This week, The Academy announced the 74 tracks vying for a Best Original Song nomination in 2016.
Last year, Common and John Legend won the coveted award for their powerful song “Glory,” from Ava DuVernay’s Selma. In 2014, Pharrell was nominated for “Happy,” but ended up losing to Frozen anthem, “Let It Go.” Adele won for Bond theme song “Skyfall” in 2013 and who could forget when Three 6 Mafia won for their original song “It’s Hard out Here for a Pimp” from Hustle & Flow in 2006.
Another historic Hip Hop moment was when Eminem won for “Lose Yourself” off the 8 Mile soundtrack in 2003. It was the first ever rap song to win an Oscar. During the nominations process, all Music Branch voting members listen to the eligible songs and watch clips from their respective films. They then vote for their five favorite songs. The five songs that have the most votes get nominated.
The category is extremely competitive this year. From a commercial standpoint The Weeknd’s “Earned It” and Ellie Goulding’s “Love Me Like You Do” from Fifty Shades of Grey were huge hits. Sia’s Fifty Shades ballad “Salted Wound” also made the cut. Paul Walker tribute “See You Again,” by Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa for Furious 7 shot to number one in several countries and was downloaded and streamed millions of times. We think it will be nominated and has a really good chance of winning. “I Run,” “Pray 4 My City,” and “Sit Down For This” from Spike Lee‘s Chi-Raq soundtrack are currently shortlisted.
Could Eminem be nominated again? “Phenomenal” from Antoine Fuqua‘s Southpaw captures Billy Hope’s (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) journey perfectly. Sam Smith has been campaigning for his “Writing’s On The Wall” from latest James Bond flick Spectre. Can Sam follow in Adele’s footsteps? Throwback Gospel/Soul singer Leon Bridges wrote “So Long” for Will Smith’s NFL drama Concussion, which hits theaters on December 25.
Pharrell wrote and produced “It’s My Turn Now” on the Dope soundtrack. It was performed by Awreeoh (the fictional band featured in the film). Williams also had a hand in the songs “Squeeze Me” and “Teamwork” from the The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water movie, reuniting with his N.E.R.D. band mates for the first time since their 2010 release Nothing.
Could one of the songs from Ryan Coogler’s Rocky spinoff Creed be nominated? “Fighting Stronger,” “Grip” and “Waiting For My Moment” are on the list. As the executive producer of the Home soundtrack, Rihanna invited various artists to join her on the film’s album. These songs made the shortlist: “As Real As You And Me,” “Dancing In The Dark,” “Feel The Light” and “Red Balloon.”
The below songs round out the 74 on the Academy’s shortlist:
“Happy” from “Altered Minds”
“Home” from “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip”
“None Of Them Are You” from “Anomalisa”
“Stem To The Rose” from “Becoming Bulletproof”
“The Mystery Of Your Gift” from “Boychoir”
“Strong” from “Cinderella”
“Don’t Look Down” from “Danny Collins”
“Hey Baby Doll” from “Danny Collins”
“Dreamsong” from “The Diary of a Teenage Girl”
“Ya Rahem, Maula Maula” from “Dukhtar”
“Hands Of Love” from “Freeheld”
“Brother” from “Godspeed: The Story of Page Jones”
“Two Of A Crime” from “Hot Pursuit”
“Til It Happens To You” from “The Hunting Ground”
“I’ll See You In My Dreams” from “I’ll See You in My Dreams”
“The Movie About Us” from “Ingrid Bergman – In Her Own Words”
“Bhoomiyilenghanumundo” from “Jalam”
“Koodu Vaykkan” from “Jalam”
“Pakalppaathi Chaari” from “Jalam”
“Yaathra Manoradhamerum” from “Jalam”
“Lost In Love” from “Jenny’s Wedding”
“True Love Avenue” from “Jenny’s Wedding”
“Hypnosis” from “Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet”
“Juntos (Together)” from “McFarland, USA”
“The Light That Never Fails” from “Meru”
“The Crazy Ones” from “Miss You Already”
“There’s A Place” from “Miss You Already”
“Johanna” from “Mortdecai”
“Little Soldier” from “Pan”
“Something’s Not Right” from “Pan”
“Paranoid Girl” from “Paranoid Girls”
“Better When I’m Dancin'” from “The Peanuts Movie”
“Pink & Blue” from “Pink & Blue: Colors of Hereditary Cancer”
“Flashlight” from “Pitch Perfect 2”
“Birds Of A Feather” from “Poached”
“Still Breathing” from “Point Break”
“Manta Ray” from “Racing Extinction”
“Cold One” from “Ricki and the Flash”
“Torch” from “Rock the Kasbah”
“Someone Like You” from “The Rumperbutts”
“Aankhon Me Samaye Dil” from “Salt Bridge”
“Bachpana Thaa” from “Salt Bridge”
“Kanpne Lage Tum” from “Salt Bridge”
“Kyaa Bataaun Tujhe” from “Salt Bridge”
“Le Jaaye Jo Door Tumse” from “Salt Bridge”
“Na Jaane Kitni Door” from “Salt Bridge”
“Sookha Hi Rang Daalo” from “Salt Bridge”
“Feels Like Summer” from “Shaun the Sheep Movie”
“Who Can You Trust” from “Spy”
“Came To Win” from “Sweet Micky for President”
“Mean Ol’ Moon” from “Ted 2”
“Love Was My Alibi” from “The Water Diviner”
“Fine On The Outside” from “When Marnie Was There”
“Simple Song #3” from “Youth”
The 88th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. It will be televised live by ABC at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
