Music

15 Dec 2023

Kelly Clarkson Is a Double Winner Again at 2023 Daytime Emmys

Kelly Clarkson and her hit daytime talk show kept up their winning streaks at the 2023 Daytime Emmy Awards, which was finally broadcast live on CBS on Friday, Dec. 15. The show aired six months after the originally announced airdate, June 16, a delay caused by strikes by Hollywood writers and actors. (The nominations were announced way back on April 26.)

Clarkson won daytime talk series host despite the fact that hosts of “informative” and “entertainment” shows were made to compete this year. There had separate winners for the two genres in recent years. Clarkson won outstanding entertainment talk show host the last three years.

Likewise, The Kelly Clarkson Show won outstanding daytime talk series, even though “informative” and “entertainment” series competed there too. Clarkson’s show won outstanding talk show, entertainment the last two years. This year the show bested returning nominees The Drew Barrymore Show, Live With Kelly and Ryan and Today With Hoda and Jenna as well as first-time nominee The Jennifer Hudson Show.

Clarkson has now won seven Daytime Emmys over her series’ first four seasons. This compares to three Grammy Awards over a much longer period of time – 21 years. Clarkson is nominated for another Grammy at the Feb. 4 ceremony – best pop vocal album for Chemistry. She and Adele are currently tied for the most wins in that category – two each.

Clarkson wasn’t present to accept her awards for the second year in a row. Should she show up to support the industry (and the awards show) that has been so good to her? Probably.

Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner hosted the 50th Annual Daytime Emmys, held at the Westin Bonaventure Los Angeles. They also accepted that program’s award for entertainment news series.

Jennifer Nettles sang “Life Is Sweet” over the In Memoriam segment, which included such daytime TV legends as Barbara Walters and Bob Barker, as well as Olivia Newton-John (who wrote songs for As the World Turns), Three’s Company star Suzanne Somers, and Stephen “tWitch” Boss, best known for his role as a dancer, air personality and producer on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Daytime TV icon Susan Lucci received lifetime achievement honors at the ceremony. Lucci famously lost the Daytime Emmy 18 times for playing Erica Kane on All My Children before finally winning on her 19th try. Carol Burnett, Andy Cohen and Kelly Ripa & Mark Consuelos were among those who paid tribute to Lucci via video clips. 

Longtime TV, radio and red-carpet host and producer Tanya Hart and veteran music/variety producer Al Schwartz were among those being ushered into the Academy’s Gold Circle, honoring people with 50 years of accomplishment. Hart is best-known for her work on American Urban Radio Networks, BET and E! Entertainment. Schwartz is best known for his long association with Dick Clark on such shows as the American Music Awards and the Golden Globe Awards. This is the first time these awards have presented at the national level. These awards were presented by tabloid talk show veteran Maury Povich, who is slated to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Creative Arts Daytime Emmys on Saturday Dec. 16.

The Daytime Emmys also paid tribute to Dr. Phil and Rachael Ray, two long-running talk shows that ended their runs this season.

The Daytime Emmy Awards have recognized achievement in television programming and crafts since 1974. In 2021, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) and the Television Academy jointly announced plans to realign the Daytime and Primetime Emmy Awards to be organized by content genre, as opposed to program airtime.

The 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards was produced by NATAS and Associated Television International (ATI). Adam Sharp and Lisa Armstrong were executive producers from NATAS, while David McKenzie was executive producer from ATI.

In a highly unusual scheduling move, The Daytime Creative Arts and Lifestyle Emmy ceremony will stream live on Saturday Dec. 16, the day after the main telecast, at Watch.TheEmmys.TV and via The Emmys apps for iOS, tvOS, Android, FireTV and Roku. That show will also be held at the Westin Bonaventure. Will that show seem anti-climactic coming after the main event? Probably.

Here are the winners in selected 2023 Daytime Emmy categories.

