‘SNL’ Opens Show With Emotional Choral Performance in Support of Ukraine
SNL opened its most recent show with a musical performance from the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York City. Screenshot from YouTube.
Saturday Night Live opted to forgo its standard comedy-sketch cold open and instead began Saturday’s show with an emotional performance from New York’s Ukrainian Chorus Dumka.
The chorus performed “Prayer for Ukraine” for the studio’s live audience after being introduced by SNL cast members Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong. Following the song, the camera panned to a table bearing “Kyiv” spelled out with candles.
SNL, NBC’s sketch-comedy show currently in its 47th season, rarely breaks the tradition of opening with a topical skit. Saturday’s somber performance in support of Ukraine is reminiscent of SNL’s cold open following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Airing two weeks after the terrorist attacks, the first episode of SNL’s 27th season featured then-Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani and a contingent of New York City first responders. The episode began with a few short words from Giuliani, followed by Paul Simon performing “The Boxer.”
“Prayer for Ukraine” created a similarly moving atmosphere of international solidarity in the face of an unprovoked act of war. Now entering the fourth day of fighting, Russian forces continue to struggle for control of Ukraine.
Read Next: Kyiv’s Citizens Endure in Wartime
Mac Caltrider is a senior staff writer for Coffee or Die Magazine. He served in the US Marine Corps and is a former police officer. Caltrider earned his bachelor’s degree in history and now reads anything he can get his hands on. He is also the creator of Pipes & Pages, a site intended to increase readership among enlisted troops. Caltrider spends most of his time reading, writing, and waging a one-man war against premature hair loss.
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