NBC Insider Exclusive

Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!

Sign Up For Free to View
NBC Insider Late Night

Cynthia Erivo's R&B Spin on "The Sound of Music" Won Jimmy Fallon's Song Challenge

The Wicked actress received a standing ovation for her Broadway mashups in the Tonight Show game.

By Christopher Rudolph
Cynthia Erivo Sings "The Sound of Music" as R&B Pop in a Broadway Edition of Musical Genre Challenge
Video thumbnail
Now Playing
6:40
Highlight
Cynthia Erivo Sings "The Sound of Music" as R&B Pop in a Broadway Edition of Musical Genre Challenge
Video thumbnail
1:06
Highlight
Jimmy Becomes Fully Immersed in His Audiobook in Partnership with Audible
Video thumbnail
11:02
Highlight
Gabriel Iglesias Was Fined for Leaving Dodger Stadium at 4 AM, Talks the Origin of Fluffy (Extended)
Video thumbnail
2:56
Highlight
Tonight Show Yassify Week: Day 4
Video thumbnail
3:21
Highlight
GIVĒON: TWENTIES
Video thumbnail
7:11
Highlight
Thank You Notes: Academy Awards Orchestra, Dreamcatchers
Video thumbnail
8:06
Highlight
Mark Ruffalo Admits Kieran Culkin Got Him High Onstage, Talks Mickey 17 Trump-Inspired Dictator Role
Video thumbnail
18:17
Highlight
Elon Musk Begs Retired Air Traffic Controllers to Return to Work, Trump Puts His Trust in Putin
Video thumbnail
3:58
Highlight
Tonight Show Yassify Week: Day 3
Video thumbnail
8:33
Highlight
Elon Musk Dominates Trump's First Cabinet Meeting, Claims He Saved America from Bankruptcy
Video thumbnail
6:25
Highlight
Last Breath with Simu Liu
Video thumbnail
11:48
Highlight
Floyd Mayweather Says Fighting Jake Paul Would Be "Too Easy" and Shows Jimmy How to Box (Extended)
Video thumbnail
10:52
Highlight
Simu Liu Reacts to a Recording of His Middle School Boy Band and Talks Shang-Chi Sequel (Extended)
Video thumbnail
4:10
Highlight
Jason Isbell: Ride to Robert's
Video thumbnail
3:05
Highlight
Tonight Show Yassify Week: Day 2
Video thumbnail
7:03
Highlight
Jeff Probst Doesn't Think He Would Be a Good Contestant on Survivor (Extended)
Video thumbnail
8:02
Highlight
Kate Hudson Attempts to Figure Out Taylor Swift's Almost Famous Easter Egg from Super Bowl Weekend
Video thumbnail
5:31
Highlight
Caitlin Peluffo Stand-Up: Losing Weight, Getting Compliments from Men

Ariana Grande is a Musical Genre Challenge legend — so it's only appropriate that her Wicked co-star, Cynthia Erivo, would have to take a stab at the classic Tonight Show game.

How to Watch

Watch The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on NBC weeknights at 11:35/10:35c and next day on Peacock

"Cynthia, since you're a Tony winner, and you play Elphaba in the new musical Wicked, these songs will all be Broadway songs," Jimmy Fallon said after explaining the rules of the game during Erivo's Tonight Show visit on November 13.

RELATED: Ariana Grande & Cynthia Erivo's On the Spot A Cappella Chaka Khan Duet Is Magic

The actress hit the generator button first, and her pick ended up being "All That Jazz" from Chicago, but make it Country. Which Erivo did as she transformed the Kander & Ebb musical into a twangy ditty. Fallon followed with his turn, which had the Tonight Show Host bringing out his inner Backstreet Boy by singing "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" in the style of a boy band. 

After Fallon sung his best Evita, Erivo took a spin on the generator and absolutely slayed it with an unexpected mashup of "The Sound of Music" sung like an '90s R&B pop song. '

Jimmy Fallon on Cynthia Erivo's R&B "Sound of Music": "Print that!"

"Print that! I would listen to that! We should just end this now. Why am I going?" joked Fallon after Erivo finished.

Hitting the generator button, Fallon landed on another Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Cats, singing "Memory" — but he added some "Boom Boom Boom" to the ballad when he performed it like a Jock Jam dance track.

Cynthia Erivo sings on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Season 12 Episode 26

Cynthia Erivo's Musical Genre Challenge got a standing ovation

For Erivo's finale, she brought the studio house down with "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls, but sung operatic. She belted out the iconic torch song — standing to deliver an impromptu performance so phenomenal that it also made the studio audience rise to their feet to give her a standing ovation.

A new Musical Genre Challenge legend has been born.

RELATED: "Defying Gravity": Everything to Know About Wicked's Most Iconic Song

To experience even more of Erivo's unbelievable talent, check out Wicked when it flies into theaters on Friday, November 22.

And if you're impatiently awaiting your arrival to Shiz University, tune in to the behind-the-scenes special Defying Gravity: The Curtain Rises on Wicked, airing Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, streaming next day on Peacock.

Sponsored Stories
Recommended by Zergnet