Awards analysis is provided by Sean from @MathTeacherMovies.

The Best Original Song category is one that has been rife with regrets and missed chances of great songs in movies. It often picks a song that is only in the credits that people have barely heard or a song that will just be plain old bad. However, there are many opportunities for great songs to be honored this year. 

As of right now, the front runner for Best Original Song is “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga from Top Gun Maverick. The film and artist are beloved and the song is shown in the credits but also present in the melody of the score. Lady Gaga already has an Oscar for best Original song, but that momentum doesn't seem to be slowing her down. 

Black Panther did great at the Oscars for 2018 including a well deserved nomination for the song “All the Stars” and Rihanna will have the chance to possibly get a nomination for “Lift Me Up” in the new Black Panther film, Wakanda Forever. The song is more of a ballad and does not have the pep of “All the Stars” but is thus far gaining popularity. 

Taylor Swift’s pursuit of an Oscar nomination continues from Cats to Miss Americana to a possible nomination this year for Best Short Film (Live Action). At this point it does seem like she is quite due for a nomination and could get one for the song “Carolina” in Where the Crawdads Sing which is a bad song attached to a bad movie, but both have the popularity to make it. 

Comedies notoriously don’t do well in the Best Original Song category, they will get a nomination for their cleverness but often never score the top prize even when its definitely earned. “Love is Not Love” from Billy Eichner in Bros will probably go that route this year even though it is not just a credits song but a song that sums up the themes of the film, and is also a great song.  

Turning Red has unfortunately become invisible in this Oscar season and will hopefully have a resurgence in popularity especially for last year’s winners of Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell who wrote the hilarious songs of the fictional boy band that were also absolute bops including “Nobody Like U”

India did not select RRR for its International Film submission which is a shame because there is a chance it would have made it in that category. However, those behind the film are still campaigning the hell out of it and there is a chance that “Naatu Naatu” could end up getting nominated from the sheer excitement of the film and it being a fun song that would be a blast to see performed live at the ceremony. 

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross wrote a song for the film Bones and All and while those artists can’t be denied the jury is still out on how that film will be received. Activist songs often do well at the Oscars and yet  “Stand Up” from Till has not gained enough notoriety. The Netflix version of Pinocchio is getting a lot of positive press and that includes some original songs that can ride that momentum. Finally, Marry Me was a pleasant surprise and one that the audiences seemed to love and had some catchy songs, although that movie is all but forgotten at this point. 

In terms of the long shots, there are frequently original songs that are attached to documentaries and while there are some eligible this year there are none that stand out entirely. Finally, Diane Warren has the chance to once again be nominated and catapult a virtually unknown movie into the Oscar conversation. This year it would be Tell it Like a Woman and while the idea of this being nominated is insane, the last few years Diane Warren’s catalog of nominations for unknown songs from unknown films could not be denied.

The Best Original Song category is a very flawed one, but one that always can have the capabilities of improvement and this seems like an opportunity with many great and noble candidates. 

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