Will the 'Slumdog Millionaire' soundtrack be a winner too?
Now that "Slumdog Millionaire" has run its course — or shall we say "romped"? —
through the film awards derby, it's heading next into music races.
Lots of previous winners of best picture at the Oscars went on to claim the
Grammy Award for best film soundtrack, including "Tom Jones" (1964), "The
Godfather" (1973), "The Last Emperor" (1989), "Dances with Wolves" (1992),
"Schindler's List" (1995), "The English Patient" (1998), "American Beauty"
(2001) and "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2005). Of course,
"Slumdog Millionaire" also won best song ("Jai Ho"), and that champ sometimes
repeats at the Grammys, like "If I Didn't Have To" ("Monsters, Inc.," 2003) and
"My Heart Will Go On" ("Titanic," 1999). (Note: Years cited indicate dates of
Grammy ceremony.) All in all, the overlap between the Grammy and Academy Awards
is far less frequent than you might expect considering they're both industry
peer-group awards.
Since the Grammy is largely determined by sales (the award uses a popular
ballot to determine most nominees and winners), the "Slumdog Millionaire"
soundtrack needs to prove itself as a winner on the charts. When the first
post-Oscars chart rankings came out Wednesday, they included only one day when
the Oscars' results were known. Nonetheless, "Slumdog Millionaire" rocketed up
from No. 48 the previous week to No. 22.
"It's likely that most of the gain came from digital purchases made during
ABC's broadcast of the Oscars or immediately after the show concluded,"
reported Reuters.
When the newest charts are issued this Wednesday, "Slumdog Millionaire" is
expected to be in the top five. Any rank less will be considered a huge
disappointment after it swept up eight Oscars, including best picture.
http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2009/03/slumdog-million.html
