Posted on 01/29/2014 5:52:05 PM PST by a fool in paradise
"Alone Yet Not Alone"? More like nominated yet not nominated.
In a move with few precedents in the 86-year history of the Academy Awards, the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided to disqualify an Oscar nominee prior to the Oscars ceremony itself. "Alone Yet Not Alone," a little-heard tune from a little-seen film of the same name, will not appear on Oscar ballots when the final round of voting begins on Feb. 14. And the Academy will not announce a replacement nominee.
The Academy's board of governors met on Tuesday evening to investigate allegations that have been levied against the surprising nominee since Oscar nominations were announced on Jan. 16. The board eventually concluded that the song's nominated writer, Bruce Broughton, a former governor and current music branch executive committee member, "had emailed [some of the other 239] members of the branch to make them aware of his submission during the nominations voting period," the Academy said in a statement Wednesday.
EARLIER: 'Alone Yet Not Alone' Singer Dismisses Critics of Surprise Nomination
Broughton, who was nominated for the best original score Oscar for Silverado 28 years ago and served on the Academy's board from 2003-12, shared his nomination with the lyricist Dennis Spiegel. Their hymnal song is featured in an independently produced faith-based feature about 18th century colonists struggling to survive in the Ohio Valley. It was performed in the film by Joni Eareckson Tada, a prominent, quadriplegic Evangelical minister.
Moments after the announcement was made, Broughton said in a statement to THR: "I'm devastated. I indulged in the simplest grassroots campaign and it went against me when the song started getting attention. I got taken down by competition that had months of promotion and advertising behind them. I simply asked people to find the song and consider it."
"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," said Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the Academy president.
According to the Academy statement, "The board determined that Broughton’s actions were inconsistent with the Academy's promotional regulations, which provide, among other terms, that 'it is the Academy's goal to ensure that the awards competition is conducted in a fair and ethical manner. If any campaign activity is determined by the board of governors to work in opposition to that goal, whether or not anticipated by these regulations, the board of governors may take any corrective actions or assess any penalties that in its discretion it deems necessary to protect the reputation and integrity of the awards process.'"
There have been only a handful of instances similar to this one throughout the history of the Oscars. The short subject (comedy) nomination for Stout Hearts and Willing Hands (1931) was revoked and replaced with one for another RKO Radio short, Scratch-As-Catch-Can, without any documentation as to why. Dive Bomb (1942), a nominee for best effects (special effects), was replaced by The Sea Wolf on the Oscar ballot; history has recorded no explanation for this substitution. A best writing (motion picture story) nomination for Hondo (1953) was revoked after it was determined that it was not an original work; a replacement nominee was not announced. The nominees for a Bowery Boys comedy that was mistaken for a musical that shared its title, High Society (1956), was removed from the Oscar ballot at the request of the former film's nominees, who acknowledged that their nomination was clearly the result of voter confusion. The best original dramatic score nomination for The Godfather (1972) was revoked by the Academy prior to the Oscars when it was determined that it featured portions of Rota's earlier composition for another film, Fortunella (1958); it was replaced on the ballot by the score for Sleuth. A Place in the World (1992), Uruguay's entry for the best foreign language film Oscar, was nominated by the Academy but subsequently deemed ineligible and taken off of the ballot because Uruguay was found to have had less to do with its creation than Argentina. And Tuba Atlantic, after being nominated for and losing the best live-action short Oscar, was subsequently disqualified after it was revealed that it had aired on Norwegian television prior to the Oscars ceremony.
The only film or individual to be disqualified after winning an Oscar, as far as THR has been able to determine, was Young Americans (1967), which won the best documentary feature Oscar but less than a month later was stripped of its win when it was revealed that the film had screened the prior year. The first runner-up, Journey Into Self, was awarded the win the next day.
The remaining four nominees for the best original song Oscar at the 86th Academy Awards 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
I think we all know what this is about, and it has nothing to do with his emails.
yeah huh anyone who grows garlic as a hobby
Trouble in Mutual Admiration Society paradise!
