Academy Award for Best Original Song | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Presented by | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |
Currently held by | Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith, "Writing's on the Wall" (2015) |
Official website | http://www.oscars.org |
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film. The performers of a song are not credited with the Academy Award unless they contributed either to music, lyrics or both in their own right.
The award category was introduced at the 7th Academy Awards, the ceremony honoring the best in film for 1934. Nominations are made by Academy members who are songwriters and composers, and the winners are chosen by the Academy membership as a whole.
Requirement for nomination
The original requirement was only that the nominated song appear in a motion picture during the previous year. This rule was changed after the 1941 Academy Awards, when "The Last Time I Saw Paris", from the film Lady Be Good, with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, won. Kern was upset that his song won because it had been published and recorded before it was used in the film. The song was actually written in 1940, after the Germans occupied Paris at the start of World War II. It was recorded by Kate Smith and peaked at No. 8 on the best seller list before it was used in the film Lady Be Good. Kern got the Academy to change the rule so that only songs that are "original and written specifically for the motion picture" are eligible to win.[1][2]
Songs that were published prior to a film's production having nothing to do with the film, such as "Unchained Melody" in the 1990 film Ghost and "I Will Always Love You" in the 1992 film The Bodyguard, cannot qualify (although "Unchained Melody" was nominated when first released for the 1955 film Unchained). In addition, songs that rely on sampled or reworked material along with cover versions, remixes and parodies, such as "Gangsta's Paradise" in the 1995 film Dangerous Minds, are also ineligible.
When a film is adapted from a previously-written stage musical, none of the songs from the stage version of the musical (and other sources) are eligible. As a result, many recent film adaptations of stage musicals have included original songs which could be nominated, such as "You Must Love Me" in the 1996 film Evita, and "Listen", "Love You I Do", "Patience" in the 2006 film Dreamgirls and "Suddenly" in the 2012 film Les Misérables.
There was a debate as to whether or not Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who were awarded the Oscar in 2008 for "Falling Slowly", were in fact eligible. "Falling Slowly" has been released on two other albums – The Swell Season, Hansard and Irglova's duo project and The Cost, by Hansard's band The Frames. The Swell Season was released in August 2006, and The Cost in February 2007, before the release of Once. However, the AMPAS music committee determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had "played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song's eligibility".[3] The same issue arose two years earlier with "In the Deep" from Crash, which appeared on Kathleen "Bird" York's 2003 album The Velvet Hour after being written for Crash, but before the film was released. The current Academy rule says an eligible song "must be recorded for use in the motion picture prior to any other usage", so recordings released prior to the film will not disqualify a song as long as the film version was "recorded" before then.[2]
Rules and number of nominations
Until the Academy Awards for 1945 (awarded in 1946) any number of songs could be nominated for the award. For the 1945 awards, 14 songs were nominated. Since then only five are nominated each year, except for 2011 when only two were nominated; 1988, 2005, and 2008, when only three were nominated; and 2010 and 2013 when only four were nominated.[4][5]
In recent years, the number of nominations varied from two to five. This was due to the rules set by the Academy, which stipulated that each member of the Music Branch of the Academy was asked to vote for their favorite songs, using a special points system using 10, 9.5, 9, 8.5, 8, 7.5, 7, 6.5 or 6 points. Only those songs that received an average score of 8.25 or more were eligible for nomination. If no song received an average of 8.25 or more, there would be no nominees. And if only one song achieved that score, it and the song receiving the next highest score would be the two nominees (this was the case in the 2011 Oscars, awarded in 2012).[citation needed]
Following the two song competition in 2011, however, a rule change was made by the committee. Instead of the math system that was set in place the number of nominations is now contingent upon the number of submissions. Depending on the amount received by the Academy there would be a minimum of five, three or none for any given year. The number of submissions for the award in 2011 doubled the necessary minimum for five indicating it unlikely that the category would have fewer than five nominees in the future.[6]
Not every song used in a film is eligible for this category. According to Academy rules, a song should be "original and specifically written for a motion picture. There must be a clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition (not necessarily visually presented) of both lyrics and melody, used in the body of the motion picture or as the first music cue in the end credits."[7]
Though this is one of the few Oscar categories where one film can receive multiple nominations, the first to do so was Fame in 1980. Only four films have featured three nominated songs: Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Dreamgirls, and Enchanted. Dreamgirls and Enchanted lost on every nomination: An Inconvenient Truth original song "I Need to Wake Up" defeated all three of the nominated songs from Dreamgirls, while "Falling Slowly" from Once defeated all three of Enchanted's nominations. After these two consecutive defeats, a new rule was instated in June 2008 that a film could have no more than two songs nominated in the Best Original Song category in one year.[8]
Performances at the awards ceremony
Nominated songs are usually performed live at the televised Academy Awards ceremonies. Although pre-televised ceremonies were broadcast on the radio, the tradition of performing the nominated songs did not begin until the 18th Academy Awards in 1946, in which performers included Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Dinah Shore, and Dick Haymes.
