In Contention

Tag: John Legend

  • Bingham wins a Grammy, set for Bonnaroo

    I didn’t see the Grammys this weekend.  In fact, I tend to avoid them like the plague.  But it was nevertheless an impressive slate of winners, so that’s a unique start.

    In any case, it’s worth pointing out that Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett’s “The Weary Kind” wrapped up a long awards march by taking the award for Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media.  So add that to a list of accolades that includes an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a Critic’s Choice Movie Award, and the Americana Music Association “Song of the Year” honor.  A great ride indeed.

    “It’s incredible,” Bingham said to press backstage at the Grammys. “It’s been a hell of a ride. All this stuff flies by so fast and happens so quick. Afterward you look back on it, let it soak in, and see what it’s all about.”

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Final analysis, part one

    It seems hard to believe that it’s been more than six months since I wrote this year’s introductory Tech Support column ( a dissection of the art direction race). Much has changed since then, naturally, as we are less than a week away from the big day when we find out the nominees for the Oscars this year. Today, I take a final look at the music categories, sound categories and the two categories that have been narrowed down to seven finalists – Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup.

    BEST MAKEUP

    In this utterly bizarre category, virtually any combination of the seven finalists would fail to surprise me as the final three. That said, I’ve had the same top two predicted all year and see no reason to change now: “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Wolfman.” The former had massive box office and very noticeable makeup, whereas the latter is exactly the sort of movie that tends to score here and nowhere else.

    Logic may put “True Grit” or “The Fighter” next in line due to their Best Picture contender status. But as much as these films are loved, they don’t have as showy makeup as the other finalists, and this is a category that often doesn’t care how films are received overall.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Original Song

    I guess I’ve been pretty hard on the Best Original Song category this year. It’s not like any given year tends to have a deluge of impressive fodder up for consideration or anything, but on the whole, outside of a concentration of contenders that have a fighting chance at recognition, it just seems to be an uninspired lot of tracks in the mix for 2010.

    Before diving into the fray, some quick reminding. The music branch’s rules are always in flux and over the last couple of years they have shifted, perhaps rightly, into a frame of assessing songs as they are used within the context of a given film. Let’s look at the official language from the Academy’s rules and eligibility literature:

    An original song consists of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the motion picture. There must be a clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition (not necessarily visually presented) of both lyric and melody, used in the body of the motion picture or as the first music cue in the end credits.

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  • John Legend and The Roots perform ‘Shine’

    In lieu of a proper “listen to” item on John Legend’s “Shine” from “Waiting for Superman” (since I’ve already featured the tune twice), I thought I’d post up this video of the singer performing the song with The Roots in studio.

    At the end of the day, I think this track has a real shot at being our Best Original Song winner.  Though some point out that Melissa Etheridge won here in 2006 for “I Need to Wake Up” from “An Inconvenient Truth” (another doc hit with AMPAS), that was before the current voting practice of viewing contenders in the context of their films.  So it’s possible Legend misses the nod altogether.  But I think it’s also worth pointing out that, like “I Need to Wake Up,” “Shine” doesn’t just play over a traditional credit role, but instead an animated “fact roll,” if you will, with various bits of information making an extension of the narrative.

    And after the nod?  Tough to stand up to that charisma and such a chance to do well by the issue by shining (pardon the pun) a spotlight on a film that may not win in the doc feature field (given the stiff competition), especially when you’re working with frothy tracks from animated features and musical numbers in films that don’t appear to be major Oscar threats in general.

    Check out the video after the jump.

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  • John Legend performs ‘Shine’

    A few months back we featured a video of John Legend performing Best Original Song contender “Shine” from “Waiting for Superman.” Today, though, via Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy blog, I stumbled across this more, well, “produced” video of the singer crooning the tune.

    It’s a gorgeous piece of music (and a highpoint of a post-screening LAFF shindig back in June).  I imagine it’ll be in the thick of the hunt this season, possibly even the eventual winner.  I don’t think any of the Disney contenders have the gravitas to win and after that it’s, what, stuff from “Burlesque” and “Country Strong?”

    Speaking of which, I updated the Best Original Song category in our Contenders section with all of the possibilities I could round up.  Let me know if I forgot anything.  (I’m sure I did.)  Check out Legend’s WSJ performance of “Shine” after the jump.

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  • Calling all original song contenders

    As we get closer and closer to the film awards season, I thought maybe it was a good time to round up all the potential original song contenders.  It’s generally a good idea to keep track of these things, so let’s see what we have so far.

    One of the best bets is probably Randy Newman’s “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3.” As usual for Newman, it’s not the kind of song that dives too far beneath the surface, but it’s a delightful jingle that helped sum up one of the year’s biggest critical and popular hits, so it should be considered formidable.

    Speaking of animated films,“How to Train Your Dragon” has an original song, “Sticks & Stones,” from Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi Birgisson.  It’s a fast-paced bit of happiness that probably doesn’t have what it takes to push through to a nomination, but it’s in the field nevertheless.

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  • John Legend’s ‘Shine’ from ‘Waiting for Superman’

    Paramount is having a nice to-do for Davis Guggenheim’s “Waiting for ‘Superman’” June 21st during the Los Angeles Film Festival.  To say the least, following great notices at Sundance, it’s a documentary feature hopeful come year’s end.  Legend will be on hand to perform “Shine,” his original song for the film, which apparently plays over the closing credits.  As we all know, that may or may not be a deal breaker for the song’s Oscar chances, but I clicked around and came up with this You Tube clip of Legend performing the track.  Thought I’d share: