Peter Gabriel Pulls Out of Oscar

Nikki Finke over at Deadline Hollywood reports that Peter Gabriel will NOT be performing his Oscar-nominated song "Down To Earth" from "Wall-E" at the Oscars this year! This is the result of the producers trying once again to getting the show down to less then three hours. Unless the Academy starts giving away less awards this is not going to happen. You know it and I know it. In a letter to the Academy Gabriel says:

"I was delighted when "Down to Earth" was nominated for an Oscar. I was also pleased to have been asked to perform the song in the Oscar ceremony. However, in recent discussions with the Producers, it became clear that despite there being only three nominees, only 60-65 seconds was being offered, and that was also in a medley of the three songs. I don't feel that is sufficient time to do the song justice, and have decided to withdraw from performing.

I fully respect and look forward to the Producers' right to revamp the show. Even though song writers are small players in the film making process, they are just as committed and work just as hard as the rest of the team and I regret that this new version of the ceremony is being created, in part, at their expense."

I still very much look forward to attending the ceremony."

I'm sorry to see that we won't see Pete singing the song. Part of me also wonders if this choice could hurt the songs chances of winning the gold. Regardless, this is bad news for the Academy who is already faced with the possability of the worst rated Oscar telecast in years. No Dark Knight, no Peter Gabriel, no Bruce Springsteen, no Miley Cyrus, no "Wall-E" (kind of)...it's getting to be a mess folks. This is going to be one interesting year to see if the Academy can pull themselves out of this mess.