Enchanted tunes dominate Oscar contenders
Sara Hall

NEW YORK—As was the case last year, three tunes from one movie will compete for the best original song Oscar at the Academy Awards on Sunday. But it’s not a given that one of the “Enchanted” entries will win. Last year, the three contenders from “Dreamgirls” were beaten by Melissa Etheridge’s “I Need To Wake Up” from “An Inconvenient Truth.”
Rounding out this year’s field are “Falling Slowly” from the surprise hit “Once,” and “Raise It Up” from “August Rush.” Here is a look at the nominees.
NOMINATED SONG: “Falling Slowly”
FILM: “Once” (Fox Searchlight)
ARTIST(S): Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
SOUNDTRACK CHART PEAK: No. 2 on Top Soundtracks chart; No. 27 on the Billboard 200
SOUNDTRACK COPIES SOLD: 363,000
(Sales through the week ending February 17, 2008 according to Nielsen SoundScan) “Once,” the little film that could, was released last May and earned more than $9 million at the box office. But its male star, Glen Hansard of veteran Irish band the Frames, almost didn’t appear in the movie at all. Director John Carney had already opted to use Hansard’s songs in “Once” before casting, but after the intended star dropped out, he turned to the singer/songwriter, who previously appeared in the film “The Commitments,” to fill the role.
“I actually recommended Damien Rice,” Hansard recalls. “But John said, ‘Then I’d have to use his songs, and I really like these ones I’ve already chosen.”’ A few days later, Carney had an epiphany. “It’s as plain as the nose on my face that you should be the guy in this film,” he told Hansard, who reluctantly agreed.