Last December, Billie Eilish performed double duty on Saturday Night Live, serving as both host and musical guest. This year, she took a bit of break, returning to the show this past weekend solely as the musical guest, with SNL alumnus Kate McKinnon serving as host.
Fortunately, in addition to her requisite two songs, Eilish also managed to find her way into a sketch as well, and she played her role purr-fectly...and, no, we will not be apologizing for that terrible cat pun, because trust us, there were far more egregious puns delivered during the course of that sketch.
Kate McKinnon as Barbara DeDrew and Billie Eilish as Paw-bree Hep-Purrn during the “Whiskers R We” sketch
Eilish's first of two songs during the show found her delivering a moving version of "What Was I Made For?," a song which made its debut on the soundtrack to the 2023 smash film Barbie, which - possibly not coincidentally - also featured McKinnon in the cast. In fact, we'll go so far as to say that it wasn't a coincidence at all, since Barbie director/co-writer Greta Gerwig turned up to help introduce the performance. Accompanying Eilish on piano, as ever, was her brother, Finneas.
The twosome returned later in the show for their second song of the evening, and for this selection, they got into the spirit of the holiday, turning in a jazzy version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." The sparse arrangement served the lyrically-moving song well, and if the opinions of the YouTube commenters are any indication, it's high time Eilish started thinking about a jazz album. (For what it's worth, we here at Q wouldn't turn down Billie Does Julie, an album of Julie London covers.)
Ah, but let us not forget Eilish's comedic turn of the evening, which found her teaming up with McKinnon to play a pair of cat lovers trying to help find some of their furry friends new homes for the holidays. Granted, it wasn't a sketch which really required a great deal of heavy lifting, since it was predominantly an opportunity to either a) let cats be cute, b) let cats be ever cuter in hats and/or costumes, or c) deliver some absolutely excruciating cat puns. But as slight as it might've been, Eilish was clearly having a ball, and she and McKinnon couldn't have been cuter together, so we stand by our earlier opinion / cat pun: it was purr-fect.
