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The annual Met Gala took over New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday night (May 6), with some of today’s biggest stars ascending the iconic white staircase in creative and jaw-dropping looks to capture the “Garden in Time” dress code. While the Met Gala looked like a blast itself, the real fun happens […]
There are times when a performance gains power not only from who’s playing what music and how, but also from when and where it’s played. So it was with the Berlin Philharmonic’s 2024 Europakonzert, which took place on May 1 at the historic Tsinandali Estate in Georgia.
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As Georgians protested in the streets of the capital city of Tbilisi against a law that would regulate NGOs and foreign media companies in a way that many people there believe would benefit Russia – or at least follow its illiberal path — one of the most accomplished orchestras in Europe delivered a majestic performance of pieces by Schubert, Brahms and Beethoven, as if to culturally anchor the country in the heart of Europe.
The concert at the Tsinandali Estate was gorgeous – an afternoon show, performed outdoors on a sunny day, with birds chirping in the background. (Conductor Daniel Harding stepped in for Daniel Barenboim.) The prominent violinist Lisa Batiashvili, who comes from Georgia and is now an artist in residence at the Berlin Philharmonic, performed the solos in Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D Major with power and exquisite sensitivity.
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The next night, the orchestra performed the same show at the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theater – not far from where some of the protests took place – followed by considerable applause and the unfurling of a couple of European Union flags. It was hard to miss the symbolism – not nationalism but something more open-hearted. The politics never overshadowed the music, which was powerful in its own right, but it was clear how much the music, and the idea of Europe, meant to the Georgian audience. Sometimes concerts are the continuation of policy by other means.
Georgia sits a crossroads between Europe and Asia – always geographically and now politically as well. Culturally, the country has always faced West – it’s mostly Eastern Orthodox, and it was part of the Soviet Union before it gained independence. In December, under the current government, Georgia officially received candidate status to join the European Union, which the majority of people there seem to favor and would place the country firmly in the West. And although the overlap of the Europakonzert and the debate about the proposed law is just coincidental, it seemed to hint at two possible paths forward for the country: A kind of international optimism or a narrower nationalism.
The Tsinandali Estate, which was leased from the government and renovated by the Silk Road Group, a Georgian company, has its own particularly European cultural history. The estate, which fell into disrepair during the Soviet era, is identified with Prince Alexander Chavchavadze, a Georgian aristocrat, who used it in the 1800s to bring to Georgia European-style wine, formal gardens and classical music. Silk Road, which has restored the estate to its former glory with an eye toward historic preservation, now operates two hotels there, as well as nearby vineyard and a fall classical music festival that features young performers from across the Caucasus region. This, too, is profoundly optimistic.
“We thought, ‘How can we bring life to’” the estate, says George Ramishvili, the Silk Road Group’s founder and chairman. “And we chose classical music because it’s related to history.”
Europakonzert
Stephan Rabold
Years ago, Ramishvili connected with the Berlin Philharmonic through Batiashvili, and they started discussing brining the annual Europakonzert to Georgia. “It’s the perfect music but also the message for peace – we’re both about a united Europe,” Ramishvili says. “Europe is Georgia and Georgia is Europe.”
Everything about the concerts brought that idea home. At both shows, the audience seemed to be mostly middle-class Georgians, probably a few years older and a bit more fortunate than most of the protesters, who skewed younger. But they both want more engagement with a Europe that has put aside its conflicts. The European Union has its share of problems, but it represents a more compelling vision of the future than anything coming out of Russia.
None of this hung over the concerts, though. The annual Europakonzert, which is usually but not always performed in an EU member state, is symbolic, for a variety of reasons, including where it happens and the role of Berlin, which has become the cultural capital of Europe. But anyone who didn’t understand the politics, or simply wanted to forget them, would have found the shows just as compelling without that context. At Tsinandali, the stone walls of the amphitheater seemed to magnify the sound, as birdsong broke through the quiet parts of Schubert’s The Magic Harp. Batiashvili brought a richness of tonal color to Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D Major, especially in the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theater, where Harding brought out the orchestra’s power.
