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'Saturday Night Live' Has Some Fun With the Lana Del Rey Backlash, Makes a Few Good Points In The Process

Posted 2/6/12 9:59 am EST by in Music, Television


While we were preoccupied with early Super Bowl festivities, "Saturday Night Live" took the opportunity of its first show following the Lana Del Rey debacle to address the controversy.

Kristen Wiig suited up to play Del Rey, sporting long flowy locks and a lace dress, on a "Weekend Update" segment with Seth Meyers. The pair mostly mocked the level of vitriol directed at Del Rey, declaring it overkill, saying, "The music stage on 'Saturday Night Live' is hallowed ground, and I failed to reach the high bar set by past guests like Bubba Sparxxx, The Baha Men and Shaggy."

Check it out below:

"SNL" boiled down the ridiculous amount of attention paid to Del Rey's lackluster showing thusly: "Based on the public's response, I must have clubbed a baby seal while singing the Taliban national anthem."
Boom.

Wiig and Meyers continued to shoot arrows in the media's evisceration of Del Rey, mocking the attention paid to her stage name – "No serious musician would ever change their name, except maybe for Sting, Cher, Elton John, Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, everyone else in hip-hop and of course Bob Dylan" – and even making a point about how the media takes on bullying as a cause, but only when it's convenient.

"No, I'm grateful that all of you made your voices heard," Wiig as Del Rey said. "In this age of dangerous school bullying, you have sent an important message: If you think someone is weird you should criticize them as much as possible."

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Justin Bieber Set To Host 'Saturday Night Live'?

Posted 1/30/12 12:36 pm EST by in Justin Bieber


Justin Bieber

Big news! While NBC has not officially announced it, it appears that teen pop superstar Justin Bieber may be hosting "Saturday Night Live" sometime in 2012.

The buzz comes courtesy of frequent "SNL" host and "30 Rock" star Alec Baldwin, who during a Monday broadcast of his WNYC podcast "Here's the Thing" interviewed "SNL" executive producer Lorne Michaels. During the chat, Baldwin begins to read from the "legendary cork board" in Michaels' office that includes the roster of confirmed hosts for the show and in so doing inadvertently announced that Bieber may host the show and act as its musical guest.

"The biggest names in the business are coming here thirty-something years [after 'SNL''s debut] to host the show," Baldwin says (via The Huffington Post). "Ben Stiller, Melissa McCarthy, [who] won the Emmy award, and Katy Perry's coming and Jimmy Fallon, who's double-dipping on your payroll, Jonah Hill, and I don't want to ruin any other names, [but] Bieber's confirmed, he's the music and the [host]."

Interesting!

While he's never hosted the show, Bieber was featured as the musical guest during an April 2010 episode hosted by Tina Fey and appeared in a few sketches.

UPDATE: A source close to the show tells MTV News that Jonah Hill is confirmed for the show, but no word yet on whether or not Bieber will stop by.

Are you psyched for Bieber to maybe host 'SNL'? Let us know in the comments below

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Lana Del Rey's 'SNL' Gig Joins List Of Other Awkward Debuts

Posted 1/17/12 4:44 pm EST by in Music, snl


Lana Del Ray

Whether it's your fourth grade talent show or your network TV debut, everyone has one of those not-so-fresh moments where things just don't go off the way you expected in front of a huge audience.

Buzzed-about singer Lana Del Rey had one of those on Saturday night. Two of them, in fact. Hyped as the first artist to play "Saturday Night Live" before the release of a debut album, Del Rey took some serious fire after she stumbled through shaky, deer-in-the-headlights performances of "Video Games" and "Blue Jeans."

In a moment that made Ashlee Simpson's infamous lip-synching scandal seem like child's play by comparison, Del Rey even took fire from respected NBC news anchor Brian Williams, whose email meant for Gawker Media founder Nick Denton was accidentally made public after he told Denton that the performance was "one of the worst outings in 'SNL' history."

Del Rey is used to answering her critics by now about everything from her looks to the full-court major-label push behind her upcoming debut, Born to Die.

But she is, of course, not the first star (or future star) to do a face plant in their big debut. Read More...

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Daniel Radcliffe Tells Jason Sudeikis To 'Chill Broseph' In New 'SNL' Promo

Posted 1/11/12 4:09 pm EST by in Daniel Radcliffe, Television


The first promos for Daniel Radcliffe's hosting stint on "Saturday Night Live" have turned up online and find the "Harry Potter" star in the "SNL" control room with Jason Sudeikis doing his best American accent. ("Chill broseph, I like Mountain Dew and big butts.")

(Of course, we know the truth about Radcliffe's American-ness after his recent brawl with MTV News' very own Josh Horowitz … which you'll find below.)