In the early years, the songs were usually not performed by the original artists as in the film. For example, in 1965, Robert Goulet performed all the nominated songs at the ceremony. (Ironically, in the case of "The Look Of Love", sung by Dusty Springfield in Casino Royale, the positive reaction to the performance by Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 on the 1968 telecast led to their version being released as a single and eventually becoming the bigger hit.) In 1970, this was reversed and only the people who had performed the piece in the film were permitted to perform the song on the live telecast, even if a hit version was performed by another act.
However, since Oscar nominees for 1970, 1971 and 1972 had all been major hit records by other artists, in 1973 the rule was amended again and it became standard to first offer either the original artist or artists who performed the song in the film a chance to perform it at the ceremony, followed by the artist or artists who had the hit record with it.
When neither of those is able to do so (or in rare cases where the telecast producers decide to go with someone else), the Academy chooses more well-known entertainers to perform the song at the ceremony. For example, Robin Williams performed "Blame Canada" from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut at the 72nd Academy Awards instead of the film's voice actors, Trey Parker and Mary Kay Bergman (Bergman died a few months before the show). Beyoncé Knowles sang three nominated songs (one of which was a duet with Josh Groban) during the 77th Academy Awards even though she had not performed those songs in any of the respective films.
That same year, the song "Al otro lado del río" (On The Other Side Of The River), which was featured in the film The Motorcycle Diaries, won the award, becoming the first song in Spanish and the second in a foreign language to receive such an honor (the first winner was the title tune to Never on Sunday, which was sung in Greek in the film by its star, Melina Mercouri). It was written by Uruguayan composer Jorge Drexler, but the producers would not let Drexler perform the song during the show for fear of losing ratings. Instead, the song was performed by Carlos Santana and Antonio Banderas. Drexler's acceptance speech for the award consisted of him singing a few lines a cappella and closed by simply saying "thank you".
At the 80th Academy Awards, "That's How You Know" from the film Enchanted was performed by Kristin Chenoweth, rather than the film's star, Amy Adams. However, Adams performed "Happy Working Song", which was nominated from the same film.[9]
In 1985, Phil Collins was passed over to perform his nominated composition "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)". According to representatives of both Collins' record company and Columbia Pictures, this was because the producers of the telecast were not familiar with his work. Ann Reinking performed the song instead, with Collins sitting in the audience.[10] In 2009, Peter Gabriel, who was originally scheduled to perform his nominated song "Down to Earth" during the live broadcast, declined to perform after learning that he would be allowed to sing only 65 seconds of the song during the ceremony's Best Original Song nominee performance medley.[11] Gabriel still attended the ceremony, with John Legend performing the song in his place, backed by the Soweto Gospel Choir.
