1998 Best Original Song - Whitney and Mariah Belt to Victory

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WON: "When You Believe," The Prince of Egypt

SHOULD'VE WON: "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing," Armageddon

Over the years, the Academy has infamously ignored a number of iconic soundtracks in the category of Best Original Song, most egregiously Saturday Night Fever and Purple Rain. Albeit not as legendary as those two, another incredible soundtrack passed over was 1998's City of Angels, the Meg Ryan-Nicolas Cage vehicle which, while not exactly the greatest film, sported some truly fantastic tunes.

Most of the City of Angels songs were previously released and hence ineligible for consideration - for instance, U2's "If God Will Send His Angels" and Sarah McLachlan's immensely successful "Angel" - but two, the best two records on the soundtrack, were directly written for the picture.

Alanis Morissette's captivating "Uninvited" is handily the most powerful post-Jagged Little Pill work she's done. The Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" is even better, a hypnotic piece of alternative rock that not only finds the group at the very top of their game but is arguably one of the strongest records of the entire decade. "Iris" garnered Grammy nominations in both Song and Record of the Year and was ranked number 39 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest pop songs of all-time.

Another terrific tune (from another not-so-terrific film) snubbed here - Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody," from the Dr. Dolittle soundtrack.

Leave it to the Academy, of course, to pass over those three songs in favor of what is perhaps the sleepiest Best Original Song line-up of the '90s.

The winner here, The Prince of Egypt's "When You Believe," sounds fantastic on paper - Oscar-winning composer Stephen Schwartz teaming with those incomparable divas Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey - yet somehow, even with Houston and Carey tearing it up vocally, is an underwhelming dud. Lyrically, this stuff is about as compelling as a Hallmark card. I'm left yearning for the prior year's "Journey to the Past" and "Go the Distance," which themselves paled significantly in comparison to the Disney tunes from earlier in the decade. Same thing goes for Quest for Camelot's "The Prayer," which, despite being performed by Celine Dion, is like Nyquil to the ears.

Randy Newman's "That'll Do," from Babe: Pig in the City, is nicely orchestrated and performed by Peter Gabriel (I've come to realize Newman songs are so much better when not performed by Newman himself), but also just kind of lethargic. It's no "If I Had Words," which was so pitch-perfect and moving in the first Babe picture. This feels like a tune Newman put together at the 11-o'-clock hour to get the film into Original Song consideration.

The only two notable songs from this line-up are Aerosmith's rollicking, sweeping "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing," from Armageddon (another cinematic atrocity with a decent soundtrack), and Allison Moorer's lovely "A Soft Place to Fall," from The Horse Whisperer. The Aerosmith track carries the usual Diane Warren baggage in corniness but, with the dense production, which actually rings a bit of the City of Angels music, it's unusually unnoticeable. The Moorer song is lyrically more interesting but produced and performed so low-key that it borders on the drowsy.

It's a close call but I'll throw Warren her Oscar bone here.

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Streets of Philadelphia," Philadelphia (1993)
  5. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  6. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  7. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  8. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  9. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  10. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  11. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  12. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  13. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  14. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  15. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," The Lion King (1994)
  16. "Beauty and the Beast," Beauty and the Beast (1991)
  17. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  18. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  19. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  20. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  21. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  22. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  23. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  24. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  25. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  26. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  27. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  28. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  29. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  30. "A Whole New World," Aladdin (1992)
  31. "My Heart Will Go On," Titanic (1997)
  32. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  33. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  34. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  35. "Colors of the Wind," Pocahontas (1995)
  36. "You Must Love Me," Evita (1996)
  37. "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy (1990)
  38. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  39. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  40. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  41. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  42. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  43. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  44. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  45. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  46. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  47. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  48. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  49. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  50. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  51. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  52. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  53. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  54. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  55. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  56. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  57. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  58. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  59. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  60. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  61. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  62. "When You Believe," The Prince of Egypt (1998)
  63. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  64. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  65. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

1997 Best Original Song - Titanic Steamrolls the Oscars

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WON: "My Heart Will Go On," Titanic

SHOULD'VE WON: "Miss Misery," Good Will Hunting

No iceberg of any size could have taken down the juggernaut that was James Cameron's Titanic in 1997.

Initially feared to be Cameron's Heaven's Gate, the $200 million picture went on to make a killing at the box office, netting more than $600 million in just domestic receipts and topping the gross charts for an unprecedented 15 consecutive weekends. The film tied All Above Eve's record for most Oscar nominations (14) and would match the record for most wins (11) previously set by Ben-Hur. The film's only losses were in Lead Actress (Kate Winslet), Supporting Actress (Gloria Stuart) and Makeup, which were taken by Helen Hunt, Kim Basinger and Men in Black, respectively. Odds are, Stuart came awfully close to beating Basinger (they famously tied at the SAG Awards), which would have given Titanic the oomph to set a new wins record.

