Oscar Predictions: Best Original Song

This year, Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 15th. As a result, most of the corresponding guilds won’t have announced their picks by then, so I’m making predictions in advance without being able to take those into consideration. I’ll be offering detailed predictions in most of the major categories, saving some of the biggest categories for last.

Last year’s nominees: “Happy” (Despicable Me 2), “Let It Go” (Frozen), “The Moon Song” (Her), “Ordinary Love” (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)

This year’s Golden Globe nominees: “Opportunity” (Annie), “Big Eyes” (Big Eyes), “Yellow Flicker Beat” (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1), “Mercy Is” (Noah), “Glory” (Selma)

Other contenders: “Lost Stars” (Begin Again), “I Love You Too Much” (The Book of Life), “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” (Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me), “Everything is Awesome” (The Lego Movie), “I’ll Get You What You Want” (Muppets Most Wanted), “Miracles” (Unbroken)

The rundown: Last year, we got five nominees but one of them ended up being disqualified, leaving us with just four. I think we’ll be safe with five this year, and all five Globe contenders are eligible for the Oscar. I don’t think that “Yellow Flicker Beat” will make the cut and I’m iffy about both “Opportunity” (which I like) and “Big Eyes” (which is weird). The two songs likeliest to bump them are “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” which I’ve seen on a few song lists already, and “Everything is Awesome,” which was unexpectedly snubbed by the Globes. “Begin Again” only submitted one song, which could work to its advantage. I’d like to put in a personal plug for “No Fate Awaits Me” (The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby) and anything from “The Book of Life,” which I’ll soon review. Let’s see what jaw-dropping surprise this category presents this year. I’ve been listening to over sixty of the seventy-six finalists over the past few days, so I’ll have more to say come nominations time and my own awards.

One possible crazy scenario: One of the fantastic selections from the underrated Rudderless - “Over Your Shoulder,” “Sing Along,” or “Stay With You” – puts a great movie with great music on the map.

Forecasted winner: “Glory” is the song of the moment.