Oscars Snub Springsteen, Celebrate "Slumdog" As Nominations Are Announced

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This year's Academy Awards nominees were announced this morning at 8:30 a.m. EST from Los Angeles' Samuel Goldwyn Theatre. In shocking news, Bruce Springsteen's "The Wrestler" didn't even get a nod despite winning the Golden Globe, and the Best Original Song category only includes three nominees: Peter Gabriel's "Down To Earth" from WALL-E and a pair of Slumdog Millionaire songs: M.I.A. and A.R. Rahman's "O... Saya" and Rahman's "Jai Ho." It's shocking that the Academy only went with three songs, also ignoring Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino." Maybe this is all a typo, but the Oscars' official site and IMDB are both reporting only three songs in the race. Rahman's Golden Globe-winning Slumdog score was also nominated.

(Click above to watch Peter Travers break down the biggest categories — and the biggest disappointments.)

In the Best Picture category, Peter Travers' top two films of 2008, Milk and Golden Globe winner Slumdog Millionaire, will slug it out against The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Reader and Frost/Nixon. As expected, Heath Ledger was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight. The nomination comes on the first anniversary of Ledger's death. Benjamin Button leads the field with 13 total nominations.

The Academy Awards will broadcast live on February 22nd with actor Hugh Jackman serving as host. To see all the nominees in the major categories, see below.

Best Song
Peter Gabriel, "Down To Earth," WALL-E
A.R. Rahman, "Jai Ho," Slumdog Millionaire
M.I.A. and A.R. Rahman, "O Saya," Slumdog Millionaire

Best Score
Alexandre Desplat , The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
James Newton Howard, Defiance
Danny Elfman, Milk
A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
Thomas Newman, WALL-E

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, Doubt
Viola Davis, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

Best Actress
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, The Reader
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River

Best Actor
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk> Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best Director
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

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Song Stories

“Everyday People”

Sly and the Family Stone | 1968

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.

More Song Stories entries »

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