saturday night live

09 May 2024

Ever Wonder How Vampire Weekend Got Their Name? These Maya Rudolph ‘SNL’ Promos Definitely Won’t Help

If you’ve ever wondered how Vampire Weekend got their name, new promos for their appearance this weekend on Saturday Night Live with host Maya Rudolph will be of no help whatsoever.

In one of the new promos that arrived Thursday (May 9), SNL castmember Kenan Thompson asks the band about the origin of their moniker and gets this fantastical story in return. “Oh, it’s just a combination of our real names,” frontman Ezra Koenig says. Chris Baio chimes in, “I’m Vampire Friday,” followed by Chris Tomson claiming, “I’m Vampire Saturday,” and Koenig wrapping, “And I’m Vampire Sunday.”

“So does that answer your silly little question during my promo, Kenan?” Rudolph snips at her former castmate, who replies with a simple “yes, ma’am.”

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In fact, the rock trio originally got the handle during their Columbia University days, when Koenig worked on a short film by the same name that was intended to be an updated version of the ’80s vampire movie Lost Boys set in Cape Cod.

Saturday’s episode will mark Vampire Weekend’s fourth time on SNL, after making their first appearance in March 2008, not even two months after the release of the self-titled debut album that put them on the map.

Rudolph was a castmember on Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2007 and has made frequent returns to Studio 8H since, including two other turns as the host. The actress is currently starring on the Apple TV+ comedy Loot, which wraps its second season on May 29.

Watch all the promos for this weekend below:

03 May 2024

Taylor Swift Fans Have Some Thoughts on Sabrina Carpenter & Jake Gyllenhaal’s ‘SNL’ Pairing

Some people wouldn’t think twice about Sabrina Carpenter being paired with Jake Gyllenhaal on an episode of Saturday Night Live. Many Swifties, however, are not those people.

Immediately after NBC’s sketch-comedy series announcedThursday (May 2) that its upcoming season 49 finale would feature the actor as the host alongside the “Espresso” singer as musical guest, fans couldn’t help but draw a pretty glaring connection between the two: Ms. Taylor Swift. That’s because the “Anti-Hero” singer famously dated Gyllenhaal in 2010 and went on to write a number of songs believed to be about the Brokeback Mountain star — most notably, the searing 10-minute ballad “All Too Well” — while Carpenter is a longtime fan of Swift’s.

The Girl Meets World alum also struck up a friendship with the 14-time Grammy winner following her tenure as an opener on the Eras Tour. At one show, she and Swift duetted on “White Horse” and “Coney Island” during the main show, and after Carpenter wrapped her last performance on the trek, she wrote on Instagram, “i will cherish this taybrina era (and all the eras) till the end of time.”

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With all that in mind, jokes about Gyllenhaal and Carpenter’s crossover have been aplenty since SNL unveiled its season-ending lineup. Some fans have been coming up with ways the Work It star could purposefully work a Swift reference into one of her famous “Nonsense” outros if she performs the Emails I Can’t Send fan-favorite on the show, while other people have daydreamed about ways Carpenter could hilariously confront Gyllenhaal during the episode, which airs May 18.

“would actually pay millions to see the text chain between taylor swift and sabrina carpenter about this one,” one fan tweeted, while another person added, “snl knew what they were doing pairing jake gyllenhaal and sabrina carpenter together.. they messy as hell for that.”

“sipping me espresso like you’re on a late night show,” a third Swiftie quipped, combining lyrics from Carpenter and Swift’s tracks.

Keep reading to see more Swiftie reactions to the SNL pairing below.

02 May 2024

Dua Lipa ‘Saturday Night Live’ Promos Promise ‘Double the Dua! Double the Lipa!’

When Dua Lipa pulls double-duty as host and musical guest on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live, Mikey Day warns it’s going to be “double trouble.”

In new promos for Saturday’s episode, Day can’t contain his enthusiasm for the pop star’s twofer. “Double the Dua! Double the Lipa! Woo!”

“Are you OK?” Lipa asks the SNL castmember. “No,” Day admits. “I had two double shots of espresso before this to stay on theme. Double the Dua! Double the Lipa! Woo! It’s going to be a great week!”

In another promo released Thursday (May 2), Day volunteers to help Lipa out with the music portion of her gig thanks to his “freestyle rap” prowess from his days on the Nick Cannon-hosted MTV comedy show Wild ‘n Out. “I think I’m going to be just fine,” Lipa says.

“Oh, you’re not going to ask me to spit something?” Day asks. “OK, wow. Dua Lipa is really not going to ask me to spit something.”

Saturday will mark Dua Lipa’s third time on the show as the musical guest and her first time hosting. On Friday, she’ll release her third studio album, Radical Optimism, which has been preceded by the singles “Houdini,” “Training Season” and “Illusion.”

