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.