The 84th Academy Awards did not feature performances from either nominated song ("Man or Muppet" from The Muppets or "Real in Rio" from Rio).[12] No reason for this was given by Oscar producers. This was only the third time that Best Original Song nominees were not performed (the others were in 1989 and 2010). At the 2013 Oscars, only three of the five nominees were performed, with the eventual winner, the theme from Skyfall, being the only one performed separately on its own as opposed to being part of a musical montage sequence. The 88th Academy Awards also had three of the five nominees performed. Transgender singer Anohni, performer and writer of "Manta Ray", one of the two nominated songs cut from the ceremony, boycotted the ceremony for this reason.[13]
List of winners and nominees
1930s
- 1934: "The Continental" – The Gay Divorcee • Music: Con Conrad • Lyrics: Herb Magidson
- "Carioca" – Flying Down to Rio • Music: Vincent Youmans • Lyrics: Edward Eliscu and Gus Kahn
- "Love in Bloom" – She Loves Me Not • Music: Ralph Rainger • Lyrics: Leo Robin
- 1935: "Lullaby of Broadway" – Gold Diggers of 1935 • Music: Harry Warren • Lyrics: Al Dubin
- "Lovely to Look at" – Roberta • Music: Jerome Kern • Lyrics: Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh
- "Cheek to Cheek" – Top Hat • Music and lyrics: Irving Berlin
- 1936: "The Way You Look Tonight" – Swing Time • Music: Jerome Kern • Lyrics: Dorothy Fields
- "I've Got You Under My Skin" – Born to Dance • Music and lyrics: Cole Porter
- "Pennies from Heaven" – Pennies from Heaven • Music: Arthur Johnston • Lyrics: Johnny Burke
- "When Did You Leave Heaven" – Sing, Baby, Sing • Music: Richard A. Whiting • Lyrics: Walter Bullock
- "Did I Remember" – Suzy • Music: Walter Donaldson • Lyrics: Harold Adamson
- "A Melody from the Sky" – The Trail of the Lonesome Pine • Music: Louis Alter • Lyrics: Sidney D. Mitchell
- 1937: "Sweet Leilani" – Waikiki Wedding • Music and lyrics: Harry Owens
- "Whispers in the Dark" – Artists and Models • Music: Friedrich Hollaender • Lyrics: Leo Robin
- "Remember Me" – Mr. Dodd Takes the Air • Music: Harry Warren • Lyrics: Al Dubin
- "They Can't Take That Away from Me" – Shall We Dance • Music: George Gershwin (posthumous nomination) • Lyrics: Ira Gershwin
- "That Old Feeling" – Vogues of 1938 • Music: Sammy Fain • Lyrics: Lew Brown
- 1938: "Thanks for the Memory" – The Big Broadcast of 1938 • Music: Ralph Rainger • Lyrics: Leo Robin
- "Always and Always" – Mannequin • Music: Edward Ward • Lyrics: Chet Forrest and Bob Wright
- "Change Partners" – Carefree • Music and lyrics: Irving Berlin
- "The Cowboy and the Lady" – The Cowboy and the Lady • Music: Lionel Newman • Lyrics: Arthur Quenzer
- "Dust" – Under Western Stars • Music and lyrics: Johnny Marvin
- "Jeepers Creepers" – Going Places • Music: Harry Warren • Lyrics: Johnny Mercer
- "Merrily We Live" – Merrily We Live • Music: Phil Craig • Lyrics: Arthur Quenzer
- "A Mist over the Moon" – The Lady Objects • Music: Ben Oakland • Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
- "My Own" – That Certain Age • Music: Jimmy McHugh • Lyrics: Harold Adamson
- "Now It Can Be Told" – Alexander's Ragtime Band • Music and lyrics: Irving Berlin
- 1939: "Over the Rainbow" – The Wizard of Oz • Music: Harold Arlen • Lyrics: Yip Harburg
- "Faithful Forever" – Gulliver's Travels • Music: Ralph Rainger • Lyrics: Leo Robin
- "I Poured My Heart into a Song" – Second Fiddle • Music and Lyrics: Irving Berlin
- "Wishing" – Love Affair • Music and lyrics: Buddy DeSylva
1940s
- 1940: "When You Wish Upon a Star" – Pinocchio • Music: Leigh Harline • Lyrics: Ned Washington
- "Down Argentine Way" – Down Argentine Way • Music: Harry Warren • Lyrics: Mack Gordon
- "I'd Know You Anywhere" – You'll Find Out • Music: Jimmy McHugh • Lyrics: Johnny Mercer
