ORLANDO: MY POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY is an unlikely contender but you gotta love its boldness.
The Academy has released a couple of eligibility lists, including one for the Best Original Song race. Ninety-four different tunes have been submitted for the Oscar. It's three maximum for each movie, from which only two can be nominated for the same title. Barbie, The Face of the Faceless, A Good Person, The Little Mermaid, State of the Unity, and Wish have submitted three, while many other projects went for double trouble. There are no significant surprises in terms of omitted contenders, but some submission choices delight with their boldness, and others shock because their origin is so obscure. For example, I quibble with the one song chosen from Dicks: The Musical and Carmen. I'm also delighted that Orlando: My Political Biography threw its hat in the race and just found out some of these movies even exist.
From American Symphony to Wonka, come discover the complete list of submissions…
- AMERICAN SYMPHONY "It Never Went Away"
- ASTEROID CITY "Dear Alien Who Art in Heaven"
- BARBIE "Dance the Night"
- BARBIE "I'm Just Ken"
- BARBIE "What Was I Made For"
- THE BEANIE BUBBLE "This"
- BELLA "The Easy Way"
- BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE'S PRESIDENT "Everything's Gonna Be Alright"
- THE BOY AND THE HERON "Spinning Globe"
- CARMEN "Slip Away"
- CHAMPIONS "Tell Somebody That You Love 'em Right Now"
- CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET "My Sweet Baby"
- THE COLOR PURPLE "Superpower"
- THE COLOR PURPLE "Keep It Movin'"
- CREED III "Blood, Sweat & Tears"
- DICKS: THE MUSICAL "Out Alpha the Alpha"
- DREAMIN' WILD "A Dream Is Beautiful"
- DRIFT "It Would Be"
- DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES "Wings of Time"
- 80 FOR BRADY "Gonna Be You"
- ELEMENTAL "Steal the Show"
- THE FACE OF THE FACELESS "Barala Tribal Song"
- THE FACE OF THE FACELESS "Ek Sapna Mera Suhana"
- THE FACE OF THE FACELESS "Jalta Hai Suraj"
- FLAMIN' HOT "The Fire Inside"
- FLORA AND SON "High Life"
- FLORA AND SON "Meet in the Middle"
- A GOOD PERSON "The Best Part"
- A GOOD PERSON "I Hate Myself"
- A GOOD PERSON "Stardust"
- HEART OF STONE "Quiet"
- HERE. IS. BETTER "A Little More Time"
- THE HOME FAIRY "Amar em Segredo"
- THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES "Can't Catch Me Now"
- THE INVENTOR "From This Tiny Seed"
- THE IRON CLAW "Live That Way Forever"
- JACOB THE BAKER "Better Times"
- JOE HALADIN: THE CASE OF THE MISSING SISTER "It's Precious We Have It Today"
- JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 "Eye for an Eye"
- JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM "Mother to a Savior and King"
- KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON "Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)"
- KING COAL "King Coal"
- KNIGHT OF SANTIAGO "Las Navas de Tolosa"
- LEO "When I Was Ten"
- THE LITTLE MERMAID "For the First Time"
- THE LITTLE MERMAID "The Scuttlebug"
- THE LITTLE MERMAID "Wild Uncharted Waters"
- THE MAGICIAN'S ELEPHANT "Found"
- M3GAN "Tell Me Your Dreams"
- MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 3 "We Are All Together"
- MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH MARRIAGE "Lion/My Love Affair with Marriage"
- NIMONA "T-Rex"
- NYAD "Find a Way"
- ORIGIN "Falling Into Place"
- ORIGIN "I Am"
- ORLANDO: MY POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY "Pharma Coliberation"
- OUR SON "Always Be My Man"
- PAST LIVES "Quiet Eyes"
- PAW PATROL: THE MIGHTY MOVIE "Down Like That"
- PAW PATROL: THE MIGHTY MOVIE "Learning to Fly"
- THE PEASANTS "End of Summer"
- PRISONER'S DAUGHTER "Shotgun Clown"
- RADICAL "Sader"
- THE ROAD DOG "Remember Me"
- RUBY GELMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN "Rise"
- RUBY GELMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN "This Moment"
- RUSTIN "Road to Freedom"
- SAVING ANA "Missing Children"
- SCREAM VI "In My Head"
- SCREAM VI "Still Alive"
- SHE CAME TO ME "Addicted to Romance"
- SILVER DOLLAR ROAD "Wounded Heart"
- SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE "Am I Dreaming"
- SPINNING GOLD "Greatest Time"
- THE STARLING GIRL "Ace Up My Sleeve"
- STATE OF THE UNITY "One Mile"
- STATE OF THE UNITY "Songbird"
- STATE OF THE UNITY "Hides"
- STEPHEN CURRY UNDERRATED "Lil Fish, Big Pond"
- STRAYS "All of You"
- THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE "Peaches"
- SUZUME "Kanata Haluka"
- SUZUME "Suzume"
- SWEETWATER "Taking Me Higher"
- THEATER CAMP "Camp Isn't Home"
- THEY CLONED TYRONE "Drunk AF"
- TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS "On My Soul"
- TROLLS BAND TOGETHER "Better Place (Reunion)"
- UNCHARITABLE "All of Our Dreams"
- WE DARE TO DREAM "Don't Need to Sleep"
- WISH "I'm a Star"
- WISH "This Is the Thanks I Get?"
- WISH "This Wish"
- WONKA "A World of Your Own"
Notably, animated pictures are abundant among the submissions, including some non-English-language songs. I'm especially fond of the works competing from Suzume and The Peasants, but they feel like long shots, to put it mildly. Some personal favorites that miss the eligibility list include the various songs from Scarlet, Bryce Dessner's operatic compositions for She Came to Me, and the wedding songs in What's Love Got To Do With It. Another observation that comes to mind is that Asteroid City submitted for Original Song but not Original Score. In any case, there'll probably be a follow-up article dealing with that other category's contenders – 149 in total.
While we wait for the Academy to reveal their music shortlists next week, give a listen to a Spotify list I curated with all the Original Song submissions I could find:
From those 94 tunes, which would you include in your personal ballot?