Phoenix New Times music editor chooses Best Original Song for Oscars 2025

There's some heavy competition at this year's Academy Awards.

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The 2025 Oscars take place on Sunday, March 2. Engin Akyurt/Pexels

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However, there is a rub to this situation: I've not see any of the four nominated films. Now, as I see it, I've been a music journalist since 2008, and I think I have a pretty good ear for songs. Pair that with just enough contextual knowledge, and how could I not pick the one true winner? Plus, the Academy Award committee is likely a bunch of film buffs thinking about music, so at least I'm not as far out of my lane as you'd think.

At the end of the day, the winner among these five nominees should be a song that moves everyone both in the context of its film and as a singular affirmation of life. It ought to be a track that unites these two media spheres and makes us all appreciate the power of music to help films transcend and engage audiences all the more deeply.

Below are my thoughts on each song, followed by my definitive pick for 2025's winner. Will I do better than I did with the Grammys? (There's only one category to guess at, so I’d hope the odds are in my favor.) I can't say anything with certainty but this: Whichever song does win, it's a category where each entrant would deserve the shining honor.

(Performed by Selena Gomez, written by Camille and Clément Ducol)In an alternate universe, the warm, evocative vocal stylings of Selena Gomez would have made her that Earth’s Taylor Swift. Alas, we don’t live on Earth 87X, and we have to instead enjoy performances like this one that demonstrate why Gomez needs to record more music over filming any more shows/movies. Because while it’s quite clear that she’s playing a character, and furthering a scene with her various partners, all I can focus on is the deep loss, vein of romance and robust layers that she brings to this dynamic ballad. Sure, the song is little more than an interlude (it's basically a kind of pop daydream, really), but that just makes it all the more poignant and disarming. We should all be quite glad that our Earth’s Gomez can pull your heart out of your mouth with even a simple refrain.(Performed and written by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada)On the first couple of listens, this song didn’t really move me all that much. Instead, it really felt a little like typical Oscar bait — this earnest, soul-tinged folk ballad meant to draw votes as much as genuinely move people. Still, the more I heard Abraham Alexander sing, the more he emerged as being especially interesting and multifaceted, capable of finding the balance between going grand and keeping it close to the chest. Toss in the experience and wit of Adrian Quesada, and the song really unfurls its true depth with each new listen. Maybe it instantly sounded like a clear winner to some folks, but giving it a little extra time and space means that you can more fully discover the rich life and texture that informs and extends this song. Plus, that funky bit toward the end is seriously killer.(Performed by Elton John, written by Brandi Carlile, Elton John, Bernie Taupin and Andrew Watt)"Elton John: Never Too Late" is basically a celebration of the singer's long and fruitful career, and even if you don't need to watch the documentary to know him, he's clearly earned such an honor. Still, given the context of this doc, it feels like any de facto "theme song" would have to summarize 50 wild and bonkers years of pop magic. So, does "Never Too Late" really do enough to live up to John's lofty achievements? Mostly, yeah. It's clearly not the best thing he's ever done, but it feels like classic John in the best, most soul-warming sense of it all. Plus, Brandi Carlile is a great partner, and she knows when to soar and when to give the spotlight back to the vet in a way that adds to the song's prowess. If this film and song are at all the feather atop John's career, then it's been a damn good one at that.(Performed by Zoe Saldaña, written by Jacques Audiard, Camille and Clément Ducol)Just as with "Like A Bird," my first time hearing "El Mal" wasn't the most pleasurable experience. I instantly had flashbacks to a handful of awful, "Hamilton"-inspired musicals that I've seen in recent years, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Sure, Zoe Saldaña is a dynamite actress, and her singing is generally solid. I just couldn't shake how much this wasn't a true song (which even "Mi Camino" was able to overcome). Luckily, I remembered that sometimes that's how it goes with these original songs, and it's about judging them as some half-song, half-acting exercise. In that case, then, "El Mal" is actually fun, and while it still gives me "Hamilton"-esque vibes, the energy, choreography and aesthetic of the performance exude the best part of cheesy musicals with just a little extra edge. More like "El Bueno/a," yeah?‘Six Triple Eight’(Performed H.E.R., written by Diane Warren)It's downright criminal that a legendary songwriter like Diane Warren has never won an Oscar despite some 15 prior nominations. Perhaps her 16th nod will be the winner, and "The Journey" would be a deserving enough song to finally launch Warren into that lauded winner's circle. The feel good nature of this Tyler Perry flick certainly helps set a winning tone, but the song itself is just as much of a gem. It's pretty standard Warren, which is to say a sappy pop ballad that nonetheless will have you deep in your own feelings. And H.E.R. (who won 2021's Best Original Song prize over Warren) is the perfectly serene vehicle for Warren's creation. Still, if Warren didn't get the Oscar for Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," this one may not really stand a chance.

And the winner is…

On the one hand, the song itself just feels perfectly in line with some of Oscars’ preferences — it’s the right blend of earnest and playful to entertain without feeling overly controversial to anyone. At the same time, though, there’s some other mitigating factors at play. That includes not only the fact that Diane Warren is clearly cursed, but some of the recent, less than beneficial press around"Emilia Pérez" star Karla Sofía Gascón.

Still, "Never Too Late" mostly just deserves it for occupying that wonderful center space in the Venn diagram between star power, nostalgia and great musicianship. Plus, John and Taupin won 2020’s Best Original Song for "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" (from "Rocketman"), and it feels like that momentum could really help "Never Too Late." It's worth noting that if "Like A Bird" had any of that extra edge, it might otherwise take home the prize.

The 97th Academy Awards takes place Sunday, March 2. The broadcast will air live on ABC and stream via Hulu beginning at 5 p.m. local time. If you haven't already, browse our list of where to watch the 2025 Oscars.

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