Oscars Kill Best Song Nomination for Song No One Had Ever Heard of Anyway

"Alone Yet Not Alone" had a but brief moment in the limelight

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When the Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song were announced this year, one of the choices was met with a universal “huh?”

“Alone Yet Not Alone” is the theme song from the obscure period film with the same name, about a kidnapped family in 18th century Pennsylvania. Most people had never heard of the film—or its eponymous song—because it was only released in nine theaters in the U.S. back in October, so the song’s nomination seemed to come out of left field.

Or maybe not. Turns out, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has now voted to rescind the Original Song nomination for “Alone Yet Not Alone,” due to the inappropriate campaigning by the song’s composer, Bruce Broughton. The same Bruce Broughton who was once the head of the Academy’s music branch. For his part, Broughton admitted to campaigning the members of his branch, though he told Entertainment Weekly that his campaign consisted of a few requests to “take a look” at his song.

Even so, the Academy has made the rare decision to pull the nomination and, with that, the song that had no chance of winning is out of the race. Sadly, instead of choosing a worthy runner-up like, say, Lana Del Rey’s gorgeous song “Young and Beautiful” from The Great Gatsby, the Academy is sticking with only four honorees in the category.

[EW]