took the New York 30 Rock stage at for the third time as host and found herself in familiar circumstances.
鈥淭he last time I hosted was in 2016, and we were right on the verge of electing our first female president,鈥� the 31-year-old singer and actor said in her monologue. 鈥淪o, I guess, second time鈥檚 the charm?"
Grande, who first hosted in 2014, was doing it for the first time without also serving as musical guest 鈥� a role that fell to 鈥� and promised not to sing, before breaking into a song.
The theme continued as she vowed during the tune not to do her signature impressions of Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and Gwen Stefani, before throwing out a bit of each. She would do a much longer version of Celine Dion in a sketch later in the show.
Grande hosted in promotion of her movie musical the 鈥淲izard of Oz鈥� prequel set to be released next month.
She said playing the good witch Glinda as she does in the film is the dream of every theater kid like her, after 鈥渓osing their virginity.鈥�
Grande's episode comes amid a for the sketch institution, likely brought on by its , and election season. Last month's season premiere brought in the most viewers since 2020.
Just as in the first two episodes of the new season, played Vice President in the night's cold open, leading a group of former cast members returning as guest stars, including Andy Samberg as Harris' husband Doug Emhoff and Dana Carvey as President Joe Biden.
They teamed up for an election edition of 鈥淭he Family Feud," taking on team Trump.
Kenan Thompson, the longest-tenured cast member in the show's history who began in 2003, reprised his long-running role as 鈥淔eud鈥� host Steve Harvey and asked Rudolph-as-Harris about .
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a hell of a week," she said. "I went on Howard Stern to reach the horny cab drivers, I went on 鈥楾he View鈥� for the horny moms, and I also went on the podcast because I have a message for young women: You need to go to the ballot box if you want the government out of your ballot box.鈥�
Current cast member James Austin Johnson returned as , saying his opponent is "going to be horrible at this game. She鈥檚 a very low IQ person. The whole world is laughing at her because they don鈥檛 respect her.鈥�
The 76-year-old Nicks was the 鈥淪NL鈥� musical guest for the first time in more than 40 years. She opened with her brand new single, 鈥淭he Lighthouse,鈥� but the look of the performance was classic Stevie, with an abundance of rings and scarves and the singer draped in black. For her second song, she reached back with 鈥淓dge of Seventeen鈥� from 1981.
Michael Keaton is set to host next week with musical guest Billie Eilish. John Mulaney and Chappell Roan are set for the following Saturday.
The onset of season 50 already has brought reflection and nostalgia in many forms, including dramatizing the minutes before the first episode of the Lorne Michaels-helmed sketch institution on Oct. 11, 1975.
A three-hour primetime special on Feb. 16 is set to serve as the official 50th season celebration.
Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press