- "It's a Blue World" – Music in My Heart • Music and Lyrics: Chet Forrest and Bob Wright
- "Love of My Life" – Second Chorus • Music: Artie Shaw • Lyrics: Johnny Mercer
- "Only Forever" – Rhythm on the River • Music: James V. Monaco • Lyrics: Johnny Burke
- "Our Love Affair" – Strike Up the Band • Music and Lyrics: Roger Edens and Georgie Stoll
- "Waltzing in the Clouds" – Spring Parade • Music: Robert Stolz • Lyrics: Gus Kahn
- "Who Am I?" – Hit Parade of 1941 • Music: Jule Styne • Lyrics: Walter Bullock
- 1941: "The Last Time I Saw Paris" – Lady Be Good • Music: Jerome Kern • Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
- "Baby Mine" – Dumbo • Music: Frank Churchill • Lyrics: Ned Washington
- "Be Honest With Me" – Ridin' on a Rainbow • Music and Lyrics: Gene Autry and Fred Rose
- "Blues in the Night" – Blues in the Night • Music: Harold Arlen • Lyrics: Johnny Mercer
- "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B" – Buck Privates • Music: Hugh Prince • Lyrics: Don Raye
- "Chattanooga Choo Choo" – Sun Valley Serenade • Music: Harry Warren • Lyrics: Mack Gordon
- "Dolores" – Las Vegas Nights • Music: Louis Alter • Lyrics: Frank Loesser
- "Out of the Silence" – All-American Co-Ed • Music and Lyrics: Lloyd B. Norlin
- "Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye" – You'll Never Get Rich • Music and Lyrics: Cole Porter
- 1942: "White Christmas" – Holiday Inn • Music and Lyrics: Irving Berlin
- "Always in My Heart" – Always in My Heart • Music: Ernesto Lecuona • Lyrics: Kim Gannon
- "Dearly Beloved" – You Were Never Lovelier • Music: Jerome Kern • Lyrics: Johnny Mercer
- "How About You?" – Babes on Broadway • Music: Burton Lane • Lyrics: Ralph Freed
- "I've Heard That Song Before" – Youth on Parade • Music: Jule Styne • Lyrics: Sammy Cahn
- "(I've Got a Gal in) Kalamazoo" – Orchestra Wives • Music: Harry Warren • Lyrics: Mack Gordon
- "Love Is a Song" – Bambi • Music: Frank Churchill (posthumous nomination) • Lyrics: Larry Morey
- "Pennies for Peppino" – Flying with Music • Music: Edward Ward • Lyrics: Chet Forrest and Bob Wright
- "Pig Foot Pete" – Hellzapoppin' • Music: Gene de Paul • Lyrics: Don Raye
- "There's a Breeze on Lake Louise" – The Mayor of 44th Street • Music: Harry Revel • Lyrics: Mort Greene
- 1943: "You'll Never Know" – Hello, Frisco, Hello • Music: Harry Warren • Lyrics: Mack Gordon
- "Change of Heart" – Hit Parade of 1943 • Music: Jule Styne • Lyrics: Harold Adamson
- "Happiness is a Thing Called Joe" – Cabin in the Sky • Music: Harold Arlen • Lyrics: Yip Harburg
- "My Shining Hour" – The Sky's the Limit • Music: Harold Arlen • Lyrics: Johnny Mercer
- "Saludos Amigos" – Saludos Amigos • Music: Charles Wolcott • Lyrics: Ned Washington
- "Say a Prayer for the Boys Over There" – Hers to Hold • Music: Jimmy McHugh • Lyrics: Herb Magidson
- "That Old Black Magic" – Star Spangled Rhythm • Music: Harold Arlen • Lyrics: Johnny Mercer
- "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" – Thank Your Lucky Stars • Music: Arthur Schwartz • Lyrics: Frank Loesser
- "We Mustn't Say Good Bye" – Stage Door Canteen • Music: James V. Monaco • Lyrics: Al Dubin
- "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" – Something to Shout About • Music and Lyrics: Cole Porter
- 1944: "Swinging on a Star" – Going My Way • Music: Jimmy Van Heusen • Lyrics: Johnny Burke
- "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night" – Higher and Higher • Music: Jimmy McHugh • Lyrics: Harold Adamson
- "I'll Walk Alone" – Follow the Boys • Music: Jule Styne • Lyrics: Sammy Cahn
- "I'm Making Believe" – Sweet and Low-Down • Music: James V. Monaco • Lyrics: Mack Gordon
- "Long Ago (and Far Away)" – Cover Girl • Music: Jerome Kern • Lyrics: Ira Gershwin
- "Now I Know" – Up in Arms • Music: Harold Arlen • Lyrics: Ted Koehler
