It wasn’t just awards being handed out last night at the 96th Academy Awards. As is customary, for the Oscar ceremony, all of the Best Original Song contenders were able to perform their nominated tunes live on stage. While all were engaging, clearly Ryan Gosling blew the doors off the entire ceremony with his rendition of “I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie,” which had the entire Oscar crowd on its feet and wowing. Gosling, clearly a terrific performer if anyone remembers “La La Land,” also received some backup from his “Barbie” co-stars/fellow Kens Simu Liu and Kingsley Ben-Adir, and even Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash delivered an unexpected cameo with a fiery guitar solo. Gosling invoked his old “Mickey Mouse Club” days with his cheeky rendition of the Oscar-nominated song from the Greta Gerwig film.
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Billie Eilish and Fineas were also in attendance and delivered an emotional and somber version of “What Was I Made For” from “Barbie,” which, of course, ended up earning the duo her second Oscar statue. Eilish and her brother previously won the Oscar for the theme to the James Bond movie “No Time To Die,” the final outing for star Daniel Craig before a recasting.
Scott George and the Osage Singers also created a fantastic live performance of “Wahzahazhe (A Song For My People)” from the Martin Scorsese-directed historical Indigenous crime drama “Killers of The Flower Moon.” The film sadly was snubbed in every category, despite Lily Gladstone being a favorite to win Best Actress, ending up losing to Emma Stone (“Poor Things“). The dominance of “Oppenheimer” seemingly made it difficult for both “Killers” to find much wiggle room.
Other songs performed at the ceremony leading up to the award included Jon Batiste tickling the ivories with “Never Went Away” from the Netflix documentary “American Symphony” and Becky G‘s sweat-inducing version of “The Fire Inside” from the comedic biopic “Flamin’ Hot.”
It was a magical night for songs, and hopefully, we’ll get equally compelling nominees next year. Below, you can watch the performances, but the Academy has sadly region-coded them and might not be able to view them in your country outside of the United States.
