Lizzo has not been cloned for this week’s SNL

The singer, rapper, flutist, and symbol of "raw sexual power" is adding host and musical guest to her résumé.

By Michael Martin | April 15, 2022 | 4:00pm

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Lizzo has not been cloned for this week’s SNL

Photo: NBC

In the promos for this week’s Saturday Night Live, Lizzo tells Kenan Thompson that she hasn’t been cloned for the benefit of the show—she’s returning to SNL for the first time since her musical-guest stint in 2019, and this time out she’s pulling double duty as host. No sci-fi interventionism necessary: in the clips, the singer displays the same light comic exuberance she does on TikTok, where she’s attracted nearly 22 million followers to an account that’s long seemed like an extended audition for the show. It’s a promising match between personality and the hosting spot.

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And that’s more than just a vibe. Lizzo’s live performances are clear evidence she has charisma (not to mention woodwind skills) to burn, and not every paying customer has a persona so strong she’s become a symbol with comic potential. The evidence: During her first SNL appearance, she co-starred with Aidy Bryant in “Aidy Bizzo,” a highly amusing cut-for-time sketch in which Bryant adopts the singer’s posture and vocabulary of self-confidence. As Kate McKinnon defines it: “She knows she’s 100% that bitch.”

“Why can’t I be 100% that bitch?” ponders Bryant. She gives it a shot, telling legendary host Eddie Murphy, “Even legends go to church, so you need to get to God, and you need to thank him for my beautiful fat ass,” and notifies colleague Michael Che she plans “to sit on your dick so hard that you die.”

Bryant always elevates whatever bit she’s in, but Lizzo was able to hold her own alongside, showing up to counsel Aidy against “burning the ass at both ends” and declare, “I’m definitely your best friend, and that’s great for you.”

On the musical front, Lizzo is likely to perform her ingratiating disco-inflected new single “About Damn Time” and preview material from her next album, due out in July. It could be a good show, as long as the writers spend more time praising Lizzo’s ass than churning out childish sketches about body fluids (which they inflicted painfully on Jake Gyllenhaal last week). I’m not sure I’d have the courage to disappoint her.