LOS ANGELES - Some of this year's most interesting Oscar battles revolve around what Academy Award voters hear - rather than see.

Some experts are betting that "Dreamgirls," which was snubbed for best picture, will win best song category with one of its three nominations. Others say "Dreamgirls" could face a backlash and that Melissa Etheridge's song on global warming, "I Need to Wake Up," is more likely to take the Oscar.

Workers spray-paint an Oscar statue on the red carpet as part of preparations for the 79th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 24, 2007. The awards will be presented on Sunday. [Reuters]

The experts also say the contest for best score is wide open. Among those vying for best score are modern American composer Philip Glass, who is seeking his first Oscar for his work on "Notes on a Scandal," and Argentine composer Gustavo Santaolalla for his music for "Babel."

Santaolalla, who won the Oscar last year for his score for "Brokeback Mountain," said a main part of his challenge "was not to make (the score) sound like a 'National Geographic' documentary because the movie goes through so many different, colorful locations."

Glass, who has composed operas and symphonies, calls writing for films a great challenge -- even if the composer comes in at the last minute after the film has been completed. He added in a recent interview that he would love winning an Oscar. Also nominated for best original score are Thomas Newman for "The Good German," Javier Navarrete for "Pan's Labyrinth" and Alexandre Desplat for "The Queen."

"Dreamgirls" dominates in the best original song category, with three of the film's tunes, "Listen" by Henry Krieger, Scott Cutler and Anne Preven; "Love You I Do," by Krieger and Siedah Garrett; and "Patience" by Krieger and Willie Reale, among the contenders.

The other nominations in that category went to "I Need to Wake Up," written and performed by Etheridge from the Al Gore environmental documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," and Randy Newman's "Our Town," from the animated film, "Cars."

"My money would be on 'Listen.' To me it is the most Oscar-worthy, based on the quality of the song and the performance," said Robert Diamond, editor-in-chief of Broadwayworld.com, a popular theater Web site.

Other pundits, however, have speculated the three "Dreamgirls" nominations will split the vote, leaving Newman's "Our Town" to vie against Etheridge's "I Need To Wake Up."

There are even some pundits who believe there's a general backlash against "Dreamgirls" that may spill over into the song category.

"There are some people who think 'Dreamgirls' is overrated. Based on that view, I think the Oscar will go to 'I Need to Wake Up' because it's got a strong, political message," said Oscar pundit Tom O'Neil of Theenvelope.com.