Your guess is as good as mine in this category as I have no idea what to expect from this category. If I were to go by nominees listed for the Critics Choice and Golden Globe Awards I would say Elton John’s “Hello Hello” from Gnomeo and Juliet and Mary J. Blige’s “The Living Proof” from The Help are two that look to be front-runners as both were recognized by both orgs, but even then, who knows?
You will notice Madonna’s song “Masterpiece” from W.E. is not included as it doesn’t conform to the Academy’s rules for the category, which state a song must consist of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the film. A clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition of both lyric and melody must be used in the body of the film or as the first music cue in the end credits. “Masterpiece” is most likely ineligible due to that last bit.
So have a look below, see if anything stands out to you. The Muppets were blanked by the Globes, but nominated three times by the BFCA and I would like to think they will get at least two nominations, but as I said in the opening, who knows?
- “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
On Thursday, January 5, the Academy will screen clips featuring each song, in random order, for voting members of the Music Branch in Los Angeles. Following the screenings, members will determine the nominees by an averaged point system of voting. If no song receives an average score of 8.25 or more, there will be no nominees in the category. 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. A DVD copy of the song clips will be made available to those branch members who are unable to attend the screening and who request it for home viewing. A mail-in ballot will be provided.
Under Academy rules, a maximum of two songs may be nominated from any one film. If more than two songs from a film achieve a score of 8.25 or more, the two songs with the highest scores will be the nominees.
The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
