Is there an impression that Melissa Villaseñor can’t do? On last night’s episode of “Saturday Night Live” hosted by Timothée Chalamet, Villaseñor followed Kate McKinnon's reprisal of Dr. Wenowdis with the debut of a brand new impression during the “Weekend Update” segment: Dolly Parton.
Villaseñor's Parton impression was meant to discuss her favorite holiday albums but decided to take it in a different direction. The cast member appeared alongside the segment’s co-anchor, Colin Jost, donning a familiar voluminous blonde wig, a decorative white costume and a beauty mark on her chin... among other physical features.
After taking a look at her costume and new hair-do, Jost asked, “I’m a little nervous to ask you this, but are you dressed as Dolly Parton?”
“What? No, this is my special Christmas outfit,” she replied.
“Are you sure?” he replied. “I’m just asking because you’ve been trying to get your Dolly Parton impression on the show for a while now.”
Villaseñor, who has been on "SNL" since 2016, assured her castmate that she was only there to sing Christmas songs. When Jost asked what some of her favorite holiday songs were, she said it was a tough choice, before deciding on “Holly Jolly Christmas.”
She offered to sing it to demonstrate her love for her song, busting out a spot-on impression of Parton singing the classic tune.
“Oh, I just love Christmas,” Villaseñor said, still impersonating the country music icon.
“Yeah, that’s great, but you were just doing a Dolly Parton impression,” Jost pointed out.
“Hey buddy, eyes up here,” she retorted, alluding to her bountiful fake bosom. “You know what other song I really like? ‘Jingle Bells,’ what a classic.”
Before Jost could respond, the classic guitar riff from “Jolene” began playing while the actor started to weave in the lyrics from the holiday classic.
“Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle bells all the way,” she sang. “I’m begging of you, please don’t take... Jolene.”
Villaseñor went on to explain her reasoning for her impression, telling Jost, “Yeah, newsflash; I want to be Dolly. Who doesn’t? She’s the coolest."
"She's a great singer. She writes her own songs. She donated a million dollars to the vaccine," she added. "Plus, there was a news story this week that she saved a kid from getting hit by a car..."
Villaseñor told Jost that she would get serious for the last Christmas song, explaining how she used to go to a midnight mass all in Latin with her family on Christmas Day and was going to perform her favorite hymn from that occasion.
Immediately after, the intro to “9 to 5” began playing before Villaseñor broke out into the original lyrics from the chorus of the classic hit.
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Fans seemed to really love the impression. "I need a full sketch of Melissa singing Dolly. She sounds exactly like her," one person wrote on YouTube. Another fan added, "It almost sounds like they dubbed over Melissa with the actual Dolly Parton. That's a hell of an impression."
In February 2019, Villaseñor pulled a similar stunt during a "Weekend Update" appearance, this time breaking out her Lady Gaga impression while donning a white pantsuit and full platinum wig, assuring Jost she was just being herself.
"How dare you, I'm not doing an impression," she told Jost, who accused Villaseñor of trying to get her Lady Gaga impression onto the show. "I'm Melissa and this is my famous Grammy preview. This isn't a wig, I was born this way."
After bursting into the song "Shallow," Villaseñor admitted at the end of the segment, "I just wanted to do my Gaga impression!"