Among Titanic's victories was Best Original Song, where "My Heart Will Go On," performed by Celine Dion at her peak in popularity and composed by James Horner and Will Jennings, sailed to triumph. The record, which sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks, is pretty much the epitome of '90s adult contemporary, a song that was all but impossible to avoid over the final years of the decade and which still garners heavy airplay on soft rock radio to this day.

In reviewing this category, I can't help but think back to the prior year of Best Original Song, 1996, in that there's a similarity among the nominees that makes it tough to really rank one above the other.

Take "My Heart Will Go On." It's a nice, glossy, well-produced, expertly performed ballad, if a tad generic (particularly when placed against the rest of the Dion catalogue) and more than just a tad oversaturated. The exact same can be said for Con Air's "How Do I Live," which too was a massive Billboard smash, setting a new record for most weeks (69) on the Billboard Hot 100. (Note it was the LeAnn Rimes cover, not the Trisha Yearwood original featured in the film, that set this record.) Composed by Oscar mainstay (though never winner) Diane Warren, it's a lovely, completely agreeable piece of country-soft rock, albeit nothing terribly exciting.

"My Heart Will Go On" and "How Do I Live" elicit such a similar, if not mirror response out of me that I find it an improbable task to give any preference to one over the other. Likewise, I reasonably enjoy both Anastasia's "Journey to the Past" and Hercules' "Go the Distance" but they're decidedly second-tier when it comes to music from animated features. We're not talking "Under the Sea" and "Beauty and the Beast" here.

Ultimately, the only song of the five that stands out in any meaningful way for me here is the late Elliott Smith's "Miss Misery," from Good Will Hunting, a picture I'm not even that crazy about. Despite its prominence on the airwaves through the '90s and beyond, the Academy just never gravitated to this sort of alternative rock (watch Alanis Morissette get snubbed the following year), with Smith one of the few exceptions. Lyrically and vocally, it's a very impressive record and is undoubtedly bolder and more compelling than its run-of-the-mill competition.

In terms of the snubbed in '97, it's too bad k.d. Lang's marvelous "Surrender," from Tomorrow Never Dies, was overlooked. Then again, not even the folks behind the Bond film had much investment in the song, bumping it to the picture's end credits in favor of Sheryl Crow's sleepy title song.

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Streets of Philadelphia," Philadelphia (1993)
  5. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  6. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  7. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  8. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  9. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  10. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  11. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  12. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  13. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  14. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  15. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," The Lion King (1994)
  16. "Beauty and the Beast," Beauty and the Beast (1991)
  17. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  18. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  19. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  20. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  21. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  22. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  23. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  24. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  25. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  26. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  27. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  28. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  29. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  30. "A Whole New World," Aladdin (1992)
  31. "My Heart Will Go On," Titanic (1997)
  32. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  33. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  34. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  35. "Colors of the Wind," Pocahontas (1995)
  36. "You Must Love Me," Evita (1996)
  37. "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy (1990)
  38. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  39. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  40. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  41. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  42. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  43. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  44. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  45. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  46. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  47. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  48. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  49. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  50. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  51. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  52. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  53. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  54. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  55. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  56. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  57. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  58. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  59. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  60. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  61. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  62. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  63. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  64. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

1996 Best Original Song - Space Jam on the Sidelines

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WON: "You Must Love Me," Evita

SHOULD'VE WON: "That Thing You Do," That Thing You Do

Among children of the '90s, of which I consider myself a proud member, it seems just about everyone holds at least a little bit of nostalgia for Space Jam, the Who Framed Roger Rabbit-wannabe that managed to pair NBA legend Michael Jordan with cartoon legend Bugs Bunny (and Bill Murray, Wayne Knight, Daffy Duck and a whole host of other characters) on the big screen.

While I got a kick out of Space Jam as a young lad, it hasn't quite held up for me on subsequent viewings. The animation is fun and Jordan is charming and surprisingly at-ease in his film debut (far more so than Shaquille O'Neal, for instance, who seemed lost in William Friedkin's Blue Chips and was simply laughable in everything to follow) but the story isn't terribly engaging, the laughs are light at best and there's no excitement to be found until the final half hour or so.

What has, however, very much continued to impress is the picture's soundtrack, a marvelous assortment of R&B, hip-hop and pop from the likes of Monica, All-4-One (debuting "I Turn to You," a record later covered to much greater success by Christina Aguilera) and Quad City DJs. Most memorable, of course, is the iconic and immensely moving "I Believe I Can Fly," performed by R. Kelly at his very prime.

