'Saturday Night Live' host poll: Adam Levine (original) (raw)

Photo: Dana Edelson/NBC

Adam Levine may have moves like Jagger, but he hasn’t quite captured the Rolling Stone’s strutting confidence — on SNL, at least. While Mick was completely at ease as a host last season, Levine frequently seemed a little nervous during his own maiden hosting voyage; his cue card-reading was blatant enough to make us dock Maroon 5’s front man a few points. And then there was Levine’s performance in that cringe-worthy “Gay Network” sketch, which aimed for good-natured edginess and fell far short of the mark.

But overall, Levine did pretty well for someone who only recently began dipping his toe in the acting pool — and the SNL he oversaw was an improvement over Jennifer Lawrence’s disappointing episode. (Granted, this may have been thanks to The Lonely Island, Cameron Diaz, and Jerry Seinfeld rather than Levine alone). He charmed as Nev Schulman in the sketch show’s spot-on Catfish spoof, he held his own alongside Andy Samberg and co. as the Digital Short made its triumphant return, and he took off his shirt just a few minutes into the episode, which almost makes up for that obvious cue-card reading.

Still, if last week’s poll is any indication, it may be tough for Levine to top Lawrence. The Girl Who Was on Fire easily won the week by snagging 41.1 percent of votes, followed closely by sentimental favorite Martin Short — still very much in the race with a healthy 29.6 percent. Seth MacFarlane’s support may have flagged since he hosted this season’s premiere, but a third place finish and 14.37 percent of votes is nothing to sneeze at. And while Anne Hathaway’s 10.93 percent was enough to help the Oscar nominee hold onto a spot in the top five, Jeremy Renner failed his impossible mission, self-destructing with a paltry 4 percent. Cue weeping into America’s favorite biceps.

Remember, gang: This poll is about who was the best SNL host, according to whatever subjective criteria one uses to determine this sort of thing. Below, I’ve embedded one representative clip for each of the five hosts currently in the race. After the vote, the host with the least support will be eliminated, and the other four will advance to compete against Justin Bieber on Feb. 9. Ultimately, we’ll eliminate the less memorable hosts and crown a new Mr. or Ms. Saturday Night. Watch the clips, refresh your memories, and vote below.

SETH MacFARLANE

ANNE HATHAWAY

MARTIN SHORT

JENNIFER LAWRENCE

ADAM LEVINE

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