This is a bit outrageous. Mike Fleming is reporting at Deadline Hollywood Daily that the original song nominees will not be asked to perform the tracks on the telecast:
Explanations include that the songs never delivered ratings, and that is what this Oscarcast is all about. That not having the big production numbers will move the show along. That it will save money for distributors, who eat most of the costs (up to 7 figures) of schlepping singers in. That unless a song by Bruce Springsteen, Celine Dion, Sting or U2 were nominated, most of the worldwide audience is hearing the tune for the first time when it is sung. I mean, can anybody besides Tom Bernard or Michael Barker from Sony Pictures Classics hum a few bars of “Loin de Paname” from Paris 36?
Dear Academy: I don’t think we can possibly bend over any further.