Bret McKenzie

We've loved Bret McKenzie ever since his Flight of the Conchords days, and we were so excited to see him take home an Oscar tonight for his original song from The Muppets. McKenzie shared his giddiness with us back in the press room, where he talked about the inspiration behind his song "Man or Muppet," and how he can't wait to rub his Oscar in Jemaine Clement's face.

On being an artist from New Zealand: Well, it's a great place to grow up. You can do whatever you want there. Where in America everyone is obsessed with their careers, in New Zealand you get to live your dreams.

On how the Oscar will affect his work with Flight of the Conchords: I'm looking forward to writing with Jemaine [Clement] in the future again. Because I'll be able to pull out the Oscar card and say "Mmm, I think we should use this chord . . ." and "I won an Oscar!"

On why the song deserved to win: I think it was one of those musical numbers where everyone did a great job. James Bobin, the director, did such a great job with the video. Jason Segel went very deep both with the recording and on screen. It was one of those things that fell into place very easily.

On what he wants to do next: I want to see if I can collaborate with Chris Cooper to do a full-length rap album.

On whether or not he felt pressure to write a song for The Muppets: I absolutely do. A friend of mine said, when I got the job of working on the film, "You'll never write another 'Rainbow Connection.'" And I said, "You're right." And I didn't. "Rainbow Connection" didn't win an Oscar, but there's no doubt that their song is an absolutely timeless classic, and this song is nothing in comparison.

On how he was influenced by Jim Henson: In the '80s, when I was at home a lot watching TV, my dad one day brought home a video recorder. No one else had one, so it was pretty exciting. But he only had two video cassettes, and one was The Dark Crystal. So my brother and I watched that movie at least twice a week for about five years. Definitely, Jim Henson influenced me. He's a huge inspiration and the other thing I love about the guy is he made children's films that I think he found funny. He was making them for adults. He didn't patronize the minds of children.

On whether he prefers "Man or Muppet" or "Life's a Happy Song": I think this one is more successful in the world of the movie, because it's when the characters deal with that age-old crisis: "Am I a man or a muppet?" But that other one, that's annoyingly catchy.

Bret McKenzie is up for an exceedingly rare honor this year, with his ballad "Man or Muppet" earning one of just two nominations in the Oscars' best song category. I caught up with The Muppets' musical supervisor today at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank to chat about the awards attention and the unique experience of penning music for Kermit and company. The New Zealand native talked about fighting the temptation to use the word "motherfrogger" in his songwriting and the roundabout way he came on board The Muppets project in the first place. Bret — who previously was best known as one half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords — also shared his hopes of bringing FOC to the big screen. Check out our conversation below:

PopSugar: It's got to be an honor to be nominated for an Oscar, but also in a year when the Academy only bothered to nominate two songs.
Bret McKenzie: They barely nominated anyone! When I found out, it sounded like there'd been a mistake, and yeah, it's a huge honor. It's great and it's really exciting, and I'm not complaining that there's only two nominees the year I'm nominated. I mean, this is the best chance I'll have of winning an Oscar, ever. It couldn't have been better, unless there was just one nomination, and then it would be a very dull ceremony . . . There's a lot of legendary musicians — tunesmiths — in that list of possible nominations. So it's all very surreal to think that I got in ahead of Elton John.

PS: And Madonna. Those two had a little rivalry going on.
BM: I know. I got nervous about what Elton John's husband was going to say about me. It's crazy, and it's great for The Muppets film, because we're all really proud of the film and it wasn't ever really going to get a best actor. Hey, Jason's good, that's not what I mean, but Kermit, Miss Piggy — they can't win these awards — and comedies don't generally get recognized at these awards ceremonies, so it's kind of cool. It's almost like the film as a whole is being recognized with this category.

For more from our chat with Bret, including what he says about his plans for a Flight of the Conchords film, coaching Jason Segel, and the pressure he felt on the project, just read more

• Take a look at The Vampire Diaries's Klaus — Zap2it
• Sean Hayes will play Larry in the Three Stooges movie — /Film
• Keanu Reeves talks Bill and Ted 3 — Moviefone
• On the set with the cast of The Vampire Diaries — TV Squad
• Charlie Sheen spoofs his 20/20 interview — PopWatch
• Flight of the Conchords' Bret McKenzie will play an elf in The Hobbit — Vulture
• Decorating inspiration from Water For Elephants — CasaSugar

Even though evidence has been mounting that Flight of the Conchords wouldn't be coming back for a third season, I'm still supremely bummed that Bret and Jemaine have confirmed that they won't be coming back via their website.

So, since the majority of you said that you'd also be disappointed if the show didn't return, I think you'll appreciate my video tribute to the Conchords. Sure, the humor of the show was hilarious, but the guys' biggest impact came from their original songs like "Business Time." Luckily, with their albums and DVDs, I can still count on the guys to make me feel like the most beautiful girl in the room whenever I need a pick-me-up.

Check out some of my favorite musical numbers from the show when you read more