For our first Rundown article, we tackle Original Song. After the jump, you’ll find our winner and runner-up predictions for Best Original Song as well as general commentary about the race. Tomorrow, we’ll cover the other music category, Original Score.

Best Original Song

Winner Predictions

• Be Alive – King Richard (WL O)
• Dos Oruguitas – Encanto (TB O)
• Down to Joy – Belfast
• No Time to Die – No Time to Die (PP O) (TL O)
• Somehow You Do – Four Good Days

Runner-Up Predictions

• Dos Oruguitas – Encanto (PP R) [New] (TL O)
• No Time to Die – No Time to Die (WL O) (TB O)

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Wesley Lovell: Having listened to the options, there isn’t a one that’s incredibly memorable and some of them, like “Down to Joy” aren’t good at all. I could see them selecting Beyoncé for the award on name recognition alone or the modern trend to honor every Bond song whether it’s good or not (I’m looking at you, Sam Smith), so “No Time to Die’ could be the choice. Personally, I would pick “Dos Oruguitas” as it’s the most compelling lyrically, but everyone is criticizing Disney for not submitting “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” which would have been unworthy regardless. “Somehow You Do” is a pretty typical Diane Warren song, a solid lyric, but familiar music that isn’t terribly catchy. I could see “No Time to Die” winning as well, which wouldn’t be the worst Bond song to do so (I’m still talking about you, Sam Smith).
Peter J. Patrick: The title song from “No Time to Die” is the most popular of the nominees, but they may want to give the award to Lin-Manuel Miranda for “Dos Oruguitas” even though they would probably prefer to be giving it to him for Encanto‘s bigger hit, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”
Tripp Burton: What a few months ago seemed like one of the easiest locks come Oscar night has turned into a heated battle. For a year, everyone seemed to assume that this was Billie Eilish’s to lose for her phenomenal Bond song; then Encanto came along and topped off an amazing run for Lin-Manuel Miranda this year, and it seems more likely that he might finish up his EGOT come Oscar night. And there is also Beyoncé, for a song in a film that picked up a lot of Oscar traction as the season rolled along, plus perennial bridesmaid Diane Warren with her fifth consecutive nomination, plus Van Morrison for a Best Picture contender that is heavy on his music, and you could make a case for anyone here.
Thomas La Tourrette: Songs from James Bond films seem to do very well in this category, especially lately. “No Time to Die” from the same named movie should prove no exception and should easily win. It was not my favorite, but I can imagine it winning. Its main competition is “Dos Oruguitas” from the Disney film Encanto. Songs from the film are very popular. If “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” had been nominated, I think it would be the frontrunner, as it is the most popular tune on Spotify at present. However, Disney decided to put forward a more traditional ballad, and it could ride the wave of support for Encanto to a win. I am just not certain that people like it enough for it to win, though it would not be a huge surprise if it does pull off the upset. Diane Warren on her 13th nomination and fifth in a row will have to wait another year to win. Likewise Beyoncé and Van Morrison will have to be content with their nominations.

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