Advertisement

Ariana Grande aces her musical impressions on ‘SNL’ — especially Celine Dion

Cast member Bowen Yang, host Ariana Grande and musical guest Stevie Nicks on the set of "Saturday Night Live."
(Rosalind O’Connor / NBC)
Share via

When Ariana Grande appeared as the musical guest on a March episode of “Saturday Night Live,” it wasn’t hard to predict (and we did) that she’d be back in the fall to promote the November release of her movie “Wicked.” But instead of doing double-duty as host and musical act like Bad Bunny did last season, Grande insisted in her opening monologue (in song) that she’s planned to keep it low key.

Thank goodness she was joking.

After accurately imitating the singing voices of Britney Spears, Miley Cryus and Gwen Stefani in the monologue, Grande told Yang, dressed in a pink “Wicked”-inspired gown, that their sketch about the movie was cut. Then she kick-lined with dancers and promised not to duet with Nicks (“Worth a shot!”).

Grande, who could be up for some Grammy nominations soon, may not have been the musical guest, but she had plenty of songs to show off her powerful voice on the show. In addition, her sketches played to her strengths as a performer with crack comedic timing, who turns out to be as talented a mimic as the show’s own cast members.

Advertisement

The guest host expertly spoofed Celine Dion’s recent NFL appearance with a UFC-themed version of “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” and in a sketch that required Grande to do an impression of Jennifer Coolidge in a Maybelline commercial opposite current “SNL” impressionist Chloe Fineman and “SNL” legend Dana Carvey doing their own Coolidge takes, the pop star’s sounded most like “The White Lotus” Emmy winner.

Grande also sang — in a very, very high voice — as a castrated boy in the Italian renaissance whose parents (Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg) explain the concept of “Castrato.” In a pre-taped video, she performed a song about the smells of her best friend’s house (it takes a dark turn). And in a sketch about a competitive mom meeting her son’s boyfriend for the first time, she fought with, and kissed, fellow “Wicked” cast member Bowen Yang. She also played a double-crossing hotel detective inspector as well as a member of a wedding party singing purposefully off-key lyrics, inspired by “Espresso,” to expose bad behavior at the bachelorette party.

The guest host broke character a few times, but she always recovered quickly and turned in a stellar performance on an episode that started five minutes late due to college football. Musical guest Stevie Nicks performed her new pro-abortion rights anthem “The Lighthouse” and “Edge of Seventeen.” For the third week in a row, no Please Don’t Destroy video, but the boys can be seen in a recent Instagram video shot at the “SNL” offices and are apparently working on an ad for Allstate.

“SNL” knows when it’s struck gold, as it did with the season premiere’s stacked cold open featuring Rudolph as Vice President Kamala Harris and Dana Carvey as President Biden, which it followed by bringing the same guest stars back for the vice presidential debate. This week, the show reverted to a fantasy episode of “Family Feud” aired by CNN with the Democrats facing off against the Republicans and Steve Harvey (Kenan Thompson) hosting the “Feud.”

Advertisement

Kamala referenced her busy week of media appearances — she says she went on Howard Stern’s show to appeal to horny cab drivers — former President Trump (James Austin Johnson) insisted immigrants are eating Moo Deng and JD Vance (Yang) accused Democrats of turning The Joker “into a gay guy obsessed with Lady Gaga.”

The format was fun, but the comedic beats were almost identical to the previous two cold opens, with a confused Biden, the bombastic dad-energy of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (Jim Gaffigan) and second gentleman Doug Emhoff (Samberg). The only new wrinkle was including Mikey Day as Donald Trump, Jr., who laments about Vance, “It’s almost like my dad picked me to be vice president…. But he didn’t.”

The impressions were still solid, but triple dipping bled a lot of the humor from the piece.

In Grande’s monologue she pointed out that the last time she hosted in 2016, the country was “Right on the verge of electing our first female president, so I guess… second time’s the charm.”

Advertisement

Best sketch of the night: Celine Dion makes broken bones sound beautiful

Following Celine Dion’s strange surprise appearance in an NFL promo, Grande imitated the singer delivering a similar message — this time for the even more brutal sport of UFC. With lyrics including, “There was breaking of bones / and there’s knees to the balls,” this version of “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” celebrated the violence of UFC, from cauliflower ears to 300-pound Bosnian athletes vomiting up their own teeth. Grande’s Celine Dion promised to see you in The Octagon.

Also good: Do you like Jennifer Coolidge? How about three of her?

As mentioned above, Grande aced her Jennifer Coolidge Academy of Jennifer Coolidge Impressions entry exam in a mirror sketch with Fineman, who has played the actress before on the show. The two free associated things to talk about on a date, such as lemons, until they were joined by Carvey as their mirror moved to reveal a third Coolidge. The only surprise was that it was Carvey seated there instead of the real Coolidge herself.

‘Weekend Update’ winner: Amazon employee Monica is a bit overworked

James Austin Johnson and Sarah Sherman played the quarreling brothers from Oasis, Noel and Liam Gallagher, but Ego Nwodim hit harder as Monica, an overworked Amazon employee still recovering from the company’s recent two-day sales event. Monica has worked eight days in a row — so long she had to make up a whole new day of the week, “Fluesday.” Monica discussed hooking up with a drone at work and at one point fell asleep with her eyes open. “Weekend Update” co-host Michael Che pointed out that the conditions seem inhumane. But when asked whether he’d stop ordering stuff from Amazon, he went silent. Relatable!

Advertisement
seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
mfhoudan.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
jerusalemdispatch.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
worldhealthstory.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
techguroh.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com