Songs from Cars 2, Gnomeo & Juliet, Happy Feet Two, The Muppets, Rio and Winnie the Pooh are among the 39 numbers vying for a nomination in the Oscar race. The original songs, along with the motion picture in which each song is featured, are listed below in alphabetical order by film and song title:
- “Collision of Worlds” from Cars 2
- “Hello Hello” from Gnomeo & Juliet
- “Love Builds a Garden” from Gnomeo & Juliet
- “Bridge of Light” from Happy Feet Two
- “The Mighty Sven” from Happy Feet Two
- “Life’s a Happy Song” from The Muppets
- “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets
- “Pictures in My Head” from The Muppets
- “Hot Wings” from Rio
- “Let Me Take You to Rio” from Rio
- “Real in Rio” from Rio
- “The Backson Song” from Winnie the Pooh
- “So Long” from Winnie the Pooh
On Thursday, January 5, the Academy will screen clips featuring each song, in random order, for voting members of the Music Branch in Los Angeles. Following the screenings, members will determine the nominees by an averaged point system of voting. If no song receives an average score of 8.25 or more, there will be no nominees in the category. If only one song achieves that score, it and the song receiving the next highest score shall be the two nominees. If two or more songs (up to five) achieve that score, they shall be the nominees. A DVD copy of the song clips will be made available to those branch members who are unable to attend the screening and who request it for home viewing. A mail-in ballot will be provided.
Under Academy rules, a maximum of two songs may be nominated from any one film. If more than two songs from a film achieve a score of 8.25 or more, the two songs with the highest scores will be the nominees.
To be eligible, a song must consist of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the film. A clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition of both lyric and melody must be used in the body of the film or as the first music cue in the end credits.
The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The Oscars will be presented on Sunday, Feb. 26 on ABC.