2022 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

In little over a week, the winner of this year's Oscar for Best Original Song will be announced and the nominees are a particularly strong group of songs. Beyoncé performs a moving ballad, "Be Alive" for the Venus and Serena Williams bio-pic, "King Richard" which she co-wrote with DIXSON.  The only song nominated from the hit soundtrack of the Disney animated feature, "Encanto" is the Spanish language tune, "Dos Oruguitas", written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and performed in the film by Colombian singer-songwriter, Sebastián Yatra. For Kenneth Branagh's semi-autobiographical drama, "Belfast", Van Morrison (a native of the Irish city) composed the score, which uses eight of his classic songs, and wrote a new song, "Down For Joy". Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas wrote the haunting theme song for Daniel Craig's final turn as James Bond with the title track, "No Time To Die". The song was originally released in February 2020 with the film due in May but the pandemic changed those plans. "No Time To Die" finally reached theaters in September 2021, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of the year. And country legend, Reba McEntire performs "Somehow You Do", the inspirational song by Diane Warren for the film, "Four Good Days" that features Glenn Close and Mila Kunis. This is Warren's thirteenth nomination in this category without a win and while she is greatly admired, I don't think this will be her year.

I would love to see Beyoncé win the award but I think it's likely that Billie Eilish will take home the Oscar since the Academy really loves a James Bond theme. Here are the five nominated songs to hear and judge for yourself:

"Be Alive" from "King Richard" (music and lyric by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter)



"Dos Oruguitas" from "Encanto" (music and lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda)



"Down to Joy" from "Belfast" (music and lyric by Van Morrison)



"No Time to Die" from "No Time to Die" (music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell)



"Somehow You Do" from "Four Good Days" (music and lyric by Diane Warren)

BUFFALO STANCE

Robyn has dropped new music and it is an unexpected but inspired cover. The Swedish pop-star has put her own spin on fellow Swede, Neneh Cherry's worldwide hip-hop sensation, "Buffalo Stance" from 1989. With her smooth version (produced by Dev Hynes or as he might be better known, Blood Orange), Robyn slows down the beat yet it remains definitively a dance song, keeping the spirit of the original yet feeling very modern. The two artists have been friends for years and Cherry has nothing but praise for Robyn and what she has done with her song. And to keep this an all Swedish affair, Robyn has brought in Swedish-American performer, Mapei to rap some of the lyrics on the track.

KING

After about five years, Florence + The Machine have finally returned with their latest ethereal anthem. Florence Welch, the voice and face of the band (which includes core members, keyboardist Isabella Summers and Rob Ackroyd on guitar) has teamed-up with the in-demand Jack Antonoff to co-write and produce "King", the first release from their upcoming fifth studio album. The song, starting serene and minimal before building to an orchestral roar, is about a woman's conflict between being an artist and starting a family, demanding to not have to make that choice like a man or "king". The music video is directed by Autumn de Wilde, a photographer and filmmaker who made an impression with her 2020 feature debut with an adaptation of "Emma", with Welch appearing as a floating, celestial being surrounded by "lace monsters" who dance around her in jubilation.