimer. He’s the first composer to win twice in the space of three years since Justin Hurwitz, who won for La La Land (2016) and First Man (2018).
Four of the six winners for best original score since 2020 went on to win in that category at the Oscars. Likewise, four of the seven winners for best original song since 2020 (there was a tie in 2020) went on to win at the Oscars.
KPop Demon Hunters won a second award, best animated feature. In TV categories, Jimmy Kimmel Live! won best talk show. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver won best variety series, beating Saturday Night Live, but SNL50: The Anniversary Special won best comedy special.
Ryan Coogler’s horror film Sinners led the 2026 Critics Choice Awards nominations with a whopping 17 bids. Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another was runner-up, with 14 nods. Those two films were followed on the leaderboard by Frankenstein and Hamnet (11 nods each); Marty Supreme (eight); F1, Sentimental Value and Wicked: For Good (seven nods each), Train Dreams (five), and Jay Kelly and Weapons (four nods each).
On the television side, Netflix’s Adolesence led the way with six nominations, followed by Nobody Wants This with five; and All Her Fault, Death by Lightning, Ghosts, Hacks, Severance and The Pitt, with four nods each.
Chelsea Handler hosted the Critics Choice Awards for the fourth consecutive year. It was broadcast live on Jan. 4 on E! and USA Network.
Here’s a complete list of nominations in both film and TV categories, with the winners that have been identified marked. The other winners will be marked as the show progresses.
