Aside from the Screenplay awards, the Original Song category is one that I have taken a personal interest in, always attempting to compile lists of contenders and hopefuls. However, with the imposition of new guidelines, the Academy voters' have alot more control over the nominations for Song.
For starters, the votes have to average out to 8.25 on a scale of 10 for all Academy members; anything below that is knicked from the list, no questions asked. When Bruce Springsteen won the Globe for his "Wrestler" theme last year, everyone thought he was a shoo-in for an Oscar nod. But no. The theme did not receive an average of 8.25, and the new rule system took its first victim. Instead, Slumdog Millionaire made it in twice, with "O Saya" and "Jai Ho," to compete against Wall*E with "Down to Earth."
Another rule is that no film can been nominated in this category for more than two songs. Reading this, you have to know that Stephen Schwartz shed a tear or two, having been nominated for Enchanted three times the year previous. That means, if Slumdog had had three contending songs, the voters initially would have cast one aside in favor of the more adequate pair. This, I think, is lousy. However, in the rule's defense, this could help from splitting the vote on a film's songs, like many believe happened with Dreamgirls, who went home empty-handed despite having "Listen," "Patience" and "Love You I Do." And yet, in opposition to the rule, one might point out Lion King, who still won with "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" even with it nominated alongside "Circle of Life" and "Hakuna Matata." Either way, with three or not, there is a scenario in which the film suffered or prevailed from being nodded towards too much.
With these two significant rules in mind, what songs this year do you foresee being a contender for the award? NOTE TO MODERATORS, this is not a prediction thread. Instead, it can serve as a compilation for all the songs that may at this point have a chance of taking home to gold in this category.
Now you may be saying to yourself, 'Hold on Doc! What happens if only one song the entire year surpasses the 8.25 average?' Well, Envelope frequenter Outsider was kind enough to quote a segment of the rules from Oscars.org for us: "Nominations will be determined by an averaged point system of voting using 10, 9.5, 9, 8.5, 8, 7.5, 7, 6.5 or 6. Only those songs receiving an average score of 8.25 or more shall normally be eligible for nomination. There may not be more than five nominations. If no song receives an average score of 8.25 or more, there will be no nominees. If only one song achieves that score, it and the song receiving the next highest score shall be the two nominees. If two or more songs (up to five) achieve that score, they shall be the nominees."
(Note: If only two songs pass the bar, they will duke it out, as the category no longer requires a three-song minimum. If the two songs are from the same film, well... some songwriter in the audience will attend the ceremony with one hand on the trophy already.)
So again, what songs are looking promising for this year's category. I will use the following post to both list and analyze each song recommended.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dr. McPhearson,
---- OSCAR FYC: Best Picture - "Up" Best Actor - Michael Stuhlbarg, "A Serious Man" Best Actress - Saoirse Ronan, "Lovely Bones" Best Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, "Basterds" Best Original Screenplay - "Up"
Posts: 1945 | Location: Right behind you. | Registered: December 07, 2007
Last year, Miley Cyrus infamously told a red carpet journo that she hoped that she would be invited to the ceremony to represent Hannah Montana the Movie. Everyone laughed her off... but right now, her hopes are completely out the window. After all, she did release the song "The Climb" alongside the film, and after receiving quite a bit of radio play, the tune has grabbed its audience (that is, the fourteen year old girls of the world). Could the Academy somehow decide to go with the Two Worlds chick, despite sassiness and scandal? After all, she was considered a big player for her Bolt song "I Thought I Lost You" last year, especially after it was nodded at the Globes.
What say you? Personally, I think it's a trying-too-hard-to-be-inspirational belter, but what do I know? It won the MTV Award for Best Movie Song, so it must be good, right? Right?
