A few weeks ago, I shared with you my six reasons the Oscars will probably stink this year. Now I have another reason to add to the list. Peter Gabriel has dropped out of the broadcast in protest. Gabriel, who collaborated with Thomas Newman on the song "Down To Earth" from WALL-E, had been slated to perform the song during the February 22 airing on ABC. However, when the producers told Gabriel that his performance had be compressed to 65 seconds and fit into a medley of all the best song nominations, Peter opted out.
Good for you, Mr. Gabriel. If I were in your shoes, I'd like to think that I would have reacted the same way. It doesn't do justice to "Down To Earth" to be presented as a snippet. The other nominees are both from Slumdog Millionaire, "Jai Ho" and "O Saya." Frankly, I can't imagine how in the world those three songs would fit into a medley, unless they were thinking of a Bollywood version of "Down To Earth?" As anyone who has seen WALL-E knows, the song is not a happy and peppy ditty. It's moody and melancholy and deserves to be presented on its own.
In fact, since there are only three songs, couldn't the producers have spared the time -- about 10 minutes -- for full versions of the tunes? If you want to entertain, why squish the music together? By the way, they've tried this before. In 1963, Robert Goulet sang all the nominated songs all by himself.
Look, I'm the first to point out when there have been ridiculous performances at the Oscars. In 1989, Rob Lowe sang "Proud Mary" with a Snow White-costumed dancer in a bizarre opening number that was probably the worst opening ever. That year, the Best Song nominations -- including Carly Simon's "Let the River Run" from Working Girl -- weren't even performed during the broadcast.
But what about the other times, the times when they get it right. Did you know in 1973, Michael Jackson sang "Ben" at the Oscars? In 1977, Barbra Streisand performed "Evergreen" from A Star Is Born. The entire song, and it was amazing because that was before Streisand was doing concerts and it was a special event to see her sing live. In 1986, Huey Lewis and the News did "The Power of Love" from Back to the Future, and in 2006, Three 6 Mafia sang "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" from Hustle and Flow.
And this year we might have had the chance to hear and see Peter Gabriel. Sigh.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-13-2009 @ 7:52PM
miller980 said...
The difference between the past years you mentioned and this year is that in the past, people knew those songs (and not just from the movie). Now, they can't even dig up 5 songs to be nominated. I don't blame them for scaling it back, this category has become on par with sound effects editing.
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2-13-2009 @ 9:34PM
Modwild said...
I have to agree with you, Miller980...two original songs from Slumdog Millionaire? Good lord. That film is so frakkin overrated...the music in it - sucked! If those are the likes of the songs that are nominated (seriously, two from slumdog??) then its best left short. Sorry Peter.
2-13-2009 @ 10:00PM
Arnold said...
Uhh Slumdog Millionare is not over rated, and the music is really really good. But i guess you dont probably listen to that type of music in the first place, so that would explain your ingnorance.
The bigger crime out of this situation is the Bruce Springsteen song from "the wrestler" was not even nominated, considering it had just won the golden globe for the same category.
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2-14-2009 @ 12:28AM
BJ Wanlund said...
I think that that idea of having a song medley of all the Best Song nominees is pretty tacky, so kudos to Peter Gabriel for opting out of that. Besides, if Down To Earth DOESN'T win, the Academy will have to answer to all the WALL-E fans out here!
BJ
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2-14-2009 @ 2:23AM
Steven said...
They havent been fun for a good while now.
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2-14-2009 @ 2:44AM
YouFaceTheTick said...
Thank you for reminding me that Craig Brewer's Disneyfied pimping movie got Oscar nominations. Do we need more to prove how worthless a nomination is than that?
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2-14-2009 @ 8:38AM
Paul said...
1977's "Evergreen", co-written by Streisand and performed by Streisand, was one of the best Oscar moments ever. 1997's "I Finally Found Someone", co-written by Streisand and performed by Celine Dion and Arturo Sandoval, was one of the worst. What a difference interpretation makes.
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2-14-2009 @ 10:39AM
Bart Smith said...
In defense of the Oscar producers, what nominees aside from Best Song get the chance to present the audience with their nominated work in its entirety?
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2-15-2009 @ 3:12PM
Donna said...
You know, the last time I even watched the Oscars was the year Braveheart was nominated and won. That was well over a decade ago, I think.
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2-15-2009 @ 6:44PM
Daune said...
I, too, liked the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. I thought all the songs, particularly Jai Ho and Paper Planes, or whatever it's called, by M.I.A. really enhanced the movie. I was shocked there were only three nominees, when it seemed a shoo-in for Bruce Springsteen's original song he wrote for The Wrestler. Clint Eastwood wrote and sang songs for Gran Torino, which could easily have been included. There were songs for Bolt and other kids movies. The song doesn't have to be popular to win, it has to enhance the experience. I think they could have combined the two songs from Slumdog, but give Pete his due!!! I'm so disappointed that I'm not going to get to see him do it live. We get to see him perform so rarely. I'll bet when I watch the Oscars, I'll be able to pick out at least 8 minutes of fat that could have, instead, included the nominees. And, isn't that what the show should be about?
Sheesh.
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