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When a star is born, grab your sunglasses and step out the way.
Kate Cosentino, a 23-year-old talent from Kansas City, shone bright when she stepped onto NBC’s The Voice stage Tuesday night (March 14), for her Blind Audition.
It was a starry performance, judge Niall Horan would go on to say. He should know when he sees one.
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Cosentino covered Dionne Warwick‘s “I Say a Little Prayer,” doing so in her own pace, stripped down, and with an electric guitar. Though her outfit screamed “clown couture” (her words), Cosentino’s played with no fuss, going with a finger-picking jazzy style, and without overriding effects.
Kelly Clarkson turned first and led a domino effect, as Chance the Rapper and Horan swiftly fell for her charms.
“Amazing,” Chance said at the wrap. “You got such a cool vibe to you.” The hip-hop star paid tribute to her “full voice” which carries a “lot of joy that comes out of it.”
Clarkson moved. “You have such a pretty alto register,” said the country-pop star, “kind of like lullaby-ish. You really could go so many places.”
And with that, the sales-pitch was on.
Horan didn’t muck about. He opened strong: “Would you like to be on my team?” Her choice of song was an indication of high quality and standards. “You could go all the way. You’ve given us this really really famous massive hit that’s really tough to sing. There’s an already-made star in there. You’ve got this Italian confidence.”
Will this star being a shooting one, will it go supernova, or light the canopy for years to come
We’ll wait and watch. In the meantime, Horan will guide the artist into the next phase of the talent competition.
Watch below.
If you get the feeling Bad Bunny is everywhere at once, all of the time, well, you’re not entirely confused.
The record-smashing Latin artist is a verified global superstar, and his career seems to be rolling along, gathering momentum by the month.
Need a snapshot? In recent weeks, Bunny (real name: Benito Ocasio) scored his tenth music video to hit one billion views on YouTube (with 2016’s “Soy Peor”); he opened the 2023 Grammy Awards; presented at the Billboard Women In Music; and video game publisher 2K released a first look at Bad Bunny in WWE 2K23, the newest instalment of the WWE video game franchise.
Pull back a few years and, Bunny made history with El Ultimo Tour del Mundo (2020) and Un Verano Sin Ti (2022), which both debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, making him the only artist to top the tally with a Spanish-language album — not once, but twice.
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Un Verano Sin Ti went on to become the first Spanish-language album to be nominated for album of the year at the Grammys, and it won the IFPI Global Album Award, making Bunny the first Latin artist to ever win an IFPI global award.
Add to that big-office dynamite, both on tour and at the movies, and a No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for “I Like It” with Cardi B and J Balvin, this Bunny just keeps bouncing along.
The Puerto Rican rapper was in the spotlight again on The Late Late Show Tuesday night (March 14), for a round of “Carpool Karaoke”.
Sitting alongside host James Corden, Bunny played along and answered those questions we all wanted to ask.
Among them, how did it go down with his folks when he announced he’d use the stage name Bad Bunny instead of Benito (he initially wanted to hide his features behind a bunny mask, à la Deadmau5 and Marshmello. “I never wanted to be so famous. So then I just went with the flow.”) Also, why “Bad Bunny” (no matter how bad he is, a bunny is “still looking cute…that’s me.”), and was there truth behind the rumor that Bunny nearly failed to make it for his Grammy-opening medley performance (yes, blame L.A. traffic).
The hip-hopper also discussed his love of drawing and wrestling. He demonstrated it, at one point enticing Corden into the ring with WWE wrestler Rey Mysterio.
The best of the action, however, was saved for the “karaoke” element, with host and talent hitting “Dakiti,” “I Like It,” “Tití Me Preguntó,” and covers of “Break Free” by Ariana Grande featuring Zedd, and finishing things up with Harry Styles’ “As It Was,” the biggest hit in the world last year.
Watch below.
Questlove won best music podcast of the year at the fifth annual iHeartPodcast Awards on Tuesday (March 14). The virtual event, hosted by actor and comedian Brian Baumgartner, was video-streamed on iHeartRadio’s YouTube Channel and Facebook Page and broadcast on iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide and on the iHeartRadio app.
Charlamagne Tha God presented the award to Questlove, host of Questlove Supreme. This adds to Questlove’s growing trophy collection which includes an Oscar for directing Summer of Soul and six Grammys.
Sportscaster Bob Costas opened the 2023 iHeartPodcast Awards.
Jason Alexander and Peter Tilden presented the fan-voted podcast of the year award to Las Culturistas. Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang thanked Marc Maron and Snookie for paving the way in podcasting.
Zach Braff and Donald Faison presented Nicole Byer, host of Why Won’t You Date Me, with best comedy podcast of the year. Alex Borstein later presented Byer with her second award of the night for best overall host.
