He plays the confused bloke at the heart of Hollywood’s biggest rallying cry for women in decades – and tonight he will be the star of the show at the 96th Academy Awards.

Barbie’s squeeze Ken will appear alongside 65 of his namesakes in a rousing performance of the Oscar-nominated song I’m Just Ken, in what appears to be a bid to drag the awards into the 21st Century.

Barbie was last year’s most successful film, taking an eye-watering £1.1billion at the box office – and while it is nominated for Best Picture, its director Greta Gerwig and its star Margot Robbie have controversially missed out.

A source who saw a rehearsal for the performance, starring Ryan Gosling – who played ‘main Ken’ and is nominated for Best Supporting Actor – predicted: ‘Ken will be the star of the Oscars, which is ironic when Barbie was all about empowering women.

‘Ryan’s performance is over the top and everyone is expecting it to be the thing everyone is talking about after tonight’s show. Hollywood talks a good talk about diversity, but when it comes down to it, a white guy will be the star of the show, so it’s business as usual.’

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Barbie’s squeeze Ken will appear alongside 65 of his namesakes in a rousing performance of the Oscar-nominated song I’m Just Ken

Barbie was last year’s most successful film, taking an eye-watering £1.1billion at the box office but its director Greta Gerwig and its star Margot Robbie have controversially missed out

While Barbie is expected to win only a handful of smaller awards, including Best Original Song for Billie Eilish‘s What Was I Made For?, the film will be ‘front and centre’ in a ceremony desperate to halt plunging ratings and attract younger viewers.

The Mail on Sunday understands at least a dozen of the world’s top online influencers have been invited to the ceremony for the first time this year, to ‘bring the Oscars kicking and screaming into the real world’.

A source said: ‘The Oscars have had dismal ratings in the past few years [just 18.7 million viewers tuned in last year], so even though Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie haven’t been nominated, the jokes will all be about Barbie and there are lots of Barbie references in the opening monologue.

‘Expect lots of jokes about the patriarchy. The Academy needs to connect with a younger audience. Which is why they are inviting influencers with millions of followers. They are hoping Ken will go viral.’

Oppenheimer, the film about the creator of the atomic bomb, which created a cultural phenomenon known as ‘Barbenheimer’ when it opened on the same day as Barbie, is expected to sweep the board at tonight’s ceremony.

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Despite it’s box office success and pink premieres Barbie is expected to win only a handful of smaller awards, including Best Original Song for Billie Eilish ‘s What Was I Made For?

British director Christopher Nolan is expected to win for Best Director and Best Picture, while Irish actor Cillian Murphy is favourite to win Best Actor.

Insiders say Auschwitz drama The Zone Of Interest, directed by London-born Jonathan Glazer, could cause an upset.

One Academy member said: ‘People, including big names like Steven Spielberg, have been raving about The Zone Of Interest as one of the best Holocaust movies ever. It would be a shock if it derails Oppenheimer for Best Picture, but that is the joy of the Oscars.’

Other favourites to win are Robert Downey Jr as Best Supporting Actor (Oppenheimer) and Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Best Supporting Actress (The Holdovers.)

The Best Actress race is between Emma Stone (Poor Things) and Lily Gladstone (Killers Of The Flower Moon). But it may not be all bad news for Barbie. Pam Abdy, boss of Warner Bros, the studio behind the film, last week revealed that the company would ‘love’ to make a sequel.

But Ms Robbie appeared to shoot down that idea in a recent interview, saying: ‘We put everything into this one. We didn’t build it to be a trilogy or something, so I can’t imagine what would be next.’