Ariana Grande showed up at Studio 8H on Saturday night for hosting duties and did some spot-on impersonations of Britney Spears, Celion Dion and more.
The singer, who stars as Glinda in November’s highly anticipated “Wicked,” expressed her excitement in her opening monologue about returning to the famed studio for the show’s 50th season.
“Thank you very much,” Grande said. “I’m so happy to be hosting again. This year was really great. I got to play Glinda in the movie ‘Wicked’. It’s great because I’m such a theater kid. And it is every theater kid’s dream to be Glinda or Elphaba. Well, it’s every theater kids’ dream to lose their virginity. But of course their second dream is to star in ‘Wicked’.”
Recalling her last time presenting, the pop star said: “The last time I presented was in 2016, right on the cusp of the election of our first female president, so I guess the second time is the charm.”
Grande, known for her phenomenal vocal range, joked about her singing gravitas, saying, “I want to make one thing clear; I’m just hosting. I’m not going to make this about me. I’m just going to have fun, take it easy and keep it low key.
From offstage, Grande was handed a microphone. “Oh, what is this?” Then she started singing and said, “I’m not going to sing my favorite notes… I’m not going to do my impressions…” Then the two-time Grammy winner flexed her vocal range and did impressions of Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus. and Gwen Stefani, with a pitch-perfect version of Stefani’s all-singing 1995 No Doubt hit, “Don’t Speak.” “I promised I won’t do a lift,” Grande said as she was lifted into the air and joined by a glamorous choir dressed in suits.
Bowen Yang joined Grande on stage in Glinda’s classic “Wizard of Oz” costume. “Bowen, didn’t anyone tell you that? We cut the ‘Wicked’ sketch.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” Yang said. “I didn’t really want to do it anyway.” Grande sang back, “Amazing, and this isn’t a wand, it’s a bottle,” she said, yanking the top of Yang’s pink Glinda wand.
“I’m not gonna do a duet tonight,” she sang, “so please don’t bring out Stevie Nicks!” And the last thing I’m going to do is bring out some hot dancers to do some crazy high kicks!” Grand was then joined by a glamorous chorus line dressed in sparkling suits.
In another short sketch, she played Celine Dion and spoofed the singer’s surprise promo for the NFL last week. This time, however, Grande’s Dion sang about the violent, nail-biting UFC fights in a parody of “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.”