Yet, even though "I Believe I Can Fly" went on to score three Grammy Awards and Oscar-favorite Diane Warren composed two of the eligible tracks (the Monica and All-4-One tunes), Space Jam failed to garner a single nomination in Best Original Song. Was there some vote-splitting at play? Perhaps a tad but more likely, the Academy simply was not (yet) ready to embrace anything hip-hop in nature. Not until Eminem's victory in 2002 would this genre have a real breakthrough at the Oscars.

Indeed, in '96, Best Original Song could not have possibly been more vanilla, with tunes performed by Madonna, Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Kenny Loggins and the dudes from That Thing You Do. That isn't to say this line-up is a rotten one - I'm at least mildly fond of all of the nominees and think one of them is absolutely fantastic - but it is a tad on the...white side.

The thing with this category is I consider four of the nominees, including the winner, almost interchangeable - the non-That Thing You Do tracks. They're all agreeable, nicely performed adult contemporary, including the Evita track, which rings more of soft rock than it does an epic ballad like "Don't Cry for Me Argentina." Madonna, Dion, Streisand and Loggins are all in commendable form here but it's tough to rank one above the other, as none of them really pops in any significant way. I guess the Streisand tune, which paired her with Bryan Adams and was composed by the great Marvin Hamlisch, would be my slight favorite. Dion would go on to do better things, like the following year. No doubt, the Academy wanted to use this as an opportunity to get Andrew Lloyd Webber, then still the hottest name on Broadway, his Oscar, even if the "You Must Love Me" wasn't all that remarkable.

Indeed, my favorite nominee here, by a healthy margin, is the title track to That Thing You Do, Tom Hanks' forgotten but awfully charming directorial debut. Composed by Adam Schlesinger, later of Fountains of Wayne fame, it's an irresistible throwback to '60s pop-rock, all but impossible to dislike. In fact, I probably wouldn't hesitate to rank "That Thing You Do" among my very favorite nominees to ever grace Best Original Song.

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Streets of Philadelphia," Philadelphia (1993)
  5. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  6. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  7. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  8. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  9. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  10. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  11. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  12. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  13. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  14. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  15. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," The Lion King (1994)
  16. "Beauty and the Beast," Beauty and the Beast (1991)
  17. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  18. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  19. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  20. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  21. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  22. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  23. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  24. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  25. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  26. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  27. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  28. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  29. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  30. "A Whole New World," Aladdin (1992)
  31. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  32. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  33. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  34. "Colors of the Wind," Pocahontas (1995)
  35. "You Must Love Me," Evita (1996)
  36. "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy (1990)
  37. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  38. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  39. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  40. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  41. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  42. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  43. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  44. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  45. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  46. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  47. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  48. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  49. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  50. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  51. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  52. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  53. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  54. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  55. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  56. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  57. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  58. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  59. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  60. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  61. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  62. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  63. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

1995 Best Original Song - The Long, Long Randy Newman Losing Streak

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WON: "Colors of the Wind," Pocahontas

SHOULD'VE WON: "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman," Don Juan DeMarco

Among the more notable and surprising developments in my quest to tackle every Best Original Song category at the Oscars is just how much, since reviewing 1982 (the year he garnered his first Oscar nom with Ragtime's "One More Hour"), I've soured on composer Randy Newman.

Newman's 1998 score to Pleasantville is among my five favorite movie scores of all-time - it's a gorgeous, truly startling composition that lifts an already-exquisite picture to new heights. That surely is an occasion in which Newman deserved to pick up a trophy.

None of that beauty or nuance can be found anywhere, however, among Newman's first three appearances in Best Original Song - the bland "One More Hour" and two turgid pieces of adult contemporary, Parenthood's "I Love to See You Smile" and The Paper's "Make Up Your Mind." By 1995, Newman had gone, including his Best Original Score nominations, 0-for-6 at the Oscars. By 1996, he would be 0-for-8.

Venturing into '95 Best Original Song, I figured there was at least some chance I could at last go with Newman for the win. I am, after all, quite fond of Pixar's Toy Story and I thought I was a great admirer of Newman's music for the picture too but I suppose I either forgot or simply never realized just how short and fleeting his "You've Got a Friend in Me" is. On one hand, it's a charmer that instantly brings to mind images of a fantastic film. On the flip side, upon listening to it several times over the past day, I couldn't help but think to myself, "that's it?" It doesn't have much staying power. It's also not the picture's strongest song, that being the energetic "Strange Things." In a super-anemic year, I could probably settle on Newman here but I was stunned how (mildly) underwhelmed I was revisiting the tune.

As for the rest of the line-up in '95, I have a comparably 'eh' reaction all-around. There's no truly rotten song among the bunch but nothing stands out in any significant way either. Couldn't the Academy have nominated at least one or two tracks off the sublime Waiting to Exhale soundtrack, which featured terrific Babyface-produced tunes from the likes of Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin and, my favorite, Brandy? (And no, Batman Forever's "Kiss from a Rose" and Dangerous Minds' "Gangsta's Paradise" were not eligible.)