Below is a tidbit from Wikipedia concerning the song's critical reception:
"Jim Malec of The 9513 gave the song a thumbs-down rating. He called it "a syrupy and entirely unnecessarily [sic] power ballad that offers no substance and has been written many times prior under different titles but with literally the same itinerary." He added that Cyrus seemed to spend most of the song over-singing, but at other times recalled a young Tanya Tucker vocally.[4] Dan Milliken of Country Universe gave the song a D+ rating. His review comprised soley of two motivational posters: one reading "Life: Its [sic] not about the destination, but the journey" to describe the song's content, and a mock poster reading "Success: Everything is easy when you're cute" for his actual review. In the comments section, he responds to a negative comment with a 370 word review of his problems with the song, calling it "a soulless rephrasing of an extremely famous philosophical message (so famous it borders on cliche) that doesn’t provide an emotionally coherent context or justification". Milliken says he respects Cyrus and he gave the song a higher grade because "she’s a pretty good singer for someone her age".[5] Entertainment Weekly, however, said that the song "turns up her homegrown inflections, but a few elongated r's won't exactly shut out her huge pop audience."[6]
She has also been criticised for imitating Sheryl Crow on the vocals and on the video of the song which is quite familiar to Sheryl's The first cut is the deepest"
---- OSCAR FYC: Best Picture - "Up" Best Actor - Michael Stuhlbarg, "A Serious Man" Best Actress - Saoirse Ronan, "Lovely Bones" Best Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, "Basterds" Best Original Screenplay - "Up"
Posts: 1945 | Location: Right behind you. | Registered: December 07, 2007
This message has been edited. Last edited by: bocaboy7,
2010 Oscars FYC:
Lead Actor - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer Lead Actress - Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Original Screenplay - Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer
Posts: 5030 | Location: Why Do You Want To Know? | Registered: November 21, 2006
No problem, Bocaboy. Thanks for posting. I knew I'd get your cooperation here. Please post again if you find another song worth mentioning. In Miley's case, if she's nominated, Bruce Springsteen is gunna be ****ed. I love the version you mentioned, however; when approached as a gospel, it sounds twice as good.
Just because you mentioned the lyrics, I thought I'd post them below.
"THE CLIMB" I can almost see it That dream I'm dreaming but There's a voice inside my head sayin, You'll never reach it, Every step I'm taking, Every move I make feels Lost with no direction My faith is shaking but I Got to keep trying Got to keep my head held high
There's always going to be another mountain I'm always going to want to make it move Always going to be an uphill battle, Sometimes you going to have to lose, Ain't about how fast I get there, Ain't about what?s waiting on the other side It's the climb
The struggles I'm facing, The chances I'm taking Sometimes they knock me down but No I'm not breaking I may not know it But these are the moments that I'm going to remember most yeah Just got to keep going And I, I got to be strong Just keep pushing on, cause
There's always going to be another mountain I'm always going to want to make it move Always going to be an uphill battle, Sometimes I'm going to have to lose, Ain't about how fast I get there, Ain't about what's waiting on the other side It's the climb
There's always going to be another mountain I'm always going to want to make it move Always going to be an uphill battle, Sometimes you going to have to lose, Ain't about how fast I get there, Ain't about what's waiting on the other side It's the climb
Keep on moving Keep climbing Keep the faith baby It's all about It's all about The climb Keep the faith Keep your faith
---- OSCAR FYC: Best Picture - "Up" Best Actor - Michael Stuhlbarg, "A Serious Man" Best Actress - Saoirse Ronan, "Lovely Bones" Best Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, "Basterds" Best Original Screenplay - "Up"
Posts: 1945 | Location: Right behind you. | Registered: December 07, 2007
I feel like if this song had been sung by say Reba McEntire or Celine Dion, then everyone would be buzzing about this song like crazy! It's almost like having Miley Cyrus sing this song discredits it. And she doesn't have a bad voice at all, but I think most Oscar voters will instantly just discredit this song because it is from Hannah Montana: The Movie.
Personally, I would love to see this song get nominated. It has some beautiful lyrics. It really does. But I don't know... I think the jury is out on this one... I hear this song on the radio ALL THE TIME, and it definitely has built up a mainstream fanbase.
But as a complete other sidenote, you mentioned Bruce Springsteen. It's almost as if you win the Golden Globe for Best Original Song it's a bad thing because they are not going to be nominated for the Oscar! So for whoever wins the Golden Globe this year for Best Original Song, don't predict them as great as the song may be!
