By Colby Carrington
The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon bowed yesterday and the verdict is in: gimme more!
Fallon’s nervous, nerdy intro segued into a drop by of all the ‘friends’ who bet he’d never host the Tonight Show – Sarah Jessica Parker, Lindsay Lohan, Lady Gaga, Mike Tyson, Rudy Guliani, Tracy Morgan, Kim Kardashian, Joan Rivers, Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey – all of whom handed off a crisp Benjamin for losing the bet.
Keeping with Fallon tradition, the kickoff digital short delivered slightly off rhythm laughs in an Evolution of Hip Hop Dancing demo, starring the host and Will Smith. To see Fallon really go for every move, even though it took him ever-so-slightly off beat, was endearing and all the funnier. You can tell Fallon was in his element with all things up to the 90′s (except for the Wop, see 0:45). But once they hit the Stanky Legg, it was all over and the rest of what came in ’10s, including twerking. Bless his heart.
Probably the most enjoyable part of show was U2′s semi-acoustic performance of “Ordinary Love” from the Mandela soundtrack. I got chills once The Roots jumped into the mix. (Sidebar: Both this and Sade’s song of the same name belong on a beachy R&R soundtrack.) Grab a rum daquiri and check the performance below.