Academy Yanks Song's Oscar Nomination

Ex-governor called, emailed pals on voting committee
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 30, 2014 3:33 AM CST

A huge embarrassment for the Academy Awards: The song nomination for "Alone Yet Not Alone" from the film of the same name has been yanked after it emerged that its writer—a former Academy governor and current head of the music branch—had been calling and emailing colleagues to get them to vote for his song, Deadline reports. The nomination raised plenty of eyebrows when it was announced, as it came from a little-known faith-based movie about 18th-century colonists that played in just 11 theaters, the Los Angeles Times notes.

Songwriter Bruce Broughton insists that he just wanted people to listen to the song. "I'm devastated. I indulged in the simplest grassroots campaign and it went against me when the song started getting attention," he tells the Hollywood Reporter. That isn't a good enough excuse for Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs. "No matter how well-intentioned the communication, using one’s position as a former governor and current executive committee member to personally promote one's own Oscar submission creates the appearance of an unfair advantage," she said in a statement. To the frustration of other candidates, there will be no replacement nominee, leaving just four songs competing for this year's Oscar. (More Bruce Broughton stories.)

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