Watch Billie Eilish direct a “hip-hop nativity” in 'Saturday Night Live' sketch

Billie Eilish was the host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live this week, and her duties included directing a “hip-hop nativity” – watch the video below:

In the sketch, Eilish was joined by Heidi Gardner as they tried to update the story of the birth of Jesus by teaching a group of actors to twerk, strut and pole dance. The closing scene says that Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda is set to direct the full-length film version. Eilish also appeared as a dancing nurse in a sketch about TikTok, while her brother Finneas made a cameo.

Elsewhere in the show, Eilish starred opposite Kate Mckinnon in Lonely Christmas Ad, a tale of a “heartwarming Christmas dinner invite that takes an unexpected turn,” that was soundtracked by Slow Moving Millie’s cover of The Smith’s ‘Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want’. Continuing the festive spirit, Eilish sang ‘Santa Song’ – a ‘60s inspired glam pop tune about awkward encounters with Father Christmas.

You can watch all four below:

Eilish teamed up once more with Mckinnon and Finneas for Hotel Ad and helped Kyle Mooney see the true meaning of Christmas in Kyle’s Holiday. Eilish also played an improv musician opposite Aristotle Athari. Check out the sketches below:

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Eilish has already started work on her third album.

In an interview with Rolling Stone to promote his own new album, ‘Optimist’, brother and creative partner Finneas said he and Eilish were “really excited to start working on” the latter’s third album. When asked how far along they’d made it into the creative process, O’Connell said they had “interesting skeletons” for songs written, but were “not sure what animals they are”.

He went on to say that even if the record was finished before Eilish’s upcoming ‘Happier Than Ever’ world tour, it wouldn’t be released until after that run of shows was done. “You don’t want to step on the toes of an album like that. You make your stuff mean less, I think, when you do that.”

Eilish and O’Connell will take ‘Happier Than Ever’ on the road all throughout 2022. They’ll be playing shows across North America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, with six shows set for the O2 in London.