The Continental (song) The Continental (song) "The Continental" is a song written by Con Conrad with lyrics by Herb Magidson, and was introduced by Ginger Rogers in the 1934 film, "The Gay Divorcee". "The Continental" was the first song to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Major record hits at the time of introduction included Jolly Coburn and Leo Reisman. In 1952 Harry James released a recording on the album "Hollywood's Best" (Columbia B-319 and CL-6224) with Rosemary Clooney on vocals. A later version by Maureen McGovern reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart in 1976. Steve Howe recorded it
Cheek to Cheek on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. Cheek to Cheek "Cheek to Cheek" is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1935, for the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movie "Top Hat" (1935). In the movie, Astaire sings the song to Rogers as they dance. The song was nominated for the Best Song Academy Award for 1936, which it lost to ""Lullaby of Broadway"". The song spent five weeks at #1 on Your Hit Parade and was named the #1 song of 1935. Astaire's 1935 recording with the Leo Reisman Orchestra was inducted into the Grammy Hall