Music Awards

Score:
- This is always a strange category for me because I am usually somewhat oblivious to it unless it is strikingly different or really bad. There are also supposedly a very strict set of rules for scores that can qualify because a couple potential candidates always seem to get disqualified for some reason or another. Due to the lack of my musical background this is probably the category that I have the least understanding of and appreciation for, and therefore I am going to abstain from commenting. And the nominees are...

Alexandre Desplat (2nd Nomination) for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Danny Elfman (4th Nomination) for Milk

James Newton Howard(5th Nomination) for Defiance

Thomas Newman(9th Nomination) for WALL-E

A.R. Rahman(1st Nomination) for Slumdog Millionaire

Who I would have nominated:
Alexandre Desplat (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
James Newton Howard (The Dark Knight)
Anton Monsted (Australia)
Thomas Newman (WALL-E)
A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire)

Best Song:
- This category awards original songs written specifically for the films they are in. This category usually has 5 nominees and I have no idea why there are only 3 this year, but I do know it is borderline criminal that Springstein's song The Wrestler and Eastwood's song Gran Torino are not included, while Slumdog Millionaire got 2 nominations. And the nominees are...

Down To Earth from WALL-E- To be honest I had no idea what this song sounded like or where it was in the film prior to its nomination and I had to go listen to it after the nominees were announced to try to remember it. I'm sure it is a good song, but I am no musician and it frankly doesn't appeal that much to me.
Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire- This was my favorite song from the several notable songs from Slumdog Millionaire. It plays a couple times during the movie, most notably at the end accompanied by the choreographed dance sequence while the credits roll. A very cool, new age Indian upbeat song.
O Saya from Slumdog Millionaire- Couldn't exactly remember this one either, but when I went back to listen to it I remembered it was the song played during the opening scene of the movie which was one of my favorite from the whole film and this song really added to it. Another upbeat song with very contemporary Indian music roots.

Who I would have nominated:
Gran Torino from Gran Torino
Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire
The Wrestler from The Wrestler


Note:
I am omitting the 6 remaining categories due to the fact that I have not seen any of the three short film category nominees(Does anybody actually ever see those?), and I have only seen previews and read synopses of the documentaries and foreign films. The animated category is a run away for WALL-E and i feel I have already discussed that film in enough detail through its other nominations. That leaves Bolt and Kung Fu Panda, and I have not seen Bolt and Kung Fu Panda is fun but nothing special.