Stand Up for Something (from Marshall)
Performed by Andra Day and Common
Diane Warren is to best original song what Roger Deakins is to best cinematography – endlessly nominated and always beaten. The power-ballad powerhouse has written the likes of How Do I Live and Don’t Want to Miss a Thing, and is nominated for the ninth time with this waltzing, er, power ballad performed by Andra Day. It’s taken from the flop biopic of civil rights-era lawyer Thurgood Marshall, and frankly does him a disservice – Common’s middle-eight rap plays down Marshall’s agency by crediting his achievements to God, while the remainder of the lyrics, written by both Warren and Common, are as vaguely affirmative as a horoscope.
Mystery of Love (from Call Me By Your Name)
Performed by Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens deploys the same milky-sunlight fingerpicking and quietly determined vocals he used on his beloved Carrie & Lowell album – a beautiful formula that is perhaps delivering diminishing returns. Something this stripped-back hasn’t won the Oscar since Crazy Heart’s The Weary Kind in 2009 – which probably only won because voters were split between two Randy Newman choices – and Stevens’ feathery songwriting will likely be blown away by the bombast elsewhere.
Remember Me (from Coco)
Performed by Miguel and Natalia Lafourcade
Miguel goes from comparing his penis to a variety of firearms on his exceptional recent album War & Leisure to rather more family-friendly fare here, for Disney animation Coco, duetting with Mexican singer Natalia Lafourcade on this song by Frozen songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. It doesn’t blatantly tug the heartstrings as Disney winners of old have done, instead taking a modest approach with amiable acoustic strumming – which might harm its chances – but this is full of the ultra-satisfying perfect cadences that the studio is so fond of.
Mighty River (from Mudbound)
Performed by Mary J Blige
As well as a best supporting actress nomination, Mary J Blige also gets a nod (along with co-writers Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson) for this song from the Netflix drama about the racism experienced by returning second world war soldiers in the southern US. Cliched lyrics about white flags and lines in the sand show that reducing civil rights struggles to greeting-card poetry is clearly the mini-trend of this year’s nominees, but Blige gives her song far more authority than Day does with hers; its raw, rootsy production is unusual for the progressive diva, and worth her exploring further. A possible curveball for the win.
This Is Me (from The Greatest Showman)
Performed by Keala Settle
Sung over Coldplay-style “whoa-oh-ohs” and martial arena pop, this has a huge chance of winning: a way for the Academy to acknowledge the hit musical without having to give it any of the big prizes. The title alone is the affirmation that beats in the id of every Hollywood director, star and non-specific dreamchaser. The only caveat is that its writers, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, won last year for La La Land’s City of Stars – will voters want to anoint them again? Expect it to be the ceremony’s big-budget blockbuster performance, either way.
