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Rita Ora was forced to cancel her planned appearance at the Campus Fesztivál in Hungary over the weekend due to a doctor’s order to rest. The “Praising You” singer revealed to fans on Saturday (July 27) that she would be unable to perform at the event that night due to an unspecified illness. In a […]
Surely you didn’t think Lady Gaga would fly all the way over to Paris for just one Summer Olympics performance? After the singer lit up the Sienne on Friday night when she wowed the rain-drenched crowd along the banks of the river and all those watching from the dry comfort of their homes around the […]
Lady Gaga called Michael Polansky her fiancé, seemingly revealing the couple is engaged, while introducing him to French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
“My fiancé, Michael,” Gaga is heard casually saying in a clip the prime minister posted on TikTok Sunday night (July 28). The short video shows Attal briefly hugging the singer and shaking hands with Polansky, Lady Gaga’s partner of more than four years, at an Olympic event.
Billboard reached out to a representative for Lady Gaga for comment.
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Gaga and Polansky have been publicly dating since early 2020; she made their relationship Instagram official with a post that February. In an interview a couple months later, she referred to Polansky as “the love of my life.”
Prime Minister Attal didn’t mention the pair’s apparent engagement on TikTok, instead focusing on the pop star’s show-stopping Friday night performance in Paris: “Thank you Lady Gaga for your stunning performance at the opening ceremony,” he wrote in a caption. “It was breathtaking.”
The multi-talented superstar — who will take over the big screen as Harley Quinn in Joker: Folie à Deux alongside Joaquin Phoenix when the movie hits theaters Oct. 4 — was the first artist to take the stage during the opening ceremony of the Olympics, providing her version of Parisian cabaret-style entertainment ahead of this summer’s games. Lady Gaga performed the French-language “Mon Truc en Plume” (“My Thing With Feathers”) in a highly choreographed, but playful, routine that led her from a long staircase to a piano.
While in France, Lady Gaga surprised Parisian fans on Sunday with the smallest teaser of music from her forthcoming, much-anticipated seventh studio album.
A thumping, dance-ready snippet off of LG7, and another teaser leaning more rock — both heard in the clip below — was played on the street from a vehicle’s rooftop while Gaga pumped her fist and spectators screamed.
“I’m so deeply touched by my French fans this week outside the hotel,” she wrote in an Instagram Story just before coming outside to play the song. “I’m gonna come out and say goodbye tonight with a few seconds of #LG7.”
The as-yet-untitled LG7 will be the follow-up to 2020’s Billboard 200 chart-topping album Chromatica, which was Gaga’s sixth set to debut at No. 1.
Taylor Swift‘s live version of “…Ready for It?” from The Eras Tour is the soundtrack to a new NBC commercial promoting the network’s coverage of the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Swift shared the ad Saturday night (July 27) on Instagram, following her concert at Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany, where she’s performing twice this weekend.
“So ready to scream at my tv cheering for these athletes,” she wrote in an Instagram Story, adding a gold medal emoji to her comment while sharing a reel of the “…Ready for It?” promo.
“Baby Let The Games Begin. #WeAreReadyForIt, @taylorswift. Primetime in Paris: 8/7c on NBC and Peacock #ParisOlympics,” the official NBC Olympics account wrote about the ad themed to Swift’s bold Reputation album opener.
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The spot features U.S. Olympic stars including Noah Lyles, LeBron James, Carissa Moore, Jagger Eaton and more, with Simone Biles appearing at the end of the ad for the 2024 Olympics on NBC.
“Are you guys ready for it?” the famed gymnast asks with a big grin.
The 2024 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony featured performances from Lady Gaga and Celine Dion, as well as a pre-recorded cameo from Beyoncé, who introduced Team USA in Friday’s primetime coverage.
