Charli XCX Makes Her Debut as ‘SNL’ Host: All 9 Sketches Ranked
Charli XCX hosted SNL for the first time and starred in nine sketches Saturday night (Nov. 16) in an episode that indulged in the pop star’s brat vibes.
Pulling double duty Saturday night as host and musical guest, Charli got things going with a monologue that explained how her career started (“I played at my first rave when I was 15 years old — my parents actually drove me there”), how she’s gotten to where she is (“Today, I consider myself to be a triple threat, which in England means I sing, I drink and I smoke”) and what it truly means to be “brat.”
“So many people have asked me, ‘What is ‘brat’?’ And honestly, it’s just, like, an attitude. It’s a vibe. For example, the new Martha Stewart documentary: When Martha gets mad about an old magazine article and she says that she’s glad the journalist who wrote it is dead, that is brat. And on Friday, when that exact journalist responded and said, ‘Hey, I’m alive, b—-!’ — that is extremely brat,” Charli said in front of the live audience at Studio 8H.
Besides bringing a dose of dry wit, the three-time musical guest brought her late-night party to the stage Saturday with Brat tracks “360” and “Sympathy Is a Knife” (the original album versions, not her Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat collabs).
The episode had an SNL cast member playing Charli in one sketch — so that Charli could star opposite, as her tourmate Troye Sivan. (Sivan’s response: changing his profile pic to Charli’s version of him.)
Charli’s impersonation skills were also put to the test in portrayals of Adele and Victoria Beckham, and she was part of a group cover of Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go!” that welcomed the now-recurring character Domingo, the guy who crashed a wedding reception in Ariana Grande’s episode last month.
The best sketch, which had Charli’s humor matching a certain SNL trio’s comedy, was one that was actually cut for time during the live broadcast. Thankfully, it found its way to the internet.
Here’s a ranking of every sketch Charli XCX was in Saturday night, when SNL‘s Nov. 16 episode aired. Watch all nine sketches below.
Ashley Iasimone
Billboard