Jennifer Lopez, notable 50-year-old, hosted Saturday Night Live on Dec. 7 and told anyone who didn’t already know: 2019 was her year. For her opening monologue, the Hustlers star wore a tuxedo, like a woman who has never feared being mistaken for one of the caterers, and accessorized with Veronica Lake waves, a Carrie Bradshaw-ish lapel flower, and her Chiclet-sized diamond engagement ring.
She reminded the audience that in addition to getting engaged to Alex Rodriguez this year, she had her biggest movie opening ever (and a lap dance from Cardi B), slayed the Met Gala (“a doctor diagnosed it on the spot as a fourth-degree slay”), walked the runway in Milan, sold out her tour, and is now prepping to perform in the Super Bowl halftime show.
“The best is yet to come,” she said. “I’m like a little roach. You think I’m gone for good. Maybe you haven’t seen me in a few months. But then you go to get a glass of water in the middle of the night, and Boom! I got an album.”
The best was indeed yet to come. At the end of her Rockettes-supported rendition of “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town,” she disappeared briefly behind the dancers, who distracted the audience, swaying in their hot-pants for all six seconds. (Just watch it, at 4:10.) That was apparently long enough for Lopez to tear away what appeared to be a full tuxedo and emerge in the green Versace dress that she has now worn to the 2000 Grammy Awards, a 2001 Saturday Night Live hosting gig (then under a bathrobe), and on the runway at this year’s Milan Fashion Week. That dress used to have sleeves, but those would be wasted on the J.Lo of 2019.
How did she do this? Was she high-kicking with the Rockettes with a dress tucked into her pants? It’s impossible to discern from the video.
Is J.Lo really like a “little roach,” as she suggested? Or is she more like a butterfly, emerging to fourth-degree slay us again and again?