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When the Academy Award nominations were announced last month, the Best Original Song category only included two candidates: "Real In Rio" from "Rio," and "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets." Now, it doesn't look like even those songs will be performed during the Feb. 26 ceremony.
Bret McKenzie is up for a best original song Oscar later this month, not that "Man or Muppet" (from "The Muppets") will be performed live or anything. The Flight of the Conchords singer-actor confirmed to Billboard new reports that the powers that be have decided to chop the two nominated tracks (the other being "Real in Rio" via "Rio") from the telecast, calling it "a shame."
When the Oscars rolls out the red carpet this Sunday (Feb. 26), it will be a show lacking musical oomph. The Academy decided to nix musical performances at this year's Oscars, where only two songs are nominated in the Best Original Song category this year ("Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" and "Real in Rio" from "Rio").
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While the Academy won't be celebrating live musical performances this year, Billboard.com is, by looking back at the 10 best live music moments the Academy Awards have ever broadcast. The Oscars simply would not have been the same without Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson's a battle of the "Dreamgirls" divas, Michael Jackson's teenage serenade to "Ben," or Madonna homage to Marilyn Monroe.
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10. U2, 2003
As fellow Irishman and Oscar presenter Colin Farrell put it, U2's "The Hands That Built America" honors "new Americans who left Ireland in search of a better life, willing to fight for it at any expense." Written for Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York," the song ultimately lost out to Eminem's "Lose Yourself" but provided a rocking awards show performance nonetheless. Footage of immigrants entering Ellis Island splashed across the stage's backdrop while Bono belted "Hallelujah," creating an Oscar moment of epic proportions as only he can.
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