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Following Saturday’s episode, season 49 will wrap up with two new episodes: May 11, with former SNL star Maya Rudolph hosting for a third time and Vampire Weekend as musical guest for a fourth time, and May 18 with Jake Gyllenhaal hosting a third time and Sabrina Carpenter making her musical-guest debut.

Watch Dua Lipa’s promos below:

02 May 2024

Sabrina Carpenter to Be Musical Guest on Jake Gyllenhaal-Hosted ‘SNL’ Season Finale

Saturday Night Live airs at 11:30 p.m. every week and continues well past midnight, so the cast and crew will probably appreciate a little bit of Sabrina Carpenter‘s “Espresso” to keep them awake when she makes her musical guest debut later this month. As announced Thursday (May 2), the 24-year-old pop star has been slated to perform on the series’ upcoming season 49 finale on May 18 hosted by Jake Gyllenhaal, while Vampire Weekend will take the stage one week prior.

The “A-Punk” rock band is scheduled for SNL‘s May 11 episode, which Maya Rudolph will lead in her third time as host of the comedy show. The news comes just under a month after Vampire Weekend dropped its latest album, Only God Was Above Us, which debuted at No. 27 on the Billboard 200. It will mark the Grammy-winning quartet’s fourth time on the program.

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A week later, Carpenter — who’s fresh off of scoring her first-ever Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit with “Espresso” recently debuting at No. 7 — will bring her Eras Tour- and Coachella-tested performance skills to 30 Rock. Gyllenhaal, like Rudolph, is hosting for his third time.

The announcement comes just days ahead of Dua Lipa’s upcoming double-duty stint as both host and musical guest of this weekend’s SNL. In a recent promo clip for the episode, the singer — whose new album Radical Optimism drops Friday (May 3) — helped cast member Chloe Fineman perfect her pop star impression, with little luck.

“It’s close enough, you’re going to nail it,” Lipa tells the comedian in the skit, handing her the microphone so she can take over musical guest duties. “I’m going to actually just focus on my sketches, so I thought maybe you could do the performance for me. I’m going to go and grab dinner.”

15 Apr 2024

Taylor Swift Adores Ryan Gosling’s Cover of ‘All Too Well’ on ‘SNL’

Taylor Swift was watching when Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt performed her song “All Too Well” on Saturday Night Live. And she’s all for it.

Gosling hosted Saturday’s episode of SNL, and was joined by his The Fall Guy co-star Emily Blunt for a cover of her Red-era release during the monologue.

At the top, Gosling assured viewers that he “would not make any jokes” about his character Ken from the Barbie movie,“because they’re not funny.” He’s kidding; they’re hilarious. And with that, Gosling set up the musical gag.

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“You know, when you play a character that hard, that long, just letting go feels like a breakup and for processing a breakup, there’s really only one thing that can help: the music of the great Taylor Swift,” Gosling remarked.

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Gosling then slotted in at a grand piano and channeled his loveable-but-dimwitted Ken with a parody of “All Too Well,” complete with dark shades and a white fur coat.

Swift’s lyrics were tweaked for the occasion. “I shredded Venice Beach is true / My clothes were tight / But something about that spandex felt so right / I left my rollerblades in that big pink house / But I still got that fur coat and I’ll wear that right now,” he sings. “If I said that I was doing fine, you know I’d be lying / ‘Cause I was just Ken and now I’m just Ryan.”


https://youtube.com/watch?v=TVrULZ8SP3g&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

Swift gave the moment her seal of approval with a post on Instagram. “All Too Well (Ryan and Emily’s Version)!!! Watch me accidentally catch myself singing this version on tour. This monologue is everything,” she writes.

Gosling, even when he’s out of character, has a special connection with the song. In an interview with Fandango posted last week on YouTube, Gosling and Blunt talked TayTay while discussing their new film alongside director David Leitch and stunt doubles Ben Jenkins and Logan Holladay.

The actors shared their personal favorite tracks in the 14-time Grammy winner’s catalogue, with Gosling revealing, “‘All Too Well’ right now has a real soft spot in my heart.”

Swift is currently enjoying some downtime during her extensive The Eras Tour. She restarts her schedule with concerts May 24 and 25 at Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal, followed by a run of eight mid-summer shows at London’s Wembley Stadium.

12 Apr 2024

Ryan Gosling Competes for Chris Stapleton’s Approval in ‘Saturday Night Live’ Promo: Watch

Ryan Gosling missed a big opportunity to recreate his glamorous cowboy look from Barbie ahead of his upcoming Saturday Night Live stint. In a hilarious new promo video posted Thursday (April 11), Sarah Sherman showed up in full Wild West gear to match this weekend’s musical guest, Chris Stapleton — leaving the La La Land actor feeling a little left out.  

