Ariana Grande hosted SNL for a second time and starred in seven sketches that made it to air Saturday night (Oct. 12) in an episode that seemed made for the skilled impressionist.
Grande’s list of roles on SNL this weekend: an aggressive mother, Celine Dion, a bridesmaid wrecking a wedding with “Espresso,” a tween, one of several Jennifer Coolidges, a dame entangled with a hotel detective, and a little Italian renaissance boy with an unfortunate bowl cut, whose falsetto developed in an unfortunate way. Needless to say, she had a shot at showing some range as a performer. (Audience reports say she was also set to reprise her portrayal of Judy Garland in a “Cinema Classics” segment. It was cut for time but performed during dress rehearsal.)
After a musical monologue that was not meant to be musical — yet had the singer-actress sneaking in spot-on Britney and Miley impersonations, while singing a song about how she wasn’t supposed to be singing — Grande got on with the show, which welcomed Stevie Nicks as the actual musical guest.
Grande’s Saturday Night Live sketches were a mix of live and pre-taped, and live-show nerves didn’t rattle her. She giggled once; she fumbled only one line, in a charades-gone-psycho skit. She caught herself so quickly most wouldn’t think twice of it.
More memorable was how well she catered her dialect to each character, from the iconic Dion to the female lead of a film noir riddled with ridiculously rapid dialogue.
While the Eternal Sunshine hitmaker has hosted SNL twice now, she’s actually acted in four different episodes — since she was also written into sketches both times she was booked as musical guest only. (Remember that surprise Moulin Rouge spoof earlier this year?)
But for now, let’s focus on recapping Grande’s performance during her latest turn as host.
Here’s a ranking of every sketch Grande was in Saturday night, when SNL‘s Oct. 12 episode aired. Watch all seven sketches below.
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“Maybelline”
Grande doesn’t just play Jennifer Coolidge in a Maybelline commercial in this sketch — she plays Coolidge’s reflection in the mirror, bringing extra silliness to the scene. Coolidge, at least the one looking at the mirror, is portrayed by SNL‘s Chloe Fineman, who tends to be a cast go-to for impersonating famous white women when Grande’s not around. Here, they literally go face-to-face, with Ariana arguably besting Chloe’s impression. Bonus: Dana Carvey has a cameo.
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“Bridesmaid Speech”
In: Bridesmaid song. Out: Bridesmaid speech. Grande forms a four-person girl group (with Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim and Sarah Sherman) in this funny wedding reception sketch that elevates the awkwardness of TikTok wedding trends.
The bridesmaids sing a personalized song with light choreography about bachelorette fling “Domingo” to the bride, to the tune of “Espresso,” which got a reaction from Sabrina Carpenter via Instagram Story: “very nice and on pitch.” “tysm we tried,” Ariana wrote back. (Catch the sarcasm of their back-and-forth when you hear 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 the … UFC. “It’s all coming back to me, but maybe not to them because of the concussions, no?” Grande’s Dion quips.
Grande’s impression of the diva, featuring an effortless (if ridiculous) version of “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” is good enough to fool a pop music fan. The pre-taped sketch is a parody of Dion’s actual promo for Sunday Night Football, swapping the field for the octagon. It works as well as it does thanks to Grande’s specific talent for manipulating her voice to sound like just about anyone she’s ever tried to impersonate.
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“The Hotel Detective”
“Back in the days of dizzy dames and private dicks, the grand hotels all had an undercover man on the payroll to keep out the rough customers. He was known as… The Hotel Detective.” That’s the intro to this film noir that turns somewhat delirious in live-sketch form. Fast-talking in an excellently old-timey way, Grande delivers a dizzying amount of dialogue in two-and-a-half minutes of screentime.
Grande’s a lady at the hotel bar ordering her drink, with a stern reminder to not be cheap with the coffin varnish (moonshine). She comes on smoothly to a companionless fella in the black-and-white picture: “So you’re just a lonely flapjack without any butter?”
“Oh, phooey!” Turns out there’s a twist — of course there’s a twist! Or two! — that Grande unveils with an accidental smirk when she realizes she’s holding a prop upside down. She recovers instantly, and anyway, that blip is usurped by a cue card that somehow makes it into frame and on TV. Future installments of “The Hotel Detective” should make the rogue cue card a recurring guest.
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“My Best Friend’s House”
Petite Grande plays a sweet, young teen in this pre-taped musical bit that pivots to morbid.
The SNL host sings a sugary ditty about how much she loves the familiar smell of her bestie’s house, with its cinnamon-scented candles, dinner simmering in the kitchen, and the scent of an older brother’s spray-on deodorant. “If It smell it 20 years from now, it’ll take me right back to this moment,” she sings, hugging his bedroom doorframe.
Books on the shelf, throw pillows, art on the walls and window blinds serve backing vocals. In retrospect, she “missed some pretty big red flags” — giving the last third of this sketch darkly comedic closure.
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“Charades With Mom”
This SNL sketch starring Grande as a mom was “based on true Joan Grande-related events,” Bowen Yang revealed on Instagram. Joan is Ariana’s mother in real life, and you might have some questions for her after watching this.
“Charades With Mom” was written with the hilarious Please Don’t Destroy (Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy), who need more time on air. Though they’re not featured in the actual skit, their slightly twisted humor is all over it. Ariana’s demeanor goes from adorable future mother-in-law to actual nightmare in her first meeting with her son’s boyfriend over a game of charades. The zingers roll out out of nowhere. The comedy becomes physical. The ending is absurd.
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“Castrati”
The bowl cut. The renaissance-era ruffled collar. The very, very high voice. The look in the eye that says “help me.” Ariana as Antonio is an alter ego that will be remembered.
Saturday Night Live alumni Maya Rudoph 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 from the audience ensues when they explain why.
The comedy is in what Grande doesn’t say as much as it is in her forced falsetto.
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