“We’ve got superstars and we’ve got legends. We’ve got big dreamers who fought their whole lives to get here. Who gave up everything for one shot, and made it. That pride and that joy? That’s what gets me about this team. And that’s what makes me believe in this team,” Beyonce, in a red, white and blue leotard, announced in the clip, which featured a patriotic rendition of Cowboy Carter track “YA YA.”
Find all the details about how to stream the 2024 Olympics here.
Check out NBC’s “…Ready for It?” Olympics commercial, and Swift’s Instagram Story reaction.
Nick Jonas remembers the “Disney Games” in a very specific way: “like Love Island on crack.”
Jonas, who tells Jimmy Fallon he skipped the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony to visit The Tonight Show, appeared on NBC’s late-night show Friday, July 26. (The singer mentioned plans to head to Paris for the games later on, with friend/designer Ralph Lauren, who dressed him for his wedding with Priyanka Chopra in 2018.)
“You never competed in the Olympics,” Fallon pointed out. “You did, however, compete in the Disney Games.”
“What do you remember about this time of your life?” the host asked the Jonas Brother.
“So much hair,” joked Jonas, looking at a photo circa his youthful Disney star days.
“For those that don’t know,” Jonas explained, “the Disney Channel Games were basically the Olympics, but they would bring in 100ish Disney Channel stars from all over the world and make us compete in silly games.”Then he revealed where the real fun came in: “What it really was, was like Love Island on crack. They would put a bunch of teenagers in the Disney park after hours and just say, ‘Let’s see what happens.’”
Friday’s episode of The Tonight Show, with musical guest Ice Spice performing “Did It First/Think U The Shit (Fart),” also had a bonus: a pre-taped segment starring Will Ferrell, Nick Jonas and Jimmy Fallon performing a song about jorts, a sweet summer staple for the trio.
In the musical sketch about jorts, Fallon and Ferrell bring the basics — “I’m in my jorts/ I’m in my jort shorts/ I’m in in my jorts/ Jean shorts/ That means jorts” — and Jonas jumps in to jazz things up.
“I wear my jorts every day of the week/ They start at my hips and they end at my knees/ And if you see me you’ll know that I’m in ‘em/ They’re jorts and they’re short and they’re totally denim,” he sings on the spot, vying to join the jorts troupe.
Watch Jimmy Fallon’s latest interview with Nick Jonas, plus their “Jorts” sketch with Will Ferrell, below.
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Justin Bieber is counting down the days to fatherhood.
On Friday (July 26), the 30-year-old pop superstar shared a gallery of new photos on Instagram featuring himself cuddling up with his pregnant wife, Hailey, 27. The “Love Yourself” singer’s carousel begins with a snapshot of the married couple flipping the bird, followed by a sweet image of Justin snuggling up to Hailey’s bare baby bump. Other pictures show the Biebers flashing smiles as they enjoy what looks to be a tropical location.
Justin’s adorable post garnered comments from numerous celebrities, Quavo, Big Sean and Diplo. “The Biebs,” Quavo wrote, adding a fire emoji. “Love u bro,” Big Sean added with a red heart emoji. And Diplo commented, “yes papi.”
Hailey opened up about her pregnancy journey for a W Magazine cover story in late July.
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“I probably could have hid it until the end, but I didn’t enjoy the stress of not being able to enjoy my pregnancy outwardly,” the model explained of announcing her pregnancy at the six-month mark. “I felt like I was hiding this big secret, and it didn’t feel good. I wanted the freedom to go out and live my life.”
Hailey added, “In the beginning [of pregnancy], it was super emotional for me. Like, ‘I love this human so much. How can I possibly bring someone else into this?’ I’m trying to soak in these days of it being Justin and me, just the two of us.”
The pop star and Rhode founder announced that they are expecting their first child together in May, when they took to Instagram to share a series of photos and videos from a film shoot they did among a vast meadow, in which Hailey is seen wearing a skin-tight lace gown, cradling her growing baby bump as Justin snaps photos of her. In one of the clips, the couple also renewed their vows.