When Radcliffe stopped by MTV to talk about his creepy new film "The Woman in Black," Josh asked about his gig this weekend at "SNL" and Radcliffe told him that doing the show was a "no-brainer." "I had to think about it a little bit because it's, you know, it's the real deal. You live or die on that show. [But] ultimately it was a no-brainer," Radcliffe said. "I love Seth Myers. Bill Hader, I think is just unbelievable. That Alan Alda impression. Just mind-blowing. … I really wanted to do it. And it's very exciting. And it'll be the kind of stuff I like. Like, that kind of guerilla style of getting stuff done when you just have to get it done and nothing else matters. By the end of the week, you're going to be putting on an hour-and-a-half music and comedy show from scratch."

Check out Radcliffe's "SNL" promo – as well as MTV News' latest "American Talk: Ghost Protocol" with the "HP" star – after the jump. Read More...

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Michael Buble Brings Christmas Tunes To 'SNL,' Host Jimmy Fallon Returns To Weekend Update For Joke-Off

Posted 12/19/11 9:20 am EST by in Television


This weekend's Jimmy Fallon-hosted "Saturday Night Live" was like a big family Christmas get-together, reuniting many of the show's biggest stars for a holiday walk down memory lane. It was a season-best episode to close 2011.

Fallon was not shy about filling the show with the most famous characters from his own "SNL" days, kicking things off with Boston's favorite high school delinquents, Sully and Denise (Rachel Dratch). Fifteen years down the road, we find the pair up to their old tricks, but with a twist – time has actually passed and they are adults with five children (Weezer, Chubsy, Squeezebox, Hags and Baby Richard) trying to sneak into a high school dance. That's about all that's different though, the pair make out like old times ("You are!") and drink Franzia from a bladder sans box. Also back in rotation, Fallon's impressions of Jerry Seinfeld and Barry Gibb, psyching himself up in the mirror ala Mick Jagger (but this time with Andy Samberg) and, of course, the skit everyone is talking about, Fallon's return to the Weekend Update desk opposite Tina Fey in a joke-off with current anchor Seth Meyers and his former co-anchor, Amy Poehler. Watch:

Musical guest Michael Buble proved a good sport too, gamely playing to a cocaine joke during Fallon's warm-and-fuzzy, sing-song monologue and starring in a skit about the making of his (fake) Christmas duets album, which gave the cast (especially Fallon) the chance to lampoon some very famous musicians, including Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Kesha, M.I.A., Thom Yorke, Kanye West and Christmas tree-wearing Lady Gaga ("Is that really her?").

Check it out (as well as Buble's performance of "Have A Holly Jolly Christmas") after the jump. Read More...

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Katy Perry, Robyn at 'SNL': Go Behind-The-Scenes!

Posted 12/9/11 2:24 pm EST by in Katy Perry, Television


Katy Perry

It’s always an honor to head over to 30 Rock, attend "Saturday Night Live" rehearsals and get to interview the celebs they’ve picked to be on the show that week. It's a chance I'd never turn my nose at. This week, I had the most awesome pleasure of chatting with this week's host Katy Perry and musical guest Robyn. (The pair had previously toured together on Katy’s "California Dreams" tour, FYI.)

In addition to getting some awesome inside scoop about the show from the two pop stars (and just who Katy is getting hosting advice from. Hint: She’s married to him), I also got the chance to check out the duo, joined by Bill Hader, doing his legendary Stefon act, putting together one of the show’s funny little promos.

In between takes, the trio hung around, chatted a bit and Bill pretty much stayed in his Stefon character the entire time. In the hours leading up to Katy and Robyn's episode, airing Saturday night (obviously!), we're sure you'll see these promos rolling out. But because we’re MTV News and we can offer you some fun behind-the-scenes footage you won’t really see anywhere else, check out what didn’t make the final cut for the network after the jump! Read More...

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Coldplay And Emma Stone Are No Match For Adele's 'Someone Like You'

Posted 11/14/11 12:24 pm EST by in Adele, Coldplay, Television


Adele's music is widely acclaimed for its emotional resonance and it seems that the diva's voice and powerful lyrics can reduce even the world's biggest band and one of Hollywood's top up-and-comers to tears.

That was the joke during a sketch on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend. In the skit, Emma Stone and Co. played officemates who discover that whenever you need a good cry, Adele's "Someone Like You" is the perfect track to turn to.

So secretly universal is breaking down to Adele's hit that Kristen Wiig's character declares, "Everyone with a heart and an iTunes account does it."

Later, in a bit of behind-the-scenes fun, we see this week's musical guest Coldplay losing it while watching the sketch on a monitor.

