Two Films Received Three Nominations in a Single Category at the Oscars — The Academy’s Rules Were Changed Because of It
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Movie musicals aren’t as popular as they used to be. If we count only the ones made originally for the screen, the number gets even lower. When they do come out, studios often market them as anything but. It is rare for a Wicked or an Emília Pérez to come out proudly announcing to be a musical romp from start to finish. This, of course, poses a problem for the Oscars, especially when it comes to a very specific category. Back in the early days of the Best Original Song award, introduced in 1934, there were plenty of, well, original songs to choose from, with the 1939 11th Academy Awards boasting a total of ten nominees – a far cry from today’s well-established five. Nowadays, the category is usually ridden with power ballads from dramas and the odd comedy entry, like Barbie‘s “I’m Just Ken”.
But the movie musical isn’t dead. Far from it. From Disney hits and creators of karaoke night classics like Frozen to more dubious enterprises, such as the aforementioned Emília Pérez, one thing is always certain: there will always be at least one theater kid growing up obsessed with this new movie songbook. But these movies still face a slim chance at the Best Original Song Oscar. That’s because, according to the Academy’s rulebook, only “from any one film by the exact same writers may be shortlisted”. Oh, that and no more than three songs from the same movie can be submitted. This rule popped up in 2008, and its results were only felt in the 2009 ceremony. But what exactly happened before that?
‘Dreamgirls’ and ‘Enchanted’ Got Three Nods in the Best Original Song Category
Well, before that, the early 2000s were seeing a rise in the number of movie musicals after the success of both original projects like Moulin Rouge and Broadway transplants like Chicago. Both, it is worth noting, were heavy Oscar contenders, and Chicago even took home the Best Picture trophy in 2003. However, none of them made their mark in the Best Original Song category, with Moulin Rouge being a jukebox musical and Chicago a stage original. Still, the success of these films paved the way to projects that took the music directly to the screen. Projects like, say, Enchanted and Dreamgirls, which, in two consecutive years, made up for more than half of the Best Original Song nominees.
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“This place is rotten…”
It all started in 2007, at the 79th Academy Awards. Dreamgirls was running with “Listen”, “Love You I Do”, and “Patience.” Its competitors were Cars‘ “Our Town”, a Disney/Pixar entry, and An Inconvenient Truth‘s “I Need to Wake Up”, a ballad that serves as the concluding note for a documentary on climate change. The following year, at the 80th Academy Awards, Enchanted ran with “Happy Working Song”, “So Close”, and the unforgettable “That’s How You Know”. Its rivals were August Rush‘s “Raise It Up” and Once‘s “Falling Slowly”.
Now, here’s the catch: despite the number of nominations, both movies lost in this category. In 2007, the victor was Melissa Etheridge‘s “I Need to Wake Up”, and, in 2008, it was Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová‘s “Falling Slowly”. It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly happened. While Dreamgirls was not running with its most memorable song, which is definitely “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” in Jennifer Hudson‘s beautiful voice, Enchanted had its top-tier musical number as one of its contenders. And both lost to bland ballads that are hard to remember in the year of Our Lord of 2025. Maybe voters that were inclined to award the two musicals were split between the amount of options, or maybe the Academy just made one of those choices that we don’t quite understand. The important thing here is that both Enchanted and Dreamgirls had a record number of nominations and still lost.
The Academy Changed the Rules After the ‘Dreamgirls’ and ‘Enchanted’ Fiasco
When 2009 came, there were only three nominees total in the Best Original Song category: WALL-E‘s “Down to Earth” and Slumdog Millionaire‘s “O Saya” and “Jai Ho”, the winner. But even with five nominees in the following years, there would never again be a phenomenon like what happened with Dreamgirls and Enchanted. That’s because, as we previously mentioned, the Academy changed the rules before its 81st ceremony. And, so, despite being a full-blown original musical and having gained a lot of favor in the early days of the awards race, Emília Pérez only submitted two songs for the Academy’s consideration: “El Mal” and “Mi Camino”. Both were nominated and are running against The Six Triple Eight‘s “The Journey”, Sing Sing‘s “Like a Bird”, and Elton John: Never Too Late‘s aptly titled “Never Too Late.” That absurd vaginoplasty song? Yeah, it didn’t make the cut.
A few questions remain, though. First and foremost, did the Academy change the rules because of what happened with Dreamgirls and Enchanted? Did they feel it was unfair towards the other movies or towards the movies that got their votes split three-ways? Would things be different had, say, “How Do You Know” and “Patience” won? It’s tough to tell. Still, it seems like changing the rules was the right call. Now, voters don’t get so many options from a single movie on their plate. This means that a single song may garner more votes, while also opening room for other movies to compete. Win-win.
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