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Ariana Grande Sports a Bowl Cut in SNL's "Castrati" with Maya Rudolph & Andy Samberg
The October 12 Host played a boy whose singing voice came with too much sacrifice in the sketch co-starring SNL alums.
During her October 12 Saturday Night Live episode, Host Ariana Grande did a lot of singing — from spot-on musical impressions to a song parody of Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso." And in the night's "Castrati" sketch, she took it up high with a falsetto — and wore a bowl-cut wig — playing a boy who's victim of an unfortunately real practice dating back to the 16th century.
The sketch co-stars SNL alums Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg as the boy's parents, two Italians attempting to convince their prince that the inhumane practice they've subjected the boy to is actually fine (the shellshocked expression on Grande's character's face reveals otherwise).
"Did you notice how high his voice was?" Samberg's character asks in a thick Italian accent.
"It was the only thing I noticed," the prince's page (James Austin Johnson) replies.
"Well, what if I told you that any boy could sing like this?" Samberg's character continues.
"Antonio is what we're calling a castrato," Rudolph's character chimes in. "It's a new technique we've been experimenting with." The two attempt to sell the Italian monarchy on the procedure, though they remain duly skeptical no matter how many details are shared.
RELATED: Watch Ariana Grande's SNL Monologue and Sketches from October 12
Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg play Ariana Grande's (terrible) Italian parents
Grande maintains Antonio's stricken expression as Rudolph and Samberg do their respective impressions of a "gonad" being "tweested" off (Samberg also calls Kenan Thompson's character by the performer's real name at one point, causing Thompson to nearly break).
Their pitch leads to Antonio sharing his original composition about "the gonad experience": an extremely literal spin on "Twist and Shout."
RELATED: It's Maya Rudolph's Team Harris vs. Team Trump on SNL's "Family Feud" Cold Open
Rudolph and Samberg have clearly come to work during their pre-election SNL tenure. Not content to rest on their laurels playing Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff during Season 50's cold opens, both alums have shown up in multiple sketches since Jean Smart's September 28 season premiere.
Samberg made a cameo in the September 28 cut-for-time "Blonde Dragon People" sketch before dropping the surprise Lonely Island video "Sushi Glory Hole" on October 5. Rudolph, who nabbed a 2024 Emmy nomination for her Season 49 episode, appeared in the Lonely Island video as well. We'll have to see who else returns as the show marks its historic 50th season.
Watch "Castrati" from Season 50, Episode 3 above, and stream all 50 seasons of SNL on Peacock anytime.
