Ariana Grande hosted Saturday Night Live last night and delivered impressions of Britney Spears, Celine Dion and Miley Cyrus. Check it out below.
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Grande was the third host of the historic show’s 50th season last night (October 12) while Fleetwood Mac legend Stevie Nicks was enlisted as the musical guest.
Kicking off the show, Grande delivered a monologue referencing her upcoming role as Glinda in the Wicked movie. “It’s awesome, because I’m such a theatre kid. And it’s every theatre kid’s dream to be Glinda or Elphaba,” she told the audience. “Well, it’s every theater kid’s dream to lose their virginity. But their second dream is of course to be in Wicked.”
Recalling her previous appearance as a host on the iconic show, Grande said: “The last time I hosted was in 2016, right on the verge of electing our first female president so I guess second time’s the charm.”
Grande went on to clarify that she was “just hosting” this time around. “I’m not going to make this about me. I’m just going to have fun, take it easy, and keep it low-key,” she said, while being handed a microphone from off-stage.
“I’m not going to sing my favourite notes…I’m not going to do my impressions…” she sang, before launching into a song that included impressions of Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and Gwen Stefani – as well as a take on Stefani’s singing on No Doubt’s 1995 hit, ‘Don’t Speak’.
Check it out below.
Later in the show she impersonated Celine Dion during a sketch that spoofed the singer’s surprising promo for the NFL last week. Performing as Dion, Grande sang about the violence of UFC fighting in a parody of ‘It’s All Coming Back to Me Now’.
Grande appeared as a musical guest on the show in March, where she performed ‘Imperfect For You’ and ‘We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)’ from her most recent album ‘Eternal Sunshine‘ live for the first time.
Elsewhere in the show, the cast performed a sketch as Oasis, poking fun at their past turbulent relationship. Liam Gallagher has since reacted to the bit, writing on Twitter/X: “Are they meant to be comedians”.
In other Ariana news, she has said she’s working on finding dates for a “mini” tour to support ‘Eternal Sunshine’, the album she released in March.
NME awarded the release a glowing four-star review and described it as a “sophisticated break-up album worth losing yourself in”. It was also named on NME’s list of the best albums of this year so far, with it being summarised as seeing the singer “reckon with life, love and divorce on a comeback album that’s as inventive as it is intimate”.
Wicked will star Cynthia Erivo, Grande and Jeff Goldblum, and tell the untold story of the witches of Oz. A trailer for the film arrived in May.
After the global domination of ‘Barbenheimer’ in 2023, movie fans are anticipating ‘Glicked’ in the final months of 2024, with both Wicked and Gladiator II being released on November 22.
