Peter Gabriel has decided not to perform at the Academy Awards on Feb. 22 (although he will attend). And if the reasoning he presents for the decision on his Web site can be believed, I can’t say I blame him.
According to Gabriel, the Oscar ceremony will cut the musical performances down to a medley with 60 seconds or so allotted to each of the three nominated songs. (The move is apparently being done to jazz up the telecast’s ratings.) What makes this somewhat perplexing is that the “Best Song” performances have often been the among the program’s highlights, including the Swell Season with “Falling Slowly” last year and Elliott Smith and his giant suit in 1998.
Given that there are only three songs on the slate of contenders this year, couldn’t the seemingly endless Oscar ceremony toss over a measly six minutes or so? I have no idea what Hugh Jackman will be doing in between awards to entertain the audience, but somehow I suspect it will be vastly less interesting.
Peter’s February Update [Peter Gabriel]
“I have no idea what Hugh Jackman will be doing in between awards to entertain the audience, but somehow I suspect it will be vastly less interesting.”
oh, it definitely will, given that the hacktastic joel stein is writing some of the oscar ‘banter.’
[www.time.com]
bruce vilanch, come back!
I’ve heard choruses that last one minute. And this for the guy who sang “Supper’s Ready”? Not. Fair.
clearly, the producers didn’t see the win with the Grammys. Performances sell. Anybody remember when they had Amy Adams and Kristen Chenoweth perform the nominated songs from Enchanted? Complete with choreography?
sigh.
oh wolverine…
i’m sure you’ll be able to text A for something or text B for something or text C for something else all night
At first glance I thought your headline said “Less music, more Hugh Jackman, and THE WACKNESS” at this year’s Oscars and got all sorts of excited. And then I realized you weren’t referring to the movie with Ben Kingsley and that kid from Drake & Josh. Damn.
I’m pretty sure that if Bruce Springsteen’s song from The Wrestler had been nominated, they wouldn’t have kept him to a 60-second bit…
@Tauwan: Ick… what about the Wackness is remotely exciting?