Predictions: Will Justin Timberlake or U2 win a Golden Globe Sunday?

My colleagues on the film and television side posted their Golden Globe predictions in all categories yesterday and I”m happy to see that they had as tough a time as I did when it came to picking who they felt would win in the two music categories. Both races seem wide open as we head into the final days before the 71st annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night (10).  Will the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. members go for the biggest pop star over the best song when it comes to Best Original Song as they have in the past? How much of an advantage does John Williams have for Best Original just because he”s John Williams?
Here are my predictions for the music winners:

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

“Atlas” (“Hunger Games: Catching Fire”)
“Let It Go” (“Frozen”)
“Ordinary Love” (“Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom”)
“Please Mr. Kennedy” (“Inside Llewyn Davis”)
“Sweeter Than Fiction” (“One Chance”)

Unlike last year when Adele”s “Skyfall” was the clear frontrunner, there”s no obvious winner this year. In the past, the HFPA. members have been starstruck and picked the biggest name… how else do you explain Madonna”s victory for “Masterpiece” (“W.E.”) in 2011? If the voters go traditional, then “Let It Go” from “Frozen” will win. Otherwise it could come down to which music superstars they want to honor:  Coldplay for “Atlas,” Taylor Swift for “Sweeter Than Fiction,” Justin Timberlake for “Please Mr. Kennedy” or U2 for “Ordinary Love.” Between Bono”s appeal and Mandela”s passing (and the fact that it”s a nice song), the winner will be “Ordinary Love.”

Winner: “Ordinary Love”


Best Original Score

“All is Lost,”  Alex Ebert
“Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,” Alex Heffes
“Gravity,” Steven Price
“The Book Thief,” John Williams
“12 Years a Slave,” Hans Zimmer

Williams has been nominated a staggering 25 times in this category so while it”s tempting to think he”s the automatic leader, he”s only won four times, so he”s not a shoo-in. Both Ebert and Price had the more interesting composing challenges here since their films had so little dialogue for long stretches. Looking over past winners, HFPA has honored both sweeping, orchestral scores and very of-the-moment, pop-oriented scores.  All the nominees here did their jobs very well, but there are parts of Zimmer”s score that were especially haunting and memorable.

Winner: “12 Years a Slave”
 

Who do you think will win? 

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