Original Song Oscar Finals: Listen to the Shortlisted Songs
Wednesday, December 22, 2021 at 12:41AM
Christopher James in Annette, Beyonce, Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road, Bruised, Cinderella, Dear Evan Hansen, King Richard, Original Song, Oscars (21), Respect, Sing 2, The Harder They Fall

Power couple Beyonce and Jay Z could fight it out at the Oscars this year.Last week, the Oscars published a list of 105 songs that qualified for the award. Today, that list has been winnowed down to 15 hopefuls, vying for the five Oscar nomination slots. Ten categories just got narrowed down today, and The Film Experience will be covering them all (such as International Feature). The Original Song category has gone through many ups and downs. It used to be the place for the biggest hits, such as “Last Dance” by Donna Summer and “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion. At its worst, it contained only two songs, one of which was “Real in Rio” from Rio. Will this year be a hit or a bust?

The fifteen shortlisted song includes songs from Grammy winners, Best Picture hopefuls, musicals and both Beyonce and Jay Z. Check them out after the jump.

Here are the 15 Shortlisted Songs for Best Original Song at the Oscars:

  1. “So May We Start?” from Annette (Spotify, YouTube Music, iHeart)

  2. “Down To Joy” from Belfast (not available)

  3. “Right Where I Belong” from Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road (Spotify, YouTube Music, Pandora, Apple Music)

  4. “Automatic Woman” from Bruised (Spotify)

  5. “Dream Girl” from Cinderella (Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, iHeart)

  6. “Beyond The Shore” from CODA (Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, iHeart)

  7. “The Anonymous Ones” from Dear Evan Hansen (Spotify, YouTube Music, Pandora, Apple Music)

  8. “Just Look Up” from Don’t Look Up (YouTube Music)

  9. “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto (Spotify, YouTube Music, Pandora)

  10. “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days (Spotify, YouTube Music, iHeart)

  11. “Guns Go Bang” from The Harder They Fall (Spotify, YouTube Music, Pandora, Apple Music)

  12. “Be Alive” from King Richard (Spotify, YouTube Music, Pandora)

  13. “No Time To Die” from No Time to Die (Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, iHeart)

  14. “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)” from Respect (Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, iHeart)

  15. “Your Song Saved My Life” from Sing 2 (Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, iHeart)

Not all musicals this year made the cut for Original Song. "Cyrano" and "In the Heights" both missed.

Who Was Snubbed?

All of the songs nominated at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice in the Original Song category made the shortlist. Thus, there were not any egregious shockers. Still, some hopefuls saw their Oscar hopes dashed today.

We’ve noted many times that this year was the year of the movie musical. The music branch went a bit off the beaten path when rewarding musicals this year. Though In the Heights was well-reviewed, the Oscars did not include the song “Home All Summer,” which ran over the end credits. The four musicals featured here - Annette, Cinderella, Dear Evan Hansen, Encanto - all saw diegetic songs from within the film make the shortlist. This makes it even stranger that Cyrano didn’t show up for “Every Letter,” which many had predicted would get in. This could hurt Joe Wright’s film in other categories. Other musicals with original songs, like Vivo and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, missed the shortlist. 

Marvel was able to get pop hit “All The Stars” in for Black Panther a few years back. Not many thought it would happen again for “Fire in the Sky” from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, but it was in the race. Disney also usually does well in this category, so some may have expected “Lead the Way” from Raya and the Last Dragon to contend.

Beyonce is the frontrunner at the moment for her song "Be Alive" from "King Richard."

Who Is Most Likely To Be Nominated?

There are some consistent trends we’ve seen since the Original Song shortlists were published starting in 2018. A movie is more likely to make it into the Original Song category if it is nominated in any other category, particularly if it shows up in above-the-line categories. This bodes well for King Richard, Belfast, CODA and Don’t Look Up.

I like to think all of the shortlisted songs fall into one of seven categories:

  1. Comedy Choice

  2. A Disney Movie

  3. From a Musical

  4. Lone Song from a Drama

  5. Plays Over The End Credits of a Biopic

  6. Plays Over The End Credits of a Documentary

  7. Pop Hit

Of these categories, songs that play over the end credits of a biopic are most likely to make it from the shortlist to a nomination. This describes three of last year’s nominees (“Hear My Voice” from The Trial of Chicago 7, “Speak Now” from One Night in Miami and “Fight For You” from Judas and the Black Messiah). The one example of this not paying off is Boy Erased, which didn’t show up in other categories. Once again, this looks good for King Richard. It could also mean Respect has a shot. 

Comedy songs can go 50/50. “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” makes it in, while something crasser like “Wuhan Flu” does not. Seeing The Sparks Brothers not make it into Documentary Feature makes me skeptical that Annette earns a nomination. If any slightly comedic song makes it in, it would be Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi’s pop duet “Just Look Up,” which fits the biting tone of Don't Look Up. Kid Cudi is also in the race for collaborating with Jay Z on “Guns Go Bang” from The Harder They Fall.

Never count out Diane Warren for a nomination, no matter the movie. Out of her twelve nominations, seven of them have come from movies where she was the only nominee. In fact, Music of the Heart was the only one of her nominees to come from a film with an above-the-line nomination. While Four Good Days would be a random Oscar nominee, it’s just as random as Breakthrough.

Past nominees and winners like Lin Manuel Mirand (Encanto),  Idina Menzel (Cinderella), Jennifer Hudson (Respect), Bono (Sing 2) and last year’s winner H.E.R. (Bruised) could come back into the race. Seeing the Billie Eilish documentary make it on the Documentary shortlist also bodes well for No Time To Die, which was on five shortlists.

Billie Eilish could earn her first Oscar nomination for her Bond song.

Predictions:

  1. “Be Alive” from King Richard

  2. “No Time To Die” from No Time to Die

  3. “Beyond The Shore” from CODA

  4. “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto

  5. “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days

  6. “Just Look Up” from Don’t Look Up

  7. “Down To Joy” from Belfast

  8. “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)” from Respect

  9. “Guns Go Bang” from The Harder They Fall

  10. “Automatic Woman” from Bruised

  11. “Dream Girl” from Cinderella

  12. “Right Where I Belong” from Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road

  13.  “So May We Start?” from Annette

  14. “Your Song Saved My Life” from Sing 2

  15. “The Anonymous Ones” from Dear Evan Hansen

What do you think will be nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars? Let us know in the comments below.

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
See website for complete article licensing information.