Surprising no one, Ryan Gosling absolutely delivered with a performance of his Oscar-nominated Barbie song “I’m Just Ken” at the 2024 Oscars, capable of burning down any mojo dojo casa house.
The actor, clad in an all-pink suit and cowboy hat, started the song from his seat in the audience, cracking up Billie Eilish and Margot Robbie as he started singing. Mark Ronson joined Gosling, backing him on guitar, and a group of dancers, including Barbie actor Simu Liu, as well as Wolfgang Van Halen also joined the set. Midway through the song, Slash brought his guitar onstage to accompany the impassioned Gosling, who handed off the microphone to his Barbie castmates for the chorus. Later, Emma Stone took the mic for a line. The entire crowd got to their feet for the performance, which ended with fireworks.
Ryan Gosling performs "I'm Just Ken" at the 2024 #Oscars pic.twitter.com/sjEtymPMIa
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) March 11, 2024
While it’s tradition for all Best Original Song nominees to be performed live at the Academy Awards, the original performers aren’t always the ones to take the stage and deliver it at the ceremony. As such, after the nominations were announced, there was a period where it was unclear if Gosling — who was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor — would take the stage.
“I’m Just Ken” was written and produced by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt. It’s one of two songs from the Barbie soundtrack to be nominated for Best Original Song this year, along with Billie Eilish and Finneas’ “What Was I Made For?” The other nominees are “The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot, “It Never Went Away” from American Symphony, and “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon.
In a recent episode of Rolling Stone’s “The Breakdown,” Ronson spoke about the instructions Barbie director Greta Gerwig gave him for “I’m Just Ken”: “I need the most maximalist thing you’ve ever written,” Ronson recalled.
He added of the track, “There’s this idea he’s in the wrong place, not in the right time, and he’s not appreciated… We’re laughing, but we’re not laughing at these people. We’re laughing with them on this journey.”
From Rolling Stone US
