Shankman steers clear of same old song and dance

EW’s Music Mix reports the removal of Best Song performances from this year’s broadcast.

Oscar producers announced this week that none of the Best Original Song nominees will be invited to perform at the Mar. 7 Academy Awards. Given that we recently dubbed this year’s crop of music-Oscar contenders the “worst nominations ever,” I suppose it would be hypocritical to get too upset at this news. Will anyone really miss seeing Nine’s “Take It All” or Paris 36’s “Loin de Paname” performed live? It would have been nice to see Crazy Heart’s “The Weary Kind,” maybe, but that’s about it.

I’m happy about this decision. Best Song has always been one of my least favorite categories. The nominees only make sense to me if they’re in the context of a movie musical, integrated as part of the narrative. Too often substandard songs slip in as hummable footnotes, extraneous marketing tools. For such a fringe component to most films, their showcase during the broadcast is as overinflated as the segments are overproduced. Where’s the 6 minutes devoted to isolated slide-show recreations of each of the cinematography nominees? Why not have dramatic readings by guest actors reading 6-minute excerpts from each of the nominated screenplays? Because it would be dull as a brick, that’s why.

(thanks to Kevin Klawitter and Alan of Montreal for the simultaneous tip)