Kelsea Ballerini Makes ‘Saturday Night Live’ Debut

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Kelsea Ballerini on Saturday Night Live. Photo: Will Heath

Kelsea Ballerini capped off the release of her deeply personal Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP with two performances on Saturday Night Live over the weekend.

Ballerini performed the questioning “Blindsided” at Rockefeller Center’s Studio 8H in front of a backdrop that had a shadow figure meeting her querying self.

“It was such a big moment,” Ballerini explains. “We wanted to add an element that made the song and the performance more. When we talked about what the song was about, all the pieces of doubt and realizing what was going on, the shadow seemed to be the right thing.”

She returned later in the show for the vulnerable “Penthouse” wearing a silky white Valentino gown and standing alone in the curve of a white grand piano.

Rolling Up the Welcome Mat has already racked up over 40 million streams, and Ballerini is set to kick off the second leg of her “Heartfirst Tour” tomorrow in Toronto. She’ll visit cities throughout the Midwest and East Coast, closing out on March 18 in Pittsburgh, before kicking off the third leg of the journey in June.

Lorie Hollabaugh
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