2021 Oscar Predictions: ORIGINAL SONG (February)

Erik Anderson February 15, 2021

The Oscar shortlist showed us where the music branch leaned, snubbing several high-profile songs like “Wear Your Crown” from The Prom, “Rocket to the Moon” from Over the Moon, “Just Sing” from Trolls: World Tour as well as Golden Globe nominee “Tigress & Tweed” from The United States vs Billie Holiday.

It also opened the door for some unexpected choices like “Make It Work” from Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (which really blew up at the shortlists all over), “Green” from Sound of Metal and “Show Me Your Soul” from the documentary Mr. Soul!

One thing that remained consistent was Diane Warren with multiple opportunities. She landed two spots on the shortlist and is assured for at least one nomination but can she get two?

The Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) gave their Feature Film win to Warren’s “Io Sì” (Seen)” from The Life Ahead. The Society of Composers and Lyricists (SCL) nominated the song as well as “Wuhan Flu” from Borat and “Husavik” from Eurovision Song Contest.

15 songs advanced in the Original Song category for the 93rd Academy Awards from 105 eligible songs. Members of the Music Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.

Here are my ranked 2021 Oscar predictions in Original Song for February.

Green – moves up ↑; Red – moves down ↓; Blue – new entry this month +; Black – no change ↔

1. “Speak Now” from One Night in Miami… ↔ (Amazon Studios) – GG, BFCA
 Written by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth

2. “Io Sì” (Seen)” from The Life Ahead ↔ (Netflix) – HMMA, SCL, GG, BFCA 
Written by Diane Warren, Laura Pausini and Niccolò Agliardi

3. “Husavik (My Hometown)” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga ↔ (Netflix) – HMMA, SCL, BFCA 
Written by Fat Max Gsus, Rickard Göransson, and Savan Kotecha

4. “Turntables” from All In: The Fight for Democracy ↑ (Amazon Studios)
Written by Janelle Monáe, Nathaniel Irvin III, George “George 2.0.” A. Peters II

5. “Fight For You” from Judas and the Black Messiah ↑ (Warner Bros) – HMMA, BFCA
 Written by H.E.R., D’Mile, Tiara Thomas

6. “Never Break” from Giving Voice ↑ (Netflix) – HMMA
Written by John Legend, Nasri Atweh, Benjamin Hudson McIldowie, Greg Wells, John Stephens

7. “Make It Work” from Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey + (Netflix)
Written by John Stephens

8. “Hear My Voice” from The Trial of the Chicago 7 ↓ (Netflix) – HMMA
Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyrics by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite

9. “Wuhan Flu” from Borat Subsequent Moviefilm ↔ (Amazon Studios) – SCL
Written by Sacha Baron Cohen, Erran Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Swimer, Jena Friedman, Jim Russell, Jerry Holleman

10. “See What You’ve Done” from Belly of the Beast ↑ (PBS Independent Lens)
Written by Mary J. Blige, Darhyl Camper, Jr., Denisia Andrews and Brittany Coney

11. “Loyal Brave True” from Mulan ↑ (Disney+)
Written by Jamie Hartman, Harry Gregson-Williams, Rosi Golan and Billy Crabtree, and produced by Jamie Hartman

12. “Rain Song” from Minari ↑ (A24)
Written by Emile Mosseri and Stefanie Y. Hong

13. “Free” from The One and Only Ivan ↑ (Disney+)
Written by Diane Warren

14. “Green” from Sound of Metal + (Amazon Studios)
Written by Abraham Marder

15. “Show Me Your Soul” from Mr. Soul! + (Shoes in Bed Productions)
Music by Robert Glasper, lyrics by Muhammed Ayers

Photo courtesy of Amazon Studios

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.