The clip starts with Gosling introducing himself as the show’s Saturday (April 13) host, standing next to the 10-time Grammy winner, who wears his signature cowboy hat. When Sherman slides into view in a similar hat as well as a bolo tie and tassled shirt, the “I’m Just Ken” singer looks at her disapprovingly.  

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“Sarah, you said it would be weird if we dressed up for Chris,” he says. 

“I dressed up for me,” she replies, tipping her hat in Stapleton’s direction. “Lil lady.” 

When Stapleton tells her, “I love your hat,” Gosling begrudgingly admits, “You look so cool.” 

At that, the “White Horse” singer tells him, “You look good too, Ryan,” making the Fall Guy star smirk. 

In another take from the new video, Gosling and Stapleton can’t help but break character when Sherman enters the frame and faces anywhere but the front. “Sorry, I looked in the eclipse so I can’t tell where the camera is now,” she says. 

The two men remain stoic for a few moments, but when the comedian starts making kissy faces at the country star, Gosling bursts out laughing, causing Stapleton to chuckle as well. 

The clip comes after another SNL promo video that finds the Canada native nervously practicing for his first meeting with Stapleton. “Mr. Stapleton, big fan, love your music,” he says as he grips a headshot of the musician and a black marker, clearly hoping to get the “Tennessee Whiskey” crooner’s autograph. “Nah, it’s stupid.” 

Watch Gosling, Stapleton and Sherman’s hilarious video for SNL above. 

10 Apr 2024

Ryan Gosling Nervously Rehearses His Meet Cool With Chris Stapleton in ‘SNL’ Promo

Ryan Gosling has been a star for more than three decades. And, judging by the way he absolutely crushed it during the mega song-and-dance performance of his spotlight Barbie song “I’m Just Ken” at the Oscars earlier this year you’d think the 43-year-old triple-threat lives in a zone where nerves are never an issue.

But in the first promo for his third stint as host of Saturday Night Live this weekend (April 13), Gosling is as jangled as a 12-year-old asking his first crush out to the movies. It’s all a put-on, of course. But in the endearing video, Gosling practices how he’s going to introduce himself to the night’s musical guest, country singer Chris Stapleton, and he just can’t seem to get it right.

Wearing a Stapleton T-shirt, Gosling works up his nerve to knock on the singer’s dressing room door as he rehearses his best meet cool lines for the “Tennessee Whiskey” singer. “Mr. Stapleton, big fan, love your music,” Gosling says as he grips a head shot of Stapleton and a black marker. “Nah, it’s stupid.”

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Trying out a more casual approach, Gosling whips his phone out of his back pocket and gets in selfie position as he says, “Yo Chris! One for the ‘gram?” That one also fell flat, so Gosling opts for a more formal, Shakespearean take, intoning, “Master Stapleton, ’tis I, Sir Gosling. That’s cool,” he says.

But when Gosling finally works up the confidence to open the door, he walks into a darkened room to find Stapleton’s perfectly lit, signature straw cowboy hat sitting majestically on a mannequin head. The image is so overwhelming that Gosling drops his marker and photo in awe as he struts toward the hat, thinks better of it, then plops it on his head contentedly as Stapleton’s “White Horse” blasts out.

Gosling will hit screens on Friday (April 12) in the action comedy The Fall Guy, in which he stars as aging choreographer Colt Seavers in the film loosely based on the 1980s TV series about stunt performers that starred Lee Majors. The actor made a surprise appearance on SNL last weekend during Kristen Wiig’s fifth hosting turn, presenting the beloved former SNL star with her five-timers hosting jacket.

Check out Gosling’s promo below.

13 Mar 2024

Ryan Gosling to Host ‘Saturday Night Live’ With Musical Guest Chris Stapleton

Ryan Gosling is set to bring his Kenergy to 30 Rock as host of Saturday Night Live in April, on the episode featuring Chris Stapleton as musical guest. Plus, Kristen Wiig will helm an episode the week prior, with “Escapism” musician Raye tapped to perform.

NBC made the announcement Wednesday (March 13) — just three days after Gosling rocked the Oscars stage with a show-stopping performance of “I’m Just Ken” — that the Barbie actor will be hosting the comedy sketch show for the third time in his career on April 13. The news comes at the end of a stellar awards season run for the Greta Gerwig blockbuster and ahead of Gosling’s upcoming movie The Fall Guy.

And though last weekend’s Academy Awards proved that he’s beyond capable of delivering memorable musical numbers, Gosling’s appearance will be complemented by a performance from Stapleton, whose November album Higher debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. It’ll mark the third time he’s served as musical guest on the show.

