BAFTAs to Feature 'Saltburn's "Murder on the Dancefloor"

The WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike accidentally caused a delay in all fall scheduled award presentations, causing a logjam from January to mid-March 2024, as every awards show that should have been held over a nine-month span crams itself into a nine-week one. That makes it a little hard to stand out in the crowd, especially for the offbeat pair held by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The EE BAFTAs for Film, usually held the same night as the American Grammys, this year find themselves up against the far less esteemed People's Choice Awards, giving the Brits a chance to make a splash, and by gods, the ceremony seems bound and determined to try.

First up, the host: Not only did the BAFTAs pick one of the U.K.'s most ubiquitously beloved actors, but one that Americans and Anglophiles are also universally enamored with: David Tennent, best known as Doctor Who's 10th/14th Doctor, Crowley from Good Omens, and the voice of Huyang, the Best Shade Throwning Droid this side of the Galactic Empire in Star Wars.

Then there's the performances. The BAFTAs do not have a "Best Original Song" category, a la the Oscars, but it does have a Best Original Score. This year's crop includes the expected Oscar winner, Ludwig Göransson for Oppenheimer, the outside favorite Jerskin Fendrix for Poor Things, a courtesy nod for Daniel Pemberton's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, a nod for Anthony Willis' Saltburn, and a posthumous nomination for Robbie Robertson for Killers of the Flower Moon. The BAFTAs are choosing to have the hit 2001 song "Murder on the Dancefloor" performed live by singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor as part of the show to celebrate its return to the top of the charts based on its use in the film.