Music diplomacy has been a tradition since at least the 1950s, when the U.S. State Department arranged for “Jazz Ambassadors,” most famously Louis Armstrong, to tour the world. Musicians seldom solve international disagreements, and it’s not their job to do so, but shows like this bring countries closer together in a way that shows what they have to offer one another. These two shows made a powerful case for both the value of the European idea and its potential for expansion.
Europakonzert
Stephan Rabold
The first Monday in May means it’s one of the biggest fashion days of the year, the Met Gala. Some of the biggest stars walked the red — or white, rather — carpet on Monday night (May 6), showing off some of the most creative looks to capture the evening’s theme. This year’s theme, Sleeping […]
Macklemore hasn’t been one to mince words in the past when speaking up for a cause he believes in. Now, the Seattle native is throwing his support behind Gaza and college student protests across America on the politically charged song “Hind’s Hall.”
The “Thrift Shop” rapper uploaded the fiery track to social media on Monday evening (May 6), and promised once the song makes it onto streaming services, all proceeds will go toward the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which offers assistance and protection to Palestinian refugees.
“Hind’s Hall” is the new name student protestors have given to the Columbia University residence Hamilton Hall, in tribute to six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed in Gaza.
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The jarring visual accompanying the track shows footage of police getting violent with students protesting at college campuses, as well as deadly explosions taking place in Gaza City.
Macklemore kicks off with a salute to N.W.A and the group’s explicit 1988 anti-police anthem. “When I was seven, I learned a lesson from Cube and Eazy-E/ What was it again? Oh yeah, f–k the police,” he raps.
The Billboard Hot 100-topping artist goes on to call out President Joe Biden and America’s diplomatic support for Israel while revealing he won’t be voting for the incumbent again this fall.
“Where does genocide land in your definition, huh/ Destroyin’ every college in Gaza and every mosque/ Pushin’ everyone into Rafah and droppin’ bombs/ The blood is on your hands, Biden, we can see it all/ And f–k no, I’m not votin’ for you in the fall,” Macklemore declares.
The 40-year-old rapper also challenges those equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, pointing out that he sees Jewish people standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people as well. “We see the lies in ’em/ Claimin’ it’s antisemitic to be anti-Zionist/ I’ve seen Jewish brothers and sisters out there and ridin’ in/ Solidarity and screamin’ Free Palestine with them,” he raps.
With the hip-hop world distracted by the Drake and Kendrick Lamar feud, Macklemore wants to shift the focus to ceasefire talks rather than hearing what the 6 God has to say next. “What happened to the artist? What d’you got to say/ If I was on a label, you could drop me today/ I’d be fine with it ’cause the heart fed my page/ I want a ceasefire, f–k a response from Drake/ What you willin’ to risk? What you willin’ to give,” he asks.
More than 2,000 students have been arrested across the country in pro-Palestinian protests, according to The Guardian. More than 100 of those were booked by New York police officers during protests at Columbia University last week.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, many of whom remain in Gaza, according to The Associated Press. Israel and Hamas have been entrenched in a deadly war since that has decimated Gaza; more than 34,500 Palestinians have been killed, per the AP, and more than 1,700 people in Israel have been killed, per ABC News. Ceasefire talks involving the release of hostages remain ongoing.
Earlier in 2024, Israel accused 12 UNRWA employees of being part of Hamas and helping coordinate the attacks against them; the organization immediately terminated or suspended the accused individuals, but lost much of its international funding as a result of the claims. Since then, an independent study concluded that no evidence was found connecting the UNRWA to the Oct. 7 attacks, according to NPR. Many nations have resumed funding to UNRWA since then.
Watch Macklemore’s “Hind’s Hall” visual below.
With credits dating back to 2012 that include collaborations with Saba, Smino and Isaiah Rashad, alluring Chicago R&B singer-songwriter Jean Deaux is no new kid on the block.
A multidimensional artist whose work traverses different mediums and scoffs at genre lines, Deaux is a shining light in the Black queer art space. Last month (April 12), she released her sixth overall project, Nowhere, Fast, which also serves as her first release since parting ways with Empire Records.