From the “earlier” story linked above:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscars-alone-not-alone-singer-672005
As a mini-controversy develops about an Oscar-nominated song from a microbudget Christian film called Alone Yet Not Alone that few people saw, the singer, Joni Eareckson Tada, is confessing that she’s as surprised as anyone that the Academy has recognized such an obscure song.
Eareckson Tada is a 64-year-old quadriplegic who runs a charitable organization that distributes wheelchairs to kids in developing nations. She’s a devout Christian who has little to do with the entertainment industry and rarely goes to the movies. She grew up singing hymns but has no professional training. And her lung capacity is just 51 percent of what it ought to be — so weak, in fact, that her husband needed to push on her diaphragm while she recorded the Oscar-nominated song to give her enough breath to hit the high notes....
“I read some of the blog posts and the negative responses, but I don’t blame those people. I’d be scratching my head, too,” she says. “I don’t even know how this occurred. I don’t know how the nomination process works, but I’m grateful. I think I give a good performance but not a great one, and I think that the Academy recognizing this humble, good little song is rather wonderful.”
One aspect of the controversy she had been unaware of is the charge that Broughton’s nomination is somehow tainted because he served on the Academy’s board of governors for the music branch for nine years. One songwriter who didn’t get a nomination told THR that the Alone Yet Not Alone nomination was “disheartening to a lot of artists.” The Week magazine called the situation “shady.” Others who are questioning the Academy’s choice include The Wire, Spin and HitFix. And Broughton’s involvement is not the song’s only connection to the Academy, as its arranger, William Ross, was the musical director for last year’s Oscar show and he will reprise that role again this year.
But conspiracy theories and sour grapes from those not nominated this year don’t impress Eareckson Tada.
“There are always films up for Oscars that Americans never heard of … and words like ‘allegations,’ ‘clandestine’ and ‘twisting arms’ aren’t ever associated with those other nominations, so why this one?” she asks. “Yes. it’s unusual, but somebody must have liked the song very much. I don’t know how the process works, but I do know nobody twisted arms or pushed their influence.”...
Beautiful song. . .
(for highest quality, skip any ad if possible, then pause video, click on the gear at the lower right under the screen, click on 720p, then play the video)
Alone Yet Not Alone - Performed by Joni Eareckson Tada
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWVyVMbSzM4
Ever look at the Best Spoken Word (which used to be comedy, thespian, and poetry, among others) recording category in the GRAMMIES?
For the past several decades, they’ve all been Leftists.
Naw, there’s no Hollywood Blacklist. Nope. We certainly would’ve heard about it if there was. Our goverment doesn’t ask to see rosters of who’s in Tea Party organization, does it? Why they must be partnered with some evil empire overseas or something.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Best_Spoken_Word_Album
All a political best boy’s club. I say let the people vote. They’d be surprised at what would win and what would not.
Nora Jones was never supposed to be heard on commercial radio either.
Quite convenient, isn’t it?
NO they wouldnt be surprised at what won but their would be a gnashing of the teeth.
Yep, we know the surprising positive response to a Christian themed song cannot be allowed. What if it actually won an academy award? I heard Joni on the radio and she was glorifying God over the total shock of the song being nominated. He has this situation too.
Thanks for the link. Excellent. Can’t wait to see the film as my ancestors were pioneers there at the time frame depicted in the film.
And to think that this year I was actually going to watch the Oscars just to see JET at the Awards show. Why does it not surprise me that they rescinded the nomination.
"Beautiful song. . . (for highest quality, skip any ad if possible, then pause video, click on the gear at the lower right under the screen, click on 720p, then play the video)Install Adblock Plus to never have to watch youtube ads or most other ads on the internet.Alone Yet Not Alone - Performed by Joni Eareckson Tada
Yeah, there are a some clips from the movie on YouTube, and it looks pretty good. I very rarely go to the theater, but I’ve made a note to remind myself to look for it when it comes out (June 13 according to their website). . .
Thanks :) I’ll give it a try.
Really? A minister? I haven't checked, but it highly surprise me if she regarded herself as such. Last I knew Mrs. Tada was a member of a PCA church and the PCA does NOT ordain women.
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