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Wiig will host SNL on April 6, marking her fifth time in the driver’s seat. The former SNL cast member’s new series Palm Royale — which she both stars in and executive produced — premieres March 20 on AppleTV+.

Meanwhile, Raye will make her debut on the program. The British singer-songwriter recently made history by taking home six BRIT Awards, the most ever awarded to one artist in a single year.

The news comes after SNL announced that Ramy Youssef would be hosting its March 30 episode, featuring Travis Scott as musical guest. In recent weeks, Ariana Grande, Kacey Musgraves and 21 Savage have performed on the show.

SNL airs on NBC Saturdays at 11:30 p.m.

28 Feb 2024

Watch Sydney Sweeney’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ Meet-Cute (Almost) In New Promo

Rom-coms are fun because of their tried-and-true tropes, and in the latest Saturday Night Live promo, actress Sydney Sweeney and SNL cast member Michael Longfellow pay tribute to the old “bump into each other and fall madly in love” shtick.

In a clip uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday (Feb. 28), Longfellow sorts through potential jokes — “Not funny, not funny, too funny” — as he flicks through a stack of pages walking around set. Sweeney, also wandering around set, has her nose stuck between the pages of a book titled Kafka on the Shore, which happens to be a real 2002 novel written by Haruki Murakami. Naturally, the two performers collide, with Longfellow immediately apologizing and Sweeney insisting, “No, it’s my fault, I’m sorry.”

In true rom-com fashion, Longfellow picks up Kafka and claims to recognize the title as “one of my favorite books of all time” in a ploy to ask Sweeney out on a date. “This is crazy, uh, but would you ever maybe want to…” he begins, cutting himself off once he realizes that Sweeney has already walked away while his head was in the clouds. “Oh, she left a while ago. Cool!” he says. “Whatever, I didn’t like this book, anyways.”

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Right on cue, the lighting magically changes to a purple hue (again) and whimsical music resumes, with Longfellow lamenting, “No. It’s… she said no! Didn’t work. Thank you, though.”

The union of Longfellow and Sweeney in the latest promo is an easter egg for avid SNL viewers. Back in 2022, during his debut SNL episode, Longfellow poked fun at Sweeney for allegedly having Trump-supporting family members.

Sweeney is set to host the next episode of Saturday Night Live this weekend. The actress’ star has been on the rise in recent years thanks to standout performances in The Handmaid’s Tale, Reality, Euphoria and The White Lotus, the latter two of which earned her a pair of Primetime Emmy nominations. Most recently, Anyone But You — the blockbuster rom-com in which she starred alongside Glen Powell — just crossed $200 million at the worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing romantic comedy in years, per Variety. For Sweeney’s episode, Kacey Musgraves — who is promoting her latest album, Deeper Well — will serve as musical guest.

Check out the latest SNL promo above.

21 Feb 2024

Nicki Minaj Invites Katt Williams on Tour, Beyoncé’s Makes Chart History & More | Billboard News

Ariana Grande is gearing up to release her new album ‘Eternal Sunshine.’ The singer has revealed a few song titles and has been announced as a musical guest on ‘SNL’ next month. Nicki Minaj has invited comedian and actor Katt Williams on tour. Questlove defends Sexyy Red after she is announced to perform at the 2024 Roots Picni. Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart making her the first woman to have topped both the Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts since October 1958. We go behind the video with LE SSERAFIM. And more!

Tetris Kelly
Ariana Grande’s ‘Eternal Sunshine’ era is almost here. Nicki tries to bring the funny to Gag City, QuestLove got Sexyy Red’s back and Beyoncé breaks the charts yet again and explain WIM’s Group Of The Year NewJeans’ success. Plus we highlight some amazing black women making moves in the music industry. Happy Wednesday music lovers I’m Tetris, this is Billboard News and we have all your music tea sip on February 21. I’m so excited to talk about some of my fave K-Pop groups. But before we get to that we must talk news starting with Ms. “Yes, And ?” Ariana Grande is set to take the ‘SNL’ stage after revealing some of her new tracklist.

Tetris Kelly
A Hot 100 No. 1, a remix with Mariah and an ‘SNL’ performance announcement. Ariana’s next era isn’t even officially here and she’s already dominating. For those that can’t wait to hear the track names before ‘Eternal Sunshine’ drops on March 8th. Ariana revealed them, kind of censoring the titles with beeps. And if you love “Yes And ?” Ariana says there’s even better track to come comparing the new track to “Thank U Next.”

Tetris Kelly
Which tracks are you most excited to hear? And what do you think the next single will be? Let us know in the comments.

Watch the full video above!