Earlier this week the Academy of Motion Pictures announced they would not invite the nominees of Original Song to perform at their ceremony in March.
Due to declining ratings and the age-old complaint that the broadcast runs too long, the Oscars is cutting that portion of the show which will save them approximately a half hour.
It will also rob the audience of some of the best live performances the awards has routinely delivered.
We live in an age where TV viewers will happily spend all weekend binge-watching shows on streaming channels with no gripes. Meanwhile one of the films up for Best Picture this year, The Brutalist, is so long at three-and-a-half hours it comes with an intermission so attendees can stretch their legs.
So what's the harm be of having Movie's Biggest Night be a four-hour broadcast? Two years ago I wrote a proposal I still stand by that argues the Academy should stop trying to shove so much show into one long night - make it a whole weekend.
This is something Coachella has had so much success with that now it's two weekends long. In my proposal one night would be centered around the music and sound that can make a movie truly engaging.
In the meantime, let's remember and mourn some of the best performances of Original Song in the Oscars presentation over the years.
Ryan Gosling, Mark Ronson, Slash & The Kens - "I'm Just Ken" (2024)
It was just last year that the Oscars had one of its best renditions of an Original Song when Ryan Gosling, Slash and many of the actors who played the various Kens in the Barbie movie sang and danced to the hilarious song, "I'm Just Ken."
Unlike Billie Eilish & Finneas who won the trophy that night for "What Was I Made For," the song about Ken might not ever be heard again on the stage by its singer. Which is why the Oscars should seriously consider reinstating it next year after the ratings continue to sink despite the shorter run time.
Idina Menzel and 10 other Elsas - "Into the Unknown" (2020)
In a twist of true creativity, the Academy created quite a scene when it invited Idina Menzel - who knocked it out of the park with "Let It Go" in the first Frozen film to team up with women who voiced the song in various languages around the globe.
Alongside Menzel was Norwegian singer/songwriter Aurora who are both on the English track of the Frozen 2 anthem. They were joined by Willemijn Verkaik (Germany), Maria Lucia Heiberg Rosenberg (Denmark), Lisa Stokke (Norway), Takako Matsu (Japan), Carmen Garcia Saenz (Latin America), Kasia Łaska (Poland), Anna Buturlina (Russia), Gisela (Spain), and Gam Wichayanee (Thailand).
If the stage was any larger maybe more of the singers could have joined in. All told Frozen 2 was dubbed in over 45 languages.
Justin Timberlake - "Can't Stop The Feeling" (2017)
Who would have thought the theme song for the Trolls movie would have been such a smash? It debuted at #1, it was the best selling song of 2016, and it was such an upbeat, fun tune in the seasoned hands of Justin Timberlake it kicked off the Oscars.
Watch him masterfully include his wife, his friends, and the entirety of the often-stiff crowd with his boyband dance moves and joyful vibe. It was one of the best four minutes and twenty seconds of television that year.
But ABC and the AMPAS feel like they need to appease to short attention span viewers, so a moment like this can indeed be stopped.
Lea Salonga and Brad Kane - "A Whole New World" (1993)
Even though the Academy Awards is a celebration of film, the performances at the Oscars during a song with high production values can rival anything on Broadway.
But unlike those musicals in NYC, these little five-minute numbers are one-and-done and they have to be perfect for an audience of close to a billion eyeballs.
Lea Salonga and Brad Kane not only sang the signature song from Aladdin live somehow better than what we remember it in the film, but look at all the action taking place around them. This is what excellence on television looks like.
Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston - "When You Believe" (1999)
Two of the top divas of the '80s and '90s only performed their Oscar-winning duet twice live. Whitney and Mariah first sang "When You Believe" from The Prince of Egypt on the Oprah Winfrey show, but that was in a relatively small TV studio.
When the two superstars got dolled up to belt out the song at the Dolby Theater it was an entirely mammoth spectacle, not visually, but audibly as the pair showed the audience why they'll always be known as two of the best.
Mariah's Vegas residency continues next week. Grab your tickets at the Park MGM website before they disappear.
