Miley Cyrus, Elton John to Be First-Time Hosts for 'Saturday Night Live'

"Saturday Night Live" has been keeping things interesting with Oscar-winning hosts like Jeff Bridges, quirky comedians like Russell Brand, and just-cause-he's-awesome "SNL" alum Dana Carvey. Now we get two more inspired choices, the polarizing kid star Miley Cyrus and pop music icon Elton John. Despite their difference in ages, this is the first time hosting for both stars, and it will be fun to see how must their frantic work schedules have prepared them for the frantic pacing and set changes of "Saturday Night Live." Miley is set to appear on March 5, while Elton will host on April 2.
Miley is no stranger to performing live, and has five years of goofy comedy experience on her hit show "Hannah Montana," so there's a good possibility she could fare better than a lot of previous "Saturday Night Live" hosts. What everyone's waiting to see, of course, is if Cyrus confronts her sketch comedy doppelganger on Vanessa Bayer's "The Miley Cyrus Show." Word is that the young singer/actress is game for it herself. The big question is if they'll tackle the latest dust-up involving her father Billy Ray, where he blamed "Hannah Montana" for ruining his family's life.
The Strokes will be the musical guest when Miley hosts on March 5. They're promoting their labor of love Angles, their first album in five years, and their first all-member collaboration. We'll get a taste tonight of how their grinding guitar, alt-garage band sound has evolved. This will be their third visit to "Saturday Night Live."
Elton John will be a completely new entity on "Saturday Night Live." The only time he's appeared on the show was in 1982, as musical guest, while Johnny Cash hosted. John isn't afraid to be bold and outlandish, so we can probably expect some outrageous costumes for his gig on the show--unless they decide to go totally the other way to defy expectations. Personally I'd love to see Kenan Thompson play Cee Lo Green, and have he and Elton show up to an awards show wearing the same colorful, glittery wild bird costume Cee Lo sported at the MTV Awards.
John is appearing on "Saturday Night Live" to promote his latest album, a collaboration with longtime musician and John's personal musical idol, Leon Russell. Russell has an extensive career that began in Oklahoma nightclubs at the age of 14. He's collaborated with countless talented musicians, performing for many years as a session artist and then on his own solo career. Russell has performed with a wide array of musicians including Bob Dylan, Ike & Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Willie Nelson, The Righteous Brothers, Aretha Franklin and Barbra Streisand.
As a young artist, John opened for Russell, and owes much of his musical style and fame to his mentor. John wanted to return the favor by getting Russell back into the spotlight. The two released an album in 2010, "Union," containing tracks that were recorded just weeks after Russell underwent brain surgery. Rolling Stone gives the live performance of Russell and John rave reviews, so it should be interesting to see how the "Saturday Night Live" audience reacts to the dueling pianos and mesh of music styles of John and Russell.
Watch Miley on "Saturday Night Live" March 5, and Sir Elton on April 2--both on NBC at 11:30 pm ET.
More From This Contributor:
Behind the Scenes at 'Saturday Night Live'
'Saturday Night Live': Russell Brand and the World's Longest Monologue
Women of 'Saturday Night Live': Where Are They Now?
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