Hosted by Ariana Grande SNL for the second time and starred in seven sketches that aired on Saturday night (October 12) in an episode that seemed tailor-made for the talented impressionist.
List of Grande roles SNL this weekend: an aggressive mother, Celine Dion, a bridesmaid who ruins an 'Espresso' wedding, a tween, one of the many Jennifer Coolidges, a girl entangled with a hotel detective, and a small Italian Renaissance boy with an unfortunate bowl. The falsetto developed in an unfortunate way. Needless to say, she had a chance to show some range as a performer. (Audience reports say she was also set to reprise her role as Judy Garland in a “Movie Classics” segment. It was cut for time, but performed during rehearsal.)
After a musical monologue that wasn't meant to be a musical — yet the singer-actress sneakily did Britney and Miley impersonations while singing a song about how she shouldn't sing — Grande went on with the show. who welcomed Stevie Nicks as the actual musical guest.
of Grande Saturday Night Live The skits were a mix of live and pre-recorded, and live show nerves didn't faze her. He laughed once. he searched for only one line, in a sketch that left psychology. She caught herself so quickly that most people wouldn't think twice.
Most memorable was how well she fed her dialect into every character, from the iconic Dion to the female lead of a film noir full of ridiculously fast-paced dialogue.
While the Eternal Sunshine has hosted the hitmaker SNL twice now, he's actually performed in four different episodes – having also been written into sketches both times he'd only been booked as a musical guest. (Remember this surprise Moulin Rouge scam earlier this year?)
But for now, let's focus on recapping Grande's performance during her last stint as host.
Here's a ranking of every sketch Grande had on Saturday night, when SNLThe October 12 episode aired. Check out all seven sketches below.
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“Maybelline”
Grande isn't just playing Jennifer Coolidge in a Maybelline commercial in this skit — she's playing Coolidge's reflection in the mirror, bringing extra silliness to the scene. Coolidge, at least the one looking at the mirror, is depicted by SNLChloe Fineman, who tends to be cast to play famous white women when Grande isn't around. Here, they literally come face-to-face, with Ariana clearly winning over Chloe's impressions. Bonus: Dana Carvey has a cameo.
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“Bridesmaid Speech”
In: Bridesmaid Song. Outside: Bridesmaid Speech. Grande forms a four-person girl group (with Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim and Sarah Sherman) in this funny wedding reception sketch that highlights the awkwardness of TikTok wedding trends.
The bridesmaids sing a personalized song with light choreography for the bachelor who throws “Domingo” at the bride, to the song “Espresso”, which got Sabrina Carpenter's reaction via Instagram Story: “very nice on the court too.” “We tried,” Ariana wrote. (Catch the sarcasm of their back-and-forth when listening to Grande's vocals.)
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“Celine Dion Sports Promo”
Press play and close your eyes and be transported to Celine Dion's powerful promo for… UFC. “It's all coming back to me, but maybe not to them because of the concussions, no?” Grande's Dion laughs.
Grande's impression of the diva, with an effortless (albeit ridiculous) version of “It's All Coming Back to Me Now,” is good enough to fool a pop fan. The taped sketch is a parody of Dion's actual Sunday Night Football promo, swapping the field for the Octagon. It works just as well thanks to Grande's particular talent for manipulating her voice to sound like almost anyone she's ever tried to impersonate.
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“The Hotel Detective”
“In the days of giddy mums and privateers, the big hotels all had a secret man on the payroll to keep out tough customers. He was known as… The hotel detective.” This is the intro to this film noir that goes a bit delusional in live sketch form. Talking fast in an extremely old fashioned manner, Grande delivers a dizzying amount of dialogue in her two minutes of screen time.
Grande is a lady at the hotel bar and orders her drink, with a stern reminder not to be cheap with the coffin polish (that's moonshine). It comes smoothly to an unaccompanied guy in the black-and-white photo: “So you're just a lonely jackass with no butter?”
“Oh, phew!” Turns out there's a twist — of course there's a twist! Or two! — which Grande reveals with a casual smile when she realizes she's holding a prop upside down. She immediately recovers, and anyway, that hit is usurped by a cue card that somehow makes it into frame and onto the TV. Future installments of “The Hotel Detective” should make the rogue cue card a repeat visitor.
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“My Best Friend's House”
Petite Grande plays a sweet, young teenager in this taped musical that turns sick.
THE SNL The hostess sings sweet talk about how much she likes the familiar smell of her maid of honor's house, with its cinnamon candles, dinner simmering in the kitchen, and the scent of her best friend's older brother's deodorant spray. “If I smell this 20 years from now, it'll take me back to this moment,” he sings, hugging his bedroom door.
Books on the shelf, throw pillows, wall art and window blinds serve as backing vocals. In retrospect, he “missed some really big red flags” — giving the final third of this sketch a darkly comedic close.
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“Charades with Mom”
This SNL The sketch starring Grande as a mom “was based on true events related to Joan Grande,” Bowen Yang noted on Instagram. Joan is Ariana's mother in real life and you may have some questions with her after watching it.
“Charades With Mom” was written with the hilarious Please Don't Destroy (Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy), who need more air time. Although they don't appear in the actual sketch, their slightly twisted humor is throughout. Ariana's demeanor goes from adorable mother-in-law-to-be to real-life nightmare in this first meeting with her son's boyfriend for a batch. The zingers pour out of nowhere. The comedy gets physical. The ending is absurd.
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Castrati
The bowl cut. The frill collar of the renaissance. The very, very high voice. The look in the eyes that says “help me”. Ariana as Antonio is an alter ego that will be unforgettable.
Saturday Night Live Alumni Maya Rudoff and Andy Samberg step in as parents to Grande's traumatized little Italian boy in this hysterical sketch, in which young Antonio is introduced as “shy” and “much more comfortable singing.” Nervous laughter follows from the audience when he explains why. The comedy is in what Grande doesn't say as much as in her forced falsetto.
