Oscars' Best Original Song Nominations: 'Man or Muppet' Vs. 'Real in Rio'

Posted on Jan 24th 2012 11:29AM by Cameron Matthews
Comments

Disney

The 84th Academy Awards nomination list is here! And out of the 39 tunes shortlisted for Best Original Song, only two have made the cut. 'Man or Muppet' from Jason Segel's 'The Muppets' and 'Real in Rio' from the animated feature 'Rio' are the only two original tracks deemed worthy of an Oscar in 2012.

"I think that 'Man or Muppet' should be nominated for an Academy Award. You can put that in print," funnyman Segel recently told Spinner. The actor worked with Flight of the Concords scoring genius Bret McKenzie on the movie's soundtrack, and the video features Jim Parsons of 'The Big Bang Theory.'

'Real in Rio,' a colorful homage to Brazilian flora and fauna, was written and produced collaboratively between piano man Sérgio Mendes, John Powell, Carlinhos Brown, Mikael Mutti and Siedah Garrett. Performers include Jesse Eisenberg, Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway, George Lopez, will.i.am and the Rio Singers.

The National's 'Think You Can Wait,' from Paul Giamatti's 'Win Win' was championed by the indie world as a dark horse for an Oscar nomination. However, even the band's singer Matt Berninger was skeptical his song would make it past the gates. "That doesn't seem like a short list, though, does it? 39 songs?" he tells Rolling Stone. "I think we'll probably lose to a 'Muppets' song, but you know, there's no shame in that."

Click over to Moviefone to check out the full nominations list.

Watch 'Man or Muppet'

Listen to 'Real in Rio'