2010 Oscars FYC:
Lead Actor - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer Lead Actress - Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Original Screenplay - Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer
Posts: 5030 | Location: Why Do You Want To Know? | Registered: November 21, 2006
Originally posted by bocaboy7: I feel like if this song had been sung by say Reba McEntire or Celine Dion, then everyone would be buzzing about this song like crazy! It's almost like having Miley Cyrus sing this song discredits it. And she doesn't have a bad voice at all, but I think most Oscar voters will instantly just discredit this song because it is from Hannah Montana: The Movie.
Personally, I would love to see this song get nominated. It has some beautiful lyrics. It really does. But I don't know... I think the jury is out on this one... I hear this song on the radio ALL THE TIME, and it definitely has built up a mainstream fanbase.
But as a complete other sidenote, you mentioned Bruce Springsteen. It's almost as if you win the Golden Globe for Best Original Song it's a bad thing because they are not going to be nominated for the Oscar! So for whoever wins the Golden Globe this year for Best Original Song, don't predict them as great as the song may be!
I can actually see the Globe acceptance speech now:
"Sunuva! Why did you guys give this to me?! Friggin' Foreign Press! I was THIS CLOSE to getting an Oscar nomination! And you f'ed it up! DAMN!"
Classic.
---- OSCAR FYC: Best Picture - "Up" Best Actor - Michael Stuhlbarg, "A Serious Man" Best Actress - Saoirse Ronan, "Lovely Bones" Best Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, "Basterds" Best Original Screenplay - "Up"
Posts: 1945 | Location: Right behind you. | Registered: December 07, 2007
Originally posted by bocaboy7: I feel like if this song had been sung by say Reba McEntire or Celine Dion, then everyone would be buzzing about this song like crazy! It's almost like having Miley Cyrus sing this song discredits it. And she doesn't have a bad voice at all, but I think most Oscar voters will instantly just discredit this song because it is from Hannah Montana: The Movie.
Personally, I would love to see this song get nominated. It has some beautiful lyrics. It really does. But I don't know... I think the jury is out on this one... I hear this song on the radio ALL THE TIME, and it definitely has built up a mainstream fanbase.
But as a complete other sidenote, you mentioned Bruce Springsteen. It's almost as if you win the Golden Globe for Best Original Song it's a bad thing because they are not going to be nominated for the Oscar! So for whoever wins the Golden Globe this year for Best Original Song, don't predict them as great as the song may be!
I can actually see the Globe acceptance speech now:
"Sunuva! Why did you guys give this to me?! Friggin' Foreign Press! I was THIS CLOSE to getting an Oscar nomination! And you f'ed it up! DAMN!"
Classic.
Or if Miley wins, maybe she'll use one of her cute little corny punchlines from Hannah Montana that little 7 year olds laugh at histerically...
But then again, can the curse be broken this year? We always say it will be every year, but it hasn't. Could this year be any different?
2010 Oscars FYC:
Lead Actor - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer Lead Actress - Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Original Screenplay - Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer
Posts: 5030 | Location: Why Do You Want To Know? | Registered: November 21, 2006
Originally posted by bocaboy7: But then again, can the curse be broken this year? We always say it will be every year, but it hasn't. Could this year be any different?
As many times as we say it will be this year, we also ask "can it be this year?" question every year as well. It's an endless cycle. And unlike a Pixar Best Picture nomination, I don't know if this cycle breaking is inevitable.
On the search for the next contender, I looked high and low. Pixar is usually a good go-to studio, but Up really doesn't have any original song that stands out in the least. Precious is said to have an original song by Mariah Carey, but that's hard to get my hands on. Could it be that the best songs this year will come from the dramatic fare, like Lovely Bones and Invictus. Will Nine have something new? Or will a light-hearted rompus like Where the Wild Things Are illuminate lyrics that melt our hearts? If you find any new contenders, please post them ASAP. I really don't want to face the idea that Miley Cyrus is the only contender this year.
---- OSCAR FYC: Best Picture - "Up" Best Actor - Michael Stuhlbarg, "A Serious Man" Best Actress - Saoirse Ronan, "Lovely Bones" Best Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, "Basterds" Best Original Screenplay - "Up"
Posts: 1945 | Location: Right behind you. | Registered: December 07, 2007
Not to take away from the Miley bashing, but Ed Helms was on The Tonight Show the other night, and mentioned that Warner Bros. was submitting the song he sang in The Hangover for consideration.
