Ariana Grande brought her spot-on celebrity impressions to Saturday Night Live.
The Wicked star returned to the long-running NBC sketch comedy show as host on Oct. 12, where she reprised some of her hilarious pop star impressions during the opening monologue. Donning a beautiful pink gown, the 31-year-old superstar opened the episode by making it crystal clear that she was just hosting and not serving as the evening’s musical guest.
“I’m not going to make this about me,” Grande told the Studio 8H audience. “I’m just going to have fun, take it easy and keep it low key.”
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Moments later, she was subtly handed a microphone and began to break out into song, which included her favorite musical notes “C, D, B, A or G” and, of course, the opening line of Britney Spears‘ 1998 smash hit “…Baby One More Time.” She then belted out more impressive (and hilarious) impersonations of Miley Cyrus and Gwen Stefani.
Grande’s song shifted to a more Broadway-style performance where she bumped into SNL cast member Bowen Yang, who was dressed as her Wicked character Glinda. “Bowen, didn’t anyone tell you? We cut the Wicked sketch!” she said to a disappointed Yang.
The “We Can’t Be Friends” singer once again confirmed that she wouldn’t be performing any of her music on the show. “I’m not going to do a duet tonight, so please don’t bring out Stevie Nicks,” she sang, referencing the night’s musical guest. “Worth a shot!”
Grande will appear in the upcoming live action adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked, in which she’ll play Glinda opposite Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba. Yang will play the role of Pfannee in the Jon M. Chu-directed film. The movie hits theaters on Nov. 22.
This weekend’s stint marked Grande’s second time helming SNL, following her hosting debut in 2016. After the release of her Billboard 200-topping album Eternal Sunshine earlier this year, the Grammy winner served as musical guest on a Josh Brolin-hosted episode of the show in March, and participated in a couple sketches, including a Moulin Rouge parody with Yang.
The next SNL episode on Oct. 19 will be hosted by Michael Keaton with returning musical guest Billie Eilish.
Watch Grande’s SNL monologue below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.
