Feature Films and Original Songs Eligible for Oscar® Race

(1) Michael B. Seligman has been named supervising producer of the 82nd Academy Awards telecast, marking his 33rd year of association with the Oscar® show, telecast producers Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic announced.

(2) Adam Shankman, also a judge on the So You Think You Can Dance (SUTYCD) TV show, announced that the top male and top female winners on the show, Russell Ferguson and Kathryn McCormick, will perform on the Oscar telecast.

Nomination Process for Best Feature Film:

Two hundred seventy-four feature films are eligible for the Academy Award® for Best Picture of 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today. Sixty-three songs from eligible feature-length motion pictures are contending for nominations in the Original Song category.

To be eligible for 82nd Academy Awards® consideration, feature films must open in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County by midnight, December 31, and begin a minimum run of seven consecutive days. The complete list if films will not be made available until all certifications of minimum run compliance have been received.

Under Academy rules, a feature-length motion picture must have a running time of more than 40 minutes and must have been exhibited theatrically on 35mm or 70mm film, or in a qualifying digital format. Feature films that receive their first public exhibition or distribution in any manner other than as a theatrical motion picture release are not eligible for Academy Awards in any category.

Nomination Process for Best Original Song:

The nomination process for Best Original Song is as follows: On Tuesday, January 12, the Academy will screen clips featuring each song, in random order, for voting members of the Music Branch in Los Angeles. Following the screenings, members will determine the nominees by an averaged point system vote. A song must receive an average score of 8.25 or more. Up the five songs may be nominated in the category.

A DVD copy of the song clips will be made available to those branch members who are unable to attend the screening and who request it for home viewing. A mail-in ballot will be provided.

A maximum of two songs may be nominated from any one film. If more than two songs from a film are in contention, the two songs with the most votes will be the nominees.

To be eligible, a song must consist of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the film. A clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition of both lyric and melody must be used in the body of the film or as the first music cue in the end credits.

The list of songs may be viewed by clicking the link "Original Songs Nominated for 82nd AA" on the right sidebar of this blog, and the page will remain throughout the nomination process.

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, 2 February, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, 7 March, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.