- "Remember Me to Carolina" – Minstrel Man • Music: Harry Revel • Lyrics: Paul Webster
- "Rio de Janeiro" – Brazil • Music: Ary Barroso • Lyrics: Ned Washington
- "Silver Shadows and Golden Dreams" – Lady, Let's Dance • Music: Lew Pollack • Lyrics: Charles Newman
- "Too Much in Love" – Song of the Open Road • Music: Walter Kent • Lyrics: Kim Gannon
- "The Trolley Song" – Meet Me in St. Louis • Music and Lyrics: Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin
- 1945: "It Might as Well Be Spring" – State Fair • Music: Richard Rodgers • Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
- "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" – Here Come the Waves • Music: Harold Arlen • Lyrics: Johnny Mercer
- "Anywhere" – Tonight and Every Night • Music: Jule Styne • Lyrics: Sammy Cahn
- "Aren't You Glad You're You?" – The Bells of St. Mary's • Music: James Van Heusen • Lyrics: Johnny Burke
- "The Cat and the Canary" – Why Girls Leave Home • Music: Jay Livingston • Lyrics: Ray Evans
- "Endlessly" – Earl Carroll Vanities • Music: Walter Kent • Lyrics: Kim Gannon
- "I Fall in Love Too Easily" – Anchors Aweigh • Music:Jule Styne • Lyrics: Sammy Cahn
- "I'll Buy That Dream" – Sing Your Way Home • Music: Allie Wrubel • Lyrics: Herb Magidson
- "Linda" – The Story of G.I. Joe • Music and Lyrics: Ann Ronell
- "Love Letters" – Love Letters • Music: Victor Young • Lyrics: Edward Heyman
- "More and More" – Can't Help Singing • Music: Jerome Kern (posthumous nomination) • Lyrics: Yip Harburg
- "Sleighride in July" – Belle of the Yukon • Music: James Van Heusen • Lyrics:Johnny Burke
- "So in Love" – Wonder Man • Music: David Rose • Lyrics: Leo Robin
- "Some Sunday Morning" – San Antonio • Music: Ray Heindorf and M.K. Jerome • Lyrics: Ted Koehler
- 1946: "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" – The Harvey Girls • Music: Harry Warren • Lyrics: Johnny Mercer
- "All Through the Day" – Centennial Summer • Music: Jerome Kern (posthumous nomination) • Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
- "I Can't Begin to Tell You" – The Dolly Sisters • Music: James V. Monaco (posthumous nomination) • Lyrics: Mack Gordon
- "Ole Buttermilk Sky" – Canyon Passage • Music: Hoagy Carmichael • Lyrics: Jack Brooks
- "You Keep Coming Back Like a Song" – Blue Skies • Music and Lyrics: Irving Berlin
- 1947: "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" – Song of the South • Music: Allie Wrubel • Lyrics: Ray Gilbert
- "A Gal in Calico" – The Time, the Place and the Girl • Music: Arthur Schwartz • Lyrics: Leo Robin
- "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" – The Perils of Pauline • Music and Lyrics: Frank Loesser
- "Pass That Peace Pipe" – Good News • Music and Lyrics: Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin and Roger Edens
- "You Do" – Mother Wore Tights • Music: Josef Myrow • Lyrics: Mack Gordon
- 1948: "Buttons and Bows" – The Paleface • Music: Jay Livingston • Lyrics: Ray Evans
- "For Every Man There's a Woman" – Casbah • Music: Harold Arlen • Lyrics: Leo Robin
- "It's Magic" – Romance on the High Seas • Music: Jule Styne • Lyrics: Sammy Cahn
- "This Is the Moment" – That Lady in Ermine • Music: Frederick Hollander • Lyrics: Leo Robin
- "The Woody Woodpecker Song" – Wet Blanket Policy • Music and Lyrics: Ramey Idriss and George Tibbles
- 1949: "Baby, It's Cold Outside" – Neptune's Daughter • Music and Lyrics: Frank Loesser
- "It's a Great Feeling" – It's a Great Feeling • Music: Jule Styne • Lyrics: Sammy Cahn
- "Lavender Blue" – So Dear to My Heart • Music: Eliot Daniel • Lyrics: Larry Morey
- "My Foolish Heart" – My Foolish Heart • Music: Victor Young • Lyrics: Ned Washington
- "Through a Long and Sleepless Night" – Come to the Stable • Music: Alfred Newman • Lyrics: Mack Gordon
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