Daytime Talk Series

The Drew Barrymore Show, Syndicated

The Jennifer Hudson Show, Syndicated

WINNER: The Kelly Clarkson Show, Syndicated

Live with Kelly and Ryan, Syndicated

Today with Hoda and Jenna, NBC

Daytime Talk Series Host

Drew Barrymore, The Drew Barrymore Show, Syndicated

WINNER: Kelly Clarkson, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Syndicated

Tamron Hall, Tamron Hall, Syndicated

Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest, Live with Kelly and Ryan, Syndicated

Sherri Shepherd, Sherri!, Syndicated

Entertainment News Series

Access Hollywood, Syndicated

E! News, E! Entertainment

WINNER: Entertainment Tonight, Syndicated

Extra, Syndicated

Inside Edition, Syndicated

15 Dec 2023

Ice Spice Producer RIOTUSA: ‘We’re Working on Her Debut Album as We Speak’ 

In the span of just two years, RIOTUSA has become one of the industry’s in-demand producers — thanks to his hitmaking prowess with friend and best new artist Grammy nominee Ice Spice.

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RIOT, who started making beats at 10 years old on GarageBand, began producing songs with Ice Spice in 2021. Then the dynamic duo hit the ground running the next year with the TikTok-trending drill song “Munch (Feelin’ U).” Co-signed by Drake, the single was later certified gold. Next to arrive was Ice Spice’s 2023 EP Like..? Executive produced by RIOT, the project peaked at No. 5 on Billboard‘s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It also spun off two more hits, “In Ha Mood” and “Gangsta Boo” featuring Lil Tjay, the latter of which became Ice Spice’s first Hot 100 entry.

The creative rapport between RIOT and Ice Spice has since yielded several more Hot 100 success stories. Those include Taylor Swift’s “Karma” remix featuring Ice Spice (No. 2) and co-written by RIOT as well as the RIOT-produced “Princess Diana” by Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj (No. 4). RIOTUSA also produced Ice Spice and Minaj’s second teaming on “Barbie World” with Aqua from Barbie: The Album. Debuting at No. 7 on the Hot 100 and also claiming No. 1 on the Rhythmic Airplay chart, the song is a current Grammy nominee in two categories: best rap song and best song written for visual media. “Karma” is also a best pop duo/group performance nominee.

New York native RIOTUSA, who signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music this past summer, joined Billboard for a conversation on Threads. Here are some soundbites from the live Q&A session on Dec. 13.

On what his music appearing on the Billboard charts means to him and his career:

“It’s a blessing fr (for real). Billboard helped me understand how big the records I work on really are. It reminds you [that] hard work pays off. When I saw I was the No. 1 rap producer, I felt honored and grateful.”

On how he and Ice Spice met: 

“We met in school [State University of New York Purchase] back in 2019. We had mutual high school friends and started hanging in the same circles.”

On what it’s like recording with Ice Spice in the studio:

“It’s a fun time because she really be saying how she feels in that moment … from picking out vibes or punching in lyrics on the spot.”

On working with Nicki Minaj for “Princess Diana” and “Barbie World”:

“Nicki is a legend, icon. She was so cool in person and welcomed me into her creative space. When I found out she was getting on ‘Princess Diana,’ I knew it was lit. But then finding out about ‘Barbie World’ with Ice too? I was like nah, this is New York City.”

On his other music idols and inspirations:

“Drake, Pop Smoke, Playboi Carti, Lil Uzi Vert, Tyler, the Creator, Young Thug, Ye.”

On some of the artists he’s currently working with:

“Ken [Carson], Lil Yachty, Scheck Wes.”

On what fans just discovering his music should know about him and expect from future releases:

“Fans should know I produce and record too, so look out for my music. Also look out for new classics with Ice in 2024. We’re working on her debut album as we speak.”

