Devastating! Oscar Nominated Song Performed by Joni Eareckson Tada is Disqualified

Teresa Neumann : Jan 30, 2014
Tim Gray – Variety

"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." -Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Academy President

(Hollywood, CA)—The song "Alone Yet Not Alone," the Oscar nominated theme song to the Christian movie of the same name, has been disqualified. Joni Eareckson Tada performed the song. (Photo via YouTube/"Alone Yet Not Alone" Joni Eareckson Tada singing)

The shock news has left the song's writers Bruce Broughton and Dennis Spiegel "devastated."

According to a report in Variety, the decision "was prompted by the discovery that Broughton, a former governor and current music branch executive committee member, had emailed members of the branch to make them aware of his submission during the nominations voting period."

"I'm devastated," said Broughton. "I indulged in the simplest, lamest, grass-roots campaign and it went against me when the song started getting attention. I got taken down by competition that had months of promotion and advertising behind them." (Photo via YouTube/"Alone Yet Not Alone")

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs released a statement saying, "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."

Variety notes that the "move is rare, but not unprecedented," citing previous instances of nominations being rescinded, such as the score for "The Godfather" in 1972, after it was discovered key portions of the song had been used in an earlier film.