Photo Courtesy of NBC.So was the girl power enough to melt through Winter Storm Jonas raging outside Rockefeller Center? Could Rousey pull off a comeback from her most recent loss?
Here are three of the break-out moments from this week's Saturday Night Live:
1. "Hands To Myself": For her newest single, Selena Gomez did a stripped down interpretation of the video. Gomez appeared first by herself on a black satin bed. Soon she was joined by a solitary male dancer, then another female dancer. The three shimmied and slid across the black satin. Not that anyone needed a reminder that Selena has left her Disney Channel-self and Bieber in her past, but the pas de trois should erase any doubt. She scored a knockout with a single punch.
2. Opening Monologue: Rousey came out swinging in her opening monologue, making reference to the blizzard and the shut-down of New York City and Broadway, joking that,"Tonight we're the only show in town." Some of the jokes were even at her own expense: "This is the first time I'm live on TV without getting punched in the face." She got a big assist from the cast throughout the opening bit, which was written as one of her fights, complete with ring announcers and a bell. She pulled out proven winners for big laughs in the second round. They went with a crowd favorite, Kate McKinnon’s Bieber, who took it on the chin from Rousey (could that have been for Selena’s benefit?) and then a musical number with Selena herself singing “Come and Get It.” The monologue was really the only time during the night that Rousey handled the jokes herself. The rest of the time she was relegated to bit parts and playing it straight.
3. Bland Man: This spoof of The Bachelor saw almost all of the female members of the cast rotating through on a running gag taking on the ABC show's one-on-one moments. As each woman sits down for some private time with "Dan from Chicago or Denver" played by Taran Killam, the first thing she says is, "This is nice," a perfect mimic of forced small talk of the reality show. All of the familiar housemates are here: Aidy Bryant is the one with the secret family. Kate McKinnon is the ditzy one. Rousey makes an appearance talking about her date in a "hot air balloon with the cast of Chicago Fire," and Cecily Strong is the crazy one who complains that "All of the girls hate me because I'm mean to them!" The sketch ends with a ringer: Selena Gomez as Selena Gomez. Game over for the other girls.
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