The Golden Bin Awards: Best Original Song

Best Original Song should always go to a song that’s important to the movie

In this series based on the Oscars Deathrace series of articles I wrote for The Phoenix News over the last few years, I spotlight my personal picks for this year’s Oscars, as well as some notable snubs.

Winner: “Húsavík – My Home Town” – performed by Molly Sandén, Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga

Eurovision is an annual contest in which countries in Europe send a representative artist to sing the same song repeatedly over the course of a few weeks, with the people of those countries eventually selecting either their favourite, or at least the one they hate the least. While it’s been a career-starter for several major musicians, including Celine Dion, ABBA, and Lordi, it’s spawned even more one-hit wonders and joke acts. That said, it’s a relentlessly fun, yearly event that has fervent fans around the world.

Though 2020’s event was cancelled, a tie-in comedy starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams premiered on Netflix instead. In Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga, a duo by the name of Fire Saga gets the chance to live their dream of representing Iceland at Eurovision. Their song, “Double Trouble” is pretty good, and is reworked several times during the film, but not once are they able to successfully perform it on stage, severely hurting their chances at the final event.

As their friendship is strained in the lead-up to the Eurovision finals, McAdam’s character Sigrit is shown to be privately working on own song on the side: a touching ballad about her hometown of Húsavík. At the climax of the film, the duo performs her song instead, ultimately disqualifying themselves, but bringing pride to their hometown and their country, and wowing the viewers of Eurovision.

“Húsavík” is a piano-driven song featuring soaring vocals from Sandén, alongside admittedly awkward harmonies from Ferrell. As the climax of the movie, it’s a great payoff the film builds to for nearly an hour and represents the full journey of the two main characters. It’s also exactly the kind of song that could win Eurovision. Eurovision has more potential Best Original Songs than any other movie this year. “Double Trouble” is not only the main song in the movie, but the work that goes into perfecting this song is also basically the backbone of the plot. “Lion of Love” is a great song that also manages a dig at Russia’s famous homophobia. “Ja Ja Ding Dong”, a song the main characters are forced to play in their hometown every night is one big dick joke that’s also the best joke to come out of the movie. In a movie literally built around award-contending songs, “Húsavík” is the one written to be a winner.

Runner Up: “Edgar’s Prayer” – performed by Jamie Dornan, Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar

In Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar, the titular middle-aged, midwestern ladies go for a girls’ trip to a resort town in Florida. Though their intention is to strengthen their bond after losing their jobs, their friendship is tested instead, as they find themselves wrapped up in an evil plot to kill all the residents of the luxurious Vista Del Mar.

Taking inspiration from Austin Powers and Saturday Night Live, Barb & Star is a low-stakes comedy that plays out more like a series of “yes and” improv exercises than a typical movie. Luckily, the movie is anchored by comedic powerhouses Annie Mumolo as Barb and Kristen Wiig as Star, alongside an ensemble cast including Damon Wayans, Jr., Richard Cheese, and Vanessa Bayer. The resulting movie is a perfect mix of random comedy and a tightly written script. Barb & Star essentially almost writes itself into a corner repeatedly, then thinks of the funniest way to fix whatever situation its characters have gotten themselves into.

Aside from Wiig and Mumolo, the biggest role in the film goes to Jamie Dornan as Edgar, who serves as the love interest and main point of conflict for both Barb and Star. He is also the centrepiece of the evil plot the two unknowingly become a part of, as he carries out the orders of Dr. Lady (also Wiig), with whom he aims to be in an “official relationship”.

Edgar’s internal conflict is the basis for the song “Edgar’s Prayer”, an electropop number in which Dornan narrates his thoughts in ridiculous detail to the seagulls of Vista Del Mar. However, Edgar is bad at expressing himself, so his thoughts generally consist of platitudes (“Am I in Heaven/or am I in Hell?”) or completely ridiculous similes (“I’m going up a palm tree/Like a cat up a palm tree/Who’s decided to go up a palm tree”). It’s one of the most overly exaggerated scenes in a movie that excels in exaggeration, and it gives Dornan a much-needed chance to flex his comedic muscles against the movie’s all-star cast.
Maybe most importantly, “Edgar’s Prayer” is an absolute bop. Christopher Lennertz and Dara Taylor lay out a simple, but catchy techno beat that really brings out Dornan’s surprisingly great vocals. It’s a short song, and not particularly complicated, but it’s easily the funniest song in the movie, as well as it’s biggest earworm.

Though it isn’t a musical, Barb & Star bursts into song whenever it’s most convenient for the plot. As such, there’s a few great, plot-relevant songs that could have competed for awards. “Palm Vista Hotel”, “I Love Boobies”, and “My Friends From High School Recently Passed” are hilarious tracks that deserve to be heard.
Not only does “Edgar’s Prayer” stand out as the best, it’s also the best used, characterising Dornan’s character perfectly, despite lyrically saying almost nothing at all. If the award for Best Original Song went to the best use of an original song in a feature film, “Edgar’s Prayer” would be the song to beat.

Honourable Mentions:

“Wuhan Flu” – performed by Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm; “What A Life” – performed by Scarlet Pleasure, Another Round; “Purify” – performed by Riz Ahmed and Olivia Cooke, Sound of Metal