2001 Best Original Song - Randy Newman Catches a Break

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WON: "If I Didn't Have You," Monsters, Inc.

SHOULD'VE WON: "There You'll Be," Pearl Harbor

Heading into Oscar night on March 24, 2002, composer Randy Newman was sitting on an eye-popping 0-for-14 record in wins vs. nominations. He was up for two Oscars this time around, in Best Original Song and Best Original Score, for Disney-Pixar's Monsters, Inc. Newman hadn't fared well in that year's precursors - he didn't even garner a Golden Globe nomination and Sting, whose "Until..." (from Kate & Leopold) won the Globe, was perceived in some circles to be nearly as due for an Oscar as Newman. Throwing the category for a bit of a loop was that Moulin Rouge!'s "Come What May" was deemed ineligible for consideration by the Academy, having initially been intended for Baz Luhrmann's Romeo & Juliet soundtrack.

While Newman lost in Best Original Score, to Howard Shore's work on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the Oscar mainstay did at last go home with a golden guy, triumphing in Best Original Song for "If I Didn't Have You."

Did he deserve it? I would argue Newman in fact should have prevailed a few years earlier, in 1998, for his sublime work on Pleasantville. He would have been a reasonably deserving winner in 1996 too, for James and the Giant Peach. I think "If I Didn't Have You" would be an entirely unremarkable tune, if not for the delightful vocals of John Goodman and Billy Crystal. Lyrically and instrumentally, it has the sound of something Newman could have hastily put together in five minutes time.

The thing is, the rest of 2001 Best Original Song isn't a whole lot to write home about either.

The Sting nomination, for instance, is even more lackluster than Newman's offering here, devoid of anything to grab on to. It's even weaker than his "Moonlight," which garnered a nod a few years earlier for the remake of Sabrina, and that wasn't anything too hot. Enya's "May It Be" is a wholly appropriate fit for The Lord of the Rings but I don't think quite works outside the context of the picture.

I am, however, at least modestly fond of the remaining two nominees. Paul McCartney's "Vanilla Sky" is certainly among the most notable pieces he's done in the past two decades, nicely produced and a good fit for the film, even if the picture isn't a very good one. But I think I have to give Diane Warren another win in this category - Pearl Harbor is complete junk but "There You'll Be" is a lovely tune and Faith Hill sounds flat-out heavenly on it.

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Streets of Philadelphia," Philadelphia (1993)
  5. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  6. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  7. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  8. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  9. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  10. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  11. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  12. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  13. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  14. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  15. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," The Lion King (1994)
  16. "Beauty and the Beast," Beauty and the Beast (1991)
  17. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  18. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  19. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  20. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  21. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  22. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  23. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  24. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  25. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  26. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  27. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  28. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  29. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  30. "A Whole New World," Aladdin (1992)
  31. "My Heart Will Go On," Titanic (1997)
  32. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  33. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  34. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  35. "Colors of the Wind," Pocahontas (1995)
  36. "You Must Love Me," Evita (1996)
  37. "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy (1990)
  38. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  39. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  40. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  41. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  42. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  43. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  44. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  45. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  46. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  47. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  48. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  49. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  50. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  51. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  52. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  53. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  54. "Things Have Changed," Wonder Boys (2000)
  55. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  56. "If I Didn't Have You," Monsters, Inc. (2001)
  57. "You'll Be in My Heart," Tarzan (1999)
  58. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  59. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  60. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  61. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  62. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  63. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  64. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  65. "When You Believe," The Prince of Egypt (1998)
  66. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  67. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  68. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

2000 Best Original Song - Attack of the Swan!

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WON: "Things Have Changed," Wonder Boys

SHOULD'VE WON: "I've Seen It All," Dancer in the Dark

The dawn of a new millennium could have marked a remarkable turn of the page for the Academy in Best Original Song, away from the ho-hum adult contemporary that so often plagued the category over the past three decades, and toward modern artists like Aaliyah, Destiny's Child and Janet Jackson, who, with "Try Again," "Independent Women Part 1" and "Doesn't Really Matter," performed terrific tunes eligible for consideration in 2000.