Comedian Iliza Shlesinger awarded the new best overall ensemble award to Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett of SmartLess.
The show also featured appearances by Mayim Bialik, Colin Cowherd, Malcolm Gladwell, Draymond Green, Bethany Joy Lenz, Enrique Santos, Angela Yee and more.
Executive producers for the 2023 iHeartPodcast Awards are John Sykes, Tom Poleman, Conal Byrne and Bart Peters for iHeartMedia, and Deviants Media Studio founder Ivan Dudynsky and show runner Jayson Belt.
Here’s the full list of 2023 iHeartPodcast Awards winners:
Social Impact Icon Award: Dr. Laurie Santos and Dr. Joy Harden Bradford
Audible Audio Pioneer Icon Award: Kara Swisher
Innovator Icon Award: Ashley Flowers
Podcast of the Year Award: Las Culturistas
Best Overall Ensemble: SmartLess
Best Overall Host: Nicole Byer
Best Music Podcast: Questlove Supreme
Best TV & Film Podcast: Films to be Buried With
Best Pop Culture Podcast: Decoder Ring
Best Business & Finance Podcast: Planet Money
Best Comedy Podcast: Why Won’t You Date Me
Best Crime Podcast: Believe Her
Best Food Podcast: The Sporkful
Best Wellness & Fitness Podcast: Maintenance Phase
Best History Podcast: You’re Wrong About
Best Kids & Family Podcast: Wow in the World
Best News Podcast: The Daily
Best Fiction Podcast: Welcome to Night Vale
Best Sports Podcast: The Draymond Green Show
Best Science Podcast: Radiolab
Best Technology Podcast: Pivot
Best Ad Read Podcast: Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Best Political Podcast: NPR Politics Podcast
Best Spanish Language Podcast: Ciudad Mágica
Best Advice & Inspirational Podcast: Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People
Best Beauty & Fashion Podcast: Natch Beaut
Best Travel Podcast: Atlas Obscura
Best Green Podcast: TED Climate
Best Spirituality & Religion Podcast: On Being
Best Branded Podcast: Smart Talks with IBM
Best Emerging Podcast: Sounds Like a Cult
Best International Podcast: El Viaje (Mexico)
More information can be found at iHeartPodcastAwards.com.
Gary Glitter, the disgraced former glam rock star, is back behind bars after breaching the terms of his probation.
The convicted pedophile, whose real name is Paul Gadd, enjoyed just over one month of freedom before he was recalled for unspecified reasons.
A Probation Service spokesperson confirms the development to the BBC, noting that protecting the public was their “number one priority”. The spokesperson adds, “That’s why we set tough licence conditions and when offenders breach them, we don’t hesitate to return them to custody.”
The 78-year-old singer was released from a prison in Dorset, in southwest England, last month after serving half of a 16-year prison sentence for sexually abusing three young girls in the 1970s.
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Sex offenders like Glitter “are closely monitored by the police and Probation Service,” the Ministry of Justice said in a statement at the time, noting they face being fitted with a GPS tag. “If the offender breaches these conditions at any point, they can go back behind bars,” that statement continued.
Glitter was initially found guilty of one count of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13.
On that occasion, the Brit was arrested back in October 2012 as part of Operation Yewtree, the national investigation launched in the wake of the child abuse scandal surrounding the late BBC entertainer Jimmy Savile.
Glitter’s total fall from grace began in 1997, when he was arrested after indecent material was found on his computer, which resulted in a prison stint and the enduring scrutiny of Britain’s tabloid press.
The singer’s music career took off in 1972 when his debut “Rock and Roll Parts 1 and 2” reached No. 2 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart. He would go on to bag 12 U.K. top 10 hits, including No. 1s with “I’m The Leader Of The Gang (I Am!),” “I Love You Love Me Love” and “Always Yours.”
To celebrate EXO member KAI dropping his latest solo album Rover, nearly all his band members came together for a light-hearted reaction viewing of his new music video.
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For the first time together in years — after different members handled their mandatory Southern Korean military service from 2019 to 2023 — EXO’s Suho, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O, Xiumin, Sehun and KAI gathered as eight to review KAI’s new single, gain some insight from their bandmate, and tease upcoming EXO music.
Despite being active with solo albums and special releases, EXO has not released music together as a whole group (which includes ninth member Lay, who is currently active in China) since 2018 with their sixth studio album, Don’t Mess Up My Tempo, which became their highest-charting entry on the Billboard 200 when it peaked at No. 23.
Despite the friendly viewing, KAI admitted his nerves and how it was the first time watching one of his solo music videos with his members. “I feel so nervous,” he shared. “It feels like an evaluation session. It feels really odd.”
