Charli XCX Made A Triumphant Return To The SNL Stage

Charli XCX finally took the stage on Saturday Night Live’s March 5 episode. The British singer was originally set to make her SNL debut on the Dec. 18, 2021 episode that was hosted by Paul Rudd, who was set to join the “five-timers club.” But due to the spread of the omicron variant in New York City, NBC scrapped the show last minute, canceled plans for an in-person audience, and sent most of the cast and crew home — which of course, included the musical guest and nearly the entire band.

“Hi everyone, due to the limited crew at tonight’s taping of SNL, my musical performances will no longer be able to go ahead,” Charli XCX wrote on Twitter just hours before the show was set to happen. “I am devastated and heartbroken. Myself, Caroline, Christine and all our crews and teams have worked so hard all week alongside the SNL team to bring the most amazing musical performance to life.”

But she promised that even though “it can’t happen this time, I’ll be back!” And on March 5, Charli XCX finally made a triumphant return to Studio 8H. Fans may have had to wait an extra three months to see it, but Charli XCX’s SNL performances proved that the pop singer absolutely knows how to command a stage with her catchy songs, dynamic choreography, and absolutely to-die-for outfits.

She first performed her and Rina Sawayama’s EDM hit “Beg for You” dressed in a billowing white outfit that was part-kimono, part-business suit. She also sported thigh-high boots and some impressive bedazzled stiletto nails. Charli then later returned to the stage to debut her new song “Baby,” clad in a tasseled black outfit.

Charli even had a cameo in easily the weirdest skit of the night (and very possibly the weirdest skit ever): the haunted singing meatballs skit. In the sketch, Sarah Sherman’s character is on a date with Chris Redd’s character when she reveals a terrible secret: She has talking and singing meatballs that are growing out of different parts of her body! Yes, the skit is as cursed as you imagine it to be. The meatballs do a little medley together, and then Sherman’s character lifts her arm and reveals the last one: her piano-playing armpit meatball, played by Charli herself.

Listen, it was pure nightmare fuel, but in the end, Charli proved that she’s the consummate performer — even while dressed as a little sentient singing tumor.