Eddie Vedder, "Better Days"
I hope the lily-white whimsy of Eat Pray Love doesn't scare voters away from this, Eddie Vedder's triumphant jam about self-discovery. Not that Vedder has ever been the award-dais type, but "Better Days" bears all the world-music chutzpah of an Oscar shoo-in like Carly Simon's "Let the River Run."
Alanis Morissette, "I Remain"
Though she won a bouquet of Grammys for her first disc Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette's idiosyncratic phrasing and artful syllable-squishing have since gone under-praised. With this selection from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, she adds tones of emotional confusion and introspection to an otherwise garish, senseless movie. A nomination here would compensate Morissette for her Oscar-snubbed contribution to the Dogma soundtrack, "Still."
Owl City, "To the Sky"
Owl City's de rigueur twee-ness can be cloying, but "To the Sky," their contribution to Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (of course) soundtrack, percolates with poppy flounce. It achieves the same feel-good spunk of an Oscar nominee like the Counting Crows' "Accidentally in Love," but without odious clap-happiness.