Oscars: Plenty of Time for Cirque du Soleil; Still no Time for Two Musical Performances

Okay, we don’t mean this as a dig to Cirque Du Soleil. All in all, we think they’re pretty cool. But you can’t talk about the Muppets and Cirque Du Soleil in the same post without bringing up Cirque Du So Lamé, the cancelled Muppet Show act that an outside contractor proposed for the Muppets in Its A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, a.k.a. It’s a Wonderful Life but with Kermit the Frog, a.k.a. No, I Just Have Something In My Eye, Okay? For the record, it referred to the metallic fabric.

Moving along! The good news is that Kermit and Piggy are confirmed presenters at this year’s Oscars. The other news is that even though the Oscars decided that it didn’t have time in its broadcast for the meagre two musical numbers it nominated for Best Song, it does have time for a Cirque Du Soleil performance.

As the A.V. Club so delicately puts it: “The Oscars’ recent banishing of Best Original Song performances may have ensured that The Muppets will not be allowed to make a mockery of what is an otherwise very dignified round of masturbation, but it also raised a tangential concern—namely, whether the ceremony would still feature a gaudy, prolonged, interpretive dance number.”

The answer appears to be yes, with the largest group of Cirque performers in history gathering to perform a cut down version of their IRIS, a show also located in the KODAK theater (quite convenient!) that pays tribute to the history of film. Danny Elfman composed all the music for the show, and so in any other circumstance I’d be thrilled to see the combination of those talents, since Cirque’s penchant for surrealism is a great twin to Elfman’s own. But it’s hard to see the announcement of a performance lauding Hollywood history as exciting next to the snub the Academy leveled at modern movie performers and composers this year.

Also, like, no Muppet dance sequence. However! According to Disney’s official twitter, Kermit and Piggy will be presenting an award at the ceremonies. So now we’re just wondering which one… special effects? Maybe one of the writing awards? Best animated feature? Personally, I’m hoping very hard for some kind of Muppet presence on the red carpet, because that kind of thing is usually very awesome.

(Muppets news via ToughPigs, Cirque Du Soleil via the A.V. Club.)