Oscars' new 2 songs per film nomination rule

[ALIASd]

New Oscar rule limits song noms to 2 per film

Thursday June 19 8:14 PM ET

Last time around, the Oscar songs category was three times "Enchanted" a trick that may never be repeated.

The number of original songs that can be nominated from a single movie will now be limited to two, according to a rule change by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The academy's governors approved the change late Tuesday.
Last year, Disney's "Enchanted" had three titles in contention: "Happy Working Song," "So Close" and "That's How You Know." The winner of best original song: "Falling Slowly," from "Once."

Three items of note were altered in the Original Song rules. First, while there continues to be no limit on the number of songs from a given film that can be submitted for consideration, no more than two songs from any one film may be nominated for an Academy Award.

Also, in addition to the annual screening event at which members of the Music Branch view clips featuring the eligible songs as they appear in the films and vote, DVDs of those same clips will be made available to branch members who are unable to attend the screening; ballots will accompany the DVDs and must be returned by mail.

Music Branch members who have one or more songs in contention for nominations do not vote in that phase of the balloting. They remain eligible to vote on the final ballot to select the winner.

http://www.oscars.org/press/pressrel.../08.06.19.html

[Coheteboy]

I think I'm okay with that and will definitely help movies like Enchanted not spread itself too thin.

Although I kinda think best song is best song. What if the third best song from Enchanted is still better than the one best song from another movie? This just seems more like affirmative action than anything else. It's like they saw 3 nominations get hogged up and it didn't win... we coulda let another movie be nominated instead!

[BC_DisneyGeek]

Spreading the vote probably hurts the films chances of winning, but I still disagree with the rule.

If the five best songs of the year were all in the same film, so be it.

[aashee]

I poo-poo this decision as well. The catergory is best song. It's not the fault of the movie making great music. And what if they have different artists that created the music? Not fair at all.

[JiminyCricketFan]

I disagree with the rule too. In this age when musicals are few and far between, there might be only a hand-full of movies with new songs. The best song should be the best song, and if a movie has a particular writer who writes well, it makes sense he or she might have more nominations.

Enchanted has great music and deserves the nominations it got, even with the new rules. I am sorry it did not win, but academy votes a have their own agendas. Sometimes the best does not really win.

[hollywood1939]

I don't know I can see it both ways, but it's the reason why I think one of Enchanted's songs didn't win.

[JiminyCricketFan]

Originally Posted by hollywood1939

I don't know I can see it both ways, but it's the reason why I think one of Enchanted's songs didn't win.

I agree with you, Hollywood! I think that one of the Enchanted songs should have won. But I don't like changing the rules because some did not like the outcome.

[royaldisneyfan]

Originally Posted by JiminyCricketFan

I disagree with the rule too. In this age when musicals are few and far between, there might be only a hand-full of movies with new songs. The best song should be the best song, and if a movie has a particular writer who writes well, it makes sense he or she might have more nominations.

Enchanted has great music and deserves the nominations it got, even with the new rules. I am sorry it did not win, but academy votes a have their own agendas. Sometimes the best does not really win.

agreed.

[aashee]

I wondering who came up with this decision? Is it the academy because they want variety or the studios because they don't want their votes split? Even though Enchanted didn't win I bet they were thrilled for having multiple songs nominated.

[Retrocool]

Originally Posted by Coheteboy

This just seems more like affirmative action than anything else.

That's just an amazingly dumb comment.

I think this rule is very fair and slights no one. There's never been a year when less than five songs were written for all the movies released during that year, so the "there's so few musicals made today" argument holds absolutely no water. A single film with several songs in it can have no more than two of those songs nominated. If you have 2 musicals released in a given year, and each film has two songs nominated, then a romantic comedy and a drama also have one song each nominated, that's six songs nominated in total. How is this unfair? Because somebody's personal favorite didn't get to have all six nominations? I don't think so.

[Retrocool]

Originally Posted by aashee

I wondering who came up with this decision? Is it the academy because they want variety or the studios because they don't want their votes split? Even though Enchanted didn't win I bet they were thrilled for having multiple songs nominated.

This is just a wild guess, but seeing as how it's the Academy that makes the Academy's rules, and not the studios, it's likely that the Academy came up with the Academy's new rule.

[Coheteboy]

Originally Posted by Retrocool

That's just an amazingly dumb comment.

I think this rule is very fair and slights no one. There's never been a year when less than five songs were written for all the movies released during that year, so the "there's so few musicals made today" argument holds absolutely no water. A single film with several songs in it can have no more than two of those songs nominated. If you have 2 musicals released in a given year, and each film has two songs nominated, then a romantic comedy and a drama also have one song each nominated, that's six songs nominated in total. How is this unfair? Because somebody's personal favorite didn't get to have all six nominations? I don't think so.

You're an amazingly dumb comment.

[Retrocool]

Originally Posted by Coheteboy

You're an amazingly dumb comment.

Nice. I criticize the message rather than the messenger, as per the rules, and I get personally attacked in return.

[hollywood1939]

Originally Posted by Retrocool

That's just an amazingly dumb comment.

I think this rule is very fair and slights no one. There's never been a year when less than five songs were written for all the movies released during that year, so the "there's so few musicals made today" argument holds absolutely no water. A single film with several songs in it can have no more than two of those songs nominated. If you have 2 musicals released in a given year, and each film has two songs nominated, then a romantic comedy and a drama also have one song each nominated, that's six songs nominated in total. How is this unfair? Because somebody's personal favorite didn't get to have all six nominations? I don't think so.

Funny how you called it an amazingly dumb comment when your whole paragraph just proves what Cohoteboy said. So other movies get a chance to get nominated right?

[aashee]

I'm just sayin', if three different artists write 3 different songs that are Oscar caliber, someone's getting screwed. That would be amazingly dumb.