15 Dec 2023

E-40 Talks New Cookbook ‘Goon With a Spoon’ & How He Missed Out on Working With Nipsey Hussle

E-40 has been enjoying a fistful of wins on hip-hop’s 50th birthday. Not only has he visited the White House, including a recent trip this week to see President Biden, but he’s also had a street renamed after him and released his newest cookbook, Goon With the Spoon, with his West Coast brethren Snoop Dogg. 

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“It’s always good to have additional revenue streams,” 40 told Billboard as he also boasts a spirit line titled Earl Stevens Selection and his multi-flavored ice brand Goon With a Spoon. “You want your checks here and there. You want your wire deposits here. You wanna make money from all over the place. You gotta have octopus arms in this game. That’s one thing about me: I’ve always been in that mold. From selling tapes out of the car, I’ve been an entreprenaire. It’s entrepreneur and millionaire all in one.” 

Despite his various wins across the business sector, 40’s passion for hip-hop remains sky-high, as proven by the release of his new album Rule of Thumb, Rule 1. The project is the first of a two-part release, with the second offering dropping in 2024. The first collection includes features from Gucci Mane, Larry June, Too Short and YoungBoy Never Broke Again. 

“He’s an old soul,” 40 says of YoungBoy, who is featured on “Get My Life Right.” “He’s been there before. That’s a deep, young man. I always liked him. Birdman hit me one day and was like, ‘Hey, YoungBoy wants you on one of his songs.’ He sent it to me, we connected, and I knocked out one for his album.”

40 also spoke on his friendship with the late Nipsey Hussle and how he was initially supposed to on the Victory Lap standout “Grinding All My Life.” “He didn’t tell me when he needed it back. Next thing you know, I was like, ‘Oh man. This one of them ones too.’ Sometimes I’ll say, ‘When you need it back?’ We didn’t even discuss it. He just sent it. Next thing you know, he put a ticket to the face. I was like, ‘Damn.’ But, man, I miss Nipsey. He was really a good dude. He always showed me respect. He really patterned his hustle after mine. I really miss him and I think he would have really made an impact in rap right now if he was still living.”

Watch E-40’s full interview with Billboard. 

15 Dec 2023

Paris Hilton Stars as a Powerful Label Executive in Jason Derulo & Meghan Trainor’s ‘Hands on Me’ Video: Watch

Jason Derulo is in need of approval for his latest music video, “Hands on Me” with Meghan Trainor — released on Wednesday (Dec. 13) — and Paris Hilton is in the label executive seat with judging eyes.

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The video kicks off with Derulo making an impassioned plea to the suited “Stars Are Blind” singer about putting unique spins on beloved classics, some of which include his and Trainor’s own material.

“Picture this — Hollywood goes country. From billy trucks to tractor trucks. From “All About That Bass” to mud on your face, from “Wiggle Wiggle” to stroking my fiddle. Form “It girl, to s–t girl,” he tells Hilton, who replied, “Remakes are huge right now. Okay Jason, let’s see it.”

The video then enters a sitcom like format, with Derulo and Trainor having to adjust to life on a farm. Derulo quickly becomes smitten with the next door neighbor, who invites him in to unclog her toilet which is so filthy, it causes him to vomit. On the other side of the fence, Trainor gets up to more glamorous activities and applies makeup to her face while watching Derulo milk a cow, and takes her mini tractor — which she later crashed into a tree — out for a daytime spin.

“So, baby, put your hands (Hands) on me (On me)/ Both your hands (Hands) on me (On me)/ Right now (Right now), you’re the only (You’re the only) one I need,” the duo sings, a nod to Ben E. King’s 1961 classic “Stand By Me.”

The video ends up being a hit with Hilton in the end — she gives the visual a thumbs up with not one, but two of her signature catchphrases: “Loves it. That’s hot.”

Watch the video for “Hands on Me” above.

