Even in its 39th season, Saturday Night Live is still one of the most popular shows on Saturday night television. For the nonbelievers, what makes it such a great show you ask?
Well, besides its great regular cast members, its weekly host and musicians often steal the show, especially when the host does a two for one deal and also performs.
The Nov. 17 show featured none other than the multi talented Lady Gaga. It was not Gaga’s first time on SNL, she has appeared in previous seasons but this is the star’s first run as host. Kicking off SNL’s highest rated episode of the season, the “ARTPOP” star’s monologue consisted of a Chicago style performance of her song “Applause.”
In true Gaga fashion, Lady Gaga took to the stage twice. Both performances were unique in their own ways. First she performed her song “Do What U Want” alongside R. Kelly. Gaga donned a white and sparkly, very 70’s style, jumpsuit and big hair combo, while R. Kelly wore an all-white suit. The performance included some very suggestive moves, including crawling around the stage together.
In her second performance of the night, Gaga went solo. With a pink piano and a shoulder pad-lined dress that doubles as butterfly wings in tow, Gaga performed a brand new song “Gypsy,” off of the album she’s promoting, “ARTPOP.” Although Gaga starts off on the piano, she switches over to the guitar to prove how multi-talented she is. The end of the performance also included a man dancing in sparkly tights.
Moving past her musical roots, Lady Gaga took to a number of skits throughout the night. In some skits, Gaga served as the starring character where as in others, she didn’t. She had more secondary characters than leading.
In one of her starring roles, Gaga played herself. The skit featured an old Lady Gaga living in an Upper West Side apartment alone. The former popstar is so lonely she calls her apartment super (Keenan Thomson) to fix a “broken light bulb” just to have someone to talk to.
While trying to keep up the conversation, she once again, takes to her piano and continuously asks if he remembers her from her glory days. After going through various hits, Thomson’s character still does not remember her saying “Sorry, I’m more of a classic rock guy: One Direction, the Smiths, both Willow and Jaden.” Old Lady Gaga even brings up her “Telephone” duet with Beyonce, who Thomson’s character refers to as “Empress Beyonce.”
With varying reviews and both hot and cold receptions, Lady Gaga did a pretty good job in her first stint as host on SNL. From her performances and roles in “Cover Song Collection” singing Madonna’s “Express Yourself” to her priestess-like character in “Blockbuster”, Gaga did not fail to entertain.
You can see more of Lady Gaga and her acting skills in recently released “Machete Kills” and the 2014 release of “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.”
Catch the performance and various skits on NBC.com if you missed seeing it live!