“It was time for something new,” Deaux says. “We were able to come to the agreement [that] if I wanted to leave, they’d let me go… I felt like I would step away from music for a little bit after I left Empire, but I started to fall in love with the music I was making and that’s really how the EP came together.”
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That transition period – while she was also recovering from a vocal injury and experiencing the general trials and tribulations of going through the back half of your 20s – birthed Nowhere, Fast: an ethereal collection of odes to the turbulent road to maturity. Her voice weaves around soulful synths and forlorn guitars, cradling nuggets of poetry like, “Time is of the essence/ And like a science/ Just in your presence/ I feel it flying.”
There’s an energy of newness around Jean Deaux right now – new label situation, new project, new tour. But she’s also taking this moment to reclaim and stand in her truth, particularly as it relates to the questionable similarities between the album cover and title of her 2023 Heavy EP and this year’s LP of the same name, from Grammy-nominated R&B star SiR.
On April 18, Deaux took to X (formerly Twitter) to comment on the similarities between the two projects. Both Deaux and SiR’s Heavys feature album artwork that finds each artist shirtless, doused in red light and staring away from the camera. In her initial post, Deaux alleged that SiR reached out to her after people started commenting on the similarities between the projects when he debuted his Heavy artwork on March 4. According to her, he apologized profusely in private and pledged to make it right, yet refused to publicly atone for the situation.
Speaking to Billboard, Deaux reiterates everything in her original post, reading excerpts from text messages and DMs between the two. (Billboard was able to review the messages Deaux refers to.)
“With the capacity he reached out [in] and how emphatic he was, it felt so sincere [that] he wanted to, in his words, ‘Make it right,’” she says. “So, if I’m telling you what I expected, and you telling me that you want to go on tour [together], you want to start a relationship, and then you make this post and we never talk about anything again? Ever?”
Deaux says she started conceptualizing her Heavy EP in 2021, with her uncle shooting the album cover at the beginning of 2022. “The red lighting was from a reference we used,” she explains. “I was leaning into this villain type of role, and that’s what I wanted the music to feel like.” Her project hit DSPs on April 14, 2023 – almost a full calendar year before SiR debuted the artwork for his Heavy LP, with red-lit photoshoots appearing on his official Instagram feed the month prior.
Deaux remembers first hearing about the similarities through a text that “somebody who works on [her] team sent” after SiR announced his album. “When I seen it, I honestly didn’t realize what was going on right away,” she says. “When I finally put two and two together, I thought it was strange, but I didn’t know what to think.”
The ascendant crooner claims that she never confronted SiR. In fact, as she tells it, the Inglewood-bred artist hit her DMs first. “He didn’t DM me [until] a couple days after he announced his cover and said that he heard [my] project, he loved it, and he didn’t know how this happened and he felt like we were pulling from the same creative pool,” she recounts. “He mentioned that he dropped an EP the same week as somebody else [in the past], and it was similar.” Deaux also says that SiR also floated ideas like having Deaux join him on tour, or starting a working relationship with her. Ultimately, after Deaux says she asked that he publicly acknowledge her Heavy and say the things he expressed in her DMs, SiR opted for a simple Instagram Story with the caption: “Jean Deaux has a ‘Heavy’ too.”
Some weeks later, in an interview with Billboard about his Heavy LP (March 25), SiR name-checked Deaux saying, “There’s another album that I just learned about recently, Heavy by Jean Deaux, and didn’t know it existed… There’s a pool of creativity that we all pull from and sometimes we pull the same ideas […]” A screenshot of his answer recirculated on X following another quasi-viral post drawing connections between the two projects, prompting Deaux to respond. (Representatives for SiR did not provide comment when asked by Billboard about Deaux’s recounting of events.)
“I tweeted that to set the record straight,” she explains. “I felt like if you’re gonna make another statement in an interview and still not make it half of what you said privately then why speak on that at all?”