15 Dec 2023

Cher Notches First Pop Airplay Chart Hit Since 2002 With ‘DJ Play a Christmas Song’

Cher returns to Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart for the first time since 2002, as “DJ Play a Christmas Song” debuts at No. 40 on the survey dated Dec. 23.

The single gained by 10% in plays in the Dec. 8-14 tracking week, according to Luminate. Among top major-market supporters of the song are iHeartMedia’s WHTZ New York, KIIS Los Angeles and KYLD San Francisco.

The legendary singer last appeared on the chart, which began in 1992 and ranks weekly plays on over 150 mainstream top 40 radio stations, in March 2002 with “Song for the Lonely,” which reached No. 38. She tallied two prior entries, both in 1999: “Strong Enough” (No. 31) and her pop-culture juggernaut “Believe” (No. 2).

Cher ends a break of 21 years, nine months and three weeks between Pop Airplay hits. Two years ago, Elton John returned after an even longer wait between charted titles at the format: 23 years, seven months and one week, between “Something About the Way You Look Tonight” in 1998 and the debut of “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix),” with Dua Lipa.

Meanwhile, “DJ Play a Christmas Song” spends a third week at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It became Cher’s first leader on the list since “If I Could Turn Back Time,” which led for a week in September 1989, as she ended the longest gap between No. 1s in the chart’s 62-year history: 34 years, two months and one week (surpassing John’s absence of 23 years, 11 months between “Something About the Way You Look Tonight” and his own modern holiday hit, “Merry Christmas,” with Ed Sheeran, two Yuletide seasons ago).

“DJ Play a Christmas Song” has also topped the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales and Holiday Digital Song Sales charts, as Cher has now claimed visits to No. 1 on Billboard song surveys in every decade since the 1960s, including her run as half of Sonny & Cher.

The carol is from Cher’s first holiday LP, Christmas, which jingled in at No. 1 on the Nov. 4-dated Top Holiday Albums chart.

All charts dated Dec. 23 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, Dec. 19.

15 Dec 2023

Billie Eilish & Khalid’s ‘Lovely’ Reigns on November Top TV Songs Chart

Billie Eilish and Khalid’s 2018 collaboration “Lovely” launches at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top TV Songs chart, powered by Tunefind (a Songtradr company), for November 2023 after its inclusion in Disney+ and Hulu’s Goosebumps.

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Rankings for the Top TV Songs chart are based on song and show data provided by Tunefind and ranked using a formula blending that data with sales and streaming information tracked by Luminate during the corresponding period of November 2023.

“Lovely” appears in the Nov. 3 episode of Goosebumps, the first-year series that is an adaptation of RL Stine’s long-running children’s book series of the same name. After premiering Oct. 13 with its first five episodes, the series premiered one episode a week through its season finale on Nov. 17.

The song earned 17.5 million official on-demand U.S. streams and 1,000 downloads in November 2023, according to Luminate. The song peaked at No. 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2019, Eilish’s first song to chart there.

It’s the second time “Lovely” has led Top TV Songs, following the May 2018 tally, when the track reigned after a synch in Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why.

“Lovely” and Goosebumps reign over a pair of songs from Netflix’s Virgin River, the second part of the fifth season of which premiered Nov. 30. Both are holiday-themed songs; Michael Bublé‘s “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” leads the group at No. 2 (30.5 million streams, 3,000 downloads), while Stevie Wonder’s “What Christmas Means to Me” (No. 5; 9.5 million streams, 2,000 downloads) also appears.

Both Fargo and A Murder at the End of the World also boast a pair of entries each.

See the full top 10, also featuring music from The Kardashians, Fargo and Invincible, below.

