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Prom Pact is bringing 1980s glitz, perms, bright colors and ruffled dresses to 2023, and the film is also highlighting one of the boldest decades in its soundtrack.
The list of songs (listed in full below) features a mix of modern hits like Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” and Imagine Dragons’ “Believer” with a slew of throwback classics like David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance,” Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” Billy Idol’s “Mony Mony” and even the Ghostbusters theme. The soundtrack also includes a number of covers from the cast, including the Dirty Dancing hit “I’ve Had the Time of My Life.”
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“There are so many songs I wanted to include,” the film’s director and executive producer Anya Adams tells Billboard of curating the perfect playlist for the film. “There’s not enough movie for the songs we wanted to use, but I wanted to bring in a multitude of different ’80s music. So not just be in one kind of genre. We’re using DJ EZ Rock and doing ‘It Takes Two,’ but we’re also using David Bowie and ‘Let’s Dance.’ It was hard to pick songs!”
She continued, “Some of the songs were written into the script and really worked with the scene, so we kept them. Some of them, we saw the scenes and we were like, ‘Oh, let’s bring in this song.’ So it’s been a kind of journey and everyone is really excited about the music because it does inspire such nostalgia and we’re so excited to introduce this music to this generation.”
Prom Pact follows high school senior Mandy Yang (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) and her best friend Ben (Milo Manheim) as they navigate prom season. The prom is ’80s-themed, and the BFF duo are surrounded by over-the-top Promposals, but Mandy has her goals set on getting into Harvard University. When she’s waitlisted from her dream school, Mandy plans to get accepted by becoming the tutor for the all-star jock Graham Lansing (Blake Draper), whose father is a powerful senator and Harvard alum.
See below for the full soundtrack, shared exclusively with Billboard, plus a featurette in which the cast and crew discuss the making of the ultimate ’80s prom in modern times. Prom Pact premieres March 30 on Disney Channel, before becoming available for streaming the next day on Disney+.
Soundtrack track list“Believer” – Imagine Dragons“Bad Guy” – Billie Eilish“Addicted to Love” – Robert Palmer“Old Time Rock & Roll” – Bob Seger“What Makes You Beautiful” – One Direction“Fall on Me” – Great Big World and Christina Aguilera“Let’s Dance” – David Bowie“The Promise” – When in Rome“Mony Mony” – Billy Idol“I Wanna Dance With Somebody” – Whitney Houston“Only You” – Yazoo“Coincidance” – Handsome DancerTheme from Ghostbusters
CoversPat Benatar’s “Love Is a Battlefield” – Milo Manheim and Peyton Elizabeth LeeSeal’s “Don’t Cry” – Alice LeeNazareth’s “Love Hurts” – Alice LeeBill Medley and Jennifer Warnes’ “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life”Men in Hats’ “The Safety Dance”
Everything is not as it seems. Turns out, Selena Gomez‘s Wizards of Waverly Place character, Alex Russo, was supposed to be part of the LGBTQ community — and she was intended to be in a relationship with Stevie Nichols, a guest character played by fellow Disney star-turned-musician Hayley Kiyoko.
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The revelation came in the latest episode of Wizards of Waverly Pod, on which cohosts Jennifer Stone and David Deluise — who played Harper Finkle and Jerry Russo on the Disney channel sitcom, respectively — sat down with head writer and executive producer Peter Murrieta to talk about the show’s arc. When Stone asked about a storyline he wished the Wizards team had explored further before the show concluded in 2012, Murrieta knew his answer immediately.
“Easy,” he said. “I wished we could have played more with what was quite obvious to a lot of us was the relationship between Stevie and Alex. But we weren’t able to in that time, but it was pretty clear to all of us what that relationship was. That would’ve been fun.”
Though the writers ended up being unable to explicitly say Alex had romantic feelings for Stevie, fans of the show may remember there was definitely an undeniably flirty chemistry and intensity shared between the two characters. “Disney Channel has had [LGBTQ] characters, they did it,” Murrieta added. “At the time, it wasn’t a thing. We got as close as we could. It was pretty close. It was pretty much right there.”
