There are few of us out there who watch Saturday Night Live solely for the show’s musical performances (unless it’s Ashlee Simpson), but Adele’s amazing performance on the show last night is making a bigger splash than the show itself. And there’s a very good reason for that.
While we’ve heard isolated vocals before and been roundly unimpressed (looking at you, Taylor) (Beyonce wasn’t out there killing it either), the raw feed from Adele’s performance is changing all that. No one knows how the vocals got leaked online (perhaps a sound tech started crying during and knew they had to share it with the world?), but they definitely prove that the singer has an amazing talent that can stand on its own even without music or effects. And, if nothing else, it’s also a reminder that the best singing comes when the performer isn’t trying to do cartwheels or lighting themselves on fire (Lady Gaga did that, right? Or was that just a fun nightmare I had?) but just chilling on stage and letting all those emotions out. (This is also my approach to exercise.)