14 DAY TRIAL // NBC Universal has just announced that, come February 12, two big names will be making their debut on Saturday Night Live: British funnyman Russell Brand will host, while Chris Brown will be the musical guest.
While e-zines are wondering how come Brand is just now doing SNL and why he’s starting to promote spring movies so early, others are second-guessing the decision to have Chris Brown on.
Entertainment Weekly’s PopWatch, for instance, believes it would be best if the episode just had Chris sing and not do any sketches because there still are many out there who haven’t forgiven him for the Rihanna incident of two years ago.
Even if the assault should be in the past, especially since Chris has also owned up to his mistake and paid his due for it, there is still certain reticence to letting him do things the same way he did them before it happened.
It’s because of this that EW says he should stick to just singing on SNL: because, that way, people will start seeing him as a singer again, and not as some controversial figure they must hate or disapprove of.
“Humor is one way to diffuse celebrity scandals, but do you want the show to go there with Brown, or should he just perform his two songs and stay out of sketches and shorts?” EW writes.
“My gut tells me the latter: If he just sings, the audience can compartmentalize. He’s a singer, he’s singing. But if he starts ‘acting,’ then we start thinking… Would the show be selling out if they didn’t address his troubled past?” the e-zine further writes.
Commenters on EW seem to agree that producers should not put Chris in any of the sketches and only let him sing. Of course, there are also those who say he shouldn’t have been invited at all, but they’re fewer in numbers.
As it happens, no one seems to have a problem with Brand as host, since his irreverence and spontaneity is bound to bring some zing into the show.