Billie Eilish scores second Oscar win and makes history

The What Was I Made For star took home a golden statue for her hit Barbie song 

BY JASMINE SMITH, IMAGE BY DREAMSTIME 

Billie Eilish made history last night after winning Best Original Song at the 2024 Oscars, becoming the youngest artist ever to win two Academy Awards. 

The 22-year-old singer-songwriter won the award for the existential ballad What Was I Made For? from the movie Barbie and was joined by brother and co-writer Finneas O’Connell. The award was presented by Wicked co-stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.

The siblings scored their first Oscar in 2022 for the James Bond theme No Time To Die and looked similarly overwhelmed last night collecting their second.

“I had a nightmare about this last night,” Billie joked.

The pop pairing were up against tough competition from fellow Barbie contender I’m Just Ken, Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People) from Killers of the Flower Moon and American Symphony’s It Never Went Away. 

At the ceremony, Billie said: “I’m so grateful for this song and for this movie and the way it made me feel.” The singer dedicated the award to “everyone affected by the movie and how incredible it was.”

The emotive ballad plays as Barbie encounters the ghost of her creator Ruth Handler (Rhea Perlman), who shows Barbie a montage of real women, emphasising what it means to be human. The track reached number one in the UK and Australia, peaked at 14 in the US, and won the Grammy for Song Of The Year in February. 

Billie also acknowledged her teachers, including those who “didn’t like me but you were good at your job”, and best friend Zoe “for playing Barbies with me”. Finneas, who at 26 years old becomes the second-youngest artist to win two Oscars, joined Billie in thanking Margot Robbie.

Barbie was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress for America Ferrera and Best Supporting Actor for Ryan Gosling. Despite being a billion-dollar smash and the most popular film in LetterBoxd history, Barbie won no further Oscars. Fans were also left furious as Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig (as director) were not nominated at all. 

Billie and Finneas performed the hit earlier in the night alongside an orchestra and received a standing ovation for their efforts.

Speaking in the press room after her historic win, Billie emphasised how Barbie “made a lot of people feel seen, especially as a woman” which really “resonated and travelled the world.”

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