Last night’s Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary special had plenty of moments that made the show’s 3 and-a-half hour running time seem like an inspired decision rather than simply another example of Lorne Michaels being able to do whatever the hell he want:
We had the return of celebrity Jeopardy, featuring a slew of epic impersonations. A touching tribute to Tracy Morgan, who’s still recovering from a near-fatal car accident. We even had Bill Murray crooning about Jaws.
There’s been much debate online as to what was the highlight of the evening, but it seems no one (with the possible exception of Kim Kardashian) is nominating Kanye West’s baffling, pointlessly artsy medley of songs that might not suck in a different context:
It’s not a good sign when the guy introducing you mispronounces your name. It’s an even worse sign when you start the performance lying on your back. Here’s what Twitter had to say:
"Kanye’s performance on SNL tonight is the worst, most confusing thing I’ve ever seen."
"SNL 40 was awesome except for Kanye West’s preformance."
"When I roll around on the ground spouting gibberish, the cops beat me senseless. When Kanye does it, they put him on SNL."
Yes, from the bizarrely claustrophobic set to the Hot-Topic-clearance-rack blue contact lenses, the whole thing was even more disappointing than the much-touted return of Eddie Murphy turning out to be an 8-second hi-and-bye.
We never thought we’d say this, Yeezy, but you could learn things from Miley Cyrus when it comes to rocking an all-demos crowd on a show that’s not all about you.
Sorry, we forgot – if you’re Kanye West, everything’s all about you.
