The Robbie Williams song “Forbidden Road” from “Better Man,” shortlisted earlier this week for best original song, has been disqualified, Variety has learned.
The song, insiders report, “incorporates material from an existing song that was not written for the film” and so has been deemed ineligible for Oscar.
Academy rules state that the words and music of any song submitted for awards consideration must be “original and written specifically for the motion picture.”
The melody of “Forbidden Road” contains marked similarities to that of “I Got a Name,” the Charles Fox-Norman Gimbel song performed by Jim Croce in the 1973 film “The Last American Hero.” Coincidentally, Fox is one of three governors of the Academy’s music branch.
A letter went out to the 400-plus members of the music branch this morning. Reportedly the similarities just came to the attention of the branch executive committee this week, and the decision to drop the song came yesterday afternoon.
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Noted the letter: “This is a decision that both honors our rules and protects the special nature of the Original Song and Score categories.”
This means the original song shortlist will be trimmed to 14 titles from the previous 15. Disqualifications like this generally do not result in a “replacement” song. Music branch voters will choose from the remaining 14 titles when voting for Oscar nominations begins Jan. 8.