3/3/12: Lindsay Lohan/Jack White: I had an inkling at the beginning of the season that Lindsay Lohan might stop by the 30 Rock stage for the first time in six years. I had heard rumblings that she might go for some career rejuvenation in a place where she has had some success before. She hosted three years in a row from 2004-06, right before he career became a complete wreck. Her first stint included some memorable performances, including a well-endowed Hermione Granger and a member of the t.A.T.u.-parody pretend-lesbian group D.A.D.I. But her ’05 and ’06 stints were relatively meh. Apparently, she’s the most sober she’s been in a while, so that should help this go-round.
And SNL books Jack White right on the heels of his solo debut. If there’s anyone who can figure out the weird acoustics of the SNL musical stage, it is he. Check out the documentary It Might Get Loud to see what I am talking about.
3/10/12: Jonah Hill/The Shins: I like Jonah Hill, and I’ve come to like him even more since he has taken on (and acquitted himself quite well in) more dramatic roles. His first time hosting appearance was back in 2008; save for a series of MacGruber’s, he wasn’t really given material worthy of his talents. He definitely deserves another shot.
The Shins are still making music? I thought that they belonged squarely in the first decade of the of the 21st century. I’ll probably enjoy them.
Original Version
1. Kelly Clarkson – “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”
2. LMFAO – “Sexy and I Know It”
3. Adele – “Set Fire to the Rain”
4. fun. ft. Janelle Monáe – “We Are Young”
5. Madonna ft. Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. – “Give Me All Your Luvin'”
6. Butch Walker and the Black Widows – “Synthesizers”
7. David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj – “Turn Me On”
8. Coldplay – “Charlie Brown”
9. Gym Class Heroes ft. Neon Hitch – “Ass Back Home”
10. Tyga – “Rack City”
11. Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa ft. Bruno Mars – “Young, Wild & Free”
12. Flo Rida – “Good Feeling”
13. Adam Lambert – “Better Than I Know Myself”
14. Gotye ft. Kimbra – “Somebody That I Used to Know”
15. The Wanted – “Glad You Came”
16. Drake ft. Lil’ Wayne and Tyga – “The Motto (Remix)”
17. Jessie J – “Domino”
18. Cassie – “King of Hearts”
19. Pitbull ft. Chris Brown – “International Love”
20. Jay-Z and Kanye West – “N****s in Paris”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Somebody That I Used to Know
2. Sexy and I Know It
3. Good Feeling
4. We Are Young
5. Domino
6. N****s in Paris
7. Set Fire to the Rain
8. Turn Me On
9. Charlie Brown
10. Give Me All Your Luvin’
11. Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)
12. Rack City
13. King of Hearts
13. The Motto (Remix)
13. Synthesizers
16. Ass Back Home
17. Young, Wild & Free
18. Glad You Came
19. Better Than I Know Myself
20. International Love
Best Single Dance Move in a Music Video – The Tofo Tofo dancers and Beyoncé drop to their knees and kick back up in the “Run the World (Girls)” music video.
Best Hip-Shaking – Ellie Goulding in the “Lights” Music Video
Cold Opening – New York Sports Now
If this was an accurate representation, then I didn’t realize how Lin-sane these puns have been. Instead of introducing the racial insensitivity aspect, I think I would have preferred if they would have just continued with the punning, which, while not particularly unique, would have been steadily goofy. Instead, it settled into a stale formula. B-
Maya Rudolph’s Monologue
Another singing monologue? Ah, well, I guess it’s Maya. B-
I’m not that far ahead of the music cuve, am I? SNL was ahead of me on this one.
