Best original song

Keith Urban and Monty Powell ("For You," from "Act of Valor"), Bon Jovi ("Not Running Anymore," from "Stand Up Guys"), Taylor Swift ("Safe & Sound," from "The Hunger Games") and Adele ("Skyfall," from "Skyfall") are up against the "Les Miserables" juggernaut, which has a new original song in "Suddenly."

The latter's director, Tom Hooper, said, "In the novel, there's an extraordinary description of what it's like for Jean Valjean to discover what it's like to love a child who is in his care, and I felt it was the one thing in the original musical that was slightly underplayed. I asked Claude-Michel Schonberg if they could write a song to show this evolution, and here it is."

"Suddenly" will win -- if "Skyfall" doesn't -- but wouldn't it be a thrill if Swift and "The Hunger Games" could be like Katniss Everdeen in the arena, and come out the surprise victor? May the odds be ever in their favor.