“Can you feel the Kenergy?”
That was the question asked from the stage of the Dolby Theater on Sunday night, when Ryan Gosling and a menagerie of Kens took over the 2024 Oscars with an elaborate performance of the Spectacular “Barbie” “I'm just Ken.”
Gosling, reprising his Oscar-nominated performance as Ken, Barbie's eager, hard-working beta boyfriend, donned a vibrant pink suit, matching gloves and dark sunglasses to lead a live performance of the anthem, in which Ken melodiously reconsiders the patriarchal expectations placed on men.
He began the performance in the audience, sitting between a giggling Billie Eilish and Margot Robbie, and then took the stage to emotionally dance with his fellow Kens (an ensemble of 65 dancers) wearing cowboy hats, in a visual reference to ” Diamonds” by Marilyn Monroe. “They are a girl’s best friend.” Yes, karate chops, hip thrusts, and giant Barbie heads were involved.
Gosling was also joined on stage by the song's co-writer Mark Ronson, Guns N' Roses' Slash and Wolfgang Van Halen, as well as his co-stars Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa and Scott Evans.
Inside the Dolby Theatre, bright pink screens flashed the lyrics to the final verse, encouraging the crowd to join in a surprise Barbie-oke for the last of the contending original songs. The crowd was on its feet, clapping, cheering and dancing, with Greta Gerwig, America Ferrera and Emma Stone singing into Gosling's microphone as he danced alongside them.
Ryan Gosling and a group of dancers perform “I'm Just Ken” from “Barbie” at the 2024 Oscars.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
The song transitions from a rock ballad to '80s synthpop and also features an instrumental cameo from Foo Fighters' Josh Freese. like the movie broke numerous box office records last summer, “I'm Just Ken” peaked at number 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and spurred three subsequent deliveriesincluding a Christmas shot.
A live version of the song was mocked as “an absolutely crazy show” by Ronson, who he co-wrote the song with Andrew Wyatt., jan! Red carpet. “We're only going to be able to perform this song maybe once with Ryan, and he's put us all on his shoulders, or on Ken's shoulders.”
The film's ambitious musical number, featuring striking choreography by Jennifer White and Lisa Welham, is packed with clever jokes, film references and social commentary on the pressures placed on men to perform their masculinity.
Part power ballad, part battle sequence, and part dream ballet, the sequence begins with Gosling's Ken lamenting his lack of purpose beyond Barbie, then leads to a “beach showdown” with his nemesis (Liu). and ends with a shared acceptance with his peers. Kens from a not-so-toxic brotherhood in Barbieland.
“One thing Ryan brought was a certain degree of empathy,” said “Barbie” director and co-writer Greta. Gerwig recently told the Times of Gosling's performance. “Yeah, he's funny. Yes, there are things that are complex and have many places that can be uncomfortable, but there is not a single villain in the film and there is no one who does not deserve our sympathy or our empathy.
The ceremony, which aired live on ABC, included performances of the other nominated original songs: Jon Batiste “It never disappeared” from “American Symphony”, “The Fire Inside” by Becky G, from “Flamin' Hot” by Scott George and the Osage Singers “Wahzhazhe (A song for my people)” from “Killers of the Flower Moon” and the winner, Eilish and Finneas O'Connell “What was I made for?” also from “Barbie”.
“I love Greta Gerwig so much, and I can see her saying, 'I want there to be this crazy dance ballad montage, and we need this song from this crazy character,' performed so well by Ryan,” Finneas he previously told The Times from “I'm Just Ken.” Eilish added: “It's perfect for the movie. It's so perfect for Ken. And just the silliness and silliness of that character.”
Ryan Gosling and a group of dancers perform “I'm Just Ken” from “Barbie” at the 2024 Oscars.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
