This morning, the nominees for the 87th Annual Academy Awards were revealed, including the nominees for Best Original Song. Though there were plenty of songs that were widely assumed to be shoo-ins, such as Lana Del Rey's "Big Eyes" and Lorde's "Yellow Flicker Beat," they were passed over for some pretty left-field choices (most surprisingly, only one of the songs on this list was also nominated for a Golden Globe). Here are the five Academy Award nominees for Best Original Song ranked, from worst to best.
5. "Grateful" from Beyond The Lights, written by Diane Warren, performed by Rita Ora
The reason "Grateful" is going at the bottom of this list is because it sounds like such a pop ballad from 2015 (2014 really, but same difference), with its melodramatic strings, predictable chord progression, and stadium filling, fun.-inspired beats. Rita Ora's performance is fine, but when you're singing a lyric like "There were a lot of tears I had to cry through," there's only so much you can do to make it work.
4. "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" from Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me, written by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond, performed by Glen Campbell
I wanted to enjoy Glen Campbell's "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" more, since the story of his farewell tour and battle with Alzheimer's is so poignant and heartbreaking, but like most of the other songs on this list, it suffers greatly from its slick, overproduced sound. The songwriting itself is fine, but hearing Campbell's voice slathered in emotionless Auto-tune doesn't do it justice at all. Campbell's story would be much better suited to a more somber, stripped down Americana style, similar to the work Rick Rubin did with Johnny Cash in his final years.
3. "Glory" from Selma, written and performed by John Legend and Common
"Glory" is the only song on this list that was also nominated for a Golden Globe this past weekend (and it won, too), which means I've already written about how it's an important, socially relevant, and well-intentioned song that unfortunately suffers from John Legend's over the top arrangement. It's absolutely not the best song to be nominated this year, but it'll end up taking home the Oscar anyway.
2. "Lost Stars" from Begin Again, written by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisbois, performed by Adam Levine
I can't even begin to describe how much Adam Levine and Maroon 5 get on my nerves, but that doesn't stop "Lost Stars" from being a perfectly listenable song (it probably helps that Levine took no part in the songwriting). Sure, it's the sort of schmaltzy singer-songwriter stuff that you'd hear from an American Idol contestant (or in Levine's case, The Voice), but it's the only song nominated this year with even a halfway decent sense of subtlety and nuance, which is refreshing.
1. "Everything is Awesome" from The Lego Movie, written by Shawn Patterson, performed by Tegan and Sara featuring The Lonely Island
Sure, the lyrics to "Everything is Awesome" sound suspiciously like communist propaganda, but it's hands down the most fun and least eyeroll-worthy song to be nominated this year. So many songs written for movies tend to go the heavy and melodramatic route that when a silly electro-pop tune like this is thrown into the mix, it comes off like Nirvana coming in and destroying hair metal in the early '90s. It also helps that The Lonely Island comes in to do their goofball rap shtick, which is a good sign that this shouldn't be taken too seriously.
Which song do you think should take home the Oscar? Let us know down in the comments section below!
