Charli xcx Nails Double Duty ‘SNL’ Stint With Adele Impersonation, Introduction From Julia Fox and Some Encouragement From Adriana Grande

variety.com:

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Double-duty on “Saturday Night Live” — as the host and musical guest — is a double-edged sword.

The people who are gifted at both, like Donald Glover and Ariana Grande in recent years, usually nail it, appearing in nearly every sketch in the 90-minute show as well as elaborately rendered musical performances.

The less-successful tend to do a hesitant, self-referential introductory opening monologue then appear in a small number of skits, and leave the rest to the professionals.

But Charli xcx, who has been an accomplished musician since her early teens but has limited acting experience, nailed her double duty stint on Saturday night, appearing in nearly every sketch, channeling Adele — expertly — Victoria Beckham and her friend and tour-mate Troye Sivan (in a mock “Wicked” audition, with Bowen Yang reprising his Charli impersonation); playing a psycho suburban housewife with Andy Samberg in a Lonely Island digital short, the female sidekick in a parody of a toxic Trump-bro podcast, Shrek’s love interest, and even intentionally sang badly in a skit based around Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go.” She even had the real Julia — Julia Fox — introduce her first musical performance, “360,” while Yang introduced her second song, a heavily autotuned “Sympathy Is a Knife.” In her opening monologue, she did the obligatory who-I-am-for-those-who-don’t-know positioning, nodding to her LGBTQ fans in the first minute: “For those of you who recognize me, you might know me from my album ‘Brat,’ but don’t worry if you don’t… there is nothing wrong with being straight,” to laughter.