The couple officially wed in September 2018 at a New York City courthouse. A year later, they flew down to the Montage Palmetto Bluff hotel in South Carolina with their friends and family for a more traditional wedding ceremony and star-studded party.
See Bieber’s photos of his wife Hailey’s growing baby bump on Instagram here.
Kelly Clarkson was fighting back tears following Celine Dion‘s magical performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
During the games’ opening ceremony on Friday (July 26), the iconic chanteuse, 56, delivered an emotional rendition of Édith Piaf’s “Hymne A L’Amour” from the Eiffel Tower.
Dion’s jaw-dropping performance of the 1950s track, which translates to “The Hymn of Love,” marked her first live appearance since canceling North American concerts before revealing her battle with Stiff Person Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that causes severe muscle spasms.
The moving delivery was emotionally overwhelming for Clarkson, who was covering the event as part of an NBC broadcasting team consisting of Mike Tirico and Peyton Manning.
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“I’ve been inspired, I’ve been dancing, I was not ready for that ending,” Clarkson said, beginning to get choked up. “If you know anything about Celine right now, she feels this is her purpose … and if you know anything about what she’s going through right now — I’m so sorry, I’m trying to hold it together right now. But then she got through that. That was incredible. In my field, she is the gold winner for vocal athletes.”
Dion previously seeded hope for her return to the stage in her recent Prime Video doc I Am: Celine Dion, in which she said of her determination to perform again: “If I can’t run, I’ll walk. If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl… I won’t stop.” She was also spotted earlier this week greeting fans in Paris outside Royal Monceau hotel near the Champs-Élysées.
Elsewhere in Friday’s ceremony, the Olympic cauldron was lit following a months-long torch relay, in which Snoop Dogg, BTS’ Jin and Pharrell Williams participated. Earlier in the day, Lady Gaga took the stage to perform a cabaret-style rendition of the French-language “Mon Truc en Plume” (“My Thing With Feathers”) in a minutes-long, highly choreographed routine.
Watch Clarkson’s emotional reaction to Dion’s Olympics performance via TMZ here.
Beyonce is helping kick off the 2024 Paris Olympics. On Friday (July 26), the superstar singer surprised viewers by introducing Team USA in an epic pre-recorded video that aired during NBCUniversal’s primetime coverage of the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony. “We’ve got superstars and we’ve got legends. We’ve got big dreamers who fought their whole lives […]
If you’ve ever attended a K-pop concert, holding an artist’s official “light stick” is a crucial aspect of the viewing experience. At the Paris 2024 Olympics Games, Team Korea will embrace this special aspect of K-pop super fandom with its own light sticks, an official cheer song, and more in partnership with industry leader HYBE.
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Usually a handheld device with a plastic tubing and a glowing top, light sticks aren’t one-time-use glowsticks but are personalized for each act with specific colors, markers, and designs that become a way for fans and artists to enjoy the live experience together. BTS has an “ARMY BOMB” light stick with a black stand and clear globe atop that can represent said “bomb” and glow a spectrum of colors in rhythm to the group’s music thanks to Bluetooth technology. An artist revealing an official light stick is considered an important career step and signals upcoming concerts.
While HYBE just unveiled the light stick for one of its newest boy bands, BOYNEXTDOOR, less than six months ago, the company’s business unit, HYBE IPX, has been simultaneously in conversation with the Olympic Games to bring its technology to inspire similar fandom to Paris. The company will provide specially designed “Team Korea Light Sticks” to support South Korea’s national team competing in the games. Designed with inspiration from the Olympic torch and stadium, the light sticks utilize the same tech and expertise at HYBE artists’ concerts to change colors and glow in sync with chants.
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“Centralized control is the most outstanding technology that differentiates us from others,” explains Seung Suk Rhee, President of HYBE IPX, in an exclusive interview with Billboard. “Simply put, we can easily control light sticks dispersed in a large space from a centralized console box. We can make variations according to the occasion, starting from K-pop concerts to theme park rides.”
