This might be the most wide-open category at this year's Oscars. There's a case to be made for all four nominees. The two most convincing arguments come for the animated entries
Tangled and
Toy Story 3, for the songs "I See The Light" and "We Belong Together".
The former keeps very much in the vein traditional Disney; a lovely romantic ballad to accompany a beautifully animated sequence. I was already enjoying
Tangled plenty before that, but this scene is when my heart really melted. It would make a great winner. Alan Menken is sort of my idol.
The latter is an equally plausible winner, simply because
Toy Story 3 is the most beloved nominee in the category. The song itself is kinda derivative, and doesn't come close to the greatness of Randy Newman's previous two songs for the franchise, the heartbreaking "When She Loved Me" and the series-defining "You've Got A Friend In Me". That said, it's still bouncy and enjoyable enough to draw in votes. Being a Best Picture nominee certainly helps.
Another Best Picture nominee represented here is
127 Hours for A.R. Rahman's "If I Rise". He won this category two years ago for "Jai Ho" (a bit of a mistake if you ask me), but that was a high-energy finale with choreography to go with it, whereas "If I Rise" is more on the mellow side and plays so briefly during the film that I'd be surprised by anyone who could remember the tune without listening to the album version.
Or, if none of those options tickle the Academy's fancy, they could stick with the same type of winner they awarded last by voting for "Coming Home" from
Country Strong. It's featured prominently enough in the film, but how many members have
seen the film? A poor critical response truncated its already tiny release. But if they just listen to the song, that may be enough convince otherwise uninterested voters.
Will win: "We Belong Together",
Toy Story 3
Runner-up: "I See The Light",
Tangled
Should win: "I See The Light",
Tangled
Should have been nominated: "Shine",
Waiting for Superman
