It'll be Avril Lavigne vs. Cher, John Legend vs. Eddie Vedder, and rap vs. French art song in the Best Original Song competition at the 83rd Academy Awards, the Academy announced on Wednesday.
And Justin Bieber is in the mix, too.
This year's field consists of 41 songs from 36 different movies; "Burlesque" is the only film to have three songs in competition, while "Country Strong," "Black Tulip" and "Despicable Me" have two each.
The biggest stars to have contributed entries include Janet Jackson ("Nothing," from "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too"), Legend ("Shine," from "Waiting for 'Superman'"), Lavigne ("Alice," from "Alice in Wonderland"), rapper Pharell (two songs from "Despicable Me"), Randy Newman ("We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3"), Vedder ("Better Days," from "Eat Pray Love") and Coldplay's Chris Martin (who co-wrote "Me and Tennessee," which his wife Gwyneth Paltrow, left, sings with Tim McGraw in "Country Strong").
Another movie star/music star duet: "Never Say Never" from "The Karate Kid," which features that film's star, Jaden Smith, performing with Justin Bieber.
Among the songs that were likely disqualified by the Academy's always-picky music branch are "Same High" from "The Kids Are All Right" and the aria "La Donna in Viola" from "For Colored Girls."
A compilation of movie clips in which all the submitted songs appear will now be viewed and scored by members of the music branch. The top two-to-five songs will receive nominations, unless none of the songs receive an average score of 8.25 on a scale of 6-to-10.
The songs most likely to advance include Newman's and Legend's contributions; Diane Warren's power ballad "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," which Cher performs in "Burlesque"; "If I Rise" from "127 Hours," performed by Dido and Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman; and Alan Menken's "I See the Light," the only song submitted by that multiple Oscar winner from "Tangled."
The field is considerably smaller than last year, when 63 songs qualified.
The full list:
“Alice” from “Alice in Wonderland”
“Forever One Love” from “Black Tulip”
“Freedom Song” from “Black Tulip”
“Bound to You” from “Burlesque”
“Welcome to Burlesque” from “Burlesque”
“You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” from “Burlesque”
“There’s a Place for Us” from “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”
“Coming Home” from “Country Strong”
“Me and Tennessee” from “Country Strong”
“Despicable Me” from “Despicable Me”
“Prettiest Girls” from “Despicable Me”
“Dear Laughing Doubters” from “Dinner for Schmucks”
“Better Days” from “Eat Pray Love”
“If You Run” from “Going the Distance”
“Darkness before the Dawn” from “Holy Rollers”
“Sticks & Stones” from “How to Train Your Dragon”
“Le Gris” from “Idiots and Angels”
“Chanson Illusionist” from “The Illusionist”
“Never Say Never” from “The Karate Kid”
“To the Sky” from “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole”
“What If” from “Letters to Juliet”
“Life during Wartime” from “Life during Wartime”
“Made in Dagenham” from “Made in Dagenham”
“Little One” from “Mother and Child”
“Be the One” from “The Next Three Days”
“If I Rise” from “127 Hours”
“When You See Forever” from “The Perfect Game”
“I Remain” from “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”
“Dream Big” from “Pure Country 2: The Gift”
“How I Love You” from “Ramona and Beezus”
“Darling I Do” from “Shrek Forever After”
“Noka Oi” from “Six Days in Paradise”
“This Is a Low” from “Tamara Drewe”
“I See the Light” from “Tangled”
“Rise” from “3 Billion and Counting”
“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3”
“Eclipse: All Yours” from “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”
“Nothing” from “Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too”
“A Better Life” from “Unbeaten”
“Shine” from “Waiting for ‘Superman’”
“The Reasons Why” from “Wretches & Jabberers”
