Ryan Gosling to sing ‘I’m Just Ken’ at the Oscars
The Oscars are getting a shot of Kenergy this year.
The motion picture academy confirmed on Wednesday that Ryan Gosling will perform the Oscar-nominated song “I’m Just Ken” from the megahit “Barbie” during the 96th Oscars ceremony on March 10.
Gosling, who earned a supporting actor nod for his turn as the bleach-blond himbo who undergoes an existential crisis, has unquestionable singing and dancing chops, going back to his Disney days. And on the heels of the film’s box-office dominance, “I’m Just Ken,” in which Ken vents his fears that Barbie will never see “the man behind the tan,” became a surprise breakout, peaking at No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August and generating three other versions, including a Christmas-themed one. (The song was written by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, who earned Oscars for their work on the “A Star Is Born” hit “Shallow.”)
The 2024 Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday, with big numbers for “Oppenheimer,” “Barbie” and two foreign titles, “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest.”
When asked earlier this month by Variety whether he would perform the song at the Oscars, Gosling expressed uncertainty. “It might be too much of a risk to have me do it,” he said. “I don’t know how that would work. But I’m open to it.”
The academy also announced that Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell will perform the other nominated song from “Barbie,” “What Was I Made For?” The pair won the original song prize in 2022 for their James Bond theme “No Time to Die” and also performed at the Oscars that year. If Eilish were to prevail and win a second Oscar at age 22, she would be the youngest person to ever do so in any category.
Alongside those performances, Jon Batiste will sing his song “It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony,” Becky G will perform “The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot” and Scott George and the Osage Singers will perform “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
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