Country cuties rule TV; watch Taylor Swift SNL monologue here + Kellie Pickler tonight on ABC

November 8, 8:48 AMNashville Entertainment ExaminerJonathan Pinkerton

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Taylor Swift's SNL gig was Fearless/NBC

This weekend's Saturday Night Live belonged to host and musical guest Taylor Swift.  Her highly anticipated turn as host and musical guest of the 35-year-old NBC franchise got off to a great start as she took to the stage for the prerequisite monologue. Typically, the monologue sets the tone for the show and quite often, if the host isn't a comedian, it's just not funny.  Not the case with Taylor.  As she began, she talked about being nervous, even appropriately stumbling over a few of her words.  

She then poked fun at her young age by saying she has always "wanted to host SNL since I was a little kid, staying up late to watch Bill Hader and Andy Samberg."--the joke here being that current cast members Hader and Samberg both started on Saturday Night Live in 2005 when Taylor was a mere 15-years-old.

Taylor then explained that when she is nervous or excited she usually writes a song, and with that she launched into a little ditty called Monologue Song (LaLaLa).  During the song she continued the winks and nods to everything from dissing exes in her songs, her breakup with Joe Jonas, her current rumored romance with Twilight's Taylor Lautner and of course Kanye West and the VMAs.

With that, the night, the audience and the show were her's!

Taylor Swift SNL Monologue Song (LaLaLa)

As host, Taylor also took part in many of the night's skits.  In a particularly funny skit, she portrayed a mouth-gear wearing teen who stars in her own PSA about parental driving issues.  In a wedding skit, Taylor give Kristen Wiig's Penelope, the one-upper a run for her money as she calls her out then does a dead-on impersonation of the hair-twirling been-there-done-that character.  

Taylor takes on Penelope

Taylor also poked a bit of fun at current beau Lautner's successful film career when she starred in the latest SNL Digital Short, Firelight, a Frankenstein-infused Twilight movie trailer parody.

Other skits that included Taylor were the popular parody of The View, in which all the ladies are hysterically brought to life thanks to the mostly male cast, my favorite is Keenan Thompson as Whoopi Goldberg.  Taylor played guest-host Kate Gosselin. During this skit, Swift, as Gosselin explains the reality star's horrific hairstyle by saying, "my hairdresser was halfway through giving me the Rachel when his blowdryer exploded on the back of my head."

She was spot-on as super-clingy roommate Anna who's return from work interrupts her roomie's date.  In probably the weakest skit of the night, Taylor took on her biggest transformation as she appeared as a young thugged-out male prisoner, complete with corn-rows and a neck tattoo in a scared straight skit that just wasn't funny...best part of the skit was when Hader and Thompson got tickled and began to giggle.

Let's not forget Taylor was also the musical guest.  She performed her hit You Belong With Me and Untouchable, a track from the repackaged Fearless: Platinum Edition. Taylor's got a big week ahead as she is up for 4 CMA's and will be performing live on the show as it airs on ABC Wednesday night.  Next up for SNL, Mad Men's January Jones and musical guests Black Eyed Peas.

Kellie and the Extreme Team meet The Terpennings

 As for Taylor's former touring mate, Kellie Pickler, she pops up tonight on the latest episode of ABC's heart-tugging Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  Taped earlier this year, Kellie, alongside host Ty Pennington and the usual herd of builders, designer and volunteers went to Beavercreek, Ohio to surprise the Terpenning family with the news that their home was about to receive a makeover.  Head of the family, James Terpenning, a medal-winning Paralympian, mentors children and military veterans who've been disabled.  He, his wife, four kids--ranging in age from 1 to 6--and Terpenning's brother, who has cerebral palsy all share an 1,100 sq. ft. home with inadequate handicap access.

While EM:HE can sometimes wallow in the sorrow of their subjects, tonight's episode rises above when James himself says he isn't handicapped.  Yes, he is in a wheelchair, but he has chosen to live his life to the fullest and by working with others who are also paralyzed, either from birth, or by accident, he does just that.

Kellie is no stranger to the hard work involved in building, as she was raised by her grandparents on a farm.  Of her childhood, and her grandfather's job as an electrician, Kellie remembers going on jobs with him and at the young age of 5 assisting as he wired houses for electricity.  In recent interviews promoting her appearance, Kellie humorously stated, ""It was the only chance I've ever had to walk into a house with a sledge hammer and bust holes in walls. I busted a toilet and water went shooting everywhere. Thank the Lord that was the only thing that flew out."

If you're a fan of EM:HE, you know the last fifteen minutes are what I've always called the Touched By an Angel moments.  LIke it's Sunday night TV predecessor, the last fifteen minutes are prime crying time, as the family returns home and Ty and company call for the driver to "Move that bus," revealing the always breathtaking brand new home. Of that moment, Kellie revealed, "I was bawling like a baby,"  "I'm an emotional basket case anyway, but that was absolutely incredible. The show is all about giving back and helping people, and that is the most important thing in life. We're supposed to embrace one another and love each other and take care of each other and really come together as one." 

A clip of Kellie from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition


 

In addition to being on-hand for the demo and the reveal, Kellie also performed for the family.  ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition airs tonight at 8/7c.  Up next for Kellie, she too will be at Wednesday night's CMAs where she takes to the stage as a presenter.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter, as I will be tweeting Live direct from my seats at the Sommet Center on Wednesday night at the CMAs, sharing my take on everything from what the stars are wearing to the latest surprise artists as they arrive and throughout the night.