Recently, Gomez herself stopped by the podcast to talk about her experience on Wizards, which debuted in 2007 and propelled the Rare Beauty founder to meteoric stardom at a young age. While speaking with Stone and DeLuise, she opened up about regretting how she lost touch with the cast after the show wrapped.
“I think I slowly became kind of shamed. I felt ashamed of the decisions that I made,” Gomez said. “I didn’t want you guys to see me in the state that I was in, because A) you would have told me the truth, which terrifies me, and B) I didn’t want to let you down.”
Listen to Peter Murrieta talk about Alex and Stevie’s Wizards of Waverly Place relationship below:
After 13 episodes and the introduction of 16 queens, RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 has finally revealed our top four queens.
On last week’s episode (aired Friday, March 24), the top five contestants took part in the now-iconic makeover challenge, transforming teachers from around the country into fabulous drag queens bearing a strong family resemblance to their respective queens.
Transforming her teacher into a sickening drag daughter named Alektra, Anetra immediately wowed the judges not only for her phenomenal makeup skills, but for constructing two iconic outfits that conveyed the family resemblance they were looking for in this challenge. The star took home her third maxi challenge win, tying her for the most wins of the season with frontrunner Sasha Colby.
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Meanwhile, after a hair-splitting critique, Luxx Noir London and Loosey LaDuca found themselves in the bottom for their makeovers of Asia Azul and Lala LaDuca, respectively. Lip-syncing to guest judge Hayley Kiyoko’s “For the Girls,” Luxx pulled out all the stops, earning a spot in the top four, leaving Loosey as the eliminee.
Billboard caught up with Loosey following her elimination to talk about her song “Let Loose” going ultra-viral following her talent show performance in episode one, whether or not she was “delusional” during her Drag Race run, and which queen she felt should have been lip syncing against Luxx instead of her.
Congrats on making it to the top five! How are you feeling about your Drag Race journey?
I feel really great — I’m so incredibly proud of the job that I did. Of course, I would love to be top four … but other than that, I really look back and am just so proud of myself for everything that I did.
Before we get into anything else, we have to talk about the sensation that is sweeping the nation — “Let Loose” is inescapable on social media at this point. What has it been like to watch this song absolutely blow up?
It’s so weird! I wasn’t sure about what the fanbase’s take would be on me, and then I was sick on the couch with COVID, when my phone just started blowing up. And it has not stopped since — every day I think, “Alright, I’m sure it’s passed.” Nope. It’s truly insane. People are now congratulating me, not for Drag Race, but saying, “Congratulations on ‘Let Loose,’ I mean, my god.”
I mean, I get it — the song just passed 100,000 streams on Spotify, so it’s worth congratulating you on!
Yeah, it’s wild. I’m getting videos of people all over the world performing it, it’s actually crazy. All credit to my very good friend Andrew Barret Cox, he wrote and produced the track; he also did “Jantasy” for Jan. He is absolutely incredible and a certified bop-maker.
Along with “Let Loose” going viral, another Drag Race moment caught the attention of none other than Kevin Bacon, who applauded your performance in the Rusical challenge! How gagged were you?
That was absolutely incredible, 100 percent the best moment of my mom’s life. I had COVID all last week, I was firmly planted on my couch with my dog, and sure enough, Kevin Bacon came up in my notifications. I was like, “Oh, I’m sure this is a Kevin bacon fan account or something.” And sure enough, it was actually him, which is absolutely insane. So now I’m one degree away from Kevin Bacon.
It helps that the Rusical was genuinely so good — from the performances to the music, it was top-to-bottom excellent.
Oh, I am so proud of the Rusical. I look back and I’m like, “God, we did so good.” The music was so good, and such earworms! They were bops, Leland and the entire team and all of the vocalists on those tracks were so talented and wonderful. I’m very honored to have been a part of, I think, one of the best Rusicals.
Now, another thing that’s being flying around the internet are accusations of “drag delusion” in your direction. After being on set and after watching the show, do you think that you were experiencing said delusion?
I think … hmm, how to put this? I think what was shown looks like delusion. That’s all! [laughs] I trust that folks can read between the lines.
In the latest episode, getting to do the makeover challenge with teachers is such a lovely idea, especially with all of the anti-LGBTQ classroom laws being passed around the country. What do you feel like you got to learn from working with teachers who are having to deal with all of this legislation?