Instead, the Academy needed to give Randy Newman a 14th Oscar nomination, for his two-minute song from Meet the Parents.

Indeed, with the exception of a single bold nominee (my pick for the win here), '00 Best Original Song was not unlike many recent line-ups of the category, a mixed, mostly vanilla bag of tracks awfully difficult to get hyped about.

The Academy's selection, "Things Have Changed," from the supremely underrated Curtis Hanson film Wonder Boys (which should have marked an Oscar comeback for leading man Michael Douglas), isn't a terrible winner but it does ring somewhat of the victory for "I Just Called to Say I Love You." That is, it marked what could potentially be the sole occasion to honor an unimpeachable music legend at the Oscars. In 1984, it was Stevie Wonder. This time around, Bob Dylan was the victorious one and, much like Wonder's Oscar-winning tune was no "Superstition" or even "My Cherie Amour," Dylan's track is hardly up-to-par with even middle-of-the-road work from his discography. "Things Have Changed" is listenable, perhaps even a step up from some of the really middling stuff Dylan has released more recently, but nothing about it much stands out.

Likewise, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's "A Love Before Time" is a pleasant piece, nicely performed by Coco Lee (who sounds strikingly similar to the likes of Gloria Estefan and Selena) but I'm not sure it would be even the 100th most notable thing about the picture. At least it's mildly enjoyable, which is more than I can say for "My Funny Friend and Me," a sleepy Sting-performed track that seems entirely ill-suited for Disney's side-splittingly funny and manic (and wildly underrated) The Emperor's New Groove. The Newman track is about on-par with his nominations from Parenthood and The Paper, which is to say it stinks.

The one and only nominee in '00 Best Original Song worth a damn - and a tremendous damn at that - is Bjork's sweeping "I've Seen It All," from the hypnotizing Dancer in the Dark, a picture she richly deserved an Oscar nomination for...in Best Actress. At least she garnered some recognition here, and for a superb piece, co-written by filmmaker Lars von Trier, with a vocal assist by the great Thom Yorke of Radiohead.

Bjork surely didn't have a prayer against a juggernaut like Dylan but her presence at least interjected some energy into an otherwise-dud of a category. And, of course, her invitation to the Oscars gave the world the glorious sight of that Swan outfit...

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Streets of Philadelphia," Philadelphia (1993)
  5. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  6. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  7. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  8. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  9. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  10. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  11. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  12. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  13. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  14. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  15. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," The Lion King (1994)
  16. "Beauty and the Beast," Beauty and the Beast (1991)
  17. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  18. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  19. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  20. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  21. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  22. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  23. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  24. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  25. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  26. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  27. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  28. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  29. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  30. "A Whole New World," Aladdin (1992)
  31. "My Heart Will Go On," Titanic (1997)
  32. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  33. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  34. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  35. "Colors of the Wind," Pocahontas (1995)
  36. "You Must Love Me," Evita (1996)
  37. "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy (1990)
  38. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  39. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  40. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  41. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  42. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  43. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  44. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  45. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  46. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  47. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  48. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  49. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  50. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  51. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  52. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  53. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  54. "Things Have Changed," Wonder Boys (2000)
  55. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  56. "You'll Be in My Heart," Tarzan (1999)
  57. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  58. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  59. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  60. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  61. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  62. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  63. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  64. "When You Believe," The Prince of Egypt (1998)
  65. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  66. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  67. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

1999 Best Original Song - Phil Collins' Oscar-Winning Sleeping Pill

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WON: "You'll Be in My Heart," Tarzan

SHOULD'VE WON: "Blame Canada," South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut

When it comes to Phil Collins, I suppose I have something of a love-hate relationship.