Posts: 3803 | Location: Earth | Registered: April 11, 2005
Funny little ditty. However, it's just that: "little." It's not even a minute long. With this in consideration, it's all fine and well that it is being submitted, but I doubt very seriously that the Academy would put it above the 8.25 marking.
EDIT: And to keep in the spirit of things, here are the lyrics to the very short but witty enough song, performed by Ed Helms.
"STU'S SONG" What do tigers dream of When they take a little tiger snooze? Do they dream of mauling zebras or Halle Berry in her Catwoman suit? Don't you worry Your pretty striped head We're gonna get you back to Tyson And your cozy tiger bed!! And then were gonna find Our best friend Doug And then were gonna give Him a best friend hug! DOUG-DOUG-DOUG-DOUG-DOUGY-DOUG-DOUG ...but if he's been murdered By crystal meth tweakers Well then We're **** out of luck.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dr. McPhearson,
---- OSCAR FYC: Best Picture - "Up" Best Actor - Michael Stuhlbarg, "A Serious Man" Best Actress - Saoirse Ronan, "Lovely Bones" Best Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, "Basterds" Best Original Screenplay - "Up"
Posts: 1945 | Location: Right behind you. | Registered: December 07, 2007
the song credits are: * Vocals: Miley Cyrus * Written by: Jessi Alexander, Jon Mabe * Produced by: John Shanks * Engineered and Mixed by: Jeff Rothschild
the writers would get nominated and also the person who did the music for the song. was that miley? do we know who came up with the music?
The Antlers "Hospice" = Album of the Decade
Posts: 768 | Location: Texas | Registered: July 15, 2002
Originally posted by Francisco: would Miley be nominated if the song does get in?
the song credits are: * Vocals: Miley Cyrus * Written by: Jessi Alexander, Jon Mabe * Produced by: John Shanks * Engineered and Mixed by: Jeff Rothschild
the writers would get nominated and also the person who did the music for the song. was that miley? do we know who came up with the music?
No, she would not. In the writing credits, I believe that is supposed to infer that Alexander and Mabe wrote both the lyrics and music. Unfortunately, they never specified which man did which job, so I'm forced to but them both under a generic "written by" label. I think, however, that one of those men scored the song.
I think that the reason so many people do not want the song to win isn't because they loathe Cyrus, though that could be a major factor in it. I think most people -- including myself -- would have a hard time coping with the fact that the Best Original Song came from a Disney Channel spawned film. Any time that the words "The Movie" are in the title, I kinda shrink away from it. That's why, when Cynthia Nixon was getting buzz for Sex and the City: The Movie, I was having none of that.
Call it unfair. Call it low. I don't care. I don't want to look back five years from now, and see Miley Cyrus up there on stage, holding a statue that Richard Burton never got the chance to hold. (Chances are, even if she didn't officially win herself, they would bring her to the stage anyway.)
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dr. McPhearson,
---- OSCAR FYC: Best Picture - "Up" Best Actor - Michael Stuhlbarg, "A Serious Man" Best Actress - Saoirse Ronan, "Lovely Bones" Best Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, "Basterds" Best Original Screenplay - "Up"
Posts: 1945 | Location: Right behind you. | Registered: December 07, 2007
"Notorious was nice, but it’s not in the color purple range" "Angels and Demons may get nominated for cinematography the imagery was profound" "District Nine will definitely win for best foreign film it made money and everyone loved it" ~ 8movies
Posts: 2774 | Location: nz | Registered: January 12, 2009
Originally posted by puxzkkx: MARIAH CAREY OBSESSED
i think?
Nah, this song has nothing to do with Precious. She will be making another song for the film though. Also, I believe Robin Thicke will be creating (or has created already) an original song for the film too.
But yeah, Obsessed has nothing to do with Precious. It's just Mariah Carey trying to be heard on the radio again. And quite honestly, it's one of the worst songs of the summer, and one of her worst songs ever.
But I am excited to hear her original song for Precious. That may be a song that could get nominated! I'm sure this film meant a lot to her! But of course we have to actually hear the song before we make any predictions!
