The Rundown 2020: Original Song

For our second Rundown article, we look at Best Original Song. After the jump, you’ll find our winner and runner-up predictions for Best XXXX as well as general commentary about the race. Next week, we’ll start off on Monday with a category Best International Feature.

Best Original Song

Winner Predictions

Fight for You – Judas and the Black Messiah
Hear My Voice – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Husavik – Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Io Si (Seen) – The Life Ahead
Speak Now – One Night in Miami (WL O) (PP O) (TB O) (TL O)

Runner-Up Predictions

Fight for You – Judas and the Black Messiah (WL O)
Io Si (Seen) – The Life Ahead (PP O) (TB R) [New] (TL R)

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Wesley Lovell: The songs from One Night in Miami, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and Judas and the Black Messiah are the top three potential winners in this category. Dianne Warren will remain Oscar-less and comedy songs seldom win this category. “Speak Now” has been dominating awards season, but “Fight for You” is hitting right as voters make their choices, so it’s possible that H.E.R. could pick up her second award towards an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony).
Peter J. Patrick: We’ve had some lovely songs this year, most of them over closing credits. In the end, it comes down to a choice between Best Supporting Actor nominee Leslie Odom, Jr. vs. perennial song nominee Diane Warren – I suspect it will be Odom.
Tripp Burton: Leslie Odom Jr. is probably not going to win an acting Oscar this year, but there is certainly a world where the Academy wants to reward him (and his film) with this. Diane Warren is lurking in the background, though, and her long losing streak at the Oscars is getting grumblings of needing to be broken. The Life Ahead has underperformed all season, though, and Odom Jr. will probably beat his Hamilton co-star Lin-Manuel Miranda to the Oscar.
Thomas La Tourrette: This is looking to be the one place that One Night in Miami will win. “Speak Now” has won more precursors than any of the other nominees and probably will go on to win the Oscar as well. Leslie Odom Jr. will not win for best supporting actor but will be one of the composers of this song to win. Poor Diane Warren has yet another nomination, this time for lyrical ballad from the Italian film The Life Ahead, but looks unlikely to win. There have been other foreign language nominees which have won, but I do not think that is likely to happen. “Io Si” is the most likely to upset, but still will not win. “Husavik” is a beautiful ballad, but songs from comic films tend not to go on to win Oscars. “Fight for You” from Judas and the Black Messiah has an almost danceable beat and would perhaps be my choice. “Hear My Voice” from The Trial of the Chicago 7 is a stirring anthem, but still will lose to “Speak Now.”