59 songs up for the Oscar

List includes 'Hairspray,' 'Into the Wild'

By PHIL GALLO

'August Rush' has four tunes that are vying for nominations in the Oscars' song category.

Fifty-nine songs will be considered for the Oscar at the 80th Academy Awards, ranging from Eddie Vedder's work for "Into the Wild" to the single new tune for "Hairspray" to numbers in the musician-centric pics "Once," "Walk Hard" and "Music & Lyrics."

Only one film has four contenders -- "August Rush" -- while six movies have three tunes being considered: "Dan in Real Life," "56 Drops of Blood," "Enchanted," "Good Luck Chuck," "Into the Wild" and "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story."

On Jan. 15, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will screen clips featuring each song, in random order, for voting members of the Music Branch in Beverly Hills and New York City. After the screenings, members will vote to determine which three, four or five songs become nominees in the category.

While many familiar film names -- including Alan Silvestri, Alan Menken, Stephen Schwartz and Diane Warren among them -- are among those responsible for the works, the list also includes entries from a fair number of pop and rock stars. Songs by John Legend, Marshall Crenshaw, Sheryl Crow, Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne), Glen Hansard (the Frames), Sondre Lerche and the Eels are also on the list.

See The Set List blog for full list: http://www.variety.com/thesetlist