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Are the Best Original Song Nominees Any Good?

You’ve seen the Oscar nominations, you’ve read up about the snubs, and you’ve gotten the instant reactions … now listen to the Best Original Song contenders! In order to leave no Oscar stone unturned, we here at Right-Click will be examining the five nominees announced today, starting with “Almost There” from The Princess and the Frog.

“Almost There” is one of two nominations for Randy Newman this year (his other is for “Down in New Orleans,” also from The Princess and the Frog), and it brings his overall nomination count to seventeen (but with only one measly win! Ha!) He doesn’t actually sing on it, though, ceding the spotlight to Anika Noni Rose, a.k.a. Princess Tiana from the movie, who belts it out with all the amiable competence her Broadway background would suggest. We guess this song comes in a pivotal moment for the Princess, as she’s striving for something in the face of adversity and just about achieving it, which is pretty uplifting. Also, being a song from a kid’s movie written by Randy Newman, it’s both silly and way catchier than we’d like to admit publicly. That said, it’s no “It’s Hard Out Here For a Pimp.”

Are the Best Original Song Nominees Any Good?