Charli XCX's sixth studio album, Brat, completely took over the latter half of the year following its release in June. From groundbreaking remixes with Lorde, Ariana Grande, Tinashe and Robyn to her joint tour with Troye Sivan, the 32-year-old singer has had a whirlwind year breaking into the mainstream. It's only fitting that Charli was asked to be the host and musical guest on last night's episode of Saturday Night Live.
The British pop star followed last week's host Bill Burr, who guided the program in its first episode since the presidential election. The election allowed the SNL writers to satirize President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet nominations and President Biden's most recent meeting with Trump after the election. But politics were the only thing they joked about — there were also sketches about the forthcoming Wicked movie and a continuation of the viral "Domingo" sketch from the Ariana Grande-hosted episode earlier this season. Charli also took the stage and performed two songs from her Grammy-nominated album, Brat.
Here are all the best moments from last night's episode of Saturday Night Live.
Charli XCX's monologue
Charli's monologue was one of the high points of the show. The "Von Dutch" singer made some tongue-in-cheek jokes about loving auto-tune and what is and isn't "brat" — and wasn't afraid to poke fun at her love of partying (which she says started at a young age). "Don’t worry if you don’t; there is nothing wrong with being straight,” she joked. For those still confused about what encompasses a "brat" vibe, she gave a recent example that some people may have seen. "When Martha [Stewart] gets mad about an old magazine article, and she says that she’s glad the journalist who wrote it is dead, that is a brat," she quipped. She closed out her monologue by saying being "brat" is also about being vulnerable and hosting the show is a dream come true.
'Domingo' makes a comeback
When Ariana Grande hosted Saturday Night Live last month, the show had a sketch called "Bridesmaid Speech" that featured the singer and three SNL cast members as bridesmaids performing a song at their friend's wedding. The group put together a song about their bachelorette trip to Vegas set to Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso," where the bride met a man named Domingo. The sketch spread like wildfire on social media, so it was only fitting the writers followed it up, now focusing on the couple's baby shower. Charli held her own playing the bride's cousin; this time, the group sang about their "besties babymoon" in a made-up song set to Chappell Roan's "Hot To Go."
Charli performed '360' and 'Sympathy Is a Knife'
The double duty host took the stage to perform two of her biggest songs from the album. The person referenced throughout "360," Julia Fox, showed off her toned abs to introduce Charli for the night's first performance. She sang the first song before a Brat-green backdrop accented by flashing lights. For the second song, cast member Bowen Yang teed her up for the audience to perform "Sympathy Is a Knife" on a stage with the words "Party Girl" displayed in giant letters.