Teyana Taylor showcases her singing and dancing skills on ‘SNL,’ days after her Oscar nod

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While “Saturday Night Live” aims to be funny every week, not every celebrity guest is necessarily a comedian. Sometimes, they have other reasons for being on the show.

You know, I’ve noticed a lot of actors and filmmakers use talk shows not just to plug whatever they’re currently promoting, but to really let people get to know them – to show a side of themselves that a wider audience might not have seen before. It’s like they’re using the platform to connect with people on a more personal level.

Teyana Taylor’s recent Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for “One Battle After Another” highlight a broader recognition of her skills. Her first time hosting “Saturday Night Live” seemed focused on showcasing her versatility – proving to audiences familiar with her dramatic role in the Paul Thomas Anderson film that she’s a talented performer in many areas, not just acting.

Taylor Swift kicked off her hosting gig with a sweet story about her kids, then performed a musical sketch with Kenan Thompson. The sketch, set in an airport, featured them as gate agents delivering flight delay announcements as R&B songs. While James Austin Johnson later stole the show as a tipsy pilot, the performance proved Taylor can sing confidently alongside SNL veteran Kenan Thompson.

Later in the show, she wowed the audience with a dance as an incredibly flexible 87-year-old man. The performance was set to Earth, Wind & Fire songs and imagined him at his grandson’s wedding. She also co-hosted a news panel where she and another Black host silently showed their disapproval of the opinions shared by the white panelists, and she reprised her role as Perfidia Beverly Hills in a spot-on parody of a Mattel toy commercial.

Taylor skillfully played several smaller roles, including Lisa Salters, a sideline reporter in an NFL segment that unexpectedly became a lengthy advertisement for a cooking show featuring LGBTQ+ chefs called “Quefs.” Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, played by Andrew Dismukes and Johnson respectively, were hesitant to even speculate about it. She also appeared as a bewildered contestant on a reality competition—a mix of “Survivor” and “The Traitors”—who claimed she was just there to make friends, and as a student in a confidence-building class led by a hilariously terrible teacher, brilliantly portrayed by Ashley Padilla.

Taylor might not have been the funniest host on “SNL” this season, but she definitely showed she’s incredibly versatile and talented.

As a big fan of new music, I was really excited to see Geese perform – they played “Au Pays du Cocaine” and “Trinidad,” which sounded amazing. And the show ended with a hilarious short film written and directed by Martin Herlihy from Please Don’t Destroy. It was all about the sneaky ways people try to get their partners to break up with them – super funny stuff!

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Saturday Night Live faced criticism for not directly addressing the fatal shooting of an ICU nurse by federal agents in Minneapolis during its opening sketch. While the incident received a brief mention on “Weekend Update,” it was notably absent from a news panel sketch focused on Minneapolis events. Instead, the show featured another impersonation of Donald Trump by James Austin Johnson, this time as the host of a fictional awards show for the president and his administration. The sketch included jokes targeting J.D. Vance and Kristi Noem. Mike Myers reprised his role as Elon Musk, introducing a segment that humorously mourned things lost under the Trump administration, such as the East Wing, diversity initiatives, civil rights, and even Marjorie Taylor Greene.

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Taylor’s speech highlighted her many passions beyond acting, including directing and studying cooking. She playfully shared a clip from her teenage years – a dance performance on MTV’s “My Super Sweet 16” – and proudly mentioned winning “The Masked Singer.” However, she then spoke about motherhood, joking that her proud moment at the Golden Globes was slightly spoiled by her children being glued to their phones during her acceptance speech. The camera then cut to her kids in the “SNL” audience, still looking at their phones, a moment many parents could instantly understand.

Best sketch of the night: This could be better than Mattel’s ‘Boogie Nights’ playsets

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Everyone assumed kids were excited about “KPop Demon Hunters” at the Oscars, but a new ad from Mattel reveals they’re actually asking for toys based on “One Battle After Another.” The movie’s characters are getting action figures with fun accessories – like a battle robe for Leonardo DiCaprio’s character and a removable pregnant belly for Taylor’s. However, the parents in the ad (played by Padilla and Mikey Day) aren’t thrilled with their kids playing out storylines involving toy characters with unusual names or recreating mature scenes from the film. The ad ends with a playful tease: more toys based on other films by the director are on the way, including a reference to a classic Bill Hader sketch with a kid yelling, “I’ve abandoned my boy!”

Also good: Grandpa Jackson probably dances so well because he has no bones

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As a big fan of SNL wedding sketches, I can honestly say Taylor Swift’s performance as Grandpa Jackson was something special! She absolutely killed it on the dance floor – the energy was incredible. It was hilarious when her bald cap started to slip, but she didn’t even break character, just kept dancing! The whole sketch was pretty simple, but really effective, and it was a perfect touch to have Kenan Thompson as a doctor checking on Grandpa Jackson at the end. Definitely a standout moment!

‘Weekend Update’ winner: That’s a wrap for ‘cap’

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This week on “Update,” new cast member James Austin Johnson, playing the character Mr. On Blast, made his debut as a commentator known for gentle jokes and expressive physical comedy. However, it was Marcello Hernández who really stood out, explaining current Gen Z slang like “chopped,” “fahhh,” and “glo-up.” He playfully called out co-host Colin Jost for being behind the times, jokingly marking terms like “cap” as outdated the instant Jost used them. Hernández pointed out that Gen Z slang often originates in Black culture before becoming mainstream, and jokingly declared a term “dead” once someone like Elon Musk starts using it.

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2026-01-25 11:01