OVP: Original Song (2022)

OVP: Best Original Song (2022)

The Nominees Were...

"Applause," Music & Lyric by Diane Warren, Tell It Like a Woman

"Hold My Hand," Music Lyric by Lady Gaga & BloodPop, Top Gun: Maverick

"LIft Me Up," Music & Lyric by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler, & Ludwig Goransson, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

"Naatu Naatu," Music & Lyric by MM Keeravaani & Chandrabose, RRR

"This is a Life," Music & Lyric by Ryan Lott, David Byrne, & Mitski, Everything Everywhere All at Once

My Thoughts: One of the things that has become verboten on Film Twitter is to say the following phrase: "this wasn't a good year for X" (particularly if you say it about an acting category).  To some degree this is accurate, as when people do say this they usually are saying it because the types of performances Oscar nominates aren't where the great work is, and if they expanded to areas that they frequently ignore (comedy, horror, action-adventure), they might find more laudable work.  But the reality is that (axiomatically) if there are good years, there have to be bad years.  And while Oscar didn't try as hard as he could have here, the deck he was dealt in 2022 was rough.

Like, look at one of the safest nominees of this bunch, Lady Gaga's "Hold My Hand" from Top Gun: Maverick.  I have a complicated history on this blog with Lady Gaga (I don't think she can act, and have yet to see a performance from her to change my mind), but I do think she has the ability to write great songs (and is a strong singer).  But her work in "Hold My Hand" has to live in the shadow of the brilliant "Take My Breath Away" and it can't handle the pressure.  It doesn't help that it's an insanely repetitive song (take a shot every time she says "hold my hand" and risk losing your liver), but it doesn't have the same connection to the movie that the Berlin classic does.  It's not bad (and certainly not the worst of this bunch), but it's dull & seems to be coasting on her celebrity.

Maybe it's both because I like her better (if I stan any pop star, it's Rihanna) and because she has made us wait so long for new music, but I like "Lift Me Up" considerably better than "Hold My Hand."  The song better matches the "at peace" ending of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and it is more interesting lyrically.  In a movie that doesn't always earn it, it gives us a sense of closure that is rare in an MCU film these days.  Like Gaga, this is not even in the Top 20 best Rihanna songs, and as a result it's easy to judge it more harshly, but on its own, this is a solid tune that catches the spirit of its movie.

It does not, however, feature in the actual movie itself, which is something "Naatu Naatu" does better than any of the other performances.  I don't speak Telugu, but you don't need to to understand how special this number is.  The film is sung in dub (it shows), which I know is traditional in Bollywood films but not done in 21st Century Hollywood (and I struggled a little bit with it), and it is totally alien to much of the rest of RRR (particularly the weirdly campy take on colonialism), but those are the only dings I have here.  This is fun from start to finish, with campy dancing and Ram Charan making sure if you weren't horny for his character by that point, you definitely were after this number.

"This is a Life" is a weird nomination (not the weirdest of this quintet, but definitely the one I expected the least).  It's actually extremely rare for Best Picture winners to be nominated for Best Song (it's only happened eight times in nearly 90 years, making it by-far the worst corollary of any tech category, even Makeup or Visual Effects), and this is a song that kind of just happens on the tail-end of the movie (I honestly didn't remember this song was in the movie until I saw it again).  It's also not a great song, even if it's written by music icon David Byrne.  I thought this was a waste-of-space nomination for an Academy lacking creativity.

But that doesn't make it the worst nominee.  The Music Branch has spent much of the past decade embarrassing itself over nominating whatever Diane Warren has lying around in her piano bench.  Warren once wrote decent pop songs, but this reads like a parody song you'd see Jenna Maroney sing on 30 Rock, with the ad nauseum use of "give yourself some applause" as a hook.  Given how bad the movie is (this song is performed in the background of one of the scenes, then as a music video, and then a third time over the WAY too long end credits), I felt like I needed to get some applause for making it through.  One of the worst films ever nominated for an Oscar, and a terrible song to match.

Other Precursor Contenders: The Golden Globes went with "Naatu Naatu" (they liked RRR better than AMPAS, putting it in Non-English Language Film as well) against "Lift Me Up," "Hold My Hand" and two new names-"Ciao Papa" (Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio), written by Oscar favorite Alexandre Desplat and "Carolina" (Where the Crawdads Sing), written by Taylor Swift, who keeps trying to get an Oscar nomination (she's now done songs for Valentine's Day, The Hunger Games, Fifty Shades Darker, and Where the Crawdads Sing with the clear intention of an Oscar nomination, but AMPAS isn't biting).  The Grammys split their eligibility differently, and so it's probable we'll see a few other 2022 films nominated in January ("Lift Me Up," specifically, feels near-certain) but they did cite "Hold My Hand," "Carolina," "Nobody Like U," (Turning Red, written by Finneas O'Connell & Billie Eilish) and "Keep Rising," (The Woman King)...they all lost to "We Don't Talk About Bruno."  In terms of sixth place, I'm guessing "Ciao Papa" given the Desplat of the situation.

Songs I Would Have Nominated: Like I said, not a lot of great music was snubbed this year even if Oscar was giving us a forgettable lineup.  But surely they could've made room for "Sunny Side Up Summer" from The Bob's Burgers Movie, a delightful ditty from a show at least the Emmys have the good taste to keep recognizing.

Oscar’s Choice: I suspect this was closer than most pundits guessed RRR scored nowhere else, and that it was up against pop superstars (if Gaga or Rihanna had won, would you have been surprised?) and a Best Picture winner, but "Naatu Naatu" was too infectious to beat.

My Choice: I don't think it's perfect by any-means (there's no 5-star song in this lineup), but "Naatu Naatu" is the most fun in its film, particularly against a sea of end credits songs, so I'm going to give it the win even if stand-alone, I might prefer the melodic softness of "Lift Me Up."  Behind these are "Hold My Hand," "This is a Life," and "Applause."

Those are my thoughts-how about yours?  Is everyone just onboard with "Naatu Naatu" or am I being overly critical of its competition?  Do we think Rihanna ever comes back to claim a win I think she otherwise would've taken were it not for the fan push for RRR?  And should Taylor Swift & Diane Warren team up to see what the Oscars reaction might be?  Share your thoughts below!

Also in 2022: Production Design, Cinematography, Costume, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup & Hairstyling, Previously in 2022

Past Best Original Song Contests: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021