Ariana Grande Hosts ‘SNL’ For The First Time Since The Last Female Presidential Nominee

Ariana Grande hosted “Saturday Night Live” for the third time, and she found herself in similar circumstances.

“The last time I hosted was in 2016, and we were right on the verge of electing our first female president,” the 31-year-old singer and actress remarked in her monologue. “So, I guess, second time’s the charm?”

Grande, who originally hosted in 2014, pledged not to sing before breaking into song.

The motif continued throughout the song, as she pledged not to perform her signature impressions of Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, and Gwen Stefani before doing a piece of each. She would subsequently perform a much lengthier version of Celine Dion in a spoof on the show.

Grande presented to promote her film musical “Wicked,” a “Wizard of Oz” prequel slated to be released next month.

Ariana Grande Hosts ‘SNL’ For The First Time Since The Last Female Presidential Nominee

She stated that playing the benevolent witch Glinda in the film is every theater kid’s dream after “losing their virginity.”

Grande’s episode airs during a period of high ratings for the sketch show, which is most likely due to its 50th season and election season. Last month’s season debut attracted the most viewers since 2020.

As in the first two episodes of the current season, Maya Rudolph played Vice President Kamala Harris in the night’s cold open, leading a group of former cast members who returned as guest performers, including Andy Samberg as Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff and Dana Carvey as President Joe Biden.

They teamed up for an election-themed episode of “The Family Feud,” competing against Team Trump.

Kenan Thompson, the show’s longest-tenured cast member since 2003, returned to his character as “Feud” presenter Steve Harvey and confronted Rudolph-as-Harris about her recent publicity blitz.

“It’s been a hell of a week,” she explained. “I went on Howard Stern to reach the horny cab drivers, I went on ‘The View’ for the horny moms, and I also went on the podcast ‘Call Her Daddy’ because I have a message for young women: You need to go to the ballot box if you want the government out of your ballot box.”

Current cast member James Austin Johnson reappeared as Donald Trump, claiming that his opponent is “going to be terrible at this game.” She has a relatively low IQ. “The entire world is laughing at her because they do not respect her.”

Ariana Grande Hosts ‘SNL’ For The First Time Since The Last Female Presidential Nominee

Nicks, 76, made her first appearance as a musical guest on “SNL” in over 40 years. She opened with her brand-new track, “The Lighthouse,” but the appearance of the performance was typical Stevie, with an abundance of rings and scarves and the singer dressed in all black. For her second song, she chose “Edge of Seventeen” from 1981.

Michael Keaton will host next week, with musical guest Billie Eilish. John Mulaney and Chappell Roan are scheduled for the following Saturday.

Season 50 has already offered reflection and nostalgia in various ways, including “Saturday Night,” a cinematic comedy that dramatizes the minutes leading up to the inaugural episode of Lorne Michaels’ sketch institution on October 11, 1975.

A three-hour primetime special on February 16 will serve as the official 50th season commemoration.

SOURCE | AP