This year’s original-song competition features something for everyone: tunes from live-action musicals, animated features, dramas and documentaries, plus the annual entry from 15-time nominee Diane Warren.
The big-screen adaptation of “Wicked” unfortunately, contains no new songs (songwriter Stephen Schwartz will have two in next year’s conclusion of the Broadway-to-film “Wizard of Oz” prequel, however).
The season’s other major musical, “Emilia Perez” contains 16 original songs, two of which are being heavily lobbied: “El Mal,” the showstopping fantasy number where Rita (Zoe Saldana) zeroes in on all the corrupt officials who pretend to support the cause of justice for victims of the Mexican cartel murder; and “Mi Camino,” which Jessi (Selena Gomez) sings in a karaoke bar.
“‘El Mal’ was the most work in terms of finding the right tone,” songwriter Camille reports. “We ended up with a good combination of hip-hop feel and rock-style chorus. It’s very rhythmic.” “Mi Camino” was the last song they wrote, “a very punk song, very fun,” says Camille’s co-writer Clement Ducol.
For “Moana 2” which finds wayfinder Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) reuniting with Maui (Dwayne Johnson) for another oceangoing adventure, songwriters Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear penned five songs. The highlight is “Beyond,” which Barlow calls “the spiritual successor to ‘How Far I’ll Go’” from the original “Moana.”
“We got to talk to real-life wayfinders,” Bear says, “and an oceanic cultural trust, which were honestly so cool. The things they said inspired entire songs.”
Among the others likely to make Oscar’s 15-song shortlist when it’s announced on Dec. 17:
“Kiss the Sky” from “The Wild Robot”: Country star Maren Morris co-wrote and performs this winning ballad as Brightbill is learning to fly. Composer Kris Bowers arranged it to stretch across a particularly emotional seven-minute stretch of the animated epic about an orphaned gosling raised by an evolving machine.
“The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight”: H.E.R. performs the latest pop anthem by veteran movie tunesmith Diane Warren. Tyler Perry’s film tells the virtually unknown story of an all-women, all-Black battalion of American soldiers during World War II.
“Harper and Will Go West” from the documentary “Will and Harper”: Kristen Wiig sings and co-wrote this amusing ditty with ukelele accompaniment (“just a couple old friends and a couple brand-new breasts”). It plays at the end of the cross-country road movie with Will Ferrell and his favorite “Saturday Night Live” writer, the newly trans Harper Steele.
“Winter Coat” from “Blitz”: Actress Saoirse Ronan, as a single mom in World War II London, performs this romantic ballad by Nicholas Britell (“Succession”) and Taura Stinson (“Mudbound”). She sings it on-camera, which automatically enhances its chances for awards.
“Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late”: Elton John and Brandi Carlile close the new documentary about his life with this duet. John already has two best-song Oscars; a nomination would be a first for Carlile.
“Piece by Piece,” the title song from Morgan Neville’s animated Lego biopic of pop superstar Pharrell Williams, a bouncy new tune about creativity from the Oscar-nominated beat-maker of the megahit “Happy” from “Despicable Me 2.”
“Forbidden Road” from “Better Man”: British pop singer Robbie Williams wrote and performs this confessional piece (“the truth is still evolving”) for the satirical semi-biopic, directed by Michael Gracey, that uses motion capture to depict Williams as a chimpanzee.
“The Idea of You”: Title song by Savan Kotecha, Carl Falk and Albin Nedler for the spring release about an L.A. art gallery owner (Anne Hathaway) who falls for the much younger lead singer of a British boy band (Nicholas Galitzine, who performs the romantic ballad).
