Best Song: "Man or Muppet" (2011)

Scene from The Muppets

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

The Preface

The year is 2011 and The Academy is celebrating its 84th year. Director Michel Hazanvicius' The Artist won Best Picture. It became the second silent film to win Best Picture following 1927's Wings. It was also the first black and white film to win since 1993's Schindler's List. Best Actor winner Jean Dujardin (The Artist) became the first French actor to win an Oscar. Meryl Streep's Best Actress win for The Iron Lady made her the fifth person to win three acting Oscars. Best Supporting Actor winner Christopher Plummer (Beginners) became the oldest winner of a competitive Oscar. Meanwhile, The Muppets asked the tough questions as "Man or Muppet" won Best Original Song.

The Nominees

Song: "Real in Rio"

Film: Rio

Performers: The Rio Singers,  Jesse Eisenberg, Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway, George Lopez, Will.i.am

The song itself is not bad. I love the enthusiasm and energy that goes into getting the Brazilian rhythms to sound so fresh. It feels welcoming and asks the viewer to come to Rio with vibrancy. I even like the transfusion of styles that comes towards the end of the song. In any other year, this would be a pretty solid runner-up nominee. However, I am left a little perturbed as to why this was only one of two nominees from 2011. It's good and all, but 2011 wasn't short of great music. This is my least favorite year of Oscar-nominated music period (yes, even with the 80's to look back on), if just because of how short it came up. Still, "Real in Rio" is a pretty good song to get you in the festive mood.

The Winner

Song: "Man or Muppet"

Film: The Muppets

Performers: Jason Segel and Peter Linz

I have a fairly unorthodox opinion that The Muppets as an entity is sort of pointless in the 21st century, especially with the rise of technology. To me, The Muppets embodied nothing but a nostalgic release for long term fans, minus the heart or quality that made the earlier works better. The Muppets is a misguided film, even with songs written by Bret McKenzie. I really don't like this song, which is an obnoxiously cheeky attempt to be existential in ways that "The Rainbow Connection" did way better. I'm also annoyed that 2011 didn't just nominate every last Muppet song to at least not make it such a pointlessly obvious race. I don't like this song. It's such a hollowed out version of better material. I don't entirely blame Jason Segel for wanting to reboot it, but it lacks any purpose to even exist.

Best Loser

A comprehensive list and ranking of the songs that were nominated but did not win. This is a list predicated on which song that was nominated I liked the best.

1. "When She Loved Me"  Toy Story 2 (1999)
2. "The Green Leaves of Summer" - The Alamo (1960)
3. "That's Amore" - The Caddy (1953)
4. "A Town Without Pity" - A Town Without Pity (1961)
5. "The Rainbow Connection" - The Muppet Movie (1979)
6. "Somewhere Out There" - An American Tail (1986)
7. "The Circle of Life" - The Lion King (1994)
8. "The Man That Got Away" - A Star is Born (1954)
9. "Ben" - Ben (1972)
10. "You've Got a Friend in Me" - Toy Story (1995)
11. "Somewhere in My Memory" - Home Alone (1990)
12. "I Love to See You Smile" - Parenthood (1989)
13. "The Sweetheart Tree" - The Great Race (1965)
14. "Carioca" - Flying Down to Rio (1934)
15. "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B" - Buck Privates (1941)
16. "Nobody Does it Better" - The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
17. "That's How You Know" - Enchanted (2007)
18. "Belleville Rendez-vous" - The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
19. "Out Here on My Own" - Fame (1980)
20. "Journey Into the Past" - Anastasia (1997)
21. "Belle" - Beauty and the Beast (1991)
22. "I've Seen it All" - Dancer in the Dark (2000)
23. "Ghostbusters" - Ghostbusters (1984)
24. "Friend Like Me" - Aladdin (1992)
25. "I See the Light" - Tangled (2010)
26. "Eye of the Tiger" - Rocky III (1982)
27. "Gonna Fly Now" - Rocky (1976)
28. "Charade" - Charade (1963)
29. "Pieces of Dreams" - Pieces of Dreams (1970)
30. "Wild is the Wind" - Wild is the Wind (1957) 
31. "(Love is) The Tender Trap" - The Tender Trap (1955) 
32. "Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" -Mahogany (1975)
33. "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" - Yentl (1983)
34. "Pass That Peace Pipe" - Good News (1947)
35. "They're Either Too Young Or Too Old" - Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
36. "Cheek to Cheek" - Top Hat (1935)
37. "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo" - Orchestra Wives (1942)
38. "Georgy Girl" - Georgy Girl (1966)
39. "The Trolley Song" - Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
40. "Ac-Cent-U-Ate the Positive" - Here Comes the Wave (1945)
41. "Again" - Poetic Justice (1993)
42. "Come Saturday Morning" - The Sterile Cuckoo (1969)
43. "Cry Freedom" - Cry Freedom (1987)
44. "Live and Let Die" - Live and Let Die (1973)
45. "That'll Do" - Babe: Pig in the City (1998)
46. "Blazing Saddles" - Blazing Saddles (1974)
47. "Listen" - Dreamgirls (2006)
48. "Life is What You Make It" - Koch (1971)
49. "Thoroughly Modern Millie" - Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
50. "Down in New Orleans" - The Princess and the Frog (2009)
51. "Where Love Has Gone" - Where Love Has Gone (1964)
52. "Zing a Little Zong"  - Just For You (1952)
53. "Ready to Take a Chance Again" - Foul Play (1978)
54. "Look to Your Path" - The Chorus (2004)
55. "The Hands That Built America" - Gangs of New York (2002)
56. "That Thing You Do" - That Thing You Do (1996)
57. "O... Saya" - Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
58. "Walk on the Wild Side" - Walk on the Wild Side (1962)
59. "Almost in Your Arms (Love Song from Houseboat)" - Houseboat (1958)
60. "Build Me a Kiss to Dream On" - The Strip (1951)
61. "Separate Lives" - White Night (1985)
62. "Star!" - Star! (1968)
63. "Two Hearts" - Buster (1988)
64. "Real in Rio" - Rio (2011)
65. "Wilhemina" - Wabash Avenue (1950)
66. "Travellin' Thru" - Transamerica (2005)
67. "Vanilla Sky" - Vanilla Sky (2001)
68. "Through a Long and Sleepless Night" - Come to the Stable (1949)
69. "Waltzing in the Clouds" - Spring Parade (1940)
70. "Endless Love" - Endless Love (1981)
71. "Strange Are the Ways of Love" - The Young Land (1959)
72. "Ole Buttermilk Sky" - Canyon Passage (1946)
73. "Julie" - Julie (1956)
74. "Dust" - Under Western Stars (1938)
75. "The Woody Woodpecker Song" - Wet Blanket Policy (1948)
76. "I Poured My Heart Into a Song" - Second Fiddle (1939)
77. "Remember Me" - Mr. Dodd Takes the Air (1937)
78. "I've Got You Under My Skin" - Born to Dance (1936)

