Hey everyone! It’s Part 2 of the Oscar competition analysis this year. Two days ago, I reviewed all Best Picture nominees. Now, we’re off to the second one, and it’s one of my favorite categories every year: Original Song! Below, I’ll rank the five nominated songs (and provide links) as if I’m an Oscar voter. Here we go.
You can click the titles and it will lead you to the YouTube clip of the video.
05. “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” from Ted
This Norah Jones song which is one of the sweetest parts of Ted was penned by Oscar host Seth MacFarlane with Walter Murphy. There’s nothing really bad about it per se, though it belongs to a packed group of nominees this year that all had strong materials to boot that’s why I’m ranking it last.
04. “Suddenly” from Les Miserables
Now this one is a special song written just for this 2012 film version of the famous musical. Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer, and Alain Boublil’s Suddenly was a perfect fit for the song and was on one of the “transitional” parts of the movie. However, the song, as a stand alone, does not appeal much for me, as I think it drowns from all the more established songs in the musical.
03. “Pi’s Lullaby” from Life of Pi
The second of the two Best Picture songs in the line up belongs to Mychael Danna’s Pi’s Lullaby, which was a surprise nominee, though in hindsight, it should have been expected. Danna’s music is hypnotic, like a true lullaby, though the song itself could pass as too similar to the musical score of the film. Still, it was able to capture the environment of Pi’s situation.
02. “Before My Time” from Chasing Ice
Probably the actual surprise in this category is this obscure song from the documentary Chasing Ice. What’s more surprising is it features the vocals of Oscar nominee Scarlett Johansson in it! The song was actually good; it was calm yet very haunting! And the lyrics was really good too. This has no chance of winning, but it was surprise nomination that’s worth it.
And of course, there’s nothing I’d rank here first than Adele’s Skyfall. I really enjoyed her take on the latest Bond film, and probably one of the best Bond songs ever. I specifically love how it’s a throwback to the past Bond songs, and the only Bond song I like since Daniel Craig took over the role. If I get to vote, I’ll rank this one instantly on top.
What’s your favorite from the list? Will we hear Academy Award winner Adele? How will you rank them? 🙂
As always, you can follow me on Twitter: @nikowl
