The 79th Annual Academy Awards air this Sunday at 5PT/8ET this Sunday, February 25, but one woman who isn't even nominated for an award will be there. She'll even be performing her Oscar-nominated song - except the lady isn't nominated herself.
Beyonce will perform Listen from the film Dreamgirls, in which she costarred with the stealer of the whole darn movie, Jennifer Hudson. Music credits for Listen go to Henry Krieger and Scott Cutler while lyrics to the tune were penned by Anne Preven. Of course, Hudson will be performing a song as well and it will be Love You I Do.
Talk of an Oscar snub began to circulate as soon as the Oscar nominations were announced because many Beyonce fans felt she should have been nominated for Listen. It turns out a change in the Oscar rules this year meant a snub for Beyonce in a town where dues need to be paid. A pretty voice, face, and body aren't enough to get a girl a golden statuette on Oscar night.
Oscar Rules Leave B Out
The new rules this year state that only three writers can be recognized for Best Original Song. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences just wants to limit how many statues get handed out on the big night. Ideally, AMPAS only wants two to be given out to songwriters but a third will be awarded in the case of three "essentially equal contributors to a song."
The Gatekeepers of the Snub
The people who get to decide who those three equal contributors are happen to be secret. We'll never know exactly who they are, but they are basically in the executive committee of the AMPAS music branch. They've decided Beyonce gets to be the odd songwriter out for Listen because they feel she contributed the least to the song.
According to Beyonce's spokesperson, Beyonce doesn't see this as a snub and is very happy the other three songwriters of Listen have been nominated.
Have Some Patience...
Patience is the third song nominated for Best Original Song from Dreamgirls and will be performed by Anika Noni Rose, Keith Robinson, and other cast mates from the film.
Other Songs Not in Dreamgirls Nominated Too!
The song Our Town from the movie Cars was also nominated for Best Original Song. Randy Newman and James Taylor will be performing it Sunday night. Melissa Etheridge will be performing her song from Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, I Need To Wake Up.
