Oscars Longlist 75 Original Songs
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences longlisted 75 songs for the Best Original Song at this year’s Oscars, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Among them are offerings from Dave Grohl and friends for Sound City, Coldplay for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Jay Z and Lana Del Rey for The Great Gatsby and Ron Burgundy for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, the latter of which is the mustachioed newsman’s farewell to a shark named Doby. The Academy will announce their final nominations on Thursday, January 16th at 8:30 a.m. at a presentation in Los Angeles.
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The deluge of options continues the Academy’s reformed nomination process for the category, which was meant to fix the gaffe that led to only two Best Original Song nominations in 2012. That year, the Academy released a 39-song shortlist, of which only two songs were nominated: “Man or Muppet,” from The Muppets and “Real in Rio” from Rio. (“Man or Muppet” won.)
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The revamped voting process went into effect with the 2013 Oscars and requires at least five nominations, and the candidates with the most votes from the music branch members determines the winners. Previously, the nominations were determined by a rigid system that relied on averages; of the 39 songs in 2012, voters would rate each song on a scale of six to 10 points – only songs with an average greater than 8.25 points would receive nominations. Earlier this year and under the new rules, the Academy released 75 options for nomination and eventually settled on five; Adele won the trophy for “Skyfall” from Skyfall.
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For eligibility, songs must contain words and music that were written specifically for the given film, according to THR. The songs must also be noticeable in the movie, or as the first song playing during the end credits. Other notable movies that had songs shortlisted for Best Original Song this year include All Is Lost, August: Osage County, Austenland, Black Nativity, Frozen, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Safe Haven, 12 Years a Slave.