I adore his work with Genesis, for instance, and I've sided with him for the win in not one but two prior Best Original Song categories (in '84 for "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" and also '86 for "Separate Lives"). Collins was behind a lot of fine, sometimes even fantastic pop-rock throughout that decade, yet, by the '90s, he just wasn't all that fun anymore. His output, starting with the ...But, Seriously album, became aggravatingly heavy-handed and saccharine, which may have won the hearts of some Grammy (and later, Oscar) voters but otherwise put many of his past devotees to sleep.

In 1999, after three unsuccessful appearances in Best Original Song, Collins at last took home an Oscar, for Tarzan's "You'll Be in My Heart," a record that is emblematic of not only the artist's decline but also Disney's dwindling quality in original music for the screen. It's not a downright rotten song, certainly not on the level of say, one of Maureen McGovern's winners, but it's such a ball of cheese, decently orchestrated but not the least bit compelling.

What makes the Collins victory all the more frustrating is the competition this year was downright dynamite, a collection of familiar faces (Diane Warren and Randy Newman) and refreshingly idiosyncratic ones (Aimee Mann and Trey Parker). Of course, the Academy opted to side with the safest, most vanilla nominee of the line-up. Boot Collins for Madonna's "Beautiful Stranger" (from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me) and you'd have one of the all-time great line-ups.

Toy Story 2's "When She Loved Me" is yet more proof Newman songs are better-off without the composer also serving as vocalist. It's a beautifully nuanced piece, performed by the always-enchanting Sarah McLachlan, so much more affecting than Newman's "You've Got a Friend in Me," which was nominated for the series' first film. Music of the Heart isn't one of the greatest Meryl Streep vehicles, not by any stretch, but I can't help but like Warren's original song for the film, performed by - wait for it - NSYNC (!) and Gloria Estefan.

Magnolia wouldn't be Magnolia without Mann's incredible soundtrack. I'm actually most fond of "Wise Up" but "Save Me" is a fantastic track as well...such a delight to see the former 'Til Tuesday lead with an Oscar nom under her belt.

I can't help myself, though - I totally would have voted for Parker (alongside the always-delightful Marc Shaiman) here, even if "Blame Canada" probably isn't the best song from the South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut soundtrack (that honor would have to go to either "Mountain Town" or "Kyle's Mom's a Bitch"). Parker and Shaiman (and Matt Stone on other tracks) did such a fabulous job not only crafting side-splittingly funny songs but also paying loving homage to other great movie musicals.

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Streets of Philadelphia," Philadelphia (1993)
  5. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  6. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  7. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  8. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  9. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  10. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  11. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  12. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  13. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  14. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  15. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," The Lion King (1994)
  16. "Beauty and the Beast," Beauty and the Beast (1991)
  17. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  18. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  19. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  20. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  21. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  22. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  23. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  24. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  25. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  26. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  27. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  28. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  29. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  30. "A Whole New World," Aladdin (1992)
  31. "My Heart Will Go On," Titanic (1997)
  32. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  33. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  34. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  35. "Colors of the Wind," Pocahontas (1995)
  36. "You Must Love Me," Evita (1996)
  37. "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy (1990)
  38. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  39. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  40. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  41. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  42. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  43. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  44. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  45. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  46. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  47. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  48. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  49. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  50. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  51. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  52. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  53. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  54. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  55. "You'll Be in My Heart," Tarzan (1999)
  56. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  57. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  58. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  59. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  60. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  61. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  62. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  63. "When You Believe," The Prince of Egypt (1998)
  64. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  65. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  66. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

1998 Best Original Song - Whitney and Mariah Belt to Victory

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WON: "When You Believe," The Prince of Egypt

SHOULD'VE WON: "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing," Armageddon

Over the years, the Academy has infamously ignored a number of iconic soundtracks in the category of Best Original Song, most egregiously Saturday Night Fever and Purple Rain. Albeit not as legendary as those two, another incredible soundtrack passed over was 1998's City of Angels, the Meg Ryan-Nicolas Cage vehicle which, while not exactly the greatest film, sported some truly fantastic tunes.

