Best Original Song: the Grammy award of Academy Awards. I always am fascinated by what the Academy does with this category. Films yield very different styles of song, so much so that it often feels inappropriate to compare them to each other in an awards category. But that is exactly what we are here to do.

Best Original Song

• “City of Stars” – La La Land
• “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” – La La Land
• “How Far I’ll Go” – Moana
• “Drive it Like You Stole it” – Sing Street
• “Can’t Stop the Feeling” – Trolls

Will Win: City of Stars – La La Land

 

This is another clear win for La La Land. It is a musical, after all. This is not to say that the rest of the category is bunk. Both songs from La La Land are great. “How Far I’ll Go” is a good song, as well. And “Can’t Stop the Feeling” has transcended its own film to get decent radio play.

Here’s the thing. “Drive it Like You Stole it” is a far-reaching dark horse. Perhaps it is wishful thinking on my part to think it will actually get nominated, but you never know. There are other songs that could surpass it in votes, though. In particular, the Pharrell addition to Hidden Figures has a good shot at making the cut.

 

As always, thanks for reading!

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—Alex Brannan (@TheAlexBrannan)