I’ll be honest: for months, I’ve hated how much attention Ryan Gosling got for playing Ken in Barbie, and I’ve hated all of the hype around “I’m Just Ken.” I rolled my eyes at the news that Gosling would perform the Best Song-nominated “I’m Just Ken” at the Oscars. But Gosling’s willingness to be a full-throttle dork really won me over. That man put on a Barbie pink suit and DELIVERED. His performance – alongside some of the other “Kens,” plus Mark Ronson and SLASH – was easily the best moment of the night. The performance was staged, amazingly, as an ode to Marilyn Monroe’s “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. It was SUBLIME! I loved how everyone in the room was into it too – the Barbie women were singing along, Emma Stone jumped up to sing too.
One of the most extraordinary things is that Billie Eilish is now a two-time Oscar winner and both Oscars were won with her whisper-singing. Still, at least Barbie took home the Best Song Oscar?? Billie’s hair and makeup looked great too.
Another great moment is John Cena fulfilling his destiny as a naked himbo at the Oscars. He really was mostly naked – there were behind-the-scenes photos and he had his cakes out… sort of. He wore some sort of sticky cloth modesty panel, but from the side, it definitely looked like he was naked.
As for Jimmy Kimmel’s performance as Oscar host… it was okay. I actually liked the pacing and starting the Oscars at 7 pm knocked everyone off-kilter, but the show felt brisk and yet, they gave winners a lot of time. The absolute best part of Kimmel-as-MC was when he made a stupid joke about Poor Things and the camera panned to Emma Stone. Lip-readers are convinced she called him a prick. I hope she did!
Emma Stone's reaction to Jimmy Kimmel's joke about poor things.. oh YEAH pic.twitter.com/LlIKvGr4H2
— best of emma stone (@badpostestone) March 10, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Oscar® nominee Ryan Gosling arrives on the red carpet of the 96th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 10, 2024.,Image: 855691363, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Nick Agro / Avalon
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- John Cena presents the Oscar® for Costume Design during the live ABC telecast of the 96th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 10, 2024.,Image: 855738840, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Ryan Gosling performs onstage during the live ABC telecast of the 96th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 10, 2024.,Image: 855741171, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Ryan Gosling performs onstage during the live ABC telecast of the 96th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 10, 2024.,Image: 855741192, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Ryan Gosling performs onstage during the live ABC telecast of the 96th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 10, 2024.,Image: 855741208, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Jimmy Kimmel and John Cena present the Oscar® for Costume Design during the live ABC telecast of the 96th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 10, 2024.,Image: 855742317, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
The “I’m just Ken” link doesn’t work for me in Europe—here’s one that does: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r2H4pJOtj_M
I really enjoyed this in the movie and I love that Ryan went full Kenergy in his performance. And it gave Barbie a moment in the (pink) spotlights.
Thank you! I was looking for it.
I think Gosling has had filler in his cheeks
I said this very thing to Mr Addams! His cheeks looked like two apples.
Yes, he most definitely has and it’s bloody awful. Please, please, get them dissolved.
Thank you for the link!
Thanks, ML!
It’s kinda cool that the moments of high fun involved men being willing to make dorks of themselves/get naked on camera—you know, for a change.
Once I saw how Phinneas and Billie work on music, I think Phinneas and Billie have to be referred to as a duo. And he hard carries. When they’re writing and recording he’ll splice one line 40 or more times to get the exact right sounds he wants. Also really enjoyed the power ballad of I’m just Ken for the Oscar audience.
He’s a genius. I watched a short video of how he created this song and it was fascinating.
I love how great they are together. Fantastic collaborators and each other’s best hype-man/hype-woman. I think I read that Billie says he told her when they were just getting started that he wanted to make her a global pop-star. And he has, and doesn’t at all begrudge the success of her as a performer, the face of their collaborations, overshadowing his solo work and the work of his band.
OMG – that was a great performance from Ryan and co. I LOVED the bit with him and the camera man. You can tell he was really enjoying himself and tried not to laugh on several occasions. Also good to see the other Kens there as well.
I’ve watched it approximately 500 times, just today.
Except for the sandals, Cena had the best look of the night. Most of the fashion was pretty “meh”.
