Katy Perry's SNL Performance

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Overview

Katy Perry's SNL Performance refers to the singer's May 2017 musical performance on the season 42 finale of Saturday Night Live. During her two appearances, Perry's dancing and backup dancers generated online criticism.

Background

On Saturday, May 20th, 2017, singer Katy Perry appeared on the weekly sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live to sing her hit songs "Bon Appétit" and "Swish Swish." The performances (shown below, left and right, respectively), which included various guests, such as rappers Migos, and Instagram user @i_got_bars, who became an online senstation.

Developments

Within 48 hours of being uploaded to YouTube, the "Swish Swish" performance has been viewed 1.4 million times, while "Bon Appétit" has been viewed 2.1 million times.

Twitter published a Moments^[9] page to document the reaction to Perry's performance.

Notable Memes

Backpack Kid

One of the most popular parts of Perry's appearance was a dancer who people online named "Backpack Kid," making his entrance at the end of "Swish Swish" which included his signature dance that later became known as The Floss (shown below).

Within minutes of the performance, Twitter user @austinharris posted a gif of him dancing with the captions "#SNLFinale me: why am i so tired all the time me at 3 am." The tweet (shown below) received more than 1,500 retweets and 3,800 likes in less than 48 hours.

Other Twitter users were quick to join in on praising Backpack Kid.

"Backpack Kid" is a 15-year-old Instagram user Russell Got Barzz (@i_got_barzz)^[8]. Known for his stoic facial expression, Russell has more than 520,000 followers on Instagram.

Several news outlets covered the popularity of Backpack Kid, including Cosmopolitan,^[2] Teen Vogue,^[3] ABC,^[4] and more.

"Bon Appétit" featuring Migos

Perry's second performance of the night, a rendition of "Bon Appétit" featuring Migos, became the subject of criticism shortly after airing, particularly in regards to Perry's dancing. On May 21st, Twitter user @behlul_official^[5] tweeted a video of Perry's dancing with the caption "Nothing can make you cringe more than Katy Perry during Migos part of the performance #AWKWARD." The tweet (shown below) garnered more than 48,000 retweets and 80,000 likes within 24 hours.

Other users were quick to share their thoughts on Perry's dancing. Twitter user @strtly^[6] tweeted the same video (shown below, left) and the caption "Katy Perry cannot dance," while @MJohnnyCarrol^[7] tweeted a gif (show below, right) from The Office's No God, Please No! meme with the caption "The horrible realization that you can't fast forward through the #KatyPerry performance… #SNLFinale #SNLLiveCoastToCoast #SNL."