party to the most seats in the Bundestag. In Venezuela, then-President of the National Assembly Juan Guaidó, almost unknown in the Venezuelan political scene, proclaimed himself acting president of the country in January 2019 and subsequently appeared in national and international media. The Washington Post called him "the accidental leader". In Turkey, Ekrem İmamoğlu was little known before his victory in the 2019 Istanbul mayoral election. Use in music, television, and film In addition, surprising or unlikely nominations for such prizes as the Academy Award (awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) are referred to as dark horses. Guitarist and singer-songwriter George Harrison was nicknamed the "dark horse" of The Beatles, as his visibility as a songwriter and vocalist increased later in the Beatles' career, particularly on Abbey Road. Harrison went on to name his solo label Dark Horse Records and release both an album and a song titled "Dark Horse.” Switchfoot's song "Dark Horses" was inspired by an organization called StandUp for Kids, which aids homeless and street children (the "Dark Horses") across America. The 24th chapter of Mark Helprin's novel Winter's Tale is called 'White Horse and Dark Horse,' referring to the character of Praeger de Pinto as an outlier candidate for the Mayor of New York City. Todd Solondz' 2011 drama film Dark Horse, whose protagonist is implied by the character's father to be "Dad's Dark Horse" in broader terms. In 2013, a song by Katy Perry titled "Dark Horse" was featured on her fourth studio album Prism. It was the third single released from the album and topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks. Use in sport The term has been used in sport to describe teams and athletes who unexpectedly outperformed their expectations in a competition. Examples include the Los Angeles Kings during the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs (who placed 1st despite being an 8th-seed entry into the playoffs; the first and only team to ever achieve such a feat), Croatia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup (who placed 2nd despite being ranked 20th in the FIFA World Rankings) and Morocco at the 2022 FIFA World Cup (who placed 4th despite being ranked 23rd in the FIFA World Rankings) . See also Black swan theory Stalking horse Underdog References 1830s neologisms English-language idioms Political terminology of the United States Political metaphors referring to people Metaphors referring to horses Benjamin Disraeli