Katy Perry has been shifting gears in her career recently. The pop star recently had her first baby, Daisy, so she wrote a song that name checks her daughter, natch. She also recently unveiled Play, a very campy, career-spanning show in Vegas, and pretty shortly after let fans know a sneak peek of that show would be coming to SNL.
Though she’s been a bit more of a downturn critically since the release of her 2017 album, Witness, her latest release in 2020, Smile, had a few more bangers that made their way through. And some of them even made their way into her Vegas show, and by proxy, SNL. Perry opened up the show with an adapted version of her latest single, a collaboration with Alesso called “When I’m Gone,” but her second song of the night was of the 2019 single “Never Really Over.” This one involved a more acoustic version of the song, more mushroom dancers, and a stunning, voluminous blue tulle skirt.
If the clips of her Vegas residency on social media are to be trusted, costumes are a huge part of the residency, so she’s brought that same energy to Saturday Night Live to help illustrate how involved the show is. Check out her performance of “Never Really Over” above.