MUSIC NEWS - Peter Gabriel has decided to pull out of a scheduled performance at the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony, on February 22, over of a time limit imposed on him by the show's producers. Initially, Gabriel agreed to perform the Oscar-nominated song Down To Earth (buy cd here) (which he co-wrote with Thomas Newman), from the Disney/Pixar film, Wall-E (buy dvd here) under the impression that he would be singing the entire song. When he was informed that he would be performing only a 60 second portion of Down To Earth as part of a medley of the three nominated songs, he found the time limit unacceptable.
Speaking in his monthly video message to his fans on, PeterGabriel.com, among discussing other items, he said, "We'd assumed, as there are only three nominees, that the songs would be performed [in full]. But the producers came in to revamp it as audience figures were falling off. One of the things they've decided to cut is the songs. So we've only been offered 65 seconds as part of a medley. So I've now decided to withdraw from the ceremony. "I do think it's a bit unfortunate," he continued. "The songwriters are a very small part of the filmmaking process but we still work bloody hard and deserve a place in the ceremony." Joking somewhat, Gabriel called himself a "boring old fart" who can afford "to make a little protest." But he quickly added that he would still attend the awards event as he was "looking forward to it."
This years other nominated songs are both from the film Slumdog Millionaire (buy dvd): Jai Ho and O Sava.
Comments