Yet his band mates showered KAI with compliments on his dancing (Xiumin said, “I love that choreography”), single choice (“The song is so good,” commented D.O), and future success with “Rover” (Chanyeol said, “This should make it to the Billboard charts”).
After applauding at the end, several EXO members shared additional reviews.
“First of all, I really like the style of the song,” youngest member Sehun said. “The choreography is good. I think the producing was great too. Everyone agrees, right?”
Chen added, “From what we’ve seen from KAI before, we know he’s a great performer but from this music video, I was also able to see more of KAI as a person, like his acting, the whole atmosphere. I think it’s fair to say I could feel that he’s matured more. I could see a more manly side.”
“I loved it because it seemed like you relaxed more,” Baekhyun, a member of SuperM with KAI, said. “You went for less. I liked how I could tell you did that.”
Chanyeol even suggested that the guys “make this an EXO song” and “choose this as our next song,” a tease for their highly anticipated comeback album together. KAI shared that he “actually really mentioned that” suggestion before Chanyeol brushed off the idea and countered that “only KAI can pull this off.”
Before the video ends, EXO leader Suho shared a heartfelt message while asking fans to support KAI’s new music: “We, EXO, will always be rooting for him by his side as well.”
Watch the full reaction video for why KAI chose to shorten his new single, different movie and dance inspirations in the visual, and more from the EXO members.
Shenseea is gearing up to drop some heat in the coming months. Billboard News caught up with the dancehall star at Rolling Loud LA — which took place March 3 to 5 — to discuss what’s to come from her forthcoming music and her reaction when she found out about the joke that Prince Harry listened to her music in difficult times.
Speaking with Billboard News host Tetris Kelly, the “Blessed” singer talked about her plans to follow up her debut studio album, Alpha. “I’m about to shoot my very first single from my second studio album real soon and I’m really excited about that. I think it’s going to be amazing,” she said, adding that people can expect “dancehall that Americans can definitely love and understand” on the project.
Shenseea revealed that she had the privilege to meet Kanye West and said that if she ever had the chance to, “It would be amazing to work with him again. I absolutely loved Kanye from even before I met him.” Kelly asked Shenseea and Ye have hopped on a project together, which she remained tight lipped about.
Following the release of Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, rumors circulated that an excerpt from the novel read, “In the times I felt alone and separated from my family, I always took time to myself to sit back and listen to Shenseea. Her lyrics resonated with me and got me through a lot.”
While the rumor was never confirmed, Shenseea briefly touched on it in the interview, saying, “That was very much unexpected to be honest, but big up to Prince Harry for tuning in.”
Up next for the dancehall star is a performance at Coachella next month, in which she’ll perform several of her hits for festival attendees. Watch Shenseea’s interview with Billboard in the video above.
Harry Styles is so hot right now. Like, smoldering, earth-torching hot. The former One Direction singer had the top single on the planet last year with “As It Was,” lifted from his hit third album Harry’s House, which bagged Grammy Awards, Brit Awards and No. 1s, pretty much everywhere.
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Oh, and he’s currently playing stadiums across the globe, and starring in feature films. That kind of hot.
Laura Littleton captured a little bit of that heat when she stepped onto The Voice stage on Monday night (March 13) for the Blind Auditions. A native of Dickson, Tennessee, Littleton, a “country girl through and through,” took that early solo Styles song “Sign Of The Times,” added some country tones and immediately won the hearts of three judges.
When Kelly Clarkson used her block on country star Blake Shelton, it was game on.
As the performance wrapped, Clarkson praised the contestant’s energy. “I feel like you match mine,” she enthused. She also admitted she ought to have blocked Niall Horan instead, seeing as, you know, he played with Harry in 1D and, just maybe, Littleton is a Directioner.
Kelly lifted her sales pitch. “I feel like you’re gonna attract people from different genres. You just have all these cool, like, connections vocally. I was like, ‘this is like Dolly meets Florence and the Machine.’”
Horan took the mic and paid tribute to the “super unique” style of her voice, with its “natural shakes.” And, yes, he was into her song choice.
Littleton had a big decision to make. Go country, or go with a member of 1D?
In the end, she chose Horan.
Watch below.
It might take a miracle to halt Miley Cyrus’ reign over the U.K. singles chart. Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding could have just the thing.
The all-British collaboration “Miracle” (via Columbia), a throwback to ‘90s warehouse raves, dropped last Friday (March 10) and is dancing to a fast start on the national survey.
“Miracle” debuts at No. 4 on the Official U.K. Chart Update, and is set to become Harris’ 29th and Goulding’s 12th top 10 singles, and their third as a duo. The pair previously landed hits with 2012’s “I Need Your Love” (peaking at No. 4) and 2014’s “Outside” (No. 6).