In an enlightening conversation with Billboard, Jean Deaux breaks down her new Nowhere, Fast EP, her upcoming tour, plans for new music and her side of the story as it relates to SiR and their Heavy projects.
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Talk to me about Nowhere, Fast. What was your vision for the project and what went into conceptualizing that sonic and visual world?
I started making [Nowhere, Fast] when I was ending my business partnership with Empire. It was a lot of uncertainty in my life. I have management that I ended things with as well. I felt like I [didn’t] know where [I was] gonna go from here. I don’t really know what the next chapter is, and I feel like that resonated into everything else in my life, relationships, friendships, business relationships, all kinds of relationships.
I learned a lot about myself [by] isolating myself a lot, and I think that’s really where Nowhere, Fast came from. Then, I ended up putting it out with a new label, so it worked out in the end. I’m glad that I took that time to really be real and be honest about where I was in my life.
What were you listening to or watching while creating this project?
I listened to a lot of movie scores. I’ve been trying to watch more international films — most recently I just seen Monkey Man, it’s so good. I found myself trying to watch things that comforted me, and it reminded me of things that I just used to enjoy when I was younger. I think that influenced the music too.
You can pick up that cinematic feel in the album artwork. What went into the creative direction for that shoot?
So [Brianna] Alysse is the photographer who shot the cover. She had reached out to me, maybe a year or so ago, about working [together]. I’m all about creating something cool, so when I started putting Nowhere, Fast together, I reached out to her and asked if she would be down to do the cover. She sent me a few references, her own interpretations of like what “nowhere fast” looked like. I think we had a similar vision of negative space, like motion, but also standing still at the same time.
She sent a photo of two people on a motorcycle [that] wasn’t moving, [which] gave me the idea for the cover — kind of changing the position and what was happening on the actual cover It worked out well and I think the extra graphics we added gave people what I was hoping for. I always try to be a little cinematic.
Why did you choose to go with “Roll With Me” and “Dreamin” to introduce the project?
“Roll With Me” is just a bop! I could not deny that song as soon as I made it. “Dreaming” sounds like one of the first songs I ever made when I was really getting into my bag, like what my sound was almost 10 years ago, maybe even more so. It felt like returning to something, and it just reminded me of my childhood and how much I’ve accomplished that I’ve cared about [since] I was a kid. “Dreaming” made me feel good in that way, and I feel like people would probably relate to that.
How did the Destin Conrad collaboration come together? I can’t get enough of “Thinkin!”
I love “Thinkin” also! That song was really me and Lido and this was the time [when] I really tried to stop smoking. Lido gave me some herbs or something to smoke, and I must have been feeling it a little bit. The essence of the song was so lush. I forget what we was listening to before we even made that, but I’m sure I got the footage somewhere cause I be recording everything. I remember recording us dancing to it because I was like, “Oh man, this is about to be one of them ones.”
I realized that I don’t do features like that. I probably have one feature, maybe two every project. But I was like, I gotta get somebody on a song and [I knew] Destin would be perfect for that song. He recorded it at home and added the harmonies, came to the studio in LA and added some more harmonies, it was beautiful. I’m grateful for Destin and [he] is one of my best friends.
What cities are you most excited to visit on tour?
I haven’t been on tour in like a year or two now, I really had to take a break — just keeping my voice together, going through a vocal injury last year, and recovering from that. I’ve been really nervous about getting back out there, but one thing I do know and I have realized in my time is that I’m a really good performer. That’s one thing that I definitely hear people say after they see me live.
I’m ready to go home [to Chicago], I’m excited about that. I feel like these songs are gonna sound so good live and Chicago loves good music. I love all the stops I’m going to, I can’t even lie. I’m not even going to divvy it up. I love Atlanta. I love DC. I love New York. I love Chicago.
What was the vocal injury?
I did a show on 4/20 when I already had laryngitis and it triggered a lot of things. My throat was trying to defend lot of things that were happening [at the same time] and it was making my voice very sensitive to talk. My voice was just getting tired way faster. I had to go see a specialist and they told me I had to be on vocal rest for a long time and I’m still in recovery. It was scary because at one point I was like, What if I’m cooked? I still have faith, so I know it’s gonna be a process, but, I’m getting back in rehearsal, man. It’s time.
