Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” Oscars Performance Perfectly Channeled Marilyn Monroe

Has anyone ever had more fun than Ryan Gosling performing “I’m Just Ken” from Barbie at the Oscars? On Sunday night, Gosling took to the stage in a hot pink suit to belt out the Oscar-nominated song, and we think it’s fair to call it the real moment of the night for so many reasons. Not the least of which being the incredible homage to Marilyn Monroe’s performance of “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” to really drive home Ken’s “blonde fragility.”

Fans of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie will remember Gosling’s performance of “I’m Just Ken” from the movie, when Ken suffers from an existential crisis and decides to dance it out with the other Kens. When Gosling performed the song, written by Mark Ronson, at the Oscars, he started out singing in his seat with Barbie (Margot Robbie) barely holding it together in front of him. Then he took to a pink stage, dressed head-to-toe in a hot pink suit, where he danced and performed with other Kens dressed in black tuxedos with pink accents. They even carried him on their shoulders as they sang “can you feel the Kenergy?” with cutouts of classic Barbie heads all around him.

And yes, plenty of people on social media noticed that this was basically a scene right out of the 1953 classic Marilyn Monroe film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. From the pink suit to the dancers to the stairs and even a little champagne flute, Gosling paid homage to the Monroe’s iconic performance and we could not get enough of it.

Beyond the incredible homage to the classic musical number, Gosling also won rave reviews for performing alongside Guns ‘N Roses guitarist Slash, leaning up against him while he played like they were old pals.

Refusing to stay onstage when he could go have fun with his Barbie friends, Gosling made his way into the crowd to sing the chorus, “I’m just Ken and that’s enough, and I’m great at doing stuff,” with Robbie, director Greta Gerwig (who looked like she was having the time of her life), and America Ferrera. He moved onto fellow Oscar nominee and frequent collaborator Emma Stone, who got so into singing “I’m Just Ken” with him that she broke the back of her dress.

That was the thing about his performance. Everyone in the audience was having as much fun as Gosling himself. Even director Martin Scorcese, who is not exactly known for his love of musical theater numbers, couldn’t help himself. He really embraced that strong Kenergy.

“I’m Just Ken” did not win an Oscar for Best Song but that’s okay, it was still Kenough for us.