Academy Award for Best Original Song

The Academy Award for Best Original Song is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best, original song written specifically for a film.  The original requirement was only that the nominated song appear in a movie during the previous year.  Jerome Kern got the Academy to change the rule after he won for "The Last Time I Saw Paris."  The song was not written specifically for the film Lady Be Good.

The songs nominated this year are:

"Alone, Yet Not Alone" from Alone Yet Not Alone 
Music by Bruce Broughton and Lyrics by Dennis Spiegel

"Happy" from Despicable Me 2 - Music and Lyrics by Pharrell Williams

"Let It Go" from Frozen - Music and Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

"The Moon Song" from Her
Music by Karen O *Karen Lee Orzolek) and Lyrics by Karen O and Spike Jonze

"Ordinary Love" from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton (U2) and

Lyrics by Paul Hewson (Bono)

Some previous winners are:

2012

 "Skyfall" from Skyfall - Music and Lyrics by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth

2011

"Man or Muppet" from The Muppets - Music and Lyrics by Bret McKenzie

2010

"We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3 - Music and Lyrics by Randy Newman

2009

"The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart - Music and Lyrics by Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett

2008

"Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire - Music by A. R. Rahman and Lyrics by Gulzar
2007
"Falling Slowly" from Once - Music and Lyrics by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
2006
"I Need to Wake Up" from An Inconvenient Truth - Music and Lyrics by Melissa Etheridge
2005
"It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" from Hustle & Flow - Music and Lyrics by Juicy J. Frayser Boy
     and DJ Paul (Three 6 Mafia)