Yeah, completely. My teacher who I got to work with — Miss Lala LaDuca, thank you very much — was just so wonderful and so sweet. You could tell that she was the type of woman who was just born to be a teacher. I think what I really gained from that was that, a lot of times, teachers are the people who teach all of their students about the world. If kids are only getting the scope of what’s at home, that’s a very small, narrow point of view. School and teachers, it is sort of their job to open kids up to the rest of the world — if they’re not being legally allowed to teach about sexuality or identity, then these laws are stifling teachers’ jobs, which is to help cultivate who these kids are! No laws should be getting in the way of that.
I do hope people understand how difficult the makeover challenge is — can you explain what it is about this challenge that makes it so tough?
Completely! I think, first of all, you’re putting drag makeup that has been designed to be perfect for your face on another human being. So now, it might not look the same — luckily, I thought my teacher looked sickening. She looked fully like a LaDuca. But the thing that’s especially hard about it is that you need to have a family resemblance, but it can’t be exact, but it can’t be too subtle. There’s so many factors in there that the judges can really pick apart, and that means there’s not usually a very clear winner or loser in these challenges, because there’s such a grey area.
Before you go, I want to talk about the placements in this episode. You mentioned in your confessional that you were shocked to be in the bottom this challenge — full tea, who did you think should have been in your spot in the bottom two?
Ooh. I think, for lack of originality, probably Mistress — she wore that gown several times on the show, so if I had to say someone, I would say her.
Ben Affleck just sang the praises of Jennifer Lopez, who was right there at her husband’s side Monday (March 27) at Los Angeles’ Regency Village Theatre for the premiere of his new movie, Air.
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While introducing his latest directorial project, which serves a courtside look at the creation of Nike’s famous partnership with basketball legend Michael Jordan, Affleck took a moment to thank the important players who contributed to the making of the film — one of whom, he said, was absolutely his superstar wife.
“I want to say that none of it would be possible — this company, this movie, this joy tonight — without the love and support of my wife who means more to me than anything in the world,” he said moments before Air‘s debut.
“I want to say thank you,” added Affleck, who also stars in the film as Nike founder Phil Knight. “I love you. You mean the world to me. You’re fabulous, you’re amazing, you’re wonderful, good, kind, magnificent and I love you.”
The 50-year-old actor had more to say about Lopez — whom he married in a summertime Las Vegas chapel ceremony last year — while walking the red carpet before Air‘s premiere. “She’s brilliant,” he told ET. “And [she] helps me in every conceivable way.”
The “Let’s Get Loud” singer, whose new album This Is Me … Now arrives this summer, afterward posted about the event on Instagram. With a video montage of clips from the red carpet, she shared footage of her posing with Affleck on the carpet in a neon yellow gown, the Oscar winner signing autographs and hanging out with costar and longtime best friend Matt Damon. See her video below:
By this point, singers auditioning for American Idol understand that they need one of three things if they have any hope of making it through the early auditions rounds: unimpeachable talent, a great/moving backstory or an unexpected hook that makes for good TV.
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What very few can do, however, is bring along a ringer to accompany them who has sold as many, or more, records as judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie. Kaya Stewart ticked all those boxes and more on Sunday night (March 26), prompting Perry to exclaim, “Oh my God, blast from the past!” upon seeing Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart standing proudly next to his daughter.
Richie noted that he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year along with the Annie Lennox-fronted British new wave duo known for such hits as “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” “Here Comes the Rain Again,” “Love is a Stranger” and “Missionary Man,” among many others. No big deal, but Kaya, 23, said she toured with the duo while her mom was pregnant with her and that music has always been part of her DNA. Go figure.
“Music has been a part of my life since before I was even born. My dad was in a group called the Eurythmics,” she told the judges. “When I was born, my dad was on tour, and I was going to shows when I was still in my mom’s tummy… The musician’s lifestyle has been something that’s just been a part of my life. There was never a question of what I wanted to do with my life. That was always going to be what I was going to do.”