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The top of the chart update looks no different from recent weeks. Cyrus “Flowers” (Columbia) is the midweek leader, and looks set to land a ninth consecutive week at No. 1, while its parent Endless Summer Vacation, has a strong grip on the U.K. albums chart race. If matters stay as they are, Cyrus will bag a U.K. chart double later in the week. The U.S. pop star also looks to enter the singles chart with “River” (No. 13) and “Jaded” (No. 29), for what would be Cyrus’ 22nd and 23rd top 40 appearances.
An unchanged top three on the singles chart update sees PinkPantheress’ “Boy’s a liar” (Warner Records) and the Weeknd’s “Die For You” (Republic Records/XO) hold positions No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, while Afrobeats artist Libianca could snag a new high with “People” (5K), up 10-6.
Finally, the U.K.’s entrant to the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest 2023, Mae Muller, is enjoying early support in her homeland with “I Wrote A Song” (Capitol). It’s on target for a No. 24 debut for what would be the 25-year-old singer’s first-ever solo charting single in the U.K.
All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Singles Chart is published Friday.
Daddy Yankee gets to swing for the fences in his new role as ambassador for the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC).
As part of his ambassadorial duties, the reggaeton artist throws his superstar status behind an anthem for the current tournament, “Chispa,” which he co-produced with Play-N-Skilz.
According to a statement from organizers, “Chispa” will be featured across WBC and MLB social platforms, and with the Classic’s coverage, in-park activations and more.
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Also, Daddy Yankee is expected to attend several games played at loanDeport park in Miami throughout the tournament, which he launched by throwing out the first pitch last Sunday (March 12) before the Venezuela vs. Puerto Rico game.
Much has happened in the year since Yankee announced his retirement from music.
The Puerto Rican artist (born Raymond Ayala) ends his touring career on a high, with his La Ultima Vuelta trek raking-in $197.8 million and 1.9 million tickets sold over 83 shows in 2022, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.
That’s by some distance the biggest tour of his career, and behind only Bad Bunny among Latin artists.
Yankee’s collaboration with Luis Fonsi, “Despacito,” last year extend its reign as the most-viewed music video on YouTube, by hitting the magical 8 billion streams milestone. And his final album, 2022’s Legendaddy, gave Yankee a career-high No. 8 peak on the Billboard 200, his second top 10 appearance on the all-genres chart.
The 46-year-old artist’s beloved Puerto Rico is one of 20 nations competing in the Classic, which reaches its climax March 21 in Miami. Sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), it’s the sport’s premier international competition — essentially, the world cup for baseball.
Monsta X member Minhyuk shared a personal letter with fans to confirm his upcoming military enlistment date.
The 29-year-old singer and host will enter the South Korean military for his mandatory service on April 4. He’s the second Monsta X member to enlist in Korea’s military after group leader Shownu who enlisted in July 2021. Shownu will be discharged in late April, days after Minhyuk enlists.
The K-pop star shared a handwritten letter with Monsta X fans—affectionately known as Monbebe—on the group’s fan cafe website. Read the full letter below (with translations provided by Soompi):
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Hello, this is Minhyuk!
I feel like our Monbebe came in to this post already feeling sad after seeing the words “this is Minhyuk” so I feel apologetic.
On April 4, for my national duty, I won’t be able to see you all often for a very short period of time. I have to come in to the fan cafe and write posts, promote, upload photos, let you know when I’m done working out, do bubble live [broadcasts], and do all the things Monbebe likes often, but not being able to do that for a little while is what hurts my heart most. Besides this, I plan to go with a happy heart!
I will use this upcoming period as a time to make myself stronger and become a cooler Minhyuk. I’m already excited to receive Monbebe’s even greater love haha.
Also, I’m not going somewhere far so don’t be too sad. I think Monbebe will be very sad but I hope you aren’t!
Thank you for always giving so much love to me, who is just a regular person. I feel like I cannot repay it well no matter what I do, so I’m also sorry.
For the time we cannot see each other, I will be healthy in mind and body and return after becoming a cool person.
Monbebe, I love you so, so much, thank you, and let’s meet next year while smiling!
I’ll be back soon!!
Minhyuk
In other news, Monsta X was previously announced as one of the headliners for the upcoming Las Vegas K-pop festival We Bridge Music Festival & Expo in late April. The fest confirmed that Minhyuk would not appear but that “the remaining members of Monsta X are still confirmed and scheduled to be at the We Bridge Music Festival and Expo.”
The most recent chart Monsta X entered was the World Digital Song Sales chart earlier this year when latest single, “Beautiful Liar,” peaked at No. 8 to become their 17th top 10 entry on the chart to date.