Yahoo Movies Oppenheimer may have dominated the 2024 Oscars but Ken stole the show
Ryan Gosling's performance of I'm Just Ken was everything film fans dreamed of
The Oscars is the glitziest night in Hollywood and while the event saw Oppenheimer sweep the board it wasn't the Christopher Nolan biopic that had people talking, it was Ryan Gosling's Ken.
In the led up to the ceremony on Sunday night the film community was abuzz over the possibility of the actor performing I'm Just Ken from Greta Gerwig's blockbuster hit Barbie. There were questions over whether he would do the number on the Oscars stage or not, but in the days leading up to the Academy Awards it was finally confirmed that it would happen — and it was better than anyone could have hoped.
🍿 Oscars 2024 recap
Gosling dazzled viewers with his pink sequin suit as he began the performance by singing from his seat in the audience before stepping out on stage and being joined by 65 back-up dancers. This included some of his fellow Kens — Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Ncuti Gatwa.
But that wasn't all, to quote another Barbie song: as Gosling sang his heart out he danced the night away. The actor brought the Kenergy to the Oscars stage, embracing his now iconic character as he was showed off his expert dance moves and was lifted into the air by his fellow Kens.
There were references to Marilyn Monroe's Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend in his rendition of the song, and he even performed alongside the rock legend Slash in a surprise turn of events.
Watch: The best moments from the 2024 Oscars
Gosling also headed out into the crowd for some audience participation, getting Gerwig, Margot Robbie and America Ferrera to sing along with him, as well as his La La Land co-star Emma Stone. It was an incredible way to give 2023's biggest movie an even bigger send off.
It was a great night for Gosling, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Ken. Christoph Waltz gave him a nice tribute during the category's five past winners' introduction to the 2024 nominees, and though it was Robert Downey Jr who won the award Gosling won our hearts.
Another fun moment in the show saw Gosling bicker with Oppenheimer actor Emily Blunt, his The Fall Guy co-star, about the Barbenheimer feud.
In the amusing back-and-forth exchange the actors bickered about how well their movies did. Gosling said that Oppenheimer rode the coat tails of Barbie at the box office, while Blunt said that awards season "wasn't much of a competition" between the two films.
In a sense it was the perfect way to encapsulate the Barbenheimer cultural phenomenon, one film won the audience's adoration and dominated the box office while the other swept the board in awards season, including at the Oscars. So, in a way, both of them are winners, and always will be.
The Oscars is available to watch now on ITVX.
