The Academy’s list of 49 tunes deemed eligible for the Best Original Song Oscar this year seems like a lot for the Music Branch to pick through. That is, until you notice that more than one-fifth of those contenders are from the same film (High School Musical3, which, thanks to a new rule, is only allowed, at most, two nominations in this category) and you recall that last year’s list included many more songs (59) to choose from. The talent involved this year, however, is tremendous, at least in terms of those performers who sing the tunes on the soundtrack (many of whom had a hand in the songwriting). These artists include Mariah Carey, Etta James, Beyonce Knowles (who played Etta James), Norah Jones, will.i.am, Jack White and Alicia Keys, Danny Elfman, Emmylou Harris, Chaka Khan and Regina Spektor.
Add to those big names such heavyweights as Bruce Springsteen and Peter Gabriel, both of whom are locks to be nominated, as well as tween favorites Miley Cyrus and Zac Efron (along with the rest of the cast from High School Musical 3), and you could have one hell of a concert if the Academy simply turned its awards telecast into one big celebration of the year’s songs written for the screen. Unfortunately for ABC, the Oscars aren’t just about securing viewers, so there’s no promise that the most popular artists will be among the five nominees. Rather, the true Oscar-worthy songs are those tunes that serve their respective films best — in terms of context as much as in the quality of their songwriting.
Will The Dark Knightsurpass Titanic to become the highest grossing movie ever?!??!? No, probably not. Meanwhile, expectations are being cut on how much money Tropic Thunder will realistically be able to pull on its R rating.
Jack White and Alicia Keys have recorded the theme song to the upcoming James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. It’s the first duet in Bond theme song history!
A new documentary titled Alicia in Africa: Journey to the Motherland is available in its entirety over at its official site (aliciainafrica.com), where you can stream it either fully or in separate chapters, or you can also download it there or at Spiralfrog. It features R&B star Alicia Keys as she visits Africa as a representative of the non-profit organization Keep a Child Alive, which provides medicine to sufferers of HIV/AIDS throughout the continent.
Basically, and unapologetically, the film is a lengthy advertisement for the charity, which is taking donations through the film’s website (here), but it is also an interesting and heartbreaking document of an under-covered issue. And, of course, it is for a good cause.
Also, yes, it features Keys singing. With African children. So, check it out. There are no obligations to give any money, and its certainly none of my business if you do or not.
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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Will The Dark Knight surpass Titanic to become the highest grossing movie ever?!??!? No, probably not. Meanwhile, expectations are being cut on how much money Tropic Thunder will realistically be able to pull on its R rating.