Taking a chance, Kaya sang an original she wrote with her pops, “This Tattoo,” an emotional country pop break-up ballad featuring the refrain, “And I’ve got a feeling that it’s over/ And I couldn’t be any better/ And I’m gonna get this tattoo removed.” The judges were all impressed, with Perry subtly hinting at some potential nepo baby potholes along the way, suggesting that the panel may be “a bit more nitpicky with you” because of Kaya’s famous lineage and because the singer understands how the business works.
That said, they flagged Stewart through to the next round, with Richie calling the performance “great” while commending Kaya for presenting an original song, especially alongside her A-list dad. “In the midst of all this you slayed it,” he said, with Bryan adding that he could tell Stewart had grown up on stage and seemed comfortable performing for an audience.
Check out Stewart’s Idol audition below.
As Damson Idris continues to help roll out the series finale of the popular FX show Snowfall, the British actor recently sat down with Complex as the publication’s latest cover star to discuss myriad topics, including how Jay-Z helped him land his green card.
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“Hov didn’t offer that up. I had to ask him,” Idris shared when asked if the rumor was true. “But he’s done many things for me over the years. He’s always supported me. He supports everyone. He supports so many people that you don’t even know. Like, genuinely I should tell everyone this right now: If you ever run into Jay-Z, just say thank you and keep it moving because he is definitely a pioneer of the culture, but of everything.”
Jay-Z has a history of being of great help to his friends and peers in the industry, including Meek Mill and Lil Wayne. When the Philly rapper was imprisoned in 2017 for violating his probation, Jay-Z not only wrote a New York Times op-ed calling out the justice system, but according to Meek, quietly spent millions of dollars on his legal fees as well.
“Jay-Z is actually responsible for some of my legal fees, which I thought was the dopest in the world because it was some millions of dollars,” Meek revealed in a 2020 interview with The Breakfast Club. “I don’t even think I could have afforded it.”
Elsewhere in Idris’s interview with Complex, he shed light on his friendship with Tyler, the Creator. “He’s a great guy. He’s hilarious,” Idris gushed. “You’ll introduce Tyler to someone important, and randomly, he’ll be like, ‘Yeah, me and Damson take bubble baths together, and you’re like, ‘Whoa. No, we don’t.’ He’s just like that.”
Watch Damson Idris’ entire interview below.
The Battle Rounds have commenced on season 23 of NBC’s The Voice, and viewers have already been treated to some tasty rumbles.
One of the highlights from Monday night’s (March 27) episode was delivered by Gina Miles and Kala Banham, as the Team Niall hopefuls tackled Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love.”
Both artists injected country and pop-pop into Justin Vernon’s 2007 number, a haunting and sad song with a tone that feels like an open wound.
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The action on the stage didn’t end with the performance.
“You have a really special gift,” Kelly Clarkson told Miles, the 18-year-old Sacramento, CA native.
Banham, a 24-year-old from Windermere, FL, possesses a voice that “broke my heart,” she added. The compliments kept on flowing. Together, “you’ve got great taste in music, ladies,” Clarkson enthused, and “your voices sound magical together.”
“This is about as evenly matched as we can get here,” said Blake Shelton, remarking that he’d never heard a voice like Miles’. “Man, Gina,” the country star said, “the thought of your voice on a record doing all those crackly weird things that you can do.” And with that, it was clear where his vote would go.
Niall Horan had the tough decision to make, one that he admitted had caused him to lose sleep. Pairing the artists, he admitted, was like shooting himself in the foot. Ultimately, the Irishman went with Miles.
But wait, there’s more.
Clarkson exercised her trigger finger to activate her one steal in the competition. The game continues for Banham.
“Who cares about Niall? Welcome to Team Kelly,” she said.
In doing so, she turned an earlier loss into a win. Clarkson had tried to secure Banham’s services during the Blind Audition, that was until Horan “blocked” her.
Everyone’s a winner. Watch below.
Saturday Night Live will roar back in April with three back-to-back shows, including an April 8 episode with SNL three-timers the Jonas Brothers performing alongside former cast member Molly Shannon (A Good Person) in her second hosting gig.
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On April 15, Karol G will take the 8H stage for the first time with Oscar nominee Ana de Armas (Ghosted), who will also make her SNL debut that night. They join the previously announced April 1 episode topