2024 Oscars battle for Best Original Song: ‘I’m Just Ken’ vs. ‘Peaches’
One of the biggest surprises and most joyous moments of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” was when Jack Black‘s villainous Bowser took to the piano and roared out the power ballad “Peaches.” The song was the funniest ballad we’d ever seen…. until “Barbie” came out.” That movie featured Ryan Gosling‘s Ken singing the tune “I’m Just Ken,” backed up by a bunch of other Kens including Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, and Kingsley Ben-Adir.
It’s strange, curious, and fantastic that two films have been released this year that feature hilarious ballads as key moments in their films for their story’s villains. As such, we expect both songs to compete for Best Original Song this year purely for their sheer popularity. Our odds chart for this category isn’t yet up, however. For now, we’re just focusing on the chances of these two songs only.
Firstly, “Peaches” is a ballad sung by Bowser in his lair. In it, he confesses his love for Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) while at his piano. The song reveals Bowser’s motives behind his villainous activity — “everything I do, I do it for you” vibes. He is desperate to win the Princess’ hand in marriage because he loves her. It may just be a fun cartoon kids movie, but that movie immediately makes Bowser a more 3D villain. And the song is hilarious. Black’s voice is perfect for the song as the passion and power increased and increases into a mad, funny crescendo. It’s easily the best and most memorable part of the movie.
The song was performed by Black and co-written by Black, Eric Osmond, John Spiker, and directors Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath. This would be the first Oscar nomination for all of these artists. There is good news, however. Animated movies tend to do well in this category. “Encanto” was nominated in 2022, “Toy Story 4” and “Frozen II” were nominated in 2020, “Coco” won in 2018, “Moana” and “Trolls” were nominated in 2017, and “The Lego Movie” was nominated in 2015. In fact, “The Lego Movie” was famously snubbed for Best Animated Feature but it still earned that Best Original Song nomination. So, even if “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is overlooked for Animated Feature, its hilarious, catchy, and popular song (like “Everything is Awesome” from “The Lego Movie”) could still get nominated.
Secondly, “I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie.” “Barbie” is full of brilliant moments but it ramps it up a notch in the third act when Barbie’s plan to turn the Kens against one another succeeds. The song starts off with Gosling looking like a 1990s pop-star ina. music video before, oozing out the witty, satirical lines of “I’m Just Ken” before it shifts into something more dramatic. In fact, it turns into a sort of Gene Kelly musical number on a soundstage while the all-black outfits of the buff guys dancing is reminiscent of “Grease Lightning” in “Grease.” It’s a cine-literate satirization of masculinity but it also acts as a character-led moment in which Ken takes charge of his own life and realizes that, yes, he is enough (Kenough). It’s actually got a message of male empowerment beneath the comedy and choreographed dancing. And the fact that the movie’s moment wherein it talks directly about masculinity comes in the form of a song-and-dance number seems to be a commentary in and of itself. Genius, just like the rest of Greta Gerwig‘s film.
The song is performed by Gosling while Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt wrote it. Gosling has been nominated twice for Oscars — both for acting. He earned Best Actor nominations in 2007 (for “Half Nelson”) and 2017 (for “La La Land”). Meanwhile, Ronson and Wyatt bring with them a solid Oscars history in this category. They both won Best Original Song in 2019 for the song “Shallow” from “A Star is Born,” sharing the award with Lady Gaga and Anthony Rossomando. That song was more emotional but it was as popular and talked about as “I’m Just Ken” is. Plus, comedy songs tend to do okay in this category. “Husavik,” from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga,” was nominated in 2021. “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings,” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” was nominated in 2019. And the aforementioned “Everything is Awesome,” from “The Lego Movie,” was nominated in 2015.
“I’m Just Ken” is also tied intrinsically to Gosling’s performance as Ken. We are predicting that Gosling will be nominated for Best Supporting Actor, so he could also collect an Original Song bid, too, to go with that performance. That has happened before. Bradley Cooper was nominated for Best Actor and Lady Gaga for Best Actress for “A Star is Born” while their song “Shallow” won Original Song. Leslie Odom Jr. was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 2021 for “One Night in Miami” — he was also nominated for Best Original Song for that movie for “Speak Now” (shared with Sam Ashworth). And Gosling was nominated for Best Actor for “La La Land,” which also won Best Original Song for “City of Stars.” Gosling wasn’t on the ballot for that win (Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul won for that) but the song was still tied to Gosling’s character and performance in that film. The same could happen with “Barbie.”
Plus, we are predicted that “Barbie” will be nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay while it is on the precipice of Best Director (Gerwig) and Best Actress (Margot Robbie) bids. The movie will also be up for several design awards, too, so if the film gets enough love, “I’m Just Ken” could get swept up and taken along for the ride. Now, that would be Kenough.
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