How do you view this new project in relation to the rest of your discography?
I’ve heard [Nowhere Fast] is similar to Empathy. I think people mean the R&B sound and music, which I definitely agree [with.] It’s similar to Empathy, but it’s the antithesis of Heavy to me. Heavy is really the music that I want to make, all that alternative music is kind of a niche sound. Heavy is for the creative people [who] bend the rules and shape-shift.
Who are your favorite alternative artists or your favorite music rule-breakers?
I love Teezo [Touchdown, sings his hook from Don Toliver’s “Luckily, I’m Having.”]
A lot of people compare me to Santigold, but I didn’t listen to a whole lot of Santigold coming up. I did like Lykke Li. Obviously, I love N.E.R.D.’s music.
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What did SiR say when he first contacted you regarding your respective Heavy projects?
He said: “Your Heavy is super dope and the comparisons are uncanny. I promise I’m not stalking you. Seems like we’re pulling from the same creative lake. I love what you do. I hope you’re having a great week.”
And I said: “Hey, thanks for reaching out. I was bummed to see that. I’m a big fan of yours. We’ve met before. It does affect me as an artist with a smaller reach than you, just to be transparent. I didn’t assume you ripped me off or was stalking me. I thought your team might have addressed it before it got to this point just [because] of how it may look. And I hate that something like this is what led to us actually connecting personally, but I’m glad you reached out.”
Where did the conversation go once it left the DMs?
I asked him if he [wanted] to hop on the phone, and that’s the conversation that I referenced on Twitter. I want to be clear that I didn’t necessarily want anything from the situation. I thought it was strange, and it’s fair for me to think that it’s strange. Objectively, looking at the situation, there is no situation where anybody else in my shoes would not think it was at least peculiar. I would assume in the time that it takes to put together a press kit and a rollout, somebody either made the choice to not care about it, or they just didn’t see it.
He told me that he was furious, couldn’t believe it, that his team missed it and he was really mad about the situation. He asked the photographer and they said they had never seen my cover [or] heard of me, he just didn’t know how it happened.
Me and SiR met some years ago [in 2016 when] he performed at the first Kribmas in St. Louis, and that’s what I reminded him on the phone: “I’ve spoken to you several times. I’ve definitely met you. I work with some people on your label, so my name has floated around in some ways.” I told him what’s most important to me is if you could just say literally the things that you said to me in the DM publicly. The easiest thing to do when it’s a Black woman that is a smaller artist is to not even acknowledge the situation and to brush it off. The nice thing to do would be to acknowledge the artist in the situation and to also give the praise publicly.
He said, “I appreciate you understanding and, when I hit you up, I felt like I had to do some damage control, so I appreciate you being understanding. I want to do this the right way and I’m going to talk to my team about how I can do this.” This is exactly how the conversation went.
I’m thinking that [we’re] kind of on the same page, but he posted me the day after that and it just said, “Jean Deaux has a ‘Heavy’ too.” It felt disingenuous and I still didn’t say anything publicly. I still posted his album when it released, with a few words to match. So when I seen the [Billboard] interview, it just felt like doubling down on being vague and saying the bare minimum. In the interview the question was not about me, he offered up that information. He could have made that a moment and said, “Even though I’ve never heard of this artist, she dropped [her] project a year before mine,” which he didn’t clarify in his statement. He said, “Her album looks just like mine.”
I felt I felt like those words were choice words. I felt like a person reading that would not have understood what actually happened, and that makes [me] feel more suspicious than I felt to begin with.
Can this situation be rectified in your eyes?
I don’t think that it’s anything that needs to be rectified. I just wanted to set the record straight and be transparent, which is what I’ve been doing from the get-go in the entire situation. If we never speak again, that’s totally fine with me. I don’t think that’s beef.
Have you started thinking about your next project yet?
