It's mid-January and the Oscar fever is reaching its climax, especially as there is so little time left until January 23rd, when the full list of nominations will be made public. Unfortunately, among the many who got snubbed for this year's prestigious awards is also R&B singer Beyonce Knowles.

'Dreamgirls', the movie that showcases the rise of an all-girls band and the rift that splits them apart once Effie (Jennifer Hudson) is replaced as leading singer by Deena (Beyonce), opened in theaters to amazing reviews and it has already been tipped for several nominations in the Oscar race, including one for Hudson for 'Best Supporting Actress'.

One category that Beyonce had great interest in was 'Best Original Song', for which the producers submitted 'Listen', as the unofficial theme of the movie. Beyonce, who also performs the track, was listed as one of its four writers, along with Broadway veterans Henry Krieger, Scott Cutler and Anne Preven. The only problem with the song was that it had too many people credited for it, according to the rules of the Academy.

Rule 16, for instance, stipulates that only two people can get awards for something they collaborated to, but an exception can be made if it can be proven that three persons contributed to the same extent. Only these three are then eligible for a nomination and an Academy Award. A committee of composers, songwriters and 'individuals involved in making music for motion pictures' was then summoned and 'Listen' had to be analyzed, in order to be determined which of the four writers credited contributed the most.

A decision was reached, according to which Krieger, Preven and Cutler had worked for 'Listen' in equal shares, which means that Beyonce's contribution was considered the least. So, her name will not be included on Oscar ballots this year, at least not on those with songwriters. The point is that, even if 'Listen' gets an award in February in the aforementioned category (and many say it stands great chances to do so), Beyonce's name will not be mentioned. Honestly, it's a shame, since it's a wonderful track... Below, you can see Miss Knowles perform it live on Oprah.