Ryan Gosling has delivered a dazzling performance of the Barbie song “I’m Just Ken” at the 2024 Academy Awards.
Beginning in the crowd, a black cowboy-hat clad Gosling sang the song with gusto, taking the Oscars stage alongside 65 male dancers and Slash, Wolfgang Van Halen, Mark Ronson, and Andrew Wyatt for the very first live performance of the Ken-honoring song. Hopping into the crowd, Gosling got help singing from the Barbie cast, Emma Stone, and more. Watch clips of the performance below.
“I’m Just Ken” was written by Ronson and Wyatt, and features guitarists Slash and Van Halen, as well as drummer Josh Freese. The song earned a nomination for Best Original Song at the 2024 Academy Awards, alongside another Barbie track, “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish and Finneas. The latter track took home the award.
Leading up to the Oscars, Gosling was “incredibly passionate about” the “I’m Just Ken” performance, and was “very involved” in its execution, according to Oscars executive producer Molly McNearney. Speaking to IndieWire, another Oscars EP, Raj Kapoor said: “The official quote should be the Oscars will have Kenergy… we’re going big. Big and Ken will be synonymous.”
Last August, “I’m Just Ken” entered the Billboard Hot 100, as Barbie: the Album sat at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Last December, Ken the EP arrived, featuring the song three additional versions, including the holiday-themed “Merry Kristmas” version.
Other nominees for Best Original Song at the 2024 Oscars included Diane Warren’s “The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot; “Jon Batiste’s “It Never Went Away” from American Symphony; and “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon. Earlier in the ceremony, Billie Eilish performed the winning song: her Barbie number, “What Was I Made For?”
Ryan Gosling and the cast of “Barbie” perform “I’m Just Ken” at the #Oscars. pic.twitter.com/00hd0Jw8cy
— Variety (@Variety) March 11, 2024