I was thinking about the next project before I even finished Nowhere, Fast. I be working on two things at once all the time because when I’m making music for the EP, I need a break from making that type of music. Even though I drop once a year, I’ve always wanted to drop more than once a year. It’s so hard, though. It’s a goal of mine, but if I don’t accomplish it, I’m not gonna come down on myself. If I could drop another one this year, they should be very afraid!
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Megan Thee Stallion is looking to heat up ahead of her Hot Girl Summer Tour. After teasing “Megan May” last week, Thee Stallion returned with an edition of #MeganMonday on May 6, which finds her freestyling over Gucci Mane’s 2010 anthem “I Think I Love Her.”
“Show a new b—h that ain’t Megan coded/ Show a beat I was on and ain’t rode it/ If she think she the s–t, I’m the colon/ My pen gets gutter, I’m bowling,” she raps over the thumping Drumma Boy production.
Meg then takes aim at the male rappers in the industry and how she won’t be messing with them romantically any longer since they have loose lips.
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“Stop f–king rappers, they spill all the details/ Every Monday they gon’ wait for the freestyle/ Call me out once, you do not get a redial/ I got grown ass men actin’ fetal,” she spews.
Megan Thee Stallion debuted Megan May with a slimy photoshoot essentially showcasing her shedding old skin while heading into a new era of music.
“Hotties it’s officially MEGAN MAY Get ready,” she wrote alongside the photo.
Thee Stallion has promised an LP for 2024 but the anticipated album remains without a release date. She’s announced another serpinetine-themed single with “BOA” set to arrive on Friday (May 10).
With an album on the horizon, Megan is set to hit the road for her Hot Girl Summer World Tour.
Meg’s trek across North America will see support from GloRilla, and is slated to run through arenas starting on May 14 in Minneapolis at the Target Center. Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Thee Stallion’s hometown of Houston also are on the docket. Megan will then hit Europe starting on July 4 with dates in Scotland, England, France, Germany and Ireland.
The 29-year-old graced the cover of Women’s Health in April, where she compared her new album to being a “rebirth” of Megan Thee Stallion. “I was inspired to create this album about rebirth because I feel I am becoming a new person physically and mentally,” she said of the project.
It’s already been a big year for Megan as she soared to add another No. 1 hit to her résumé with “Hiss” topping the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year.
Listen to Megan Thee Stallion’s “I Think I Love Her” freestyle below.
Post Malone will perform on the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards on May 16, along with several other pop artists: Noah Kahan (who will perform with Kelsea Ballerini, an album of the year and female artist of the year nominee), Avril Lavigne (who will perform with Nate Smith, a new male artist of the year nominee) and Gwen Stefani (who will perform with her husband and frequent collaborator Blake Shelton, a six-time ACM Award winner). The latter couple are expected to perform their current single, “Purple Irises.”
Ed Sheeran teamed with Luke Combs to perform “Life Goes On” on last year’s ACM Awards, but this year’s lineup will be studded with more pop names than usual.
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Parker McCollum, the 2022 new male artist of the year winner, has also been added to the bill for this year’s show, which will be held at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, on May 16.
Previously announced performers are Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson, as well as Reba McEntire, who is hosting the show. McEntire will perform new music.
More performers are expected to be announced. The top nominees who have not yet been announced as performers are Luke Combs, Megan Moroney, Morgan Wallen, Jordan Davis and Zach Bryan. Many fans no doubt hope that Wallen joins Post Malone to perform their upcoming collab “I Had Some Help.”
ACM
Courtesy Photo
Bobby Bones will be featured throughout the show with the artist interview segment “Backstage With Bobby Bones,” which was introduced on last year’s show. Bones is a five-time ACM Awards winner for national on-air personality of the year.
The show will stream live globally on Prime Video at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The ACM stresses that a Prime membership will not be required to watch live. They note: “Everyone is invited to the Party of the Year.”
This is McEntire’s 17th time hosting or co-hosting the ACMs. She first co-hosted the show in 1986. McEntire is closing in on the all-time record for most times hosting or co-hosting a major awards show. That record has long been held by Bob Hope, who hosted or co-hosted the Academy Awards 19 times between 1940-78. (Both hosting stints span 38 years, so if McEntire hosts the ACM Awards again, she’ll surpass Hope’s span of years as host or co-host.)
