Weeks ago, Ariana Grande performed for a live audience for the A Very Wicked Halloween special, a commemoration of Wicked's 15 years on Broadway. It was her first post-Davidson-era performance. And, at the time, Grande posted on social media to confess that she'd considered cancelling her performance that night anyway. She very nearly didn't go green! But she did, ultimately, and the performance aired last night on NBC.
Grande performed the song "The Wizard and I," the early-stage want song from Stephen Schwartz's beloved musical. The song is rangy, expressive, and bizarre, reaching to bold heights near the very end. And Grande, bedecked in all green, down to green glittery lipstick, nails it all with finesse. It's somehow fitting that, for her first post-breakup televised performance, Grande sang a song that was all about ambition. This goes toward our theory that it was Grande who had the BDE all along, not Pete Davidson.
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And I'll staaaand there with the wizard! (Watch the full performance, below.)