Oscars Cuts, Development Hell, and Another Future Broads HQ

They just keep coming, much like words from Justin Baldoni's lawyer's mouth.

I joked the other week that if Oscars were going to nominate the songs from Emilia Perez, they’d have to think fast about how to handle the live performances, because those function more as scenes than as actual tunes or musical numbers — and also there is no way Zoe Saldana would agree to hiss-rap “El Mal” live at the Dolby. Last week, the prophecy came true: The Oscars announced that none of the chosen songs will be performed live at the telecast. So, sorry to Elton, but congrats to Saldana… and to Diane Warren, who seems to have realized her increasingly forgettable output gets nominated out of what seems like a formality, a reality that is NEVER helped by hearing it performed live and having the whole room go, “Huh?”

So, will the banked time shorten the ceremony, or, better, FINALLY go toward seeing more clips of nominated performances? You betcha it won’t! Because the Oscars are ALSO exhuming the so-called Big 5 presentations, wherein each nominee in a category is feted at length …