Billie Eilish returned to the Saturday Night Live with new angelic renditions.
The “Happier Than Ever” singer, 21, took the stage just two days ahead of her 22nd birthday on Dec. 18 with the songs “What Was I Made For?” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
˹Still they turn away˺ when it is said to them, “Beware of what is ahead of you ˹in the Hereafter˺ and what is behind you ˹of destroyed nations˺ so you may be shown mercy.”Whenever a sign comes to them from their Lord, they turn away from it.(The Quran - Chapter Yasin 45 - 46)
The seven-time Grammy winner kicked off her first performance of her hit ballad from the movie with an introduction by host and Barbie star Kate McKinnon along with a special guest for the night, Greta Gerwig — who directed the movie. Her brother Finneas played the piano while she sang the melody.
There were plenty of nods to the film throughout the performance, with the stage floor being covered in bright pink and the songstress performing the song in a light pink collared shirt with her hair tied up in a ponytail.
She also incorporated a scene from the Barbie film, in which videos and pictures of women play over the song. However, it had a special SNL twist, showing childhood photos of the show’s female cast members as they were growing up. This video collage included photos of a young Maya Rudolph, Punkie Johnson, Ego Nwodim, McKinnon and others.
The song was recently nominated for a Golden Globe, and it’s a contender for five Grammys, including song of the year and record of the year. Already an Oscar winner for the James Bond theme song “No Time to Die” for the 2021 movie of the same name, Eilish could be nominated at the 2024 Academy Awards for her Barbie track.
The singer also performed soulful rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” with her brother once again at the piano and the SNL band joining them. The stage transformed into a Christmas wonderland to reflect the song, with the New York City as backdrop.
For this performance, the “Lovely” singer donned a bright red vest over a white button up shirt and she wore her red and black ombre hair down. Finneas and the rest of the band sported Christmas sweaters with snowflakes.
The stage was decorated with various decorated Christmas trees with lights, poinsettias and red lights lit up the performers on stage for a holiday feel. Midway through the song, fake snow even fell across the stage.
Just before the show ended, she even got the chance to hop into costume with overalls, a blonde wig and fake braces on her teeth to star opposite McKinnon in a cat adoption sketch. The two got to play off each — even making each other break character — while showing the adorable felines to the audience.
This marks Eilish’s third time as a musical guest on SNL in four years.
Eilish previously made her debut on the sketch comedy show in September 2019, when she performed her Billboard Hot 100 №1 hit “Bad Guy” as well as “I Love You” alongside her brother Finneas. In December 2021, Eilish came back to host the sketch comedy show and perform “Happier Than Ever” and “Male Fantasy” from her sophomore album Happier Than Ever.