Records
Winners of multiple awards
- Number of nominations in parentheses
- 4 : Sammy Cahn (26) (lyricist)
- 4 : Alan Menken (14) (composer)
- 4 : Johnny Mercer (18) (sixteen as lyricist, two as composer and lyricist)
- 4 : Jimmy Van Heusen (14) (composer)
- 3 : Ray Evans (7) (composer and lyricist)
- 3 : Jay Livingston (7) (composer and lyricist)
- 3 : Tim Rice (5) (lyricist)
- 3 : Harry Warren (11) (composer)
- 3 : Paul Francis Webster (16) (lyricist)
- 2 : Howard Ashman (7) (lyricist)
- 2 : Burt Bacharach (5) (composer)
- 2 : Alan Bergman (15) (lyricist)
- 2 : Marilyn Bergman (15) (lyricist)
- 2 : Sammy Fain (10) (composer)
- 2 : Oscar Hammerstein II (5) (lyricist)
- 2 : Joel Hirschhorn (3) (composer and lyricist)
- 2 : Will Jennings (3) (lyricist)
- 2 : Al Kasha (3) (composer and lyricist)
- 2 : Jerome Kern (7) (composer)
- 2 : Henry Mancini (11) (composer)
- 2 : Giorgio Moroder (2) (composer)
- 2 : Randy Newman (12) (composer and lyricist)
- 2 : Stephen Schwartz (5) (four as lyricist, one as composer and lyricist)
- 2 : Ned Washington (11) (lyricist)
Foreign-language song winners
- Manos Hadjidakis was the first to receive this award for a song originally written in a language other than English, in 1960 for "Never on Sunday" (Greek title "Ta Paidia toy Peiraia") from the Greek film Never on Sunday (Greek title Pote tin Kyriaki).
- Jorge Drexler was the second foreign language songwriter to win the Best Original Song Oscar, for "Al otro lado del río" from The Motorcycle Diaries in 2004. That year another foreign language writing pair were nominated, composer Bruno Coulais and lyricist Christophe Barratier for "Vois sur ton chemin (Look to Your Path)" from the French film The Chorus.
- A. R. Rahman and Gulzar are the third and fourth foreign language composer and songwriter respectively to win in the Best Original Song category, which they shared for the Hindi song "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire, at the 81st Academy Awards in 2009. That same year, "O... Saya", another partly Hindi song from the same film by Rahman and M.I.A., was also nominated, making it the first time two foreign language songs from the same film were nominated in the category.
See also
- BAFTA Award for Best Film Music
- Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
- Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media
References
- ^ Susan Sacket, "1941: 'The Last Time I Saw Paris'", Hollywood Sings!, Billboard Books, New York, 1995, pp. 42–43.
- ^ a b Rule Fifteen: Special Rules for the Music Awards | Rules for the 86th Academy Awards | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- ^ ""Once" Again, a Legit Nominee". The New York Times. 2008-01-29.
- ^ Sacket, "Preface", p. xvii.
- ^ BBC2012Noms. "Oscars 2012: Nominees in full". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
- ^ [1]
- ^ 2011 Academy Awards rules (PDF)
- ^ Academy press release
- ^ "Oscar Show Participants Revealed" (Press release). Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2008-02-14. Archived from the original on 18 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
- ^ Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits (5th ed.). New York: Billboard Books. p. 586. ISBN 0-8230-7677-6. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
- ^ UPI.com (2009-02-14). "Gabriel cancels Oscar night performance". United Press International Inc. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
- ^ Oscar nominee Brett McKenzie in Billboard Magazine
- ^ "Why Best Song nominee Anohni is sitting out the Oscars". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
- ^ Feinberg, Scott (January 29, 2014), "Academy Disqualifies Oscar-Nominated Song 'Alone Yet Not Alone'", The Hollywood Reporter
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