Last night Saturday Night Live kicked off their 40th season with this year’s it girl Ariana Grande taking the reins as the musical guest. She performed the staple two songs, one by her lonesome and a duet with The Weeknd.

Grande busted out “Break Free” first and then was joined by The Weeknd for “Love Me Harder.” It was an okay performance that went on a bit long though. The pop star rocked a cat ear headband and crop top as she performed the track off her latest album, My Everything. Of course her performances were sprinkled in between sketches featuring a very different looking cast and host Chris Pratt.

During last season SNL received some backlash due to the lack of minorities on the cast. At the time they had two; Jay Pharoah and Kenan Thompson. They even made fun of the controversy when Scandal’s Kerry Washington hosted mid-season. Shortly thereafter they added a black female; Sasheer Zamata.

Now with Thompson departing at the end of this season, it was easy to recognize the shows blatant new additions were people of color. Did it help with ratings, did they need help? The numbers are not in yet on if their attempt to make the cast better-rounded garnered a positive or a negative response.

In a way it seems like the late night show is going for a more youthful feel with these additions. MTV has success with Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out, so maybe NBC thought they could get some of that audience to tune in by casting black comedians.