For the presenters I loved Kate and America, with an assist from Spielberg!!
And I thought John Mulaney was really funny.
Then when Al Pacino came on I thought of a bit mulaney did in his last special about Al Pacino (aka daddy khaki pants)- which made me laugh again last night
Besides the fact that patriarchal society learned nothing from the Barbie movie but enjoys the entertainment value and movie pr it gave them sums up our society and why I’m a little depressed today.
But I though as awards shows go, this went pretty well
And of course kinmel’s reading tr*mps actual post and replying “isn’t it past your jail time” lol
Kimmel was very hit or miss overall, but that was brilliant!
my favorite part was I’m Just Ken, and ofc the red carpet. some great reaction shots this year too. their control room must be bonkers.
I’m glad Billie & Finneas won. it’s a beautiful song and it really expresses the heart of the movie. idk if they always have the best song nominees perform but they should. that was cool.
The “I’m Just Ken” performance was EVERYTHING I wanted it to be. YES!
Hard agree — his performance was fantastic.
Instantly iconic. How many of our best serious actors could also pull off this?
Goslings “ I’m just Ken” was the performance we all needed. Up til that point it was a tame & typical Oscar night.
( I’m not bitching, I’m in it for the fashion and gaffes ) but his willingness to go all in was brave & remarkable!
Eva Mendes is one lucky lady…
Emma Stone got so into “I’m Just Ken” that she tore the back of her dress
I’m Just Ken was for sure the highlight of the night. It was such a fun performance!
jimmy Kimmel was okay. My biggest issue was I just felt some of his bits went on for too long. Like say the joke and then move on. But he would keep going.
I have a new level of respect for John Cena. Alone on stage and naked, with all of Hollywood’s A-list staring directly at you, has got to be TERRIFYING. I believe it’s what the kids call “nightmare fuel.”
I think he was in his glory. I think he’s so full of himself that he loved every second of it. I’m not a prude or anything but seeing him naked like that really turned me off . Barf!
Ryan Gosling is a gift.
I had so much watching it Ryan and I bet he had a great time performing I’m just Ken too.
I was so sure that Gosling was just going to stop singing and laugh away at some point; 1 million bonus points for staying in character. He had some serious fun! And seeing Margot giggling away at the start, I wish I know if he said anything to her before the song started!
My husband would like props to back up dancer Simu as well. (he’s also Canadian and in many ads we see they have him intro himself as “Marvels Simu Lee”)
Simu is my favorite Ken! I was glad to see him last night.
I’m so happy Billie won. That song is beautiful. And feels like much more than a “film song”
It’s the win for Godzilla that did it for me! *RAWRRRRR*
The Osage performers on stage were huge and so moving. They may have been overshadowed by Ken (who was amazing!) by the end of the evening, but what a moment for all of the Native American peoples who have collectively been forgotten about and left behind in American history.
🙌🏽 It was such a thrill!!! Thanks for bringing it up, it was a blessing to see that performance at the Oscars!
That was incredible.
The reaction to Ken in the babie movie made sense because it was fun, Ryan gave the performance of a lifetime and was totally robbed of his Oscar last night. I have honestly hated the way his work has been diminished because of the gross snub of Greta and Margot, snubs that were wrong but did not make Ryan less deserving.
I loved his performance. Ryan is our last true movie star. I also found the Osage performance and Billie’s very moving but for very different reasons, they were just emotional and special. I am just Ken was a show stopper.
John Mulany was hilarious with his field of Dreams rant. I really enjoyed America and Kate with Spielberg.
I was disgusted by the fact that RDJ blatantly ignored and snubbed Ke Huy Quan when accepting his award and Emma was kind of rude to Michelle too, but my god the way RDJ treated Ke Huy was disgusting.
And I think Jonathan Glazer’s coming out and standing up for Palestine was a huge moment.
Overall I thought the show was good, I would like a new host next year.
Ryan Gossling it’s a real treasure.
It’s great to see that that generation of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse produced very talented artists.
I just watched this again because there was so much going on and I laughed all over again. I didn’t watch the show, but THIS has brought me so much joy! I don’t know how Ryan kept it together without breaking and laughing. His co-stars were losing it! So good.