In a bit of an odd move from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, a lesser known film, Alone Yet Not Alone, had its nomination in the Academy Award ceremony removed from the competition.
In a puzzling decision that was decided on Tuesday evening, the song “Alone Yet Not Alone” taken from the film of the same name was axed from the list of Academy Award nominations for best original song at the upcoming ceremony for the Academy Awards.
Revoking a nomination from the ceremony is extremely rare for the Academy, and although the removal of “Alone Yet Not Alone” for best original song could make room for a song such as “Please Mr. Kennedy” from Inside Llewyn Davis, which some may argue was snubbed from the nominations, no new nomination will be added to the category.
The song “Along Yet Not Alone” is composed by Bruce Broughton, with lyrics by Dennis Spiegel. The reasoning behind the song’s omission from the award is the fact that Broughton, who is a former Governor of the Academy, had emailed members of the branch during the voting period in order to alert them of his submission to the Best Song category.
Alone Yet Not Alone was released to a small amount of theaters, and shocked all of Hollywood when its song was nominated for the Oscar originally. The film tells the the film tells a true-life tale of two women abducted by Native Americans in the mid-18th century. In the film, Joni Eareckson Tada, an author, speaker and quadriplegic who needed her husband to press down on her diaphragm in order to sing.
Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the current president of the Academy, talked about how his actions created an unfair advantage and said “No matter how well-intentioned the communication, using one’s position as a former governor and current executive committee member to personally promote one’s own Oscar submission creates the appearance of an unfair advantage.”
Due to the fact that Alone Yet Not Alone was released to such a small amount of people, it seem that the composer felt that he need to give the song a little extra nudge, which was looked down upon by the members of the Academy.It was decided by members of the board that decided that Broughton’s actions violated the Academy’s regulations regarding promotion for Oscar voting.
Following the removal of “Alone yet Not Alone”‘s nomination, the songs that remain in contention for the Oscar for best song are “Happy” from Despicable Me 2, “Let It Go” from Frozen, “The Moon Song” from Her, and “Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom.
Tune in on Sunday, March 2nd for the live telecast of the Academy awards at 8 p.m.
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