Last night, as renowned actor Stellan Skarsgård approached the 83rd annual Golden Globe Awards stage to accept his Best Supporting Actor award for a heart-wrenching performance in the family drama Sentimental Value, a familiar tune accompanied his walk-up. It was not anything from his movie's soundtrack, or even a solemn track that tonally aligned with his film’s subject matter, but instead (the classic) “Yeah” by Usher.
It was the first of many song selections made throughout the ceremony that were fun and popular, yet perhaps just a bit out of place. Like when Adolescence star Stephen Graham accepted his award for Best Supporting Actor in the Netflix drama about the misogynistic red-pilling of teenage boys, with the bubbly Olivia Dean love song, “Man I Need,” playing. Or when Wagner Moura became the first Brazilian to win an acting Golden Globe as “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND” sounded. Or when Jessie Buckley was played to the stage to grab her trophy for playing a grief-stricken mother to the song “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder, a song that quite famously celebrates the birth of a child.
The oddity of these song selections did not go unnoticed. Online, the night’s playlist has been described as everything from “unhinged” to the handiwork of a millennial bar mitzvah DJ. But not every music cue felt completely random. In fact, some were notable for being comically on-the-nose, like Macaulay Culkin walking on stage to “Return of the Mack” for his first appearance at the show in 35 years. Or Judd Apatow being introduced to the stage with “APT” by Bruno Mars and Rosé (that was a personal favorite of mine) playing in the background.
As people online theorized about what sort of wedding DJ, crunk music fan, or random producer with a love for Spotify’s shuffle function could be behind the night’s tunes, it looks as though the actual man in charge is an awards-show veteran. According to IMDb, the show’s music supervisor was Rick Krimbel, who also worked on last year’s Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, the MTV Video Music Awards, and the 2025 Kids’ Choice Awards. It's not totally clear whether he made all the music choices himself or if he simply set the tone, but either way, it was a hit. Rick was also a music coordinator for shows like Teen Wolf and Jersey Shore way back when, which is a fact that could elucidate the “Yeah” song selection just a bit.
Now, it’s unconfirmed whether he alone was the person who decided to have the cast and crew for Adolescence grab their award for Best Miniseries to the bachelorette-party classic “24K Magic.” But if so, 1) it’s nice to know that fellow Bruno Mars stans are working in high places, and 2) the choices were no doubt made as a fun conversation starter, and allowed the ceremony to be that much more memorable.