Rank, Song, Artist, Show (Network)
1. “Lovely,” Billie Eilish & Khalid, Goosebumps (Apple TV+/Hulu)
2. “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” Michael Buble, Virgin River (Netflix)
3. “All the Small Things,” blink-182, The Kardashians (Hulu)
4. “Hey Joe,” Charlotte Gainsbourg, Fargo (FX)
5. “What Christmas Means to Me,” Stevie Wonder, Virgin River (Netflix)
6. “Karma Police,” Radiohead, Invincible (Amazon Prime Video)
7. “Clint Eastwood,” Gorillaz, For All Mankind (Apple TV+)
8. “No More ‘I Love You’s,” Annie Lennox, A Murder at the End of the World (FX)
9. “Working Man,” Rush, Fargo (FX)
10. “Moon River,” Frank Ocean, A Murder at the End of the World (FX)

15 Dec 2023

Blake Shelton Says He’s Hoping to ‘Cut Back or Stop’ Drinking in 2024

Blake Shelton is hoping for a healthy 2024.

The country superstar shared his New Year’s resolution with Entertainment Tonight this week, noting that in the past, the one that hasn’t stuck is a change in his alcohol habits. “I haven’t managed to stop drinking yet,” he said. “Even cutting back has been hard. I mean, it’s a resolution though. And I’ll say it again right now — that’s my New Year’s resolution. To either cut back or stop drinking altogether. Let’s just say I said it.”

He also plans to have a laid back New Year’s Eve with wife Gwen Stefani, noting that they probably won’t even be awake at the stoke of midnight. “If we’re at home during New Year’s Eve, we’re probably going to bed before it even happens,” he revealed.

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It’s gearing up to be an exciting 2024 for Shelton, who announced in October that he’s bringing back his Honky Tonk Tour in the new year. The 17-show trek will kick off in February, and include stops in the United States and Canada, including shows at Moody Center in Austin, Texas; Little Caesars Arena in Detroit; and three shows in Canada, slated for Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Edmonton, Alberta; and Calgary, Alberta, before wrapping March 29 in Wichita, Kan.

Joining Shelton on the tour in the United States and Canada are Dustin Lynch and Emily Ann Roberts. The tour’s first run began earlier this year, and featured Carly Pearce and Jackson Dean as openers.

15 Dec 2023

Karol G, Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion x Renee Rapp & More: Which Is Your Favorite Music Release of the Week? Vote!

Singles are front and center at this week’s new music Friday, with one-off releases from Karol G, Lil Baby, and a team-up track between Megan Thee Stallion and Reneé Rapp.

Karol G gives 2023 one final kiss-off with the newly released “Que Chimba De Vida.” The track starts off unsuspectingly with guitar licks before fully delving into Mexican music inspired production, proving that her upbeat energy — exhibited in Mañana Será Bonito and its follow up Bichota Season — will continue to flourish well into 2024 (though unclear where the track will live in relation to her previous releases).

Lil Baby comes in hot with not one, but two new tracks, “Crazy” and “305.” “Crazy” sees the rapper employing a crooning flow to discuss self doubt and lapses in confidence, while “350” goes for the introspective — the tracks hint at a possible release for 2024, that is, if fans are lucky.

Megan Thee Stallion and Renee Rapp tickled fans pink after dropping Mean Girls movie musical soundtrack single, “Not My Fault.” Opening up with Lindsay Lohan’s now-iconic line “It’s not my fault you’re like, in love with me, or something!,” the track’s lyrics are from Regina George’s point of view and as such, boasts rhymes ripe for your next social media post (see: Megan’s witty line, “I run s–t, to be a bad b–ch is a sport!”)

Nicki Minaj also continued her Pink Friday 2 rollout by releasing the deluxe edition of the album, Pink Friday 2 (Gag City Deluxe), also on Friday, but which release is your favorite? Vote — or enter in your own selection — in Billboard‘s poll below.

15 Dec 2023

Cardi B Slams Offset in Emotional Rant: ‘You Really Been Doing Me Dirty’

Cardi B took to Instagram Live on Friday (Dec. 15) to open up about her recent split from Offset.

