Nicki Minaj's best moment of 2010 was her cameo on Kanye West's "Monster" (trust us, it was better than all of "Pink Friday" combined), and her standout moment of 2011 is already in the books -- playing a monster on "Saturday Night Live." Minaj was once a theater major at New York's well-known "Fame" high school and is currently a great lover of wigs, so the role of the "Bride of Blackenstein" was tailor made for her, her ample booty, and her sassy mouth ("For now on, I'm your friends, and I barely even like you," she tells her creature hubby played by Kenan Thompson). Look at what you just saw, this is what you live for indeed.
Minaj's second-best moment of 2011 also went down Saturday night alongside the Lonely Island crew in the digital short "The Creep" (which featured a way, way too-short appearance by John Waters). Andy Samberg led his pals in an uber-nerdy Peeping Tom dance, and Minaj popped up dressed like a lady Urkel to discuss her adventures spying on the men's locker room: "As they disrobed I was oogling and ogling, little did they know that for me they were modeling." Now she's giving Shy Ronnie's Rihanna a real run for her money.
Song One: "Right Thru Me"
+1 for kicking the song off with a Prince-like command to her backup crew: "Sing"
+2 for liberal use of smoke machine
+1 for going into crazy Nicki voice so early in the song (1:14 mark)
-4 for attempting to fill her break during the chorus with nothing but sassy neck moves (1:16 to 1:50)
-3 for the doozy of a flat note she hit at 3:22 -- with three singers and a backing track, how is that even possible?
Song Two: "Moment 4 Life"
+3 for keeping on the Bride of Blackenstein beehive wig
+2 for everything else she was wearing, too
+3 for the mini freakout that somebody hopefully has turned into an animated gif by now (:20 to :25)
Overall:
+2 for standing out on a night that also featured a super-hyped pop-in from Mark Zuckerberg
Final Grade: A