MANILA, Philippines – In its first episode post-election, Saturday Night Live featured a cold open that had Kate McKinnon's Hillary Clinton, a prominent entertainment fixture in the US election season, performing a cover of "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen. Cohen died at age 82 earlier this November.
In character as Hillary Clinton and wearing a white pantsuit, Clinton's signature look, the actress added her cover of "Hallelujah" to the long list of TV moments which have also featured the same song in a somber or reflective moment.
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<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tonight's cold open with Kate McKinnon. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChappelleOnSNL?src=hash">#ChappelleOnSNL</a> <a href="https://t.co/zZhQOLhKXY">pic.twitter.com/zZhQOLhKXY</a></p>— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) <a href="https://twitter.com/nbcsnl/status/797673802805018625">November 13, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Dropping the jokes in favor of this quieter moment, the cold open ends as "Hillary" finishes the cover, turns to the crowd, and says: "I'm not giving up, and neither should you."
Comedian Dave Chapelle hosted the show. A Tribe Called Quest was the musical guest.
All this comes as America adjusts to Donald Trump, the new president-elect, who defeated Hillary Clinton on election day, November 8.
Throughout the campaign period, SNL had parodied many moments from both Clinton and Trump – including their clashes at the presidential debates. Alec Baldwin's own "Donald Trump" was panned by Trump himself, prompting President Barack Obama to say at a campaign speech in Miami: "No, I'm serious. This is a guy who, like, tweets, 'They should cancel Saturday Night Live. I don't like how Alec Baldwin's imitating me.' Really? I mean, that's the thing that bothers you and you want to be president of the United States?"
Meanwhile, McKinnon won a Best Supporting Actress (Comedy) Emmy last September for her work on Saturday Night Live, thanking Clinton in her speech. Clinton congratulated McKinnon on her win with this tweet:
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congratulations on your Emmy, Kate! Big fan of yours, too. <a href="https://t.co/w00QO1GwyH">pic.twitter.com/w00QO1GwyH</a></p>— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) <a href="https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/777673718982184964">September 19, 2016</a></blockquote>
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– Rappler.com