And then there were…39. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Monday the songs that are eligible to compete for Best Original Song at the Oscars, and as you might guess, it's a pretty random assortment of songs. But for those of you holding out hope that the Academy will recognize "I Don't Know How She Does It," keep that flame burning bright.
Let's start with the good stuff. In the small category of songs that we can actually tolerate, The National , Jonsi and Zooey Deschanel could possibly find themselves rubbing shoulders at the buffet table in February for "Think You Can Wait" (from "Win Win"), "Gathering Stories (from "We Bought A Zoo") and "So Long" (from "Winnie The Pooh"). Though, in reality, this list is probably as far as any of these folks get as the voters tend to (mostly) favor established vets and easy to digest songs. Remember last year when Jonsi, Beck, Pharrell, Eddie Vedder, Dido and Metric were all eligible? How many of them got nominated? Oh yeah, just Dido. Though every now and then they do the right thing by nominating Eliott Smith or Bjork, but that's usually a rarity and not the standard.
It's not a best song category without Alan Menken, who we expect will get nominated for "Star Spangled Man" from "Captain America: The First Avenger." As is usual, one or two songs from an animated movie will get in there, so get ready as "Rio, "Happy Feet Two" or (god forbid) "Gnomeo & Juliet" might get some nods (Elton John and Lady Gaga at the Oscars would be…interesting). Maybe older voters will tick the box for Elvis Costello for his tune from "One Day" or perhaps they'll transparently try to target tweens by nominating Justin Bieber for "Let Me Take You To Rio." However, you can probably go ahead and count out anything from "DAM999" a movie we never heard of until now.
Final nominees will be announced on January 24, 2012 with the awards being handed out on February 26, 2012. List of contenders below. [IndieWire]
"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"
