The “Law & Order: SVU” star took center stage for two musical moments as host of the awards show.

Mariska Hargitay took vocal lessons ahead of hosting 2026 Emmys

The “Law & Order: SVU” star took center stage for two musical moments as host of the awards show.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

EW's editorial guidelines

September 15, 2026 3:17 p.m. ET

Mariska Hargitay singing on stage with Andrew Rannells. Credit:

Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty

- Mariska Hargitay didn’t sing her way through the Emmys without any vocal prep.

- Producers of the 78th Annual Emmy Awards are recounting the “vocal sessions” and “hard work” that the* Law & Order: SVU* star put in to prepare for her musical moments as host.

- “This is one of the hardest-working hosts I’ve ever seen on any award show,” executive producer Jesse Collins gushed.

Mariska Hargitay worked hard to prove herself as a triple threat on the Emmy Awards stage.

For her hosting debut, the *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit** *star was very hands-on, according to producers of the 78th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. And when it came to preparing for the big moments — including the show’s various musical numbers — she put in plenty of time, including some off-site work with a vocal coach.

“She really worked hard on that song,” executive producer Jesse Collins told *Variety*, while discussing the song that opened the awards show. “A lot of vocal sessions and recorded it in New York. And she did some more work on it in L.A., really perfecting it.”

Hargitay kicked off the show with a star-studded parody of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts’ “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll.” Her rendition, titled “I Love TV Screens,” saw her sing about watching shows like *Abbott Elementary* and *Widow’s Bay* on all kinds of different screens. Along the way, she got some help from her pal, New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson, and Emmy-winning stars like Jennifer Coolidge and Jean Smart.

Mariska Hargitay performs on stage during the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Trae Patton/NBC via Getty

Hargitay was also at the center of several comedic bits throughout the night, at one point recreating Nicole Kidman‘s iconic AMC ad and, at another, joining Taylor Swift for a pre-recorded sketch melding pop culture references and her hardboiled *SVU* persona.

“This is one of the hardest-working hosts I’ve ever seen on any award show,” Collins continued. “When we shot that opening piece, we shot one scene in New York and two full days in L.A. On Thursday after the media press conference, we came here. She started shooting at around 2 in the afternoon, and we left the plaza at midnight, 12:30 a.m. The work that she put in was unparalleled.”

Taylor Swift asked for Easter eggs to be added to ‘SVU’ sketch at Emmys

Emmy producers react to John Mulaney’s bleeped oral sex joke: ‘John’s gonna do John’

His praise was echoed by NBCUniversal live events and specials exec VP Jen Neal, who gushed, “She was a dream for a host. She is a triple threat. She has so much range of all the things she can do. And I was glad that she had the opportunity to showcase that to audiences and see her in a different way that’s very different from playing Olivia Benson.”

Neal added that Hargitay was particularly interested in showing off different sides of herself while on stage.

“I think that Mariska was able to show audiences at home just how talented she is,” she said. “She loves comedy. She wants to be able to sing and dance. These were some of the things that she wanted to do.”

Mariska Hargitay at the 78th Emmy Awards.

Rich Polk/Variety via Getty

Following the opening musical moment, fans on social media weren’t exactly singing Hargitay’s praises. The opening song-and-dance ended up making* *‘s list of worst moments from the awards show, as did a second musical moment that saw Hargitay and Broadway star Andrew Rannells sing an upbeat number about all the shows that have recently come to an end.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our ******EW Dispatch newsletter******.***

Still, many of Hargitay’s other moments from throughout the night were better received and the show moved along without a hitch — and at the end of the day, the show’s producers couldn’t have been happier with their choice in host.

“It was really just a dream for us to work with her to appeal to this broad audience,” added producer Jeannae Rouzan-Clay. “She really has something for everyone, and is broadly beloved.”

Check out the full list of Emmys winners here.

- Awards Shows & Events

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Emmys”