Review: nearly 4 minutes en pointe in a black tutu and a stage rain shower for 'Magnolias' — on Shane Gillis' 'SNL', Rosalía turns 'Lux' into a stage spectacle

This is a review. On the third episode of the 52nd season of 'Saturday Night Live', which aired Saturday (10) and was hosted by comedian Shane Gillis, Rosalía returned to Studio 8H four years after performing 'Chicken Teriyaki' and 'La Fama' in March 2022. This time she brought two tracks from 'Lux': 'Reliquia', co-written by former Daft Punk member Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, and 'Magnolias', the album's closing song. She also made a cameo in a sketch, appearing in a thought bubble urging Gillis to leave his sick mother's bedside for a Jelly Roll concert at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

The 'Reliquia' number is the one that lingers. In a black tutu, alone on stage, Rosalía spent nearly four minutes en pointe, almost motionless, until about a dozen dancers surrounded her and the performance ended in a burst of strobe lights. The choice is almost a provocation: days earlier, choreographer Nacho Duato had mocked the singer's ballet aesthetic in a video he later deleted. The answer came through her body, and the stillness put all the attention on her voice, which never wavered. It is the kind of risk live TV rarely sees from a pop star.

'Magnolias' went the opposite way: dressed in white, she started restrained and, midway through the song, artificial rain poured onto the stage, soaking her hair, face and dress, which grew increasingly transparent. The image works as a closing statement for a record about light and surrender, though the effect stole some focus from the vocal. All told, in an episode whose monologue split opinions, Rosalía was singled out as the night's highlight and proved that 'Lux' grows when it becomes theater. Score: 9/10