After
several years of embarrassment culminated in last year's laughable
pair of Best Original Song nominees, the music branch finally got a
clue and decided to abolish their asinine grading system, instead
just letting the five songs with the most votes be the nominees. They
also went the route of screener DVDs, allowing music branch members
to evaluate clips of all eligible songs from the comfort of their own
home.
The
rule changes have instantly paid off with a respectable slate of
tunes which we'll probably hear performed on Oscar night. That
basically is what this category is for.
The first nominee has to be one that nobody saw coming: “Before My Time” from the documentary Chasing Ice. I hadn't even seen the film, but was ecstatic when its nomination was announced because it makes an Oscar nominee of composer/sound designer J. Ralph, who wrote what I deemed to be last year's best song for the documentary Hell and Back Again. The song is sung over the end credits by Scarlet Johansson, whose vocals have a mellow Diana Krawl quality to them. While there is precedent for a documentary winning here before (An Inconvenient Truth in 2007), I doubt enough people have seen the film.
That's
not a problem that Best Picture nominees usually have to face when it
comes to this category, and it makes “Pi's Lullaby” from Life
of Pi by Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri a dark horse
contender. The gentle tune plays over the gorgeous open credit
sequence, which might give it a boost, but its big drawback are the
non-English lyrics. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some voters
simply mistake the song for – or simply consider it an extension of
– the instrumental score.
If
there's a spoiler lurking in the wings it's probably “Suddenly”
from Les Miserables, simply by virtue of the fact that it's a
musical and a Best Picture nominee. The Hugh Jackman solo is a lovely
addition to a memorable score, but unfortunately, the existing music
is already so memorable that a song as quiet and simple as “Suddenly”
is easy to forget. As cool as it is to see the original composers of
my favourite musical earn Oscar nominations, I suspect they're no
match for the frontrunner.
Adele's
kick-ass theme to Skyfall is easily the best song of the
bunch, and first in line to collect the trophy. Not only is its tune
instantly memorable (thanks in part to its clever use of the original
Bond theme), but so is its context in the film. Being set to the
beautifully designed opening credit sequence puts the song front and
centre, and with a household name like Adele's attached to it, it
easily wins the popularity contest.
The
final track in the mix is “Everybody Needs A Best Friend” from
Ted, which makes an Oscar nominee out of Oscar host Seth
MacFarlane. I actually like the song and the way it's used in the
film quite a bit (plus I'm a real sucker for big band and swing
music). Norah Jones croons it during the sight-gag filled opening
credits, and she even makes a cameo later in the film! Now that I
think of it, in a weaker year this might even have won (Randy Newman
has a pair of Oscars for toe-tapping tunes about friendship), but
given that this sort of film is hardly in the Academy's wheelhouse, I
think it'll have to settle for the nomination as reward.
Will
win: “Skyfall” from Skyfall
Runner-up:
“Suddenly” from Les Miserables
Should
win: “Skyfall” from Skyfall
Should
have been nominated: “Into The Open Air” from Brave