The winner in '95, Pocahontas' "Colors of the Wind," is reasonably enjoyable, performed nicely by Broadway's great Judy Kuhn (and later covered to great success by Vanessa Williams) but it doesn't have any of the magic or emotional weight of the great Howard Ashman Disney tunes (instead it's Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz here).

Bruce Springsteen's "Dead Man Walkin'" is an appropriate fit for the Tim Robbins film but it's a rough listen on its own terms, as dreary as it is kinda-sorta haunting and without any real hook. Likewise, Sting's "Moonlight," composed by Oscar mainstays John Williams and Alan & Marilyn Bergman, is a pleasant, agreeable, completely insignificant listen, the kind of record you play in the background at a wine and cheese party where nobody's necessarily paying attention to the substance of a song.

Is my reputation dead if I go with my guilty pleasure of the five, Bryan Adams' "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman"? I concede it's no "Over the Rainbow" or "The Way You Look Tonight" but at least it's a fun, catchy listen, in a cheesy '90s pop-rock sort of way, which is more than I can say about the competing foursome.

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Streets of Philadelphia," Philadelphia (1993)
  5. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  6. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  7. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  8. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  9. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  10. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  11. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  12. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  13. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  14. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  15. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," The Lion King (1994)
  16. "Beauty and the Beast," Beauty and the Beast (1991)
  17. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  18. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  19. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  20. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  21. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  22. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  23. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  24. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  25. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  26. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  27. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  28. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  29. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  30. "A Whole New World," Aladdin (1992)
  31. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  32. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  33. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  34. "Colors of the Wind," Pocahontas (1995)
  35. "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy (1990)
  36. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  37. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  38. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  39. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  40. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  41. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  42. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  43. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  44. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  45. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  46. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  47. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  48. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  49. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  50. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  51. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  52. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  53. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  54. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  55. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  56. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  57. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  58. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  59. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  60. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  61. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  62. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

1994 Best Original Song - The Lion King Rules the Oscars

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WON: "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," The Lion King

SHOULD'VE WON: "Circle of Life," The Lion King

If there is any year in which a single film could/should have filled out the entire Best Original Song category at the Oscars, it is 1994.

Kudos to the Academy for nominating The Lion King's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," "Circle of Life" and "Hakuna Matata," all composed by Elton John and Tim Rice, but why not go the distance and recognize "Be Prepared" and - the picture's most fun song - "I Just Can't Wait to Be King"? The other two nominated tracks here are truly dismal, the worst in adult contemporary - Patty Smyth and Randy Newman (I'm starting to realize why the Academy took so long to give Newman a prize) phoning it in on Junior's "Look What Love Has Done" and The Paper's "Make Up Your Mind," respectively.

If the Academy wished to recognize a non-Lion King tune, they certainly should have instead gone with Lisa Loeb's marvelous, Billboard-topping "Stay (I Missed You)," from Reality Bites. It's a song I wouldn't hesitate to rank among the top 25 or so songs from the decade.

Among the three Lion King tracks nominated here, I would, despite my affection for the supremely entertaining vocals of Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella, have to rank "Hakuna Matata" a rather distant third. Much like "Friend Like Me," it's a lot of fun but doesn't quite carry the weight of Disney's best in music.

"Can You Feel the Love Tonight" is, a rarity in this category, soft rock done right, even if the production and background vocals occasionally border on the weepy. While I wouldn't include it among the strongest of Elton John's extensive catalogue, it is a plenty moving piece and I'm not terribly opposed to its victory.

I just don't consider "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," nice as it is, to be quite on the same level as "Circle of Life," The Lion King's spectacularly epic opening number. It's a sweeping piece of music, top 5 Disney for sure, that sets expectations sky-high for the rest of the picture. And while I'm not sure any other moment in the film quite reaches the same exhilarating heights of "Circle of Life," The Lion King is richly deserving of the status it's earned in subsequent years as one of Disney's finest. (And it was surely more worthy of a Best Picture nomination than '94 nominees Four Weddings and a Funeral and Quiz Show.)

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Streets of Philadelphia," Philadelphia (1993)
  5. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  6. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  7. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  8. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  9. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  10. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  11. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  12. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  13. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  14. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  15. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," The Lion King (1994)
  16. "Beauty and the Beast," Beauty and the Beast (1991)
  17. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  18. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  19. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  20. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  21. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  22. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  23. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  24. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  25. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  26. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  27. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  28. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  29. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  30. "A Whole New World," Aladdin (1992)
  31. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  32. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  33. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  34. "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy (1990)
  35. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  36. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  37. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  38. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  39. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  40. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  41. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  42. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  43. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  44. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  45. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  46. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  47. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  48. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  49. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  50. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  51. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  52. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  53. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  54. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  55. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  56. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  57. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  58. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  59. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  60. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  61. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)