Best Original Song...

I rarely pay attention to the Academy Awards' Best Original Song nominees, and I put even less stock into the winners. In previous years, gems like Bryan Adams' (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, Starship's Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now and Phil Collins' Two Hearts have been nominated for this award, while James Horner's My Heart Will Go On (memorably warbled by Celine Dion) and Stevie Wonder's I Just Called To Say I Love You actually won Oscars.

This, to me, is not an indication of musical quality.

The only time I care about the Best Original Song Oscar is when I have a horse in the race. A song that grabs me. A song that has me sitting in the theatre, watching a movie, and thinking to myself, "This is a really, really good piece of music."

This year, only three songs were nominated. Thomas Newman and Peter Gabriel received the nod for Down To Earth from WALL•E; and Slumdog Millionaire's A.R. Rahman was nominated twice, with M.I.A. for O... Saya, and with Gulzar for Jai Ho.

WALL•E is my pick for the best movie of 2008. I've seen the movie at least seven times -- twice in the theatres, and at least five more times since the DVD release. Thomas Newman's entire musical score is sublime; and it has to be, given that so much of the film is non-verbal. Throw in a little collaboration with Peter Gabriel and you'd think that it'd be a no-brainer that Down To Earth was my horse.

It was.

Until I finally got around to watching Slumdog Millionaire last Saturday.

Good movie. Great soundtrack.

O... Saya caught my ear immediately. Featured during two of the movies more prominent, phrenetic chase sequences, the Hindi vocals and rap bridge were layered over a techno beat. It struck me as an Indian version of Run Lola Run. I had a new horse.

But that was before I really listened to Jai Ho.

At first, I didn't see what the big fuss was. It had a catchy enough beat, but it was almost a little too Bollywood. If you've seen the movie, you'll know the visuals don't help in that regard. Then I got to the chorus. Those fifteen seconds of vocal crescendo make the entire song for me. I've been told that 'Jai Ho' approximately translates to 'praise be'. Something between 'hail' and 'hallelujah'. (Thanks, Kathy.) It's fitting. And simply awesome.

This year, as it turns out, I'm a slut for the horses.

Normally, I ignore most of the Oscar ceremonies, only catching snippets here and there. This year, I've made it my mission to sit through the entire broadcast. Well, long enough to catch the all musical performances anyway.

A.R. Rahman should get the Oscar for one of his two songs. It's the only Oscar I'm willing to concede to Slumdog Millionaire over WALL•E. I still think Thomas Newman deserves the Oscar for Original Music Score.

(For my money, Define Dancing was the best piece of music in either movie.)