The State of the Best Original Song Nomination for a 2008 Film (or, Please No Nominees From High School Musical 3)

Please, oh please...no Zac Efron at this year's Oscar ceremony.

It's hard to tell exactly what songs the Oscar's Music Branch will go for when it comes to Oscar nominations. On January 6th there will be a film screening from the Music Branch with a chance to see and hear clips of all 49 eligible songs from this past year. There votes will narrow the list down to 5 nominees.

Previous winners have come from four very different films (Motorcycle Diaries, Hustle & Flow, an Inconvinient Truth, and Once) with four very different styles (Latin, Rap, Adult Contemporary, and Folk).

But a list of 49 songs to chose from is pretty slim...especially when 11 out of the 49 songs come from the film High School Music 3: Senior Year...that's almost a quarter of all the eligible songs. With new rules, only 2 songs from any given film can get nominated (unlike Beauty and the Beast and Enchanted's 3 nominations). But honestly, please no nominees from HSM3. It would seem like this film would have major vote cancellation, it's not an "Academy-esque movie" and the previous two films have been TV/Video features, not theaterical presentations.

3 out of the potential 49 songs come from the bizarro feature film Repo! The Genetic Opera. Another film, I can't seem getting in...who's ever heard of this bizarre, violent, R-rated rock-opera from the producers of Saw. I don't see the song "Chromaggia" picking up a nod.

Other films with multiple potentials include Bolt, Yes Men, Slumdog Millionaire, and Dark Streets each have 2 eligible songs.

There's also nominees from songs in eligible documentary features They Killed Sister Dorothy, Trouble the Water, and Pray the Devil Back to Hell.

The featured artist who could potentially come to the awards to sing include bigger names than Zac Efron...singer's like Mariah Carey in her film Tennessee would sing "Right to Dream," Alicia Keyes and Jack White could sing "Another Way to Die" from Quantum of Solace, Miley Cyrus and John Travolta sing "I Thought I Lost You" from Bolt, Jennifer Hudson sings "All Dressed in Love" from Sex and The City, Bruce Springsteen sings "The Wrestler" from The Wrestler, Norah Jones sings "The Story" from My Blueberry Nights, Peter Gabrial sings "Down to Earth" from Wall-E, and Jamie Cullum sings "Gran Torino" from Gran Torino...and the list goes on to include others as well.

Because I've recently become a fan of the Regina Spector, I'd love to see her perform the song "The Call" from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

The globe nominees don't neccesarily line up with Oscar nominees in this catagory...partially because the golden globes are more prone to lean towards Star Power and chose more "conventional choices." There nominees for this past year included "I Thought I Lost You" from Bolt, "Once In A Life Time" from Cadillac Records, "Gran Torino" from Gran Torino, "Down to Earth" from Wall-E, "The Wrestler" from The Wrestler. This means they chould chose to have musical guest Miley Cyrus, Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Cullum, and Bruce Springsteen represent these five song nominations.

I think the Academy will veer from this list slightly, but with the limited choices...they can't veer far this year.

So, they will likely have five nominees, but maybe only three...so here's a ranked top 10 of what songs I'd expect to see nominated...notice the exclusion of any songs from High School Musical 3 or "Rock Me Sexy Jesus" from Hamlet 2.

1. "Down To Earth" from Wall-E by Peter Gabrial and Thomas Newman
2. "The Wrestler" from The Wrestler by Bruce Springsteen
3. "I Thought I Lost You" from Bolt by Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele
4. "Trouble the Water" from Trouble the Water performed by Black Kold Medina
5. "Jaiho" from Slumdog Millionaire by A.R. Rahman
6. "Gran Torino" from Gran Torino by Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood, and Michael Sexton
7. "Once In A Lifetime" from Cadillac Records by Beyonce Knowles and Amanda Ghost
8. "All Dressed Up In Love" from Sex and The City by Cee-Lo, Matt Kahane & Salaam Remi (performed by Jennifer Hudson)
9. "The Call" from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian by Regina Spector
10. "By The Boab Tree" from Australia by Ophelia of the Spirits