84th Academy Awards – ‘Best Original Song’ - Revisited

Role of the Original Song:

An original song consists of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the motion picture.  There must be a clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition (not necessarily visually presented) of both lyric and melody, used in the body of the motion picture or as the first music cue in the end credits.

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Eligibility:

1.      The work must be created specifically for the eligible feature-length motion picture.

2.      The work must be the result of a creative interaction between the filmmaker(s) and the composer(s) and/or songwriter(s) who have been engaged to work directly on the motion picture.

3.      The work’s eligibility shall be evaluated on its effectiveness, craftsmanship, creative substance and relevance to the dramatic whole.

4.      The work must be recorded for use in the motion picture prior to any other usage, including public performance or exploitation through any media whatsoever.

5.      Only the principal composer(s) or songwriter(s) responsible for the conception and execution of the work as a whole shall be eligible for an award.

6.      No more than two statuettes will normally be given in the Original Song category.  A third statuette may be awarded when there are three essentially equal contributors to a song.

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Eligible Songs:

39 songs made the eligibility cut this year:

• "The World I Knew" from "African Cats"
• "Lay Your Head Down" from "Albert Nobbs"
• "Star Spangled Man" from "Captain America: The First Avenger"
• "Collision of Worlds" from "Cars 2"
• "Dakkanaga Dugu Dugu" from "DAM999"
• "DAM999 Theme Song" from "DAM999"
• "Mujhe Chod Ke" from "DAM999"
• "Rainbird" from "Dirty Girl"
• "Keep On Walking" from "The First Grader"
• "Where the River Goes" from "Footloose"
• "Hello Hello" from "Gnomeo & Juliet"
• "Love Builds a Garden" from "Gnomeo & Juliet"
• "Bridge of Light" from "Happy Feet Two"
• "The Mighty Sven" from "Happy Feet Two"
• "Never Be Daunted" from "happythankyoumoreplease"
• "Hell and Back" from "Hell and Back Again"
• "The Living Proof" from "The Help"
• "Coeur Volant" from "Hugo"
• "It's How We Play" from "I Don't Know How She Does It"
• "When the Heart Dies" from "In the Land of Blood and Honey"
• "Ja Nao Estar" from "José and Pilar"
• "The Keeper" from "Machine Gun Preacher"
• "Life's a Happy Song" from "The Muppets"
• "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets"
• "Pictures in My Head" from "The Muppets"
• "Summer Song" from "The Music Never Stopped"
• "Imaginary Friends" from "Olive"
• "Sparkling Day" from "One Day" 
• "Taking You with Me" from "Our Idiot Brother"
• "The Greatest Song I Ever Heard" from "POM Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold"
• "Hot Wings" from "Rio"
• "Let Me Take You to Rio" from "Rio"
• "Real in Rio" from "Rio"
• "Shelter" from "Take Shelter"
• "Gathering Stories" from "We Bought a Zoo"
• "Pop" from "White Irish Drinkers"
• "Think You Can Wait" from "Win Win"
• "The Backson Song" from "Winnie the Pooh"
• "So Long" from "Winnie the Pooh" 

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Voting Procedures:

I have previously discussed the voting process for this category here.  In case you're wondering, I’m repeating (expanding) this post to give recognition to the nominees.

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Nominations:

"Man or Muppet" from The Muppets

·         Bret McKenzie

o   1^st nomination. 

But most importantly, he is one half of the musical comedy duo ‘Flight of the Concords’.  These guys are awesome and after realizing ‘Man or Muppet’ was written by Bret it made total sense… this is the kind of hilariously awesome song he writes.  Bret is the guy singing background vocals: ‘The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room’

"Real in Rio" from Rio

·         Sérgio Mendes

o   1^st nomination. 

·         Carlinhos Brown

o   1^st nomination.

·         Siedah Garrett

o   2^nd nomination.  Previously nominated for ‘Dream Girls’.  She also collaborated with Michael Jackson on his ‘Bad’ album.

Sergio and Carlinhos are probably THE quintessential Brazilian musicians, and couple them with American veteran R&B stylist Siedah… their nomination comes at no shock.

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Snubs:

Everyone and their mother claims to be snubbed this year.  However, as outlined in my previous post on the subject, most of these complaints come from not understanding the voting process.  I’ve actually been learning a lot about this category this year and I LOVE it!  Let’s look at some of the bigger claims of being snubbed: 

Ineligibility and Madonna (‘W.E.’):  Although Madonna’s song for ‘W.E.’ won the Golden Globe, it was ineligible because it wasn’t used during the body of the film.  The song was used as a ‘credit roller’, but most importantly, it didn’t start playing until after the movie was over and faded to black.  If is actually the reasoning behind Elton John’s vocal outrage against Madonna after she won the Golden Globe.

Eligible ‘Credit Rollers’ and Mary J. Blige (‘The Help’):  Here is a big thing I have learned this year.  If a song, used over the credits, starts while the body of the film is still visible, serving as a sound cue and dramatic bridge between the film and the credits, the song IS eligible.   And that is the case for Mary’s song.  However, the dramatic impact of this ‘bridge’ effect, not the overall quality of the song, is what will be ultimately judged by the members of the Music Branch.  Apparently, the Music Branch didn’t score the dramatic effect of this song high enough for a nomination. 

I actually like this song a lot and I like Mary J. a lot… however, I find the actions of some of her fans shameful and appalling, having claimed Mary J.’s snub as a sign of racism.  First of all, ‘The Help’ is nominated for four Academy Awards, including best picture.  Plus, Viola and Octavia are considered the front runners for their categories.  Secondly, the Music Branch has come a long way in supporting diversity.  In the last 7 years, ten song by minorities have been nominated for Original Song, and four of them have won!  A.R. Rahman won in 2008 for ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, the Three 6 Mafia won in 2005 for ‘Hustle and Flow’, and Jorge Drexler won in 2004 for ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’.  Furthermore, the entire team nominated for ‘Rio’ is from minority groups… so to decree racism seems rather misguided and the current trends do not support the claim.

That said, despite my affection for the song… I have fundamental issues against songs, primarily, used over the credits, being nominated for Oscars.  And honestly, it rarely happens.  Last year Dido was nominated for a ‘credit roller’, however a substantial amount of the song actually played during the final moments of ‘127 Hours’ complimenting an extremely dramatic moment… but for the most part… credit rollers feel more like someone pressed play shortly before fading out the final season.  And many of the 39 eligible songs fell into this category… and thus… they are not nominated.

Legitimate Snubs and Songs from the Body of the Film

So… yeah… there are only two nominated song this year… and although I understand the rules… and appreciate the rule… I do believe that there should be five nominees.  Even if there was only one song earning enough points to earn a nomination by the current bye-laws, they should still take the top five songs as nominees.  There were quite a few songs used in the body of the films they were in that could have been included and would have kept the integrity of the award: Elton John (‘Gnomeo & Juliet’) and Pink (‘Happy Feet 2’)… and honestly, I’m surprised that more songs from ‘The Muppets’ and ‘Rio’ were not also included.

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Oscar Trends:

Well… it’s tough to say… but I do believe there is a clear front runner.

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Prediction: "Man or Muppet" from The Muppets - Bret McKenzie

Click HERE for a full list of my Oscar predictions.