A 'Strong' push for best song at the Oscars

Though performers for the Oscars ceremonies on Feb. 27 haven't been announced yet, maybe Gwyneth Paltrow's star power and a nomination for "Coming Home" from her movie "Country Strong" will get the best original song nominees back on the big broadcast.

Producers cut the category from last year's show in the interest of time and because of the lack of high-profile nominees. Aside from Paltrow's "Coming Home," this year's slate - "We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3" by Randy Newman, who was nominated twice last year for songs from "The Princess and the Frog"; Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi's "I See the Light" from "Tangled," and Dido and A.R. Rahman's "If I Rise" from "127 Hours" - isn't all that star-powered, either.

However, Paltrow - whose big, sappy ballad, with mentions of "double-wides" and the occasional pedal steel guitar to keep it "country," is an Oscar voter's dream and the category front-runner - may be enough. After all, the highly rated Country Music Association awards saw fit to include a Paltrow performance of "Country Strong" last year.

If not, maybe producers and voters need to have a talk, since voters passed over work from superstars Cher and Christina Aguilera in "Burlesque," as well as John Legend's wonderful "Shine" from "Waiting for Superman" and Eddie Vedder's "Better Days" from "Eat Pray Love."