Lady Gaga thanks Razzies for her ‘Joker’ win, performs ‘Abracadabra’ and ‘Killah,’ and more ‘SNL’ highlights
Little Monsters, rejoice: Lady Gaga made her triumphant return to Studio 8H to serve as both host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live for the first time since 2013. The Oscar and Grammy winner previously pulled double-duty on the show's 39th season, and has appeared as musical guest for hosts Ryan Reynolds (2009), Justin Timberlake (2011), and Tom Hanks (2016). The multihyphenate Gaga, who won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for A Star Is Born, has been promoting her latest album, Mayhem, which just dropped on March 7. Here are the best moments from Gaga's second hosting gig, from the opening monologue to the best sketches (and, of course, her musical performances of "Abracadabra" and "Killah").
COLD OPEN
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There's been no shortage of politics to satirize with Donald Trump's second term, and Saturday Night Live once again opened by lampooning the news of the week. This time, President Trump (James Austin Johnson) tried to broker a truce between Secretary of State Marco "Little Marco" Rubio (Marcello Hernández) and Elon Musk (Mike Meyers). As Rubio droned on about foreign policy, Trump's thoughts began to wander, and he asked himself, "Who does this guy think he is? Adrien Brody?" Elon's thoughts also wandered, as he wondered whether or not it was a good idea for him to work for the government since it's caused Tesla's stock to drop by... as Dr. Evil would say, "One million dollars."
OPENING MONOLOGUE
One thing was certain: Lady Gaga was going to look fabulous during her opening monologue, and she didn't disappoint with a sequined dress complete with feathery arms. Gaga, who was last seen onscreen in Joker: Folie à Deux, joked about that film's "success" at the Razzie Awards, where she and costar Joaquin Phoenix won the prize for Worst Onscreen Duo. "Joke's on them," she said. "I love winning things." The native New Yorker set the audience up for a fun night, promising "to act, to sing, and to not do Joker 3."
'PIP' DIGITAL SHORT
Not every Saturday Night Live sketch is technically live, and the show's digital shorts have become increasingly intricate and large in scale. Case in point: Pip, in which Saturday Night Live High School's annual weightlifting contest is upended when a pint-sized rodent classmate named Pip decides to enter. Although the other students don't believe in him, one cheerleader (Lady Gaga) does, and she encourages him to train through musical montage. The day of the contest arrives, and Pip can't manage to lift more than two ounces. That comes in handy, however, when the gymnasium roof collapses on the students, and the faculty needs help lifting the rubble, which is just a couple ounces too heavy. Pip manages to save his classmates, save for one bully who gets squished... accidentally?
FUNERAL HOME SKETCH
Lady Gaga let her inner theater kid shine during a sketch where she and Heidi Gardner played funeral home directors trying to plan the perfect ceremony for a woman (Ego Nwodim) who must bury her late father. Rather than go ahead with the usually somber proceedings, Gaga and Gardner suggest they do a 1920s themed party, complete with flappers, champagne, and cigars. They even suggest a murder mystery to liven up the proceedings, which might not be the best idea considering the woman's father was murdered and the case remains unsolved.
MUSICAL PERFORMANCES
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For anyone who hasn't had a chance to listen to Lady Gaga's latest album, have no fear, because she made sure to perform a couple songs from it during his Saturday Night Live appearance. Bowen Yang introduced the first, in which Gaga, entirely clad in red, performed the single "Abracadabra" with a team of backup dancers. Ego Nwodim, Keenan Thompson, and Sarah Sherman introduced the second, "Killah," with Gaga performing with a live band and making a dramatic costume change midway through, going from purple to red like a punk rock princess.
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NO MORE SLAY SKETCH
Having grown tired of millennial slang, Lady Gaga and Bowen Yang inform their friends at brunch that they will no longer say words like "slay" or "bop." Being Lady Gaga and Bowen Yang, they break this news through the power of song. Although their mimosa-sipping companions are at first reluctant, they come to understand the value of doing away with such nonsense terms as they enter middle-aged.
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