Here are the breakdowns from Cary Wong’s annual Memo to the Music Branch of the Academy from the current issue of Film Score Monthly Online, including his predictions and suggestions in the categories of Best Score and Song. Last Year, Cary was 4 for 5 in the “Most Likely to Be Nominated” category, with the fifth candidate coming from the “Possibilities” group. To read Cary’s full in-depth analysis of this year’s Oscar music race, please click to subscribe here.

Most Likely to Be Nominated:

         Anna Karenina—Dario Marianelli

         Argo—Alexandre Desplat

         Brave—Patrick Doyle

         Hitchcock—Danny Elfman

         Lincoln—John Williams

Possibilities:

         Beasts of the Southern Wild—Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin

         The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey—Howard Shore

         Life of Pi—Mychael Danna

         On the Road—Gustavo Santaolalla

         Zero Dark Thirty—Alexandre Desplat

My Suggestions:

          Cloud Atlas—Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil

          The Impossible—Fernando Velazquez

          The Intouchables—Ludovico Einaudi       

          The Master—Jonny Greenwood

          Skyfall—Thomas Newman

Songs:

         “Skyfall”—Skyfall

         “Song of the Lonely Mountain —The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

         “Still Dream”—Rise of the Guardians

         “Strange Love”—Frankenweenie

         “Suddenly”—Les Miserables