ONCE POISED FOR BREAKTHROUGH

Thanks to a finally confirmed Oscar nomination for “Falling Slowly” as Best Original Song and two Grammy noms for Best Compilation and Best Song Written for Motion Picture, TV or Other Visual Media, the Once soundtrack is climbing back up the chart.

Team Columbia has organized a new marketing offensive around the upcoming Oscar telecast, where Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova will perform one of the five nominated songs for a worldwide audience…that is, if the awards show takes place, which is no given, of course, if the Writers Guild are still out. There’s also huge support from Rick Krim’s troops at VH1.

That still won’t ruin what has been a magical ride for the Irish singer-songwriter, best known as leader of the Frames, and his teenage Czech collaborator, who not only have a hit record, but a blossoming romance that mirrors the film’s bittersweet plot.

With all the activity, the album climbed #30-20 on the HITS chart this week, boasting almost a 25% rise from the week before, as sales now top 310k.

“Falling Slowly” was finally given the OK as one of the five Oscar nominees for Best Original Song, where it will go up against three tunes from Enchanted after judges determined, thanks to a chronology supplied by director John Carney, that the song was written specifically for the movie, even though it was performed live in Prague before the film’s release.

The movie, made on a shoestring budget of $160k on the streets of Dublin, where it takes place, was a sensation at Sundance, leading to a distribution deal with Fox Searchlight. It has since gone on to gross $16 million worldwide, $9.5 million in the U.S.