Taylor Swift is coming hard for that Best Original Song Oscar at the LA premiere of Toy Story 5

Taylor Swift’s appearance at the Toy Story 5 premiere in LA last night was not announced in advance but it’s probably not that big of a surprise that she showed up, considering how much of the marketing has revolved around her involvement since it was finally confirmed last week that she’d written a new song, “I Knew It, I Knew You” for the soundtrack. Two things can be true here: Taylor loves Toy Story, loves the newest movie in the franchise, loved the experience she had working on the song – and she’s also coming hard for that Best Original Song Oscar. At this point, even though we’re still half a year away, we can probably say she’s locked in for at least a nomination. And she should be, with how hard she’s been campaigning.

I reported last week after hearing from a good source that Taylor has been engaging with country radio on a level we haven’t seen in a while. If you follow country radio you would have seen over the last few days that was 100% accurate – and it’s paid off for her: every country radio station on the Mediabase panel has added “I Knew It, I Knew You”. Plus, I’m told she also sent country radio programmers and music directors a Jessie doll. So the country music and radio community is heavily behind this which will most certainly translate to even stronger chart performance.

The song’s ubiquity of course will serve the movie. Toy Story 5 opens next Friday 19 June and there is a world in which the film could top the box office while Taylor’s track tops the chart(s), two concurrent #1s in different mediums, potentially another bragging right for Taylor. And she is going for it, as she always does.

Nearly two decades into her career, Taylor Swift’s ambition is now legendary, this is clearly the next summit she wants to conquer – and I appreciate the hustle. She wasn’t just at the premiere to walk the carpet, she also performed “I Knew It, I Knew You” for the first time live ….

@pixar
Taylor Swift surprised the audience at the world premiere of Toy Story 5 with a performance of her new original song for the film “I Knew It, I Knew You”
♬ original sound - Pixar

…and then addressed the audience to thank the filmmakers before introducing Randy Newman…

@extra_tv “It means the world to me to be a small part of the universe of these films…” Taylor Swift gives a speech at the #ToyStory5 premiere after performing her song, “I Knew It, I Knew You.” ☁️🫶🎶 #taylorswift #toystory #iknewitiknewyou ♬ original sound - ExtraTV

… and joining him for a performance of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”.

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Disney/Pixar is getting everything they hoped for with Taylor. Taylor is giving them the full Taylor Swift treatment. And then, on top of that, first reactions for the movie after it screened last night are overwhelmingly positive. Not that there was any doubt but people I talked to who were there have confirmed that we should all be prepared to cry which, as I’ve already said, I’ve been bracing for this, and I will not make the same mistake I made with Toy Story 3 when I watched it on a plane and ended up full on sobbing, like body-wracking heaves, on an international flight.

If Toy Story 5 lives up to all this advance hype, it will stay in the Oscar conversation for months and months and months. And, obviously, that means Taylor too. Which I’m already excited about. Because we’ve never really seen Taylor Swift on an aggressive and legitimate Oscar push. Even her fashion game has been elevated for the Toy Story campaign. And if you’re a regular visitor here at LaineyGossip, you know I don’t rate her style… but this Erdem is a serve. I LOVE THIS DRESS.

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It’s so flattering around her shoulders and how it bends across the chest. Plus the unfinished threads falling off the hem, with exactly the right amount of embellishment, and the way the green and brown stitching looks like a blurry landscape, kinda Monet, is gorgeous; the relaxed corseting opening up to the exaggerated hips… all of it is so f-cking good I almost can’t believe it. And the shoe choice isn’t offensive either.