Cynthia Erivo’s Oscar Nominations Could Lead to EGOT Win

Cynthia Erivo is one step closer to becoming an EGOT winner.

The actress and singer is nominated for best actress for her portrayal as Harriet Tubman in Harriet and best original song for co-writing and performing the film’s number “Stand Up,” at the 92nd Annual Academy Awards.

If Erivo wins one of the categories, she would become the 16th person to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award. She won a Tony Award in 2016 in the best actress category for her role as Celie Harris Johnson in The Color Purple. Erivo won a Grammy in 2017 in the best musical theater album category for the same role and won a Daytime Emmy Award later that year for her performance on Today alongside her The Color Purple castmates.

Erivo was notably the only person of color nominated in an acting category for the 2020 Oscars. 

The double nods also make Erivo the third person to earn dual Oscar nominations for acting and for best song in the same year. Mary J. Blige was previously recognized at the 90th Academy Awards in the best supporting actress and best original song categories for Mudbound, while Lady Gaga was up for best actress and best original song for A Star Is Born in 2018. She won the latter category.

Barbra Streisand was the first person to be nominated in both the best actress and best original song categories, though for different films. She won her first Oscar in 1969 in the best actress category for Funny Girl and was later nominated and won in the best original song category for “Evergreen” from A Star Is Born in 1977. Streisand was again nominated for best actress in 1974 for The Way We Were and in the best original song category for co-writing and performing “I Finally Found Someone” with Bryan Adams for The Mirror Has Two Faces.

Meanwhile, double-EGOT winner Robert Lopez also earned a nomination in the best original song category for co-writing “Into the Unknown” with Kristen Anderson-Lopez for Frozen II.

At the 90th Academy Awards, Lopez and wife Anderson-Lopez collected the best original song honor for “Remember Me” from the animated film Coco. The win solidified him as the first person to win at least two coveted awards at the Emmys, Grammys, Oscars and Tonys.

Issa Rae and John Cho announced the nominations for the 2020 Oscars on Monday morning. The hostless ceremony will take place at The Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Feb. 9.