The 2012 Oscar song race will pit Keith Urban against Mumford and Sons, Dolly Parton against Arcade Fire, Paul Williams against Florence + the Machine and venerable Italian composer Ennio Morricone against musical-theater legends Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil.
Also in the mix: Adele's new James Bond song, "Skyfall," which has the best shot to be nominated of any Bond song in decades. The last James Bond theme to receive a nomination was 1981's "For Your Eyes Only."
Those are part of a huge crop of 75 songs that qualified in the Best Original Song category, the Academy announced on Tuesday. In recent years, the number has most often been in the 40s, with a low of 39 in 2011 and a high of 63 in 2009.
The wide-ranging list offers a list of no-doubt enticing possiblities to Oscar show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, both vets of musical theater. Will potential Best Actor nominee Hugh Jackman show up to sing the new song "Suddenly," from "Les Miz?"
Will pop queens Adele and Katy Perry (left) be on hand to perform "Skyfall" and "Wide Awake" (from the documentary "Katy Perry: Part of Me"), respectively?
Or will it be an indie-rock Oscars, with contributions from the Arcade Fire ("Abraham's Daughter" from "The Hunger Games"), Fiona Apple ("Dull Tool" from "This Is 40"), Mumford and Sons ("Learn Me Right" from "Brave"), Florence + the Machine ("Breath of Life" from "Snow White and the Huntsman") and Crowded House's Neil Finn ("Song of the Lonely Mountain" from "The Hobbit")?
Among other contenders, Urban sings "For You" from "Act of Valor"; Parton has "Here to the Moon and Back" in "Joyful Noise"; Williams sums up his long career with "Still Alive" from "Paul Williams Still Alive"; Morricone co-wrote "Ancora Qui" from "Django Unchained"; and Schonberg and Boublil penned a new song, "Suddenly," from their epic musical "Les Miserables."
Their work will join a list of eligible songs that also includes Neil Finn's song from "The Hobbit," a Nick Cave song from "Lawless" and a Jon Bon Jovi tune from "Stand Up Guys."
"Django Unchained," the first Quentin Tarantino film to make extensive use of original music, has four different songs in contention. "Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best," "Casa de mi Padre," "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" and "Joyful Noise" have three each.
Academy rules, though, restrict to two the number of songs that can be nominated from any film.
Notably missing from the list are two songs from "Silver Linings Playbook" that the Weinstein Company had been campaigning for, including "Silver Linings" by Diane Warren. The songs fell afoul of music-branch rules demanding "a clearly audible, substantive rendition of both lyric and melody."
Both director David O. Russell and studio chief Harvey Weinstein wrote letters to the music branch's committee, arguing for the importance of Warren's song. But the small committee ruled that not enough of it was heard in the film – a ruling that must have been particularly galling in light of the fact that the branch had previously disqualified the "Silver Linings Playbook" score, in part because of the film's reliance on songs.
For a change, new rules in the song category guarantee a slate of five nominees, after one year of four nomnated songs, two years of three songs and one year of only two songs, all in the last seven years.
Also read: Academy Overhauls Controversial Best Song Process
At the moment, frontrunners appear to include "Suddenly" from "Les Miz," "Learn Me Right" and "Touch the Sky" from "Brave" and "Song of the Lonely Mountain" from "The Hobbit."
The category is always unpredictable, though, and music branch voters cast their ballots after watching DVD compilations of the scenes in which all eligible songs are used. Since the system was instituted, nominations have shifted decisively away from end-credits songs and toward songs that are performed onscreen.
The list of eligible songs:
"For You" from "Act of Valor"
"Metaphorical Blanket" from "Any Day Now"
"Let It Rain" from "Being Flynn"
"Learn Me Right" from "Brave"
"Touch the Sky" from "Brave"
"Airport" from "Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best"
"Come on Girl" from "Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best"
"Someday" from "Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best"
"Protect the King" from "Brooklyn Castle"
"California Solo" from "California Solo"
"Casa De Mi Padre" from "Casa De Mi Padre"
"Del Cielo" from "Casa De Mi Padre"
"Yo No Se" from "Casa De Mi Padre"
"No Other Plans" from "Celeste and Jesse Forever"
"Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice"
"By the Light of the Moon" from "Crossroad"
"The Sambola! International Dance Craze" from "Damsels in Distress"
"When You Comin' Home" from "Darling Companion"
"Death by China" from "Death by China"
"Delhi Safari" from "Delhi Safari"
"Ancora Qui" from "Django Unchained"
"Freedom" from "Django Unchained"
"100 Black Coffins" from "Django Unchained"
"Who Did That to You?" from "Django Unchained"
"How Bad Can I Be?" from "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax"
"Let It Grow" from "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax"
"Thneedville" from "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax"
"Ain't No Train" from "Downtown Express"
"You Don't Have to Be a Star" from "Fame High"
"Jose's Martyrdom" from "For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada"
"Strange Love" from "Frankenweenie"
"Voodoo" from "Halloween Party"
"Luna Nascosta" from "Hidden Moon"
"Song of the Lonely Mountain" from "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Abraham's Daughter" from "The Hunger Games"
"Master of the Seas" from "Ice Age Continental Drift"
"We Are" from "Ice Age Continental Drift"
"Looking for a Sign" from "Jeff, Who Lives at Home"
"From Here to the Moon and Back" from "Joyful Noise"
"He's Everything" from "Joyful Noise"
"I'm Yours" from "Joyful Noise"
"Wide Awake" from "Katy Perry: Part of Me"
"Cosmonaut" from "Lawless"
"Beaten Up and Broken Down" from "Least among Saints"
"Suddenly" from "Les Misérables"
"Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi"
"When I Grow Up" from "Losing Control"
"Love Always Comes as a Surprise" from "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted"
"Ladies of Tampa" from "Magic Mike"
"The Baddest Man Alive" from "The Man with the Iron Fists"
"This Gift" from "The Odd Life of Timothy Green"
"Still Alive" from "Paul Williams Still Alive"
"Dotted Line" from "People Like Us"
"Snake Eyes" from "Promised Land"
"Razors.Out" from "The Raid: Redemption"
"I'm Not Leaving" from "Re:Generation"
"Still Dream" from "Rise of the Guardians"
"Undercover Love" from "Rock of Ages"
"Big Machine" from "Safety Not Guaranteed"
"I Be Here" from "Saint Dracula"
"I Have Secrets" from "Saint Dracula"
"Skyfall" from "Skyfall"
"Breath of Life" from "Snow White and the Huntsman"
"Gone" from "Snow White and the Huntsman"
"One Wing" from "Sparkle"
"Not Running Anymore" from "Stand Up Guys"
"Feel Love" from "Struck by Lightning"
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from "Ted"
"Never Had" from "10 Years"
"Dull Tool" from "This Is 40"
"She Won't Let Go" from "Until They Are Home"
"Kiss Me Goodbye" from "Virginia"
"Anything Made of Paper" from "West of Memphis"
"Hashishet Albi" from "Where Do We Go Now?"
"When Can I See You Again?" from "Wreck-It Ralph"