Well, I am happy to announce that the Academy is not going to be declaring “Falling Slowly” ineligible for an Original Song nomination at the 2008 Oscar awards as was previously speculated. There was some debate as to whether or not the song was truly original and written for the much loved musical drama Once, but the rumor has ended where it started as the New York Times’ Carpetbagger David Carr shares a statement made by Charles Bernstein, chairman of the music branch executive committee:
“The Academy’s music branch executive committee has met and endorsed the validity of “Falling Slowly” as a nominated achievement. The committee relied on written assurances and detailed chronologies provided by songwriter of “Falling Slowly,” the writer-director of “Once” and Fox Searchlight.”
“The genesis of the picture was unusually protracted, but director John Carney and songwriter Glen Hansard were working closely together in 2002 when the project that became ‘Once’ was discussed. ‘Falling Slowly’ began to be composed, but the actual script and financing for the picture was delayed for several years, during which time Mr. Hansard and his collaborator Marketa Irglova played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song’s eligibility.”
This decision comes the night before ballots were set to be shipped out, which leads me to believe they never really intended to declare the song ineligible. However, the uproar was a result of the fact that Once has been overlooked time and time again. The film didn’t receive a musical nomination at the Golden Globes and the fact that only “Falling Slowly” earned a nomination from the film and Disney’s Enchanted earned three nominations is a shame in and of itself.
Personally “Falling Slowly” isn’t even my favorite song from the film, that distinction belongs to “If You Want Me”, a song Once star and song writer Glen Hansard specifically told me was written by co-star Marketa Irglova for the film. Add “When Your Minds Made Up” and “Say It to Me Now” and Once could have owned four of the nominations and honestly, it should have.
Now, let’s just hope the Oscars go off without a hitch and we can see it performed live at the big show, just before it takes home the Oscar. Because if the overwhelming love for the film and the song wasn’t evident enough to the voting Academy by now they better watch out because there are several online bloggers that may go crazy should it get snubbed.
