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The producer of Sunday night’s 2023 BAFTA Awards hit back at the Twitter criticism heaped on singer/actress Ariana DeBose‘s show-opening musical medley after the West Side Story star came under fire for the bit that mixed a classic 1980s hit with an original rap.
“We wanted to open the show with some energy, some fun, and also lay out straight away that this was hopefully going to feel like a different night, but with a familiarity as well, and what Ariana did was exactly that,” producer Nick Bullen told Variety the morning after the telecast. He said that DeBose and her team put the entire bit together in close consultation with the show’s musical director and choreographer and that he didn’t think she deserved the biting backlash.
Bullen said the criticism was “incredibly unfair” and that despite the awkwardness on the telecast, the mood in the room was “more celebratory.”
“I think a lot of people don’t like change, and there’s a view that the BAFTAs have to be this slightly stiff, traditional British, middle-England messaging,” said Bullen. “But American awards shows have much more razzmatazz, much more showbiz, and perhaps a broader range of people being involved. We felt we’re not about revolution, we’re about evolution.”
The highly choreographed bit opened with DeBose singing a high-energy version of the Eurythmics’ “Sisters Are Doing it For Themselves,” as a group of dancers pulled at her dress and removed long pieces of fabric. The performance then flipped into a solo rap in which DeBose did call-outs to a variety of nominated actors and celebs in the audience.
It was the latter bit — specifically her awkward Angela Bassett and Viola Davis shout-outs — that got the Twitterverse revved up. “Angela Bassett did the thing/ Viola Davis my ‘Woman King’/ Blanchett Cate you’re a genius/ Jamie Lee you are all of us,” rapped DeBose in a clip that quickly went viral after the show thanks to what looked like less-than-enthusiastic looks on the faces of the actresses she mentioned.
“I think it’s incredibly unfair, to be frank. I absolutely loved it,” Bullen told Variety of the pile-on. “Everybody I’ve spoken to who was in the room absolutely loved it. She’s a huge star, she was amazing. The songs she was singing are very familiar songs, the room was clapping, and people were sort of dancing to the music. That rap section in the middle, mentioning the women in the room, was because it’s been a great year for women in film, and we wanted to celebrate that. And here is a woman of color who is at the absolute top of her game.”
Oscar winner DeBose deactivated her Twitter account after the online backlash to the performance and at press time had not made a public statement about the divided reaction.
Watch DeBose’s performance and check out some of the responses below.
Shawn Mendes has been on quite the journey between last summer — when he canceled his Wonder tour — and January, when he debuted a surprising new hairdo. And in a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, the 24-year-old pop star opened up about both.
When it comes to his new look, a close-shave buzz cut, Mendes told the publication that he thinks “everyone should know what they look like with a shaved head.” “I also was just feeling this urge to just shake myself up a little bit,” he added.
The “Stitches” singer has been open in the past about his struggles with mental health, which ultimately led him to postpone, then fully cancel, the North American and European legs of his tour last year. “I was not at all ready for how difficult touring would be,” he wrote in a July Instagram announcement. “It has become clear that I need to take the time I’ve never taken personally, to ground myself and come back stronger.”
“The process was very difficult,” Mendes reflected in the interview published Monday (Feb. 20). “A lot of doing therapy, a lot of trying to understand how I was feeling and what was making me feel that way. And then doing the work to help myself and heal. And also leaning on people in my life to help a little bit.”
“It’s been a lot of work, but I think the last year and a half has been the most eye-opening and growing and beautiful and just healing process of my life,” he continued. “I’m also really grateful for all the people that were so accepting and loving and kind and understanding. And it just really made me see how culture is really starting to get to a place where mental health is really becoming a priority.”
“Understanding how setting boundaries does not make you an unkind person has really changed my life,” Mendes added. “And also understanding that it’s not easy to do. It’s a difficult thing to do. It feels uncomfortable. It makes other people feel a little uncomfortable for a moment, but ultimately it’s a very powerful and helpful thing to do for every relationship. So yeah, boundary-setting is not mean, it’s actually very important. It’s very kind, actually.”
