^{Credit: KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix, Sony Pictures Animation), South Park (Comedy Central)}

KPop Demon Hunters' presence could be felt from the top of the 31st Critics' Choice Awards, which opened with a montage partially set to "Golden." Arden Cho and Ejae, the speaking and singing voices for Rumi, respectively, presented a couple of awards that evening as well. This all seemed to be foreshadowing "Golden" winning Best Song. Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick, Ido, 24, and Teddy shared in the win for "Golden," beating "Clothed by the Sun" (Daniel Blumberg) from The Testament of Ann Lee, "Drive" (Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, and Blake Slatkin) from F1, "I Lied to You" (Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson) from Sinners, "The Girl in the Bubble" (Stephen Schwartz) from Wicked: For Good, and "Train Dreams" (Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner) from Train Dreams.

"Golden" has been shortlisted for Best Original Song consideration at the 98th Academy Awards. It's also been nominated for Best Original Song at the 83rd Golden Globes, which airs next Sunday. "Golden" may have a harder time pulling off a win at the Globes, which hasn't awarded a tune from a toon since "The Song of the Heart" from Happy Feet almost two decades ago. A song from an animated film hasn't won the Golden Globe and Oscar since "You'll Be in My Heart" from Tarzan nearly twenty-five years ago. If "Golden" can win Critics' Choice and the Globe back-to-back, though, there's no reason to believe that it won't have the Oscar in the bag. Its Grammy nomination for Song of the Year doesn't hurt. 

The Critics' Choice Award for Best Animated Feature also went to KPop Demon Hunters, winning over Arco, Elio, In Your Dreams, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, and Zootopia 2. CCA introduced a Best Animated Feature category in 1998, three years before the Oscars. A Bug’s Life and The Prince of Egypt tied in the first year, beating Antz and The Rugrats Movie. Toy Story 2 won the following year, while Chicken Run won the next. Since 2001, eighteen CCA recipients have coincided with the Oscar winner (Shrek, Spirited Award, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Ratatouille, WALLE-E, Up, Toy Story 3, Rango, Frozen, Inside Out, Zootopia, Coco, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Toy Story 4, Soul, and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio. Six films won at CCA, only to lose the Oscar (Cars, Wreck-It Ralph, The Lego Movie, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and The Wild Robot).

The Best Animated Series CCA went to South Park, beating Bob's Burgers, Harley Quinn, Long Story Short, Marvel Zombies, and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. It was the first CCA nomination for the long-running animated series, which has seen a resurgence with its recent seasons trolling Donald Trump's presidency. Aside from winning awards tonight, KPop Demon Hunters and South Park have another weird parallel. One is about hunting demons. In the other, the president impregnates a demon, Satan. Kind of a missed opportunity that the season didn't end with the Demon Hunters taking on the Antichrist.

In what might've been the biggest lock of the night, Best Visual Effects went to Avatar: Fire and Ash, cakewalking to a win over F1, Frankenstein, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Sinners, and Superman. 

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1 and 2. Available Now!