“This motherf—er really likes to play games with me at my most vulnerable time. When I’m not the most confident,” a teary-eyed Cardi said to her followers in a video captured by The Neighborhood Talk. “He likes to play games with me because he knows that I’m not an easy girl.”

She continued, “You’ve really been feeling yourself… because of your b—- a– album and s—. And you really been doing me dirty after so many f—ing years that I motherf—ing helped your a–. Not even a f—ing thank you that I got from your b—- a–.”

Though the “I Like It” rapper didn’t indicate what brought her current emotions on, she concluded by noting, “And it’s so crazy that I have to go to the f—ing internet because whenever I tell you something you don’t say s— to me and I’m so tired of it.”

The star confirmed her split from husband Offset on Monday (Dec. 11). “I’ve been single for a minute now but I have been afraid to like — not afraid, I just don’t know how to tell the world,” she told fans on Instagram Live. “But I feel like today has been a sign. The last time I got on Live, I kind of wanted to tell you guys, but I didn’t know how to tell you, so I changed my mind. But it has been like this for a minute now. I just took it as a sign.”

“I wanna start 2024, like, fresh, open,” she added. “I don’t know. I’m curious for a new life, for a new beginning. And yeah, I’m excited.”

15 Dec 2023

Old Dominion to Open Nashville Bar & Music Venue Odie’s in 2024

Country music group Old Dominion, who have notched seven No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hits including “One Man Band,” are the latest country act set to open a bar/music venue in Nashville.

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In the summer of 2024, the six-time CMA vocal group of the year winners will open ODIE’s at 1919 Division Street near Nashville’s Midtown area. The property was previously the longtime location of the venue Rebar.

The idea was the result of conversations between Old Dominion member Trevor Rosen and his good friend Ty Hauter, CEO of Good Time Design. Rosen recalled the good times the band had nearly a decade earlier, performing at Hauter’s Moonshine Flats and Moonshine Beach in San Diego.

From there, Hauter and OD members Rosen, Matthew Ramsey, Whit Sellers, Brad Tursi and Geoff Sprung began dreaming of creating a place outside of the hustle and bustle of downtown Nashville’s bar scene, a place that more closely recalled a time when Music Row-area songwriters and musicians would regularly meet up a local bars, talk music and play songs.

“Midtown in Nashville has played such a role in the history of our band,” Ramsey told Billboard via a statement. “From chilling at the bar after writing, to playing weekly into the wee hours of the morning. Even recently playing Whiskey Jam to launch our tour. It’s an important neighborhood for not only upcoming artists and writers, but for local people or tourists who want a good place they know they can go and have a good time. Odie’s will be that neighborhood bar for us all.  – Matthew Ramsey

“We’ve obviously found success as a band, but we really got our start in the songwriting community. Odie’s will have touches of our band’s journey for sure, but at its heart it’ll just be a great place to hang in the heart of the midtown area where we spent so many years finding friends and collaborators and trying to our craft,” Rosen also told Billboard in a statement.

Hauter graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 1987, and got his start in larger-scale hospitality operations while working in the Chicago nightclub scene, prior to moving to San Diego in 1990 and running entertainment venues in the area. Hauter founded Good Time Design in 2006, initially focusing on venue design, construction and entertainment, before moving further into operations. Along the way Hauter began working with MTV’s Spring Break and TRL as well as acts including Blake Shelton, Pink and Ziggy Marley. He opened Moonshine Flats in 2014 and Moonshine Beach in 2016 — those venues have featured performances from artists including Old Dominion, Morgan Wallen, Cody Johnson and Luke Combs. Under Hauter’s leadership, Good Time Design opened six additional venues from 2020 until 2022. He now operates several restaurants and bars in California and Tennessee, with plans to expand to Las Vegas with a larger-scale entertainment concept in 2024.

On Friday night (Dec. 15), Old Dominion will bring their headlining No Bad Vibes arena tour to Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, performing not only several of their hits, but also album cuts from their latest project, Memory Lane.