Singalonga Oscar

The list of songs eligible for next year's Best Original Song Academy Award is, of course, a mixed bunch. There are a total of 56 and giving them the once over, the first thing that struck me was how completely unaware I was that most of these songs even existed - and that includes a number apparently included in films I had seen, sometimes even loved. Where on earth does The Book I Write appear in Stranger Than Fiction, for example? Over the end credits? Would that even count?

Here's my list of picks - based mostly on the song, though sometimes (and admittedly spuriously - in the style of the Academy) on the film the song was apparently written for. Despite Dreamgirls and Over The Hedge placing three songs each, I'm not going to select even one from either:

The Girl in Byakkoya - White Tiger Field from Paprika; O Kazakhstan from Borat; Real Gone from Cars; PJ and Rooster from Idlewild; 'Til The End of Time from Little Miss Sunshine; Upside Down from Curious George.

The next stage is an odd one. A meeting will be held where clips from the 56 films will be played so that the 'music branch' of the Academy might select three to five nominations. Who makes up this 'music branch'? How many people? And will they hear the entire songs, or just the fragments featured in the films? If a song is reprised several time sin the movie, will they get to hear every slice?

As ever, the Academy's approach is far from an exact science.

I precit that 'Til The End of Time from Little Miss Sunshine will win - in fact, I expect something of a Little Miss landslide come awards night.