The 2023 ACM Awards, hosted by Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks, garnered more than 7.7 million viewers on Prime Video plus additional viewership across Amazon Music, the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, and Amazon Live, making it one of the year’s most-watched awards shows.
This marks the ACM Awards’ third year streaming on Prime Video; its second in a row coming from Ford Center at The Star. The venue opened in 2016 and serves as the practice facility for the Dallas Cowboys. Last year’s ACM Awards were the first awards show to take place there.
The 59th ACM Awards is produced by Dick Clark Productions (DCP). Raj Kapoor is executive producer and showrunner, with Patrick Menton as co-executive producer. Damon Whiteside serves as executive producer for the ACM, and Barry Adelman serves as executive producer for DCP. John Saade serves as consulting producer for Amazon MGM Studios.
Kapoor was one of three executive producers of the Grammy Awards on Feb. 4, along with Ben Winston and Jesse Collins. He also served as executive producer and showrunner of the Oscars on March 10. Menton was a co-executive producer of the Grammys.
Kapoor won a Primetime Emmy in 2022 as an executive producer of Adele: One Night Only, which was voted outstanding variety special (pre-recorded). Menton has received two Primetime Emmy nods for work alongside Kapoor on a pair of Grammy telecasts in 2021 and 2022. Adelman has received 18 Primetime Emmy nods for his work on the Golden Globe Awards and So You Think You Can Dance, though he has yet to win.
A limited number of tickets to the 59th ACM Awards are available for purchase on SeatGeek.
Fans can also tune into the official ACM Red Carpet on Prime Video, the Amazon Music Channel on Twitch, and Amazon Live, starting at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT. The full rebroadcast will be available directly following the stream on Prime Video and available the next day for free on Amazon Freevee and the Amazon Music app.
Fans can also enjoy a week of pre-ACM livestream shows hosted by Kelly Sutton and Amber Anderson of the Country Heat Weekly podcast and courtesy of Amazon Music. Broadcasting live on the Amazon Music Channel on Twitch, the festivities will kick off on Tuesday, May 14 at 9 p.m. ET with “Live from the ACM Awards: ACM New Artist Winners Celebration from Tostitos Championship Plaza at The Star,” which will include the presentation of the awards for ACM new male artist, new female artist, and new duo or group of the year.
On Wednesday, May 15 at 9 p.m. ET, fans will be able to stream “Live from the ACM Awards: Backstage with Kelly & Amber.” On Thursday, May 16, fans can tune into the official ACM Red Carpet on Prime Video and the Amazon Music Channel on Twitch starting at 7 p.m. ET. Amber and Kelly will also release three ACM-themed Country Heat Weekly podcasts on Thursdays, starting on May 9 with the duo’s interview with McEntire.
Fans can also stream the Official ACM Awards playlist available now on Amazon Music.
DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary and joint venture between PMC and Eldridge. PMC is the parent company of Billboard.
Things are all good between Bad Bunny and Kendall Jenner. After the 2024 Met Gala Monday (May 6), the Puerto Rican musician and model — who reportedly began dating last year before sparking breakup rumors in December — were all smiles while enjoying drinks together at an afterparty hosted by Carlos Nazario, Emily Ratajkowski, Francesco […]
With her upcoming Hot Girl Summer Tour looming, Megan Thee Stallion is preparing to enter her new era this Friday (May 10) with the release of her forthcoming single, “BOA.” Megan unveiled the song’s cover art for her new single on Instagram on Tuesday (May 7), featuring her alongside a snake. This serpent, a symbol […]
Nutsa Buzaladze received raves from the American Idol judges when she competed last year on season 21 of the long-running television talent series. Eliminated from the top 12 on April 30, 2023, the singer from the nation of Georgia didn’t sit still. This week she will perform on another televised song contest when she represents her country in the Eurovision Song Contest, which normally reaches a worldwide audience in the hundreds of millions.
