Ariana Grande Joins ‘SNL’ Alums for ‘I Wish It Was Christmas Today’
She was only 7 when the first ‘I Wish It Was Christmas Today’ came out, so who can blame Ariana Grande for looking so confused?
It wouldn’t be Christmas without an update to the world’s lamest Christmas song; Saturday Night Live’s plinky-plonk pastiche of festive jollity, “I Wish It Was Christmas Today.”
This year’s version, screened last night on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show features the original line up plus one new band member; Ariana Grande.
See if you can spot the joke.
The song first debuted before Christmas 2000 as a performance by Horatio Sanz and Jimmy Fallon on SNL with Sanz picking out single notes on a long-necked ukulele and Fallon playing keyboards on a Casio held by Chris Kattan, while Tracy Morgan performed an unconvincing dance stage left.
It became an instant classic of awfulness, and has been served up in various iterations every year since, with guest stars, including The Muppets in 2004, joining the fun.
As a reminder, just because this is the undoubtedly and deliberately the worst Christmas song ever recorded, let’s not forget that Julian Casablancas turned it into the greatest with his 2009 version.
Oh, and if Ariana Grande looks slightly confused, be understanding. She was only seven when the original appeared.
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.