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The Oscar Nominations: Handicapping The Best Original Song Category

Posted 1/25/11 2:30 pm EST by in Music


Now that the nominations for the Academy Awards are out, it's time to start handicapping. But no matter what anybody predicts today (or for the next month), we won't know whose hand will be raised in victory and given a little statuette until the show airs on Sunday, February 27. Until then, you can stay tuned to MTV News for all the latest updates, analysis, interviews and predictions regarding the 83rd Academy Awards.

(Click here for photos of the 2011 Academy Award nominees, including Natalie Portman, Christian Bale and Jesse Eisenberg!)

Despite the eclecticism of the field and the surprise entries in the field, it seems like a lot of the categories are already wrapped up (people already seem to be handing Colin Firth the Best Actor prize for his performance in "The King's Speech," and it seems inevitable that Aaron Sorkin will be walking away with the Best Original Screenplay prize for "The Social Network"). One of those sure shots? Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who will almost certainly be taking home the award for Best Original Score for their soundtrack contributions to "The Social Network" (which would put Reznor half way to getting his EGOT). But who will win the other big music-based award — the one for Best Original Song?

Interestingly, none of the songs from "Burlesque" (one of which won a Golden Globe) were nominated for an Oscar. Instead, the nods went to "Coming Home" (from "Country Strong"), "I See the Light" (from "Tangled"), "If I Rise" (from "127 Hours") and "We Belong Together" (from "Toy Story 3"). Of those four, you can probably take out "If I Rise" (which we thought should get nominated for a Razzie yesterday). Either one of the remaining three could score a victory, though it seems like the songs from "Tangled" were especially loved by fans of the movie, so perhaps the money should be on that.

What should win the Oscar for Best Original Song? Let us know in the comments!

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The Oscars Video Playlist: Death Cab For Cutie, Tupac And Johnny Cash Take You To Tinseltown

Posted 3/5/10 11:30 am EST by in Music


The crown jewel of the awards season goes down this Sunday, March 7, when the Academy Awards are handed out in Hollywood. Though this year's show expects to be a little more predictable than in years past, there are still a number of contests that should have a number of people biting their nails in anticipation. Will "The Hurt Locker" top "Avatar" in the race for Best Picture? Will "The Cove" take home Best Documentary or will a dark horse like "The Most Dangerous Man in America" shoot to the front of the pack? Is this Jeff Bridges' year to walk away with Oscar gold or will he be undone by the performance of Jeremy Renner? These questions (and the rest of the Oscar-related intrigue) will be resolved on Sunday. Be sure to stay tuned to MTV News, MTV Movies Blog and Hollywood Crush for your complete Oscar coverage, from the red carpet to the after parties).

Like any big event, getting in the right head space to absorb the Academy Awards is a key to enjoying it. That's why we've put together a video playlist for the 2010 Oscars. Tupac shows us a little "California Love," Likeblood take us to the "Red Carpet," Jurassic 5 celebrate "What's Golden" and They Might Be Giants admit that "This Statue Got Me High" (that's the thrill of victory talking, boys). There are also entries from past Oscar winners like Eminem and Three Six Mafia, as well as tracks that pay tribute to some nominated films (including Depeche Mode's "Precious" and Johnny Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt").

Check out the playlist below, which kicks off with Death Cab for Cutie's "A Movie Script Ending," the best song ever written about wanting your life to be more cinematic.

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The Good, The Bad And The Ugly From The Oscar Red Carpet

Posted 2/23/09 3:14 pm EST by in oscars


Check out behind-the-scenes photos from this year's Oscars here!By Josh Horowitz

I've got a pretty bizarre job. I know this, because my friends and family constantly tell me this whenever my Facebook updates casually mention encounters with the likes of Charlize Theron and Stephen Baldwin (in my mind, all celebrities are created equal).

Still, the crazy and surreal meter went into overdrive for me last night when I stepped onto my first Academy Awards red carpet. First of all, don't be too jealous; my feet barely touched the carpet before I was relegated to the press area that literally was behind a 4-foot shrub. I can't blame the Hollywood elite. If I were Sean Penn, I'd want a barrier between me and Nancy O'Dell at all times too.

(Check out behind-the-scenes photos from this year's Oscars here!)

It's kind of difficult to convey the truly bizarre nature of any red carpet, let alone the world's most famous one, but let me try. Here is the good, the bad and the ugly of what it's like to go toe to toe with the stars on Hollywood's biggest night. Billy Bush would kill me if he knew I was going to share these secrets, so this is just between us, all right?

Read More...

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Big Oscar Wins For 'Slumdog Millionaire' Have Our In-House Expert Yelling 'Jai Ho!'

Posted 2/23/09 12:16 pm EST by in oscars


Freida PintoBy Akshay Bhansali

As an Indian-American who saw "Slumdog Millionaire" win eight of the 10 Oscars for which it was nominated last night, I am practically screaming "Jai ho!"

For the first time since Sir Ben Kingsley brought the great Indian leader to life in 1982's "Gandhi" — which also won eight Oscars — we have a runaway hit, with a cast made up of Indian legends like Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan. But this film's success reaches far beyond that: I actually hear random people in Times Square singing the film's "O ... Saya" at the top of their lungs. When has anything like this ever happened before? Mira Nair's "The Namesake" and Deepa Mehta's "Water" came close, but never before have non-Indian folks come up to me and screamed "Jai ho!!" Read More...

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Oscar Red-Carpet Fashion: Best And Worst

Posted 2/23/09 7:40 am EST by in oscars


Everyone wanted to look amazing at this year's Oscars, and it was definitely a night for actresses to grace the red carpet in red or some shade of white. Some people did it right, while others left a lot to be desired.

Here are our picks for best and worst of Oscar fashion:

Best

Sarah Jessica Parker: The "Sex and the City" star loves to look like a ballerina, but she knows how to do it right and make sure she looks sexy.

Natalie Portman: Breaking the night's trend of red and white, she showed up in shocking pink. Portman looked sophisticated and fresh. Read More...

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Go Behind The Scenes At The Oscars With Our Live Blog

Posted 2/22/09 5:42 pm EST by in Behind The Scenes, Live Blog, oscars


OscarsMTV News is on the scene at the 81st Annual Academy Awards! We don't want to leave you out of the action, so all night long, Larry Carroll, Benjamin Wagner, Vanessa White Wolf and Jonathan Mussman will be logging on to tell you what's going on backstage, in the bleachers and on the red carpet on Hollywood's big night.

1:12 p.m. PT in the Kodak Theatre: The theater is totally reconfigured — basically 13 or so semi circle seating sections in place of the usual orchestra seats. It's very tight and jam-packed full of big names.

There will be some A-list singers performing on the show. Ones our audience is familiar with. And for the first year I recall, the show will feature men handing out the statuettes. The show producers are Broadway-trained so expect it for overall look and feel. Host Hugh Jackman is looking very jacked-up/muscular, more so than usual, since he was shooting "Wolverine." Read More...

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