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One year after interviewing Nutsa in Hollywood during her time on Idol, Billboard sat down with her again, this time in Malmö, Sweden, to talk about her life since then and what will be the biggest moment of her career so far.
When we talked last year in California, I suggested you sing for Georgia in Eurovision, and here you are. What have the last 12 months been like for you?
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First of all, American Idol was the biggest thing I’ve done in my life. They gave me an open door to new opportunities. Like Lionel [Richie] said to me, “It doesn’t matter what number, you’re a star.” American Idol was a starter for my international career. Being on Idol makes your life much easier because people look at you and say you’re the real deal. I have an agent in America and he had me perform the National Anthem at a Lakers game and a Dodgers game. I had an amazing summer living in Miami and was in the Hamptons for a weekend when a producer [with Georgia’s national broadcaster] called and said, “Nutsa, we are thinking of having you represent your country at Eurovision. When are you coming to Georgia?”
So you said yes to Eurovision?
I told them I only had one condition: I’m going to be involved with every little detail. And they said, “Yes, for sure. We want you to be at your best. We want you to sing the song that you love to sing.” So I had the freedom to be myself and not someone that they want me to be and that is the greatest thing they’ve done for me. And it’s coming from the director of the broadcast.
You’re singing “Firefighter” as the Georgian entry. Who found the song?
We had an open call. We received amazing songs, and we listened to all 300 of them. We had three favorites, and we chose one that I feel very confident in. “Firefighter” was from Darko Dimitrov, a Macedonian producer who has a lot of experience in Eurovision. The writer of the lyrics was Ada Skitka from Estonia. I really loved the song, but only the chorus. I flew from Miami to Macedonia, and we spent three days in the studio finishing the song. It was a very creative process.
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What does representing Georgia in Eurovision mean to you?
I have loved my country ever since I was a very little girl. Because of my country’s history and our people, I want to make them proud. I want to show the world how great Georgia is and how many talented people we have. We are a very small nation and that makes me more motivated to put Georgia on the map everywhere I can. Because especially in America, they think that Georgia is a state.
You competed on Idol and now you’re competing again in Eurovision. What are your thoughts about the competition?
I don’t really think of it as a competition, to be honest. I do it for my career and I do it to become better and to have more experience, because all my life I wanted to have a career where you can go everywhere and sing everywhere. Not only in my country, but everywhere. I think big competitions give you the possibilities to be heard by millions and millions of people and that’s the main reason I’m doing it. I don’t like to compete with anybody. The only person I’m competing with always is myself, because I always want to do something bigger and better.
What was the main lesson you learned during your run on American Idol?
On American Idol, I realized that I had done hard work before, but Idol is the hardest work. I pushed myself to the limits. When I was in my hotel room, I cried because I was so exhausted from the emotions. By the time we were doing the live shows, it was better. I became friends with the contestants and then I became friends with the crew.
What are your plans for your career after Eurovision?
My new single is coming out on May 12. I shot a music video before flying to Malmö. The song is called “Mother’s Day” and I’m releasing it on Mother’s Day. It’s about my mom and she is in the music video with me. I’m sure a lot of people are going to cry because I love my mother very much and I wanted to have a song about her.
What else lies ahead?
There is other news I haven’t told anybody, so I’ve saved it for Billboard. I’ve been invited to audition for Broadway on May 11 [the same day as Eurovision]. So I need to go to New York as soon as possible for that.
Can you tell me for what show?
I don’t think they want me to. It’s a modern musical. The character that they want me to play is very near to who I am in real life and the voice of that character in the songs is my style.
Nutsa Buzaladze will sing “Firefighter” in the first semi-final of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest on Tuesday (May 7) in Malmö, Sweden. The live broadcast can be seen in the U.S. on Peacock at 3 p.m. ET. If “Firefighter” is one of 10 songs from the 15 semi-final entries that qualifies for the grand final, she will perform the song again on Saturday (May 11). That four-hour show will be seen on Peacock, also at 3 p.m. ET.