The three-time Grammy nominee also addressed an attention-grabbing video he posted in December showing his near-naked dive into a freezing cold river. “I mean, listen, I’m kind of crazy when it comes to the ice baths,” he confessed. “I have one, so I do it a lot. I do it probably five, six times a week. I know it’s a lot, but people who know me know that when I get on something that I like for the first little bit, I can be a little bit obsessive.”
BTS‘ Jimin announced details about his upcoming first solo album, FACE, on Tuesday (Feb. 21). The news about the collection, due out on March 24, was accompanied by a 35-second video featuring ambient music and a series of water droplets spinning out ripples on the surface of water that eventually form the album’s title.
In a Weverse post featuring additional details, the solo effort is described as being about “Jimin facing himself head-on as he gets ready for his next step as a solo artist.” The pre-order date for the collection begins at 9 p.m. ET. on Wednesday (Feb. 22). At press time no tracklist or initial single had been announced.
Jimin’s first full-length solo album will follow on the heels of his hit single with fellow K-pop singer TAEYANG of BIG BANG, “Vibe,” which recently gave both stars their first visit to the Billboard Hot 100. To date, Jimin has released the solo songs “Lie” and “Serendipity,” as well as the song “With You’” from the soundtrack to the TvN drama Our Blues.
The announcement was the latest from the K-pop superstars in the midst of their hiatus, during which each member has embarked on their own solo ventures. So far, J-Hope has released the album/documentary Jack in the Box, Suga has announced the dates for his first solo tour, RM dropped his debut album, Indigo, Jin collaborated on “The Astronaut” single with Coldplay, Jung Kook teamed with Charlie Puth on the song “Left and Right” and V starred in the reality show In the Soop: Friendcation.
Check out the album prevew below.
Miley Cyrus‘ “Flowers” rules the Billboard Hot 100 for a fifth week, encompassing its entire run on the chart so far, dating to its debut at No. 1.
The song also becomes the most-heard hit on U.S. airwaves, marking Cyrus’ first No. 1 on the Radio Songs chart.
Plus, PinkPantheress and Ice Spice each make their first appearance in the Hot 100’s top 10 as “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” bounds from No. 14 to No. 4.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated Feb. 25, 2023) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Feb. 22, a day later than usual due to the Presidents’ Day holiday in the U.S. Feb 20). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
“Flowers,” released on Smiley Miley/Columbia Records, drew 85.8 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 15%, good for the Hot 100’s top Airplay Gainer award for a third consecutive week) and 33.7 million streams (down 13%) and sold 22,000 (down 18%) Feb. 10-16, according to Luminate.
The single jumps 4-1 in its fifth week on Radio Songs, becoming Cyrus’ first leader on the list, among four top 10s. “Flowers” wraps the fastest flight to the top of the chart in nearly seven years, since Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” also needed just five frames to reign in June 2016. Since Radio Songs became an all-format survey in December 1998, only three other songs have hit No. 1 in five weeks or fewer: Adele’s “Hello” (four weeks, 2015), Destiny’s Child “Survivor” (five, 2001) and TLC’s “No Scrubs” (five, 1999).
“Flowers” rebounds for a fourth week at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales and dips to No. 2 after four weeks atop Streaming Songs.
As previously reported, “Flowers” also hits No. 1 on the Pop Airplay chart, becoming Cyrus’ third leader and, as on Radio Songs, completing the quickest coronation (five weeks) since “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” in 2016. As Cyrus first topped Pop Airplay with “Party in the U.S.A.” in 2009 and led again with “Wrecking Ball” in 2013, she joins Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift as the only acts with No. 1s on the chart in the 2000s, ’10s and ’20s.
