Frozen 2 songwriters want a Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Elton John musical

When the nominees for the 2020 Golden Globes were announced Monday morning, one category in particular was rather star-studded: Best Original Song.

The category sees the likes of Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Elton John, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cynthia Erivo, and Frozen 2 songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez battling it out for their musical contributions to some of the year’s biggest films. And although the Golden Globes are not always an accurate harbinger of eventual Oscar success, it’s safe to assume that this particular group of stars will continue to compete together throughout awards season.

To that end, husband-and-wife duo Lopez and Anderson-Lopez say they could not be more thrilled. “Can you believe this category? It’s a bunch of superstars and us two yahoos,” Anderson-Lopez tells EW, hours after hearing the news. “We like to think of it as hanging out with all of those people,” Lopez adds, laughing.

The two are mega-fans of each of their fellow nominees. Anderson-Lopez says she has a desk sign that reads, “What would Beyoncé do?” She says the artist she listened to the most on Spotify this year was Swift. And when it comes to Lloyd Webber, who wrote the nominated song “Beautiful Ghosts” with Swift, she says, “I could do a one-woman [performance of his musical] Evita, which I plan to perform for him if we get to hang out.”

As for the other nominees, she says, “Elton John is the best pop songwriter in the world. And then Cynthia Erivo is a woman that we’ve been dying to work with, so the whole experience is just going to be thrilling, if they will talk to us.”

The pair, who won the Best Original Song Oscar for Frozen’s unforgettable tune “Let It Go,” have an idea of how they’d like their star-studded encounters to go: They’d like to write a musical for the group. “Starring all of them,” Lopez jokes, to which his wife counters, “No, starring me. Have them just write it and it will star us.”

Joking aside, they say that they’re overjoyed that fans (and awards voters) have connected with their nominated song, “Into the Unknown.” Careful thought went into which of the many songs from Frozen 2 would get an awards push, they say. Lopez explains that they had to make the decision before the film was released, so choosing a song that was spoiler-free factored into the decision.

“The most important rule I think is that ‘Into the Unknown’ is really the catalyst that drives the whole movie,” Anderson-Lopez says. “And it’s the moment that has the strongest three-and-a-half minute standalone song where a character is singing about taking a risk and letting your fears go and following their dream that was super-clear both in and out of context.”

And for those (like certain EW staff members) who think maybe they should have campaigned other songs such as “Show Yourself” or “Lost in the Woods?” The duo say they’re not bothered by it. Says Lopez, “That is a musical songwriter’s dream: to have people arguing over what the best song is. It’s amazing. We love that.”

Related content:

• Golden Globes 2020: Full list of nominees
• Jonathan Groff on his big Frozen 2 song and why he was worried it’d get cut
• How do the Golden Globes impact the Oscar race? EW’s awards experts debate