2010 Oscars FYC:
Lead Actor - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer Lead Actress - Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Original Screenplay - Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer
Posts: 5030 | Location: Why Do You Want To Know? | Registered: November 21, 2006
The thing to keep in mind with this category is that at least for a decade the nominees and winners have been almost exclusively from movies that are nominated in other categories (or animated films before their was a separate category). It is incredibly rare for a song to be the sole nominee from a film, and rarer still for that song to win.
2007 was a fluke year, when all of the nominated songs were from non-nominated movies - Once, Enchanted, and August Rush. That hadn't happened in at least 60 years before, and the first time since 2003 that even ONE song was the sole nomination for its film. Of those three movies, Enchanted and Once were highly acclaimed and considered strong contenders for awards in other categories (actress and screenplay, respectively).
Over the past 10 years, these are the only other original song nominees that were the sole nomination from their film (excluding animated films released before the introduction of the animated category, as these would have almost certainly been nominees in that category).
"A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" - A Might Wind "Lose Yourself" - 8 Mile "Father and Daughter" - The Wild Thornberrys Movie "Until" - Kate and Leopold "Vanilla Sky" - Vanilla Sky "I've Seen It All" - Dance In the Dark "A Fool In Love" - Meet The Parents
That is a small group of songs and films, and represented only one winner. This category (to its detriment) skews incredibly close to other nominations. The film that the song comes from is incredibly important. This time last year were talking about songs like "Vampire's Lament" and "Rock Me, Sexy Jesus." This years crop of songs from similar films will be about as likely as those to get a nomination.
This hurts the category tremendously, but it's the way the nominations work.
Now you may be saying to yourself, 'Hold on Doc! What happens if only one song the entire year surpasses the 8.25 average?' The jury is still out on that one, as many sources are reporting many different things. Some say that the statue would immediately be awarded to that single song's writer(s) for recognition-sake. Other are claiming that the category would be wiped off the map for that respective year, and that no song would be award. Honestly, if the songwriting cinematically were so dismal that only one song passed the goal, I would hope for the former, that they would be awarded anyway. Maybe Tom O'Neill could stop by this thread and weigh-in on what he thinks of the new rule change.
"Nominations will be determined by an averaged point system of voting using 10, 9.5, 9, 8.5, 8, 7.5, 7, 6.5 or 6. Only those songs receiving an average score of 8.25 or more shall normally be eligible for nomination. There may not be more than five nominations. If no song receives an average score of 8.25 or more, there will be no nominees. If only one song achieves that score, it and the song receiving the next highest score shall be the two nominees. If two or more songs (up to five) achieve that score, they shall be the nominees."
MysteriousRent, that's a very good point. It definitely makes a Precious song nomination more likely, especially since M'onique and Picture are looking more like certainties.
Hannah Montana and Hangover... I have a feeling this category is about the only place either of them could or would be nominated.
As for the Precious song, could you imagine if the Song battle came down to Miley Cyrus and Mariah Carey? What a mess that would be.
---- OSCAR FYC: Best Picture - "Up" Best Actor - Michael Stuhlbarg, "A Serious Man" Best Actress - Saoirse Ronan, "Lovely Bones" Best Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, "Basterds" Best Original Screenplay - "Up"
Posts: 1945 | Location: Right behind you. | Registered: December 07, 2007
Originally posted by puxzkkx: MARIAH CAREY OBSESSED
i think?
Nah, this song has nothing to do with Precious. She will be making another song for the film though. Also, I believe Robin Thicke will be creating (or has created already) an original song for the film too.
But yeah, Obsessed has nothing to do with Precious. It's just Mariah Carey trying to be heard on the radio again. And quite honestly, it's one of the worst songs of the summer, and one of her worst songs ever.
But I am excited to hear her original song for Precious. That may be a song that could get nominated! I'm sure this film meant a lot to her! But of course we have to actually hear the song before we make any predictions!
I'm sorry, but I thought "Obsessed" was the theme song for "Obssessed".
"Notorious was nice, but it’s not in the color purple range" "Angels and Demons may get nominated for cinematography the imagery was profound" "District Nine will definitely win for best foreign film it made money and everyone loved it" ~ 8movies
Posts: 2774 | Location: nz | Registered: January 12, 2009