SZA’s “Kill Bill” ranks at its No. 2 Hot 100 best for a sixth week. It returns for a fourth week atop Streaming Songs and leads Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs, which use the same methodology as the Hot 100, for a 10th week each.
Metro Boomin, The Weeknd and 21 Savage’s “Creepin’ ” rebounds to its No. 3 Hot 100 high, from No. 5.
PinkPantheress and Ice Spice each claim their first Hot 100 top 10 as “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” roars 14-4. The team-up, released Feb. 3, drew 31.1 million streams (up 54%, as it takes top Streaming Gainer honors) and 2.1 million in airplay audience (up 258%) and sold 1,000 (up 58%) Feb. 10-16. The track is a remix of PinkPantheress’ original solo “Boy’s a Liar,” released in November. (All versions of the song are combined into one listing on Billboard’s charts.)
Notably, “Liar” leaps to the Hot 100’s top 10 in just its second week on the chart. It’s the first duet by two acts each making a first top 10 appearance since Nicky Youre and Dazy hit No. 4 with “Sunroof” last September. That song took 10 weeks to hit the top 10; “Liar” is the first song between two acts each scoring a first top 10 to reach the region in two weeks or fewer since Lil Tjay’s “Calling My Phone,” featuring 6LACK, debuted at its No. 3 peak in February 2021.
“Liar” deconstructed: PinkPantheress wrote and produced the 2-minute, 15-second track with Mura Masa (who also appears on the Hot 100 for the first time). Notes Hit Songs Deconstructed, which analyzes the compositional traits of Hot 100 top 10s, “In addition to the strategic pairing of PinkPantheress and Ice Spice, one of the song’s core strengths is how it pushes the boundaries of the Hot 100’s top 10 while at the same time staying in line with current trends. On one hand, it features a unique lo-fi ‘bedroom’ production, classic 8-bit video game-sounding synths and a Jersey club beat, which separate it from many of its mainstream contemporaries and immediately captures the listener’s ear. On the other hand, its super-catchy and repetitive hook structure and troubled-love lyrics impart a sense of familiarity and relatability, along with its under 3-minute runtime, vibrant tempo, omission of a pre-chorus and synth-heavy production, all of which are in line with rising top 10 trends.”
Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” dips to No. 5 on the Hot 100 from its No. 3 best. It concurrently tops the multi-metric Hot Country Songs chart for a second week.
Elsewhere in the Hot 100’s top 10, Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” descends 4-6, after it ruled for a week in October; The Weeknd’s “Die for You” rebounds 8-7, after reaching No. 6; Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” retreats 7-8, following a personal-best eight weeks at No. 1; Beyoncé’s “Cuff It” backtracks to No. 9 from its No. 6 high; and David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” slips 9-10, after reaching No. 4, as it leads the multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for a 22nd week.
Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Feb. 25), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Feb. 22).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
JoJo Siwa is headed to the big screen. The 19-year-old Dance Moms veteran, singer and YouTube favorite is slated to co-star in the horror movie All My Friends Are Dead opposite Jade Pettyjohn (Little Fires Everywhere) according to Deadline.
Casting for the movie from Saw 3D co-writer Marcus Dunstan is reportedly still going on and filming is slated to begin in Canada in the spring, with Dunstan directing from a script by Josh Sims and Jessica Sarah Flaum. According to a description, the movie follows a group of close college friends who get a great deal on an awesome Airbnb for the biggest music festival of the year.
“A weekend of partying quickly takes a turn for the worst as members of the group are murdered one by one,” it continues. “They soon discover that each one of their deaths directly corresponds to one of the seven deadly sins.”
In a statement, Siwa said she was grateful for the chance to be in the film, adding, “This is a project that is so different from anything I’ve done previously; however, I absolutely love horror movies and I can’t wait to start production! I’m also excited to work with Jade again. We worked together when we were younger and can’t wait to create this movie together.”
