Oscars Set New Record With 91 Song Contenders

Songs from “La La Land” and “Sing Street,” along with new compositions by Sting, Justin Timberlake and Stevie Wonder, make the list

la la land Ryan Gosling
Lionsgate

A record 91 songs have qualified for the Oscars race for Best Original Song, the Academy announced on Tuesday.

In the time that AMPAS has been announcing the names of all the eligible songs, this is the most contenders ever.

Two full-fledged musicals, “La La Land” and “Sing Street,” have songs in the running. The three eligible songs from the former film, “City of Stars,” “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” and “Start a Fire,” figure among the favorites.

Other eligible songwriters include Justin Timberlake with the big hit “Can’t Stop the Feeling” from “Trolls,” Stevie Wonder with “Faith” from “Sing,” Lin-Manuel Miranda with three songs from “Moana,” eight-time Oscar winner Alan Menken with “The Great Beyond” from “Sausage Party,” Pharrell Williams with “I See a Victory” and “Runnin’” from “Hidden Figures,” Peter Gabriel with “The Veil” from “Snowden” and Sia with songs from “The Eagle Huntress,” “The Neon Demon” and “Lion.”

In addition to Sia’s “Eagle Huntress” entry, a number of strong songs from documentary films are also in the running for Oscars, including Tori Amos’ “Flicker” from “Audrie & Daisy,” Sting and J. Ralph’s “The Empty Chair” from “Jim: The James Foley Story,” Common’s “Letter to the Free” from “13th,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ “A Minute to Breathe” from “Before the Flood” and the last song from the late soul singer Sharon Jones, “I’m Still Here” from “Miss Sharon Jones!”

While Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s songs from “La La Land” have gotten the most attention, with “City of Stars” winning the Critics’ Choice Award on Sunday, other notable contenders include “Gold” from the movie of the same name, a dark-hued collaboration between composer Daniel Pemberton, producer Danger Mouse and rock icon Iggy Pop; “Flying Home (Sully’s Theme)” from “Sully,” which was co-written by director Clint Eastwood; and “The Rules Don’t Apply,” a song by Lorraine Feather and Eddie Arkin that serves as the emotional centerpiece to (and provided the name for) Warren Beatty’s film “Rules Don’t Apply.”

Members of the Academy’s Music Branch have been sent a DVD containing clips of all the eligible songs as they are used in their films. Instead of scoring each song, the system in place in the past, members are asked to simply vote for their five favorites, with Oscar nominees announced on January 24.

The list of songs and films that have qualified for this year’s Oscars:

“Just Like Fire” from “Alice through the Looking Glass”
“Rise” from “American Wrestler: The Wizard”
“Friends” from “The Angry Birds Movie”
“Flicker” from “Audrie & Daisy”
“Seconds” from “Autumn Lights”
“A Minute To Breathe” from “Before the Flood”
“Glory (Let There Be Peace)” from “Believe”
“Mother’s Theme” from “Believe”
“Somewhere” from “Believe”
“The Only Way Out” from “Ben-Hur”
“Still Falling For You” from “Bridget Jones’s Baby”
“F That” from “The Bronze”
“Torch Pt. 2” from “Citizen Soldier”
“Drift And Fall Again” from “Criminal”
“Take Me Down” from “Deepwater Horizon”
“Land Of All” from “Desierto”
“Sad But True (Dreamland Theme)” from “Dreamland”
“Angel By The Wings” from “The Eagle Huntress”
“Blind Pig” from “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
“One Frame At A Time” from “Floyd Norman: An Animated Life”
“I’m Crying” from “Free State of Jones”
“Gold” from “Gold”
“Champion” from “Hands of Stone”
“Dance Rascal, Dance” from “Hello, My Name Is Doris”
“I See A Victory” from “Hidden Figures”
“Runnin” from “Hidden Figures”
“Sixty Charisma Scented Blackbirds” from “How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate
Can’t Change”
“My Superstar” from “Ice Age: Collision Course”
“Seeing You Around” from “Ithaca”
“The Empty Chair” from “Jim: The James Foley Story”
“Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” from “La La Land”
“City Of Stars” from “La La Land”
“Start A Fire” from “La La Land”
“Cateura Vamos A Soñar (We Will Dream)” from “Landfill Harmonic”
“Better Love” from “The Legend of Tarzan”
“Never Give Up” from “Lion”
“Equation” from “The Little Prince”
“Turnaround” from “The Little Prince”
“Moonshine” from “Live By Night”
“Loving” from “Loving”
“Hurry Home” from “Max Rose”
“Gone 2015” from “Miles Ahead”
“Wish That You Were Here” from “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”
“I’m Still Here” from “Miss Sharon Jones!”
“How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana”
“We Know The Way” from “Moana”
“Even More Mine” from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2”
“Waving Goodbye” from “The Neon Demon”
“I’m Back” from “Never Surrender”
“Find My Victory” from “Olympic Pride, American Prejudice”
“On Ghost Ridge” from “100 Years: One Woman’s Fight for Justice”
“Ordinary World” from “Ordinary World”
“Devil’s Girl” from “Outlaws and Angels”
“Levitate” from “Passengers”
“Ginga” from “Pelé: Birth of a Legend”
“Nobody Knows” from “Pete’s Dragon”
“Something Wild” from “Pete’s Dragon”
“Dancing With Your Shadow” from “Po”
“I’m So Humble” from “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping”
“Stay Here” from “Presenting Princess Shaw”
“Celebrate Life” from “Queen Mimi”
“Back To Life” from “Queen of Katwe”
“Let The Games Begin” from “Race”
“Think About It” from “The Red Pill”
“The Rules Don’t Apply” from “Rules Don’t Apply”
“The Great Beyond” from “Sausage Party”
“Faith” from “Sing”
“Set It All Free” from “Sing”
“Drive It Like You Stole It” from “Sing Street”
“Go Now” from “Sing Street”
“The Veil” from “Snowden”
“Hymn” from “Snowtime!”
“Kiss Me Goodnight” from “Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four”
“Holdin’ Out” from “Storks”
“Heathens” from “Suicide Squad”
“Flying Home” from “Sully”
“Montage” from “Swiss Army Man”
“Petit Metier” from “They Will Have to Kill Us First – Malian Music in Exile”
“Letter To The Free” from “13th”
“Down With Mary” from “Too Late”
“Can’t Stop The Feeling” from “Trolls”
“Get Back Up Again” from “Trolls”
“Smile” from “The Uncondemned”
“We Will Rise” from “Veeram-Macbeth”
“LA Venus” from “We Are X”
“New Dogs, Old Tricks” from “What Happened Last Night”
“Runnin’ Runnin’” from “What Happened Last Night”
“What’s Happening Today” from “What Happened Last Night”
“Who I Am” from “What Happened Last Night”
“The Ballad Of Wiener-Dog” from “Wiener-Dog”
“Try Everything” from “Zootopia”

The 89th Academy Awards will take place on February 26, 2017.

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