I saw all three films from which the best song nominations were made. Not one of the three songs was memorable in the context of the film, or on it's own. All three were bloody awful on their own.

A movie song should trigger an emotional connection to the part in the film where it is placed, for it to work effectively "in context".

All I could think of when I saw "Hustle and Flow" was--no wonder the guy is a loser, his song sucks. While I loved the performance of the actor, the song just threw me right out of the movie. Same thing with the "sweeping soundtrack" bit at the end of Memoir of A Geisha (which was nominated for best film score--a predictable, bland "lush" John Williams score) when she was standing out at the end of what looked like the bloody Cliffs of Moher, dropped there how? by helicopter? also threw me right out of the film.

Now come on. Be honest. You are trying to justify the celebration of some very, very banal and pedestrian stuff here.

Think of past best songs and best film scores. I can still hear the film scores from films like Out of Africa and Dances with Wolves in my head. But hey--just how many Best Song nominees or winners from the past can you name?

I can't name a single one, because it is a complete fluff category of largely worthless and forgetable songs (just like this year).

Film scores on the other hand, do sometimes rise to greatness, but only in the film context. I doubt the Vienna Symphony is playing stirring versions of the above mentioned film scores, except during their summer pop music series to pull in some cash.