Siwa made news in December when she opened up about her break up with Avery Cyrus, posting a lip-sync video in which she speculated on the reasons for the split. “But I love you Why are you breaking up with me??!!!” she wrote before offering up two different options in the clip using viral sound from “My Brother My Brother and Me” on her YouTube channel. “There’s someone else” and, uh, “You told one of my best friends that you were excited to be dating me bc you’re ‘growing your career and wanna get to the top’…”
At the end of the clip she made it clear that there was not a third party involved. “And when I said I just wanted to be friends so I didn’t lead you on after an unplanned hookup you wanted nothing to do with me because there was nothing to gain anymore,” she wrote.
Harry Styles treated himself to a big gulp out of his own shoe in Perth, Australia, Monday night (Feb. 20).
While making casual conversation with the crowd in between songs at HBF Park, Styles seems to have decided that this particular Love On Tour stop was the perfect time partake in an interesting Australian drinking tradition: doing a shoey.
To do a shoey, one must pour alcohol into one’s shoe — not water, as Styles learned Monday night — and chug it.
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“Does anybody have a drink that they wouldn’t mind lending?” Styles asked fans in the audience and then pondered, “Can we do a shoey with water or is that against the rules? No?”
Before dumping a drink into his mouth straight from his shoe, which appears to be the Adidas x Gucci Gazelle sneaker, the Harry’s House hitmaker commented, “This is one of the most disgusting traditions.”
Post Malone and Kacey Musgraves are among the fellow music arts to have joined in on the Australian rite of passage on previous tours.
Watch Styles do a shoey in the video clip below, beginning at the 7:07 timestamp.
Who’s that girl? It’s Madonna, showing off her latest snapshot and a little sense of humor, after the internet criticized how she looked at the 2023 Grammys.
Madonna shared a new photo of herself staring down the camera on Twitter Monday (Feb. 20). The pop icon is dressed casually in the picture, wearing ripped jeans, a jacket and a black cap reading “SPIRITUALLY HUNGRY,” with her hair styled in braids.
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“Look how cute i am now that swelling from surgery has gone down. Lol,” Madonna tweeted about her face, with a crying-laughing emoji.
At the Grammys earlier this month, the singer had introduced Sam Smith and Kim Petras for a performance of their Grammy-winning “Unholy.” Following the telecast, her speech was seemingly overshadowed by her appearance, as people on social media shared their opinions about how different she looks in 2023, throwing out accusations about botched plastic surgery.
Two days later, Madonna fired back at critics with an Instagram post: “It was an honor for me to introduce Kim Petras and Sam Smith at the Grammys,” she wrote. “I had wanted to give the last award which was Album of the year, but I thought it was more important that I present the first trans- woman performing at the Grammys— a History making moment!! And on top of that she won a Grammy!! Instead of focusing on what I said in my speech which was about giving thanks for the fearlessness of artists like Sam and Kim- Many people chose to only talk about Close-up photos of me Taken with a long lens camera By a press photographer that Would distort anyone’s face!! Once again I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny That permeates the world we live in. A world that refuses to celebrate women pass the age of 45 And feels the need to punish her If she continues to be strong willed, hard-working and adventurous.”
“I have never apologized for any of the creative choices I have made nor the way that I look or dress and I’m not going to start,” she added at the time.
See Madonna’s new photo on Twitter.
P!nk has responded to comments that she’s been “shading” fellow pop star Christina Aguilera.
The singer was recently asked by Buzzfeed UK to rank her music videos, and what she said about her apparently less-than-ideal personal experience filming “Lady Marmalade” — her 2001 single with Christina Aguilera, Mya and Lil’ Kim — got folks talking over the weekend.
“Well, there’s ‘Lady Marmalade,’” P!nk said in video interview, looking back at the supergroup collaboration from more than 20 years ago, which was a No. 1 hit on the Hot 100. “I’m gonna put that down here at 12. It wasn’t very fun to make. I’m all about fun, and it was like a lot of fuss — and there were some personalities. Kim and Mya were nice.”