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Adele – “Set Fire to the Rain”
2. Jessie J – “Domino”
3. Kelly Clarkson – “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”
4. Bruno Mars – “It Will Rain”
5. Pitbull ft. Chris Brown – “International Love”
6. Gym Class Heroes ft. Neon Hitch – “Ass Back Home”
7. Foster the People – “Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)”
8. Gavin DeGraw – “Not Over You”
9. Outasight – “Tonight is the Night”
10. Madonna ft. Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. – “Give Me All Your Luvin'”
11. Katy Perry – “The One That Got Away”
12. Gotye ft. Kimbra – “Somebody That I Used to Know”
13. Jay-Z and Kanye West – “N****s in Paris”
14. The Fray – “Heartbeat”
15. David Guetta ft. Usher – “Without You”
16. Young the Giant – “Cough Syrup”
17. Scars on 45 – “Heart on Fire”
18. Safetysuit – “These Times”
19. The All-American Rejects – “Beekeeper’s Daughter”
20. Ellie Goulding – “Lights”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Somebody That I Used to Know
2. Lights
3. Tonight is the Night
4. N****s in Paris
5. The One That Got Away
6. Domino
7. Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)
8. Cough Syrup
9. Without You
10. It Will Rain
11. Set Fire to the Rain
12. Give Me All Your Luvin’
13. Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)
14. Ass Back Home
15. Heart on Fire
16. These Times
17. International Love
18. Beekeeper’s Daughter
19. Heartbeat
20. Not Over You
How does a boring person make interesting music? Or does the camera add 10 pounds of boringness?
Original Version
1. Kelly Clarkson – “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”
2. Adele – “Set Fire to the Rain”
3. David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj – “Turn Me On”
4. Tyga – “Rack City”
5. Flo Rida – “Good Feeling”
6. Snood Dogg and Wiz Khalifa ft. Bruno Mars – “Young, Wild & Free”
7. Jessie J – “Domino”
8. Madonna ft. Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. – “Give Me All Your Luvin'”
9. Pitbull ft. Chris Brown – “International Love”
10. LMFAO – “Sexy and I Know It”
11. Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera – “Moves Like Jagger”
12. Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris – “We Found Love”
13. Gym Class Heroes ft. Neon Hitch – “Ass Back Home”
14. Bruno Mars – “It Will Rain”
15. The Wanted – “Glad You Came”
16. Jack’s Mannequin – “My Racing Thoughts”
17. Big Sean ft. Nicki Minaj – “Dance (A$$)”
18. Drake ft. Lil’ Wayne and Tyga – “The Motto (Remix)”
19. fun. ft. Janelle Monáe – “We Are Young”
20. J. Cole – “Work Out”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. We Found Love
2. Sexy and I Know It
3. Good Feeling
4. We Are Young
5. Domino
6. Set Fire to the Rain
7. It Will Rain
8. Turn Me On
9. Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)
10. Give Me All Your Luvin’
11. The Motto (Remix)
12. Moves Like Jagger
13. Rack City
14. Ass Back Home
15. Young, Wild & Free
16. Glad You Came
17. Dance (A$$)
18. International Love
19. My Racing Thoughts
20. Work Out
Cold Opening – Mitt Romney
I would have been happy if this sketch had only lasted a minute and thus only included Mitt talking about the Super Bowl. When Jason Sudeikis as Mitt Romney talks about football, it is a hoot. I was cracking up through that portion. Then he talked about other stuff. Then a dog kept barking. So, if this sketch had just been the first minute combined with the incessant dog barking, then we would have been good. B-
Zooey Deschanel’s Monologue
At first, I was surprised that recent divorcee Zooey Deschanel was singing a Valentine’s Day song, but then it was about the dark side of Valentine’s Day, and it all made sense. That moment when she twirled her hair was so Zooey. Was that improvised? B+
2/18/12: Maya Rudolph/Sleigh Bells: When predicting SNL hosts, one maxim I go by is that stars of TV shows usually don’t host during the first season of their shows. With Maya now and Zooey Deschanel before her, there will be two stars from hit shows in their 1st seasons two weeks in a row. Anwyay, this will hardly be a triumphant return for Maya, as she left the cast only four years ago and has had guest appearances on eight shows between then and now, most recently two months ago in the Steve Buscemi/Black Keys episode. Since Fred Armisen is still in the cast, I’d like to see Nuni and Nuni Schoener.
Thank you for booking Sleigh Bells, SNL. You pushed me over the edge into realizing that I need to start listening to them. Following Lana Del Rey, Bon Iver, and Karmin, Sleigh Bells will make it four musical guests in a row that old people have never heard of.
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