Best Best Song

A comprehensive list and ranking of the songs that won this category. 

1. "Moon River" - Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
2. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" - The Wizard of Oz (1939)
3. "My Heart Will Go On" - Titanic (1997)
4. "A Whole New World" - Aladdin (1992)
5. "The Way We Were" - The Way We Were (1973)
6. "The Way You Look Tonight" - Swing Time (1936)
7. "The Morning After" - The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
8. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
9. "Swinging on a Star" - Going My Way (1944)
10. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)" - The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
11. "Under the Sea" - The Little Mermaid (1989)
12. "Lose Yourself" - 8 Mile (2002)
13. "It Goes Like It Goes" - Norma Rae (1979)
14. "You'll Be in My Heart" - Tarzan (1999)
15. "Colors of the Wind" - Pocahontas (1995)
16. "Theme From Shaft" - Shaft (1971)
17. "For All We Know" - Love and Other Strangers (1970)
18. "All the Way" - The Joker is Wild (1957)
19. "Never on Sunday" - Never on Sunday (1960)
20. "Chim Chim Cher-ee" - Mary Poppins (1964)
21. "I'm Easy" - Nashville (1975)
22. "Beauty and the Beast" - Beauty and the Beast (1991)
23. "Talk to the Animals" - Dr. Dolittle (1967)
24. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" - Neptune's Daughter (1949)
25. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" - Here Comes the Groom (1951)
26. "Born Free" - Born Free (1966)
27. "Fame" - Fame (1980)
28. "Three Coins in the Fountain" - Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
29. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin')" - High Noon (1952)
30. "Love is A Many Splendored Thing" - Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1955)
31. "It Might as Well Be Spring" - State Fair (1945)
32. "White Christmas" - Holiday Inn (1942)
33. "Thanks for the Memory" - The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
34. "The Last Time I Saw Paris" - Lady Be Good (1941)
35. "Things Have Changed" - Wonder Boys (2000)
36. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" - The Lion King (1994)
37. "High Hopes" - A Hole in the Head (1959)
38. "Jai Ho" - Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
39. "Into the West" - Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
40. "Gigi" - Gigi (1958)
41. "Mona Lisa" - Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
42. "We Belong Together" - Toy Story 3 (2010)
43. "The Streets of Philadelphia" - Philadelphia (1993)
44. "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" - Dirty Dancing (1987)
45. "You Light Up My Life" - You Light Up My Life (1977)
46. "The Weary Kind" - Crazy Heart (2009)
47. "The Days of Wine and Roses" - The Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
48. "Up Where We Belong" - An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
49. "The Shadow of Your Heart" - The Sandpiper (1965)
50. "Take My Breath Away" - Top Gun (1986)
51. "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)" - Dick Tracy (1990)
52. "Buttons and Bows" - The Paleface (1948)
53. "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" - Song of the South (1947)
54. "When You Wish Upon a Star" - Pinocchio (1940)
55. "Al otra lado del rio" - The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
56. "The Windmills of Your Mind" - The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
57. "You Must Love Me" - Evita (1996)
58. "Falling Slowly" - Once (2007)
59. "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" - Hustle & Flow (2005)
60. "Last Dance" - Thank God It's Friday (1978)
61. "Secret Love" - Calamity Jane (1953)
62. "Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)" - Arthur (1981)
63. "If I Didn't Have You" - Monsters Inc. (2001)
64. "When You Believe" - The Prince of Egypt (1998)
65. "Say You Say Me" - White Night (1985)
66. "Evergreen (Theme From A Star is Born)" - A Star is Born (1976)
67. "Call Me Irresponsible" - Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
68. "You'll Never Know" - Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
69. "On the Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe" - Harvey Girls (1946)
70. "The Continental" - The Gay Divorcee (1934)
71. "Let the River Run" - Working Girl (1988)
72. "I Need to Wake Up" - An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
73. "The Lullaby of Broadway" - Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
74. "Man or Muppet" - The Muppets (2011)
75. "Flashdance... What a Feeling" - Flashdance (1983)
76. "We May Never Love Like This Again" - The Towering Inferno (1974)
77. "Sweet Leiulani" - Waikiki Wedding (1937)
78. "I Just Called to Say I Love You" - The Woman in Red (1984)