Most of the City of Angels songs were previously released and hence ineligible for consideration - for instance, U2's "If God Will Send His Angels" and Sarah McLachlan's immensely successful "Angel" - but two, the best two records on the soundtrack, were directly written for the picture.

Alanis Morissette's captivating "Uninvited" is handily the most powerful post-Jagged Little Pill work she's done. The Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" is even better, a hypnotic piece of alternative rock that not only finds the group at the very top of their game but is arguably one of the strongest records of the entire decade. "Iris" garnered Grammy nominations in both Song and Record of the Year and was ranked number 39 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest pop songs of all-time.

Another terrific tune (from another not-so-terrific film) snubbed here - Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody," from the Dr. Dolittle soundtrack.

Leave it to the Academy, of course, to pass over those three songs in favor of what is perhaps the sleepiest Best Original Song line-up of the '90s.

The winner here, The Prince of Egypt's "When You Believe," sounds fantastic on paper - Oscar-winning composer Stephen Schwartz teaming with those incomparable divas Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey - yet somehow, even with Houston and Carey tearing it up vocally, is an underwhelming dud. Lyrically, this stuff is about as compelling as a Hallmark card. I'm left yearning for the prior year's "Journey to the Past" and "Go the Distance," which themselves paled significantly in comparison to the Disney tunes from earlier in the decade. Same thing goes for Quest for Camelot's "The Prayer," which, despite being performed by Celine Dion, is like Nyquil to the ears.

Randy Newman's "That'll Do," from Babe: Pig in the City, is nicely orchestrated and performed by Peter Gabriel (I've come to realize Newman songs are so much better when not performed by Newman himself), but also just kind of lethargic. It's no "If I Had Words," which was so pitch-perfect and moving in the first Babe picture. This feels like a tune Newman put together at the 11-o'-clock hour to get the film into Original Song consideration.

The only two notable songs from this line-up are Aerosmith's rollicking, sweeping "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing," from Armageddon (another cinematic atrocity with a decent soundtrack), and Allison Moorer's lovely "A Soft Place to Fall," from The Horse Whisperer. The Aerosmith track carries the usual Diane Warren baggage in corniness but, with the dense production, which actually rings a bit of the City of Angels music, it's unusually unnoticeable. The Moorer song is lyrically more interesting but produced and performed so low-key that it borders on the drowsy.

It's a close call but I'll throw Warren her Oscar bone here.

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Streets of Philadelphia," Philadelphia (1993)
  5. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  6. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  7. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  8. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  9. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  10. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  11. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  12. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  13. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  14. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  15. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," The Lion King (1994)
  16. "Beauty and the Beast," Beauty and the Beast (1991)
  17. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  18. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  19. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  20. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  21. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  22. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  23. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  24. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  25. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  26. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  27. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  28. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  29. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  30. "A Whole New World," Aladdin (1992)
  31. "My Heart Will Go On," Titanic (1997)
  32. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  33. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  34. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  35. "Colors of the Wind," Pocahontas (1995)
  36. "You Must Love Me," Evita (1996)
  37. "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy (1990)
  38. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  39. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  40. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  41. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  42. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  43. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  44. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  45. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  46. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  47. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  48. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  49. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  50. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  51. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  52. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  53. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  54. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  55. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  56. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  57. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  58. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  59. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  60. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  61. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  62. "When You Believe," The Prince of Egypt (1998)
  63. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  64. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  65. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

1997 Best Original Song - Titanic Steamrolls the Oscars

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WON: "My Heart Will Go On," Titanic

SHOULD'VE WON: "Miss Misery," Good Will Hunting

No iceberg of any size could have taken down the juggernaut that was James Cameron's Titanic in 1997.