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After seeing people make assumptions about her choice of words, and her choice to leave out Aguilera’s name from her list of who was “nice” on set, she replied to tweets Saturday night (Feb. 18).
“Y’all are nuts,” she wrote. “Xtina had s— to do with who was on that song. If you don’t know by now- I’m not ‘shading’ someone by telling it over and over and over what actually happened. I’m zero percent interested in your f—ing drama. If you haven’t noticed- I’m a little busy selling.”
P!nk clarified, “And by selling- I mean tickets and albums and bake sales and s—.”
“Also- I kissed xtinas mouth. I don’t need to kiss her a–,” she added.
P!nk had previously admitted that back in the “Lady Marmalade” days, the pair’s egos had clashed.
“We were super young and super new at the whole thing, and I think I’m an alpha, and she’s an alpha,” she noted in a 2017 interview with Andy Cohen. “I’m used to taking my altercations physical and she’s used to having them verbal. We’re just very different, we’re very different. And we were very young and new.”
“You have to learn — women have to learn how to support each other,” P!nk continued. “It’s not taught to each other in the playground.”
P!nk said that the two had gotten past any bad blood, in time: “We became moms. We grew up. We hugged it out. It’s that simple. I feel so good about that.”
See a Buzzfeed UK TikTok clip of her talking about the “Lady Marmalade” video here and her tweets that followed below.
Y’all are nutsXtina had shit to do with who was on that song.If you don’t know by now- I’m not “shading” someone by telling it over and over and over what actually happened.I’m zero percent interested in your fucking drama.If you haven’t noticed- I’m a little busy selling https://t.co/f9RLuotptf— P!nk (@Pink) February 19, 2023
And by selling- I mean tickets and albums and bake sales and shit— P!nk (@Pink) February 19, 2023
Olivia Rodrigo is spending the day before her 20th birthday in the recording studio.
The Sour hitmaker checked in with fans on Instagram on Sunday (Feb. 19), wearing headphones and dark sunglasses while sitting next to a microphone.
“2day is my last day of being a teenage dirtbag,” Rodrigo wrote, referencing the 2000 Wheatus track that became a TikTok trend in 2022. “Teenage Dirtbag” had users uploading photos of their teen selves to their social media accounts, with notes of nostalgia and cringe.
The singer-songwriter, who’s turning 20 on Feb. 20, teased new music in January, on the two-year anniversary of her breakthrough single, “Drivers License.”
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“working on so many new songs I’m excited to show u! thank u for everything,” she wrote on Jan. 8.
Rodrigo’s debut album, Sour — which featured Hot 100 No. 1s “Drivers License” and “Good 4 U” — hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 upon its release, spending five weeks on the top spot of the chart in 2021.
See Rodrigo’s pre-birthday post below.
Adele: full-time pop superstar and beloved meme material. A clip of the hitmaker’s presence at the 2023 Super Bowl — specifically for Rihanna‘s halftime show performance — went viral last weekend, and she’s now confirmed what exactly she was saying in a moment that became a meme.
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“I’ve gotta tell you … It’s hard work being a constant meme,” Adele joked from the stage at her Weekends With Adele Las Vegas residency on Friday (Feb. 17).
“Everyone was texting me a meme of myself looking — I don’t know what I looked like,” she added, after musing that maybe her face is entertaining because it moves a lot, as she hasn’t had any Botox treatments.
“I was saying she’s gonna be fine,” explained Adele. “She’s gonna like have some weed and be fine. But clearly she couldn’t have any weed because she’s pregnant!”
On Super Bowl Sunday, Rihanna revealed that she’s expecting her second child, after viewers speculated during her halftime show that she was pregnant.
Rewatch the Super Bowl meme, then hear Adele’s comments about being meme-worthy in the fan-filmed concert clip below.
