Barbie has two songs nominated at the 96th Oscars- Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” and Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken.” While Eilish will be performing her TikTok-viral song at the ceremony, we’re still left to ponder if the Barbie actor will be performing his powerful ballad too. Barbie’s soundtrack producer and co-writer to the trending song, Mark Ronson, gives his thoughts on whether the dream of seeing Gosling take to the stage to sing his Oscar-nominated hit will become a reality.
It’s happened before when musicians subbed in for actors singing their Best Song-nominated tunes. We could argue it was a huge mistake for La La Land’s songs to not be sung by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone at the 89th Academy Awards. Could that same thing be happening this year for Gosling’s Barbie song “I’m Just Ken?” On the Grammys red carpet, Barbie’s soundtrack producer and co-writer of “I’m Just Ken,” Mark Ronson, gave his take to Variety on whether or not the Canadian actor will perform his song live at the ceremony.
That would be great. Did he confirm to you? I want to know … it’s my dream! It’s my dream.
Barbie fans as well as myself would be in complete agreement with Mark Ronson. It would be an absolute dream to see Ryan Gosling relive one of Barbie’s standout moments. And I’m talking the works- the “Grease Lightnin’” inspired moves, the animated hand gestures, and the expressive, emotional tone Gosling brought to his voice. To think that this sequence was going to be very different in Greta Gerwig’s movie where it was originally going to be placed somewhere in the movie compared to a full-on dance battle. Good thing Gerwig saw larger potential for Ken’s song and expanded its presence or who knows if The Academy or audiences would have noticed it.
When Ryan Gosling was asked if he’ll perform “I’m Just Ken” at the Oscars, he said he wasn’t invited to do so. After Variety asked Mark Ronson about the possibility of an artist sub to fill in if the Crazy Stupid Love actor opts out of performing, here was his answer:
No. I think if Ryan doesn’t do it then we’re not doing it.
I don’t blame the “Shallow” co-writer for that declaration. Ryan Gosling truly made the song so popular that there’s no way any other musician will be able to top it. The song blew up so exponentially that Pete Davidson parodied the Barbie song on SNL and there are three remixes released with a Christmas-version video that screams perfection.
In a surprise twist at this year’s Critics Choice Awards, “I’m Just Ken” won Best Song over Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For.” While social media users were happy with the win, they were more entertained with the Oscar-nominated actor’s funny reaction to his song scoring that award. It's like he didn't know what hit him! Of course, the internet was on fire fully meme-ing Gosling’s battled face hearing his song called out at the ceremony. With all of the attention the Grammy-nominated song has received, Gosling just has to be the one performing his character’s heart-rendering song.
Mark Ronson was once asked how Ryan Gosling felt about the attention coming from “I’m Just Ken.” Apparently, the Drive actor was taken by surprise by how viral the chart-topper became with the praise touching the musician inside of him. With Gosling loving the attention his song got, hopefully this means he’ll further honor the Best Song nominee by giving us the Oscar performance we’d love to see.
You can find out for yourself by watching the 96th Academy Awards live on March 10th. Until then, feel free to relieve the power ballad rendition watching Barbie on your Max subscription.
