Ariana Grande was full of impressions during her latest hosting gig on Saturday Night Live.
In addition to taking on Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and Gwen Stefani during her hilarious opening monologue on Oct. 12, the Wicked star also did a spot-on impersonation of Celine Dion during a spoof of her promotional spot for the NFL’s Sunday Night Football.
In a pre-taped sketch titled “Celine Dion Sports Promo,” Grande brilliantly portrayed Dion in a follow-up to the iconic Canadian singer’s appearance in a promo on Oct. 6 for the grudge match between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers. In the the clip, Dion sings about her love of football to the tune of her 1996 hit “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.”
“Football, it is a sport that connects who we are to who we were,” Grande’s Dion says in a French Canadian accent. “That is why last week, I, Celine Dion, made a promo for Sunday Night Football, OK? But football isn’t the only sport that connects us to our past.”
Grande’s Dion further explains that “there is another sport whose timeless emotions ignite the bittersweet memories that live inside my soul and in the octagon,” before breaking into a new UFC-themed version of “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.” This time around, the song incorporates such violent imagery as the “breaking of bones” and “knees to the balls.”
Elsewhere during the episode, Stevie Nicks returned to SNL for the first time as musical guest since 1983, delivering powerful performances of her new Roe v. Wade-inspired song “The Lighthouse” and her classic hit “Edge of Seventeen.”
Watch Grande in SNL‘s “Celine Dion Sports Promo” sketch below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.
