REVIEW: Lady Gaga on “SNL”

Following in Miley’s footsteps (that had to hurt a little), Lady Gaga took on the hosting and performance duties during this Saturday’s airing of Saturday Night Live, showing us that she’s quite the thespian. Here, I roundup some of Momma Monster’s best, worst and downright ugliest moments from the broadcast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf8SGFkbEeI

THE GOOD
Gaga got to show her stellar acting chops on almost every skit — from the dorky Apple Genius Bar employee in “Waking Up With Kimye” and an over-enthusiastic pageant mom to a spot-on impersonation of Marisa Tomei from My Cousin Vinny. She pretty much killed every character, especially when the character was herself and the punch line was at her own expense. The best was when she made fun of the  opinion that “Born This Way” was a rip off of Madonna’s “Express Yourself,” in a skit called “Worst Covers Ever.” She also played herself years down the road, taking on a washed-up former pop icon reminiscing about her glory days.

The SNL team didn’t give Gaga the best material to work with, possibly anticipating a pitch-poor performance from the pop diva. But she worked with what she had and showed that she’s more than just a run-of-the-mill pop tart.

THE BAD
I was underwhelmed by her performance of “Gypsy,” my favorite song on the album, which was subpar compared to her performance of it during her ARTRAVE show last Sunday in Brooklyn. Tickling a pink piano while wearing huge butterfly wings, she started the number in an OK, Elton John-reminiscent kind of way. Later, this outfit proved to get in the way, and the whole thing quickly shifted to awkward and sloppy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4123vzCDS4

THE UGLY
Her performance of “Do What You Want” with R. Kelly was frantic, spastic and obviously under-rehearsed. Both singers were on-point for their vocals, but the stimulated sex-thrusting, booty-grabbing, blow job-staging seemed a desperate attempt to evoke some Cyrus/Thicke media attention. There was, however, a sincere and sweet embrace at the end that I think should be noted.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x17a7yq_lady-gaga-monologue-snl-11-16-13_people

THE BEST
I am still living for her polished and perfect monologue, a Roxie Hart parody of “Applause” entitled “I’ll Take Your Cheap Applause.” The jokes were hilarious, her voice and dance moves were flawless, and the Marilyn Monroe look she fashioned was spectacular.

SUMMED UP
In the skits Gaga was fantastic, shining where we expected her to fail. The musical numbers on the other hand … eh. With Interscope reporting a 25-million loss on the promotion of this latest album, maybe a career change for the icon is exactly what she needs.