Oscar 2016: Two Oscar Nominated Songs Will Not Be Performed

The Oscar-nominated songs “Manta Ray,” from the documentary Racing Extinction and “Simple Song #3 from Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth will not be performed on the 88th Academy Awards. The reason, according to a source: “time constraints.”

On January 28, the Academy announced that Lady Gaga, Sam Smith and the Weeknd would perform their nominated tunes from “The Hunting Ground,” “Spectre” and “Fifty Shades of Grey,” respectively, on the telecast.

A special performance by Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has also been announced.

Last week, the campaigns behind the two outlying original song nominees, performed by lesser-known acts, were informed they would not be part of the show.

“Manta Ray” features music by two-time Oscar-nominated singer-songwriter J. Ralph, with lyrics by Antony Hegarty (a.k.a. Anohni), who also performs. “Simple Song #3” was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang and performed by South Korean soprano Sumi Jo, a Grammy winner. But those credentials weren’t enough to keep them on the program.

Songs have been pulled from the Oscars a few times, including J. Ralph’s “Before My Time” from the documentary “Chasing Ice”; songs from “Skyfall,” “Les Miserables” and “Ted” were performed.

Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” was the only exclusion on the 2003 telecast, because the hip-hop artist did not attend, but he ultimately won the Oscar.

The Weeknd’s “Earned It” was a Grammy winner for best R&B performance this year. It was also nominated, along with Lady Gaga’s “Til It Happens to You,” for best song written for visual media. Both lost to last year’s best original song Oscar winner, “Glory,” from Ava DuVernay’s “Selma.”