Peter Gabriel has pulled out of playing live at the Oscars ceremony after learning that his performance would be cut to merely 65 seconds.

The 59-year-old former Genesis singer is co-nominated alongside composer Thomas Newman for his Wall-E song 'Down To Earth', which was due to be performed as part of a medley with the other nominees.

Despite deciding not to perform, Gabriel said on his official website that he will be still attending the lavish Los Angeles ceremony on February 22.

In the video posting, he said: "I'm an old fart and it's not going to do me any harm to make a protest. But the ceremony should be fun and I'm looking forward to it."

Gabriel lost out at the Golden Globes to Bruce Springsteen's 'The Wrestler'.

(by Scott Colothan)