Initially feared to be Cameron's Heaven's Gate, the $200 million picture went on to make a killing at the box office, netting more than $600 million in just domestic receipts and topping the gross charts for an unprecedented 15 consecutive weekends. The film tied All Above Eve's record for most Oscar nominations (14) and would match the record for most wins (11) previously set by Ben-Hur. The film's only losses were in Lead Actress (Kate Winslet), Supporting Actress (Gloria Stuart) and Makeup, which were taken by Helen Hunt, Kim Basinger and Men in Black, respectively. Odds are, Stuart came awfully close to beating Basinger (they famously tied at the SAG Awards), which would have given Titanic the oomph to set a new wins record.

Among Titanic's victories was Best Original Song, where "My Heart Will Go On," performed by Celine Dion at her peak in popularity and composed by James Horner and Will Jennings, sailed to triumph. The record, which sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks, is pretty much the epitome of '90s adult contemporary, a song that was all but impossible to avoid over the final years of the decade and which still garners heavy airplay on soft rock radio to this day.

In reviewing this category, I can't help but think back to the prior year of Best Original Song, 1996, in that there's a similarity among the nominees that makes it tough to really rank one above the other.

Take "My Heart Will Go On." It's a nice, glossy, well-produced, expertly performed ballad, if a tad generic (particularly when placed against the rest of the Dion catalogue) and more than just a tad oversaturated. The exact same can be said for Con Air's "How Do I Live," which too was a massive Billboard smash, setting a new record for most weeks (69) on the Billboard Hot 100. (Note it was the LeAnn Rimes cover, not the Trisha Yearwood original featured in the film, that set this record.) Composed by Oscar mainstay (though never winner) Diane Warren, it's a lovely, completely agreeable piece of country-soft rock, albeit nothing terribly exciting.

"My Heart Will Go On" and "How Do I Live" elicit such a similar, if not mirror response out of me that I find it an improbable task to give any preference to one over the other. Likewise, I reasonably enjoy both Anastasia's "Journey to the Past" and Hercules' "Go the Distance" but they're decidedly second-tier when it comes to music from animated features. We're not talking "Under the Sea" and "Beauty and the Beast" here.

Ultimately, the only song of the five that stands out in any meaningful way for me here is the late Elliott Smith's "Miss Misery," from Good Will Hunting, a picture I'm not even that crazy about. Despite its prominence on the airwaves through the '90s and beyond, the Academy just never gravitated to this sort of alternative rock (watch Alanis Morissette get snubbed the following year), with Smith one of the few exceptions. Lyrically and vocally, it's a very impressive record and is undoubtedly bolder and more compelling than its run-of-the-mill competition.

In terms of the snubbed in '97, it's too bad k.d. Lang's marvelous "Surrender," from Tomorrow Never Dies, was overlooked. Then again, not even the folks behind the Bond film had much investment in the song, bumping it to the picture's end credits in favor of Sheryl Crow's sleepy title song.

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Streets of Philadelphia," Philadelphia (1993)
  5. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  6. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  7. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  8. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  9. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  10. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  11. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  12. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  13. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  14. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  15. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," The Lion King (1994)
  16. "Beauty and the Beast," Beauty and the Beast (1991)
  17. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  18. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  19. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  20. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  21. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  22. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  23. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  24. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  25. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  26. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  27. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  28. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  29. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  30. "A Whole New World," Aladdin (1992)
  31. "My Heart Will Go On," Titanic (1997)
  32. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  33. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  34. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  35. "Colors of the Wind," Pocahontas (1995)
  36. "You Must Love Me," Evita (1996)
  37. "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy (1990)
  38. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  39. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  40. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  41. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  42. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  43. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  44. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  45. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  46. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  47. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  48. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  49. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  50. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  51. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  52. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  53. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  54. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  55. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  56. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  57. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  58. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  59. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  60. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  61. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  62. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  63. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  64. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)