Movie with the most best-song noms does not = automatic victory
The news that the Academy Awards is to limit the number of songs nominated from the same film to two is less surprising when you consider that in each of the two most recent Oscars, one film ("Dreamgirls" in 2006, "Enchanted" in 2007) has dominated the race with three of the five nods. (READ MORE)
However, while the music branch may want to spread the wealth around –- new rules also dictate that those with songs in competition cannot vote and branch members who cannot make the showcase screenings will be sent a DVD –- the academy as a whole did not reward either of those films with the best song Oscar. While "Dreamgirls" competed with "Listen," "Love You I Do" and "Patience," they all lost to "I Need to Wake Up" from "An Inconvenient Truth." And though "Enchanted" had "Happy Working Song," "So Close," and "That's How You Know," the winner was "Falling Slowly" from "Once."
This also-ran status for movies with multiple music nominees is a new phenomenon. Of the 11 previous pictures with at least two songs competing, 8 won the Oscar ("Fame," "Flashdance," White Knights," The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin," "Philadelphia," and "The Lion King"), 2 lost to another multiple nominee ("Yentl, "The Bodyguard") and only one, "Footloose," lost to a single nominee.
The first film to score multiple song nods was "Fame" in 1980, winning for the title track while "Out Here on My Own" was an also ran. Three years later, "Fame" star Irene Cara co-wrote the Oscar winning "What A Feeling" for "Flashdance" which also had "Maniac" in the running. That same year, two tunes from "Yentl" –- "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" and "The Way He Makes Me Feel" –- also competed.
In 1984, "Footloose" picked up a pair of nods for the title track and "Let's Hear It for the Boy" but both lost to "I Just Called to Say I Love You" from "The Woman in Red." In 1985, "White Knights" featured the Oscar winning "Say You, Say Me" as well as "Separate Lives." And in 1989, "The Little Mermaid" score included the Oscar winner "Under the Sea" as well as "Kiss the Girl."
Appropriately enough, the first triple play was produced in 1991 by the landmark "Beauty and the Beast," which was the first animated film to make it into the best picture race. Aside from the Oscar winning title track, the nominated tunes were "Be Our Guest" and "Belle." The next year, another animated movie, "Aladdin," showcased the winner "A Whole New World" as well as "Friend Like Me" while "The Bodyguard" soundtrack included also-rans "I Have Nothing" and "Run to You." In 1993, "Philadelphia" featured the Oscar winning "Streets of Philadelphia" and a nominated title track. The most recent multiple nominee before 2006 was in 1994 when another Disney animated picture, "The Lion King" was a triple threat with the Oscar winning "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" as well as "Circle of Life" and "Hakuna Matata."