This was Stone's second time hosting the show and she proved once again that her natural comic timing and graceful presence make one of the best "SNL" hosts in recent memory (actually, between Stone, Melissa McCarthy and Charlie Day, "SNL" is having a pretty strong season so far).

Check out the full episode after the jump. (The Adele sketch begins at about 52:10.) Read More...

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Bill Hader On Stefon's 'SNL' Return, Dream Guest Hosts

Posted 9/28/11 12:42 pm EST by in Interviews, Television


By Amy Wilkinson

If Gush and its guest list of geeks, sherpas and that fat kid on a Slip 'n Slide seem passé, you're no doubt ready for a few new hot-spot recommendations from "Saturday Night Live" city correspondent Stefon (hilariously brought to life by regular Bill Hader). So as a public service to all you club kids, we begged Hader at this week's "50/50" red carpet to reveal when Stefon would make his highly anticipated return to the Studio 8H stage.

As it turns out, Hader is as sadly in the dark as we are. "I have no idea," Hader replied. "Those usually come up on Thursdays. We'll be hanging out, and on Thursday, we'll be like, 'Why don't we do Stefon?' Sometime soon."

One thing Hader would more readily go on the record about was his line-up of dream guest hosts for upcoming "SNL” episodes. Read More...

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The Strokes Use 'SNL' To Premiere 'Life Is Simple In The Moonlight'

Posted 3/6/11 2:30 pm EST by in Music


The release of the Strokes' hotly-anticipated new album Angles is still two weeks away (the record hits store shelves on March 22), but eager fans already have two new songs to knock around until the full collection is released. The band already unveiled the first single "Under Cover of Darkness" a month ago (and the video just premiered last week), but the band used their second performance slot on Saturday night's (March 5) episode of "Saturday Night Live" to pull back the curtain on another new song called "Life Is Simple in the Moonlight."

The song, which was penned by frontman Julian Casablancas and is the closing track on Angles, begins in typical Strokes fashion, with a fuzzy, jangly guitar riff and Casablancas' marble-mouthed but sweet vocals. But it soon morphs into something else entirely, becoming simultaneously more jagged and psychedelic, reaching into the distance for echoing guitar fills and quite a bit of back-end riffage. Rather than recall the band's heroes from the '70s, "Life Is Simple in the Moonlight" takes a bold step into the '80s, borrowing from the likes of the Police and U2. It's a bold experiment for the Strokes, and like "Under Cover of Darkness," it takes what you've come to expect from the band and twists it just enough to make it sound alien and exciting.

This was the Strokes' third time appearing as the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live," as they previously performed in 2002 (backing up host Jack Black) and again in 2006 (alongside host Peter Sarsgaard). It was quite a music-centric episode on the whole, as it not only featured Miley Cyrus in the role of host but also contained a sketch poking fun at the Black Eyed Peas.

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Nirvana Tear It Up On 'Saturday Night Live': Wake-Up Video

Posted 1/11/11 8:30 am EST by in Wake-Up Video


Say what you will about the current comedy content of "Saturday Night Live" (and you could easily say things like "The show hasn't been funny in 10 years" or "The show has never been funny" without getting into very many arguments), but the musical performances remain a vital part of the show (despite the fact that even after 35 years, the "SNL" technical team still can't quite get the sound mix right for most rock bands). This past weekend, the Black Keys certainly had a coming out party with their typically loud, scuzzy appearance on the show, and on this day in 1992, a little band named Nirvana celebrated their second album's ascent to the top of the Billboard album chart (where it displaced Michael Jackson's Dangerous) with an eye-popping, ear-splitting, equipment destroying performance.

Though Nevermind had been released four months earlier, the album experienced a slow burn until "Smells Like Teen Spirit" became an MTV and radio staple late in 1991. Aided by the potent "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video, Nevermind clawed its way up the album chart to settle at the top. As it happened, Nirvana happened to be booked on "Saturday Night Live" the week that Nevermind topped the chart, which meant that they had hundreds of thousands of brand-new fans who were getting their first chance to see the band perform live.

Kurt Cobain and company certainly lived up to their reputation, burning through a sped-up version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" before playing the caustic, jagged "Territorial Pissings." With the final notes of their second song still echoing in the speakers, Nirvana trashed their entire set, destroyed the equipment and generally looked like the most dangerous band in the world.

There are a few great pieces of trivia surrounding Nirvana's first "SNL" performance. Rob Morrow (he of "Northern Exposure" fame) was the host that night (Charles Barkley hosted the show that featured Nirvana's second and final appearance on the show), and each band member wore T-shirts from other bands: Cobain wore a homemade Flipper shirt, bassist Krist Novoselic expressed his love for the Melvins and drummer Dave Grohl endorsed L7, whose "Stuck Here Again" helps us celebrate one of the best "SNL" performances of all time.


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