2012 Oscar Predictions: Guessing the Best Original Song Nominees
Taking a shot in the dark
When it comes to the Oscar for Best Original Song your guess is as good as mine. The Academy announced 39 songs vying for the category at the 2012 Oscars back in mid-December and of those 39 I have thrown a dart at the board and come up with five songs I felt may have a shot at the nomination.
If I was to look for any kind of indicators from the awards handed out so far I would say "Hello Hello" from Gnomeo and Juliet and "The Living Proof" from The Help sure look like solid contenders as both were nominated by the Hollywood Foreign Press and the Broadcast Film Critics, but neither of them ended up winning.
At the Globes it was Madonna winning for "Masterpiece", which isn't even eligible for a nomination at the Oscars, and at the Critics Choice it was "Life's a Happy Song" from The Muppets, a film the HFPA didn't even nominate in the category. So how's that for a sign?
If either of the orgs are to be looked at as indicators I'm going to lean more toward the BFCA, but I don't think The Muppets are going to enjoy three nominations.
The two songs I'm adding to the mix are "Lay Your Head Down" from Albert Nobbs, which was written by Glenn Close and performed by Sinead O'Connor and "Coeur Volant" from Hugo, performed by Zaz. Why those two? Why not?
I have included all five directly below and do realize this category can anywhere from 2-5 nominees if you want to add your own predictions in the comments. You can browse all nine of the contenders I have in this category right here along with links to buy each song as well as listen to each of them.
The Oscar nominations will be announced next Tuesday, January 24 at 5:30 AM PST. I will be here to deliver them to you along with any and all reactions and you better believe there are more nomination predictions coming as I still have three more categories to open up and plenty more predictions to refine.
For all of my current predictions simply click here and have at it.
Now here are my current predictions for Best Original Song:
1.) "Lay Your Head Down" from Albert Nobbs
Music by Brian Byrne
Lyrics by Glenn Close
Performed by Sinnead O'Connor
2.) "The Living Proof" from The Help
Written by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, and Harvey Mason, Jr.
Performed by Mary J. Blige
3.) "Life's A Happy Song" from The Muppets
Written by Bret McKenzie
4.) "Hello Hello" from Gnomeo and Juliet
Music by Elton John, Lyrics by Bernie Taupin
Performed by Elton John and Lady Gaga
5.) "Coeur Volant" from Hugo
Performed by Zaz
Music and Lyrics by Elizabeth Cotnoir, Isabelle Geffroy, Howard Shore
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Great picks. Hard to say if these will end up being the nominees, but they're probably five of the strongest songs among the 39 eligible. I'd be thrilled to see either Coeur Volant or anything from The Muppets take the Oscar.
Man or Muppet should get a nom too, that song is great!
I picked So Long over Coeur Volant, although I want The Backson Song (I like Robert Lopez), but I wouldn't be surprised to see it go to Hugo
I thought I was the only one who was aware of the existence of Coeur Volant.
Interesting no Masterpiece, is it out of the competition? I not a fan, just wondering because it won the Golden Globe.
Yes, it's out of the competition. Shame.
It's a shame Star Spangled Man most likely won't be nominated.
THE NATIONAL "THINK YOU CAN WAIT" from WIN/WIN
What don't people understand.!? Best song in a film all year long. Why in the hell isn't this getting every original song from a film out there.
I swear if the Muppets get a nomination and this dosn't I will be sick
How about "Gathering Stories" from We Bought a Zoo
and "So Long" from Winnie the Pooh. Two fantastic songs. Better than
Hello, Hello at least in my opinion.
What about 'Gathering Stories' He's a great singer and songwriter and deserved a lot more recognition than he's getting!
WOW! Politics. Oscars…only a select few of voters. It goes to show…It you are nominated for a Golden Globe…you are not a favor to be nominated….LOL! A lot of good performances were overlooked.
The nomination process for Best Original Song is flawed. Voters rate each song from 6 to 10. There is an incentive to give your preferred songs a "10" and the rest a "6" to maximize the impact of your vote. As a result all but the most uniformly popular songs (Muppets, Rio) are weighed down with low votes and can't make the minimum threshold of 8.25. In a year with so many strong candidates it's a shame that Oscar viewers will only be exposed to two songs…here was our contender: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXewKDa8I5c