81st Academy Awards: Best Score and Best Song

So it's almost Oscar time again and instead of focusing on the usual who will win best film/actor/actress I'm going to look at Best Music (Score) and Best Music (Song).
This year the nominees for these categories are...
BEST MUSIC (SCORE)

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Defiance
• Milk
• Slumdog Millionaire
• WALL-E

BEST MUSIC (SONG)

• "Down to Earth" (WALL-E)- Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman & Lyrics by Peter Gabriel
• "Jai Ho" (Slumdog Millionaire)- Music by A.R. Rahman & Lyrics by Gulzar
• "O Saya" (Slumdog Millionaire)- Music by A.R. Rahman & Lyrics by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam (M.I.A.)

Ok...so Music Score is always hard to tell as it all depends on how successful the actual film is. I can't really predict this one but honestly I think it's between The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire. I hope it will be Slumdog just because it is a really good film and I don't think Hollywood truly get what Bollywood means to Indians (I've spent some time there so I have first hand experience). Hollywood see it as just for fun...you know ridiculous dancing and singing that come out of nowhere and take the place of the action or kissing scene. It sometimes is pretty funny but for Indians these films are about escapism as everyday life is often difficult and they want to be brought into a fantastical world that takes them away from real life problems. India is a country of contradictions with unprecedented growth and a growing middle class whilst much of the country is the poorest of the poor and they don't want to see real-life drama. Ok..I'll stop ranting I just feel really passionate about India and it holds a very special place to me personally. Anyways, Slumdog Millionaire is not a Bollywood film, however A.R. Rahman has scored various Indian films and the music in Slumdog definitely has a Bollywood feel to it.

Best Song is probably easier to predict and is probably the most exciting thing during the Oscars live show. It is great to have the 3 hr+ show broken up with live performances by the nominees. I'm always super excited for this award as award after award is boring. I also often think a song makes a movie e.g. Closer with Damien Rice's 'The Blower's Daughter' and then I become obsessed with it forever. It is also important to note that this year is weird because only 3 songs are nominated rather than the usual 5. I would prefer 5 and I am sure there are 2 more excellent songs such as the 'The Wrestler' by Bruce Springsteen for the movie of the same name which, by the way, won Best Original Song at the Golden Globes. This would probably have won the Oscar too as its the type of song that I think the Academy would vote for.

Peter Gabriel will not be performing at the show because he has to shorten the song to fit in with running order of the Oscar live telecast. I think the performance has to be 60 or so seconds which is the dumbest idea ever. They are going to ruin the songs by doing this as shortening it means the removal of vital parts of the song (like a verse or something) which ruins the whole point of a particular song. So Peter Gabriel GOOD FOR YOU!!! This will not be played in his favour and I think it will go to well, one of the Slumdog Millionaire songs. I do think it will be "Jai Ho" as it's the song at the end with the Bollywood dance and I think it is a really cute way to finish the movie. I do like "O Saya" just for M.I.A. and you all know my love for her but I don't see people voting for it.

Here are the 3 nominated songs so you can all make up your own mind on which one will win.

"Jai Ho"

"O Saya"

"Down to Earth"


Well that is it for today folks!