The newly unveiled light stick for Team Korea coordinates with this year’s official cheer anthem, “Fighting,” by SEVENTEEN’s BSS and Lee Young-Ji, which comes with its own accompanying challenge.
“It’s going to be incredibly moving to see the large crowd coming together with one spirit, singing our song in unison to cheer for the athletes,” BSS tells Billboard in a statement. “We’re very proud and honored that ‘Fighting,” featuring Lee Young-Ji, could contribute to the excitement for Team Korea athletes at such a historic sports festival.This is all thanks to [our fans] CARATs, who have shown so much love for the song since last year, and we’re once again filled with gratitude for our fans. Through the song’s energetic beat and fun lyrics boosting the passion and enthusiasm for cheering, we hope to pass on BSS’ positivity and energy to Team Korea athletes. We’re rooting for them all the way to enjoy their moment and achieve their goals with all our hearts.”
Speaking more about how the K-pop light stick made its way to the Olympics and where it can go next, read on for more with HYBE IPX President Seung Suk Rhee.
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When did the opportunity to create light sticks for Team Korea come about?
Starting early summer last year, with the Olympic Games Paris 2024 generating significant global momentum, we explored ways to integrate this event into HYBE. We decided that introducing light sticks would be ideal, as they represent the concept of “cheer” and “support” which is equally crucial for both music fans and sports enthusiasts. We approached the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee with this idea and found a mutual understanding to lead the cheering culture, setting sail on the light stick project.
The most crucial factor was the design. We couldn’t just create any light stick but had to come up with a design that symbolizes our country as the national flag, Taegeukgi, does. To maintain the unique shape of a light stick while making it instantly recognizable as a national flag, we incorporated motifs of a torch and a stadium into the final design.
The design is centered on a simple white aesthetic with a shape that echoes a torch or a flame. The light rays, which change colors or flash with each button press, are inspired by the Olympic symbols — including the five circles of blue, red, yellow, green, and black. Since black cannot be produced with light, we replaced it with white, the background color of the Olympic flag, and added a touch of gold, inspired by the logo of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Considering a design that reflects the identity of the Olympics, we also ensured that it blends in with Team Korea’s official uniforms.
What should fans and viewers look out for when the light sticks are televised Opening Ceremony?
Personally, what makes it even more exciting, is that it will be the first time that HYBE’s light stick will be showcased in front of a worldwide audience of each and every nationality. Since Team Korea athletes will make an entrance to the Opening Ceremony holding Team Korea Official Digital Flag, we hope to contribute to spreading out the Olympic spirit, even if it is in the slightest way possible.
The light stick carried by Team Korea athletes features the Korean flag attached to the Team Korea Official Light Stick, standard version provided to the Korean audience. Firstly, we wanted to strengthen the connection between the athletes and their fans. Secondly, we aimed for it to represent the Taegeukgi in a new form rather than just being a light stick. That’s why we also named it the Team Korea Official Digital Flag.
What was the most challenging part of creating this opportunity?
All members part of my team have been working on this project with great gravity. Of course we’ve experienced pressure coming from the magnitude of the event, even with concerts hosted by HYBE artists in arenas. However, this is the first time that we will be putting out our light sticks in front of the world to see. Even more so, this will be the first time that Team Korea athletes will be holding a light stick instead of an ordinary national flag at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games. We hope that our light sticks can contribute to igniting the Olympic spirit amongst Team Korea.
How did discussions to bring SEVENTEEN’s BSS and their song “Fighting” as the official cheer song for Team Korea come together?
BSS’ “Fighting,” featuring Lee Young-Ji, emits the most fitting message and the mood for a festive event, especially when the athletes need all the support that they can get. We wanted to keep the excitement going throughout the Olympic Games Paris 2024 for Team Korea, and make it a song that the fans will remember for years to come. We will be playing “Fighting” as one of the cheering anthems at Korea House in Paris, where the cheering event for Team Korea will take place.
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What does an opportunity like this say about K-pop and K-pop fandom?
At HYBE, we don’t see K-pop fans and sports fans as different. We believe that fandoms, whether they’re for sports, games, movies, anime, or theme parks, share a common core “passion.” While they may look different on the outside, they are all driven by the same heartfelt desire to cheer for and support something or someone they love. Whether sports fans wear jerseys and chant slogans, or K-pop fans wave light sticks, they are sending the same message: “I support you.” From this perspective, we realized that we could create a new form of cheering culture by introducing HYBE’s light stick to the sports world. We believe that fans are constantly evolving by actively participating and sending their energy to artists and athletes in various ways.
HYBE IPX first extended this tech beyond music with the Korean esports team T1 for the League of Legends Champions tournament this summer. How did this idea come to be?
It’s been long since we have been preparing for an outbound project that could showcase our light stick technology to a wider audience, even beyond the music industry. With this in mind, we’ve been discussing new opportunities with partners in various fields. We’re currently discussing various collaborations for a long-term partnership, the first of which is the T1 OFFICIAL LIGHT BAND that was first showcased at T1’s “Home Ground” event in late June. HYBE’s production team helped direct the light bands throughout the event.
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Can you share more about HYBE IPX and your role in the company?
HYBE IPX is a business unit that focuses on creating boundless opportunities based on artist IP and delivering fresh experiences to fans. We develop official merchandise for events like tours and birthdays, offer licensed products that bring artist characters and IP into everyday use, and host global pop-up stores that provide fans with unique and immersive experiences. HYBE’s light sticks, now expanding into sports and esports beyond music, are designed, produced, and supplied by HYBE IPX, the mastermind behind the light stick technology.
In addition, HYBE IPX spearheads the planning and execution of collaborative IP projects with multiple labels and other business units within HYBE, including BTS 10th Anniversary FESTA in 2023 and “THE CITY” projects…SEVENTEEN ‘FOLLOW’ THE CITY BANGKOK in 2023, with another exciting edition coming soon in August at ENHYPEN World Tour “FATE PLUS” THE CITY JAKARTA. Brand ambassadorships, commercials, and various partnerships involving HYBE artists are also part of our business.
As the leader of the organization responsible for these various initiatives and projects, I’m fully committed to ensuring that fans have an exceptional experience with the artists they love, as well as creating opportunities for them to connect and enjoy memorable experiences together.
HYBE said, “With this original light stick system, HYBE aims to extend the K-pop-originated innovations to festivals and arenas worldwide.” Can you explain this more?
I’m sure you’ve been to concerts hosted by K-pop artists or labels. The moment you step foot in the arena, you’ll see fans waving light sticks to support their favorite artists. It is a special culture and technology nurtured within the K-pop industry. “Superfans,” which may be the most trending keyword in the music industry these days, are not limited to the music industry, but they also exist in other industries such as sports, esports, and animation. We’ve witnessed K-pop fans crying, laughing, cheering in happiness [while] raising their light sticks up high. We wish to extend this stirring moment to worldwide fans, no matter who their favorites are.
From the executives interested in this technology to the fans who buy and use light sticks, what else do you want readers to know at this time?
At HYBE, we believe that light sticks are more than just a tool for cheering. It is a way that fans use to show their support for their favorite artists, and athletes, and a medium to create a sense of fellowship with other fans and a “fan culture” that has ripened over time. It’s also a way for fans to take part in stage performances or events and interact with other fans as well as the artists who are on stage. Cherishing the value, we will continue to make efforts to further expand the K-pop originated light stick culture to various areas.
Britney Spears took to social media on Friday (July 26) to share her disappointment over Halsey’s music video for her new single “Lucky,” which interpolates Spears’ 2000 song of the same name, as well as Monica’s “Angel of Mine.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news ”For obvious reasons, […]