The song, Falling Slowly, from the Irish film Once, is eligible, after all, as a nominee in the best original song category at next month's Oscar ceremony.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organises the Oscars, confirmed its eligibility in a statement issued yesterday by Charles Bernstein, chairman of the music branch executive committee.
The committee "has met and endorsed the validity of Falling Slowly as a nominated achievement," he said. "The genesis of the picture was unusually protracted, but director John Carney and songwriter Glen Hansard were working closely together in 2002 when the project that became Once was discussed.
"The actual script and financing for the picture was delayed for several years, during which time Mr Hansard and his collaborator, Markéta Irglová, played the song in some venues deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song's eligibility."
Mr Bernstein said he phoned Hansard with the good news, and that the Irish singer-songwriter was "delighted". The decision came just in time, as the Oscar ballots will be sent out this morning.
"I'm very pleased for Glen," director Carney told The Irish Times yesterday, "and it's great news for the film".
Hansard and Irglova will perform Falling Slowly at the Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles on February 24th. It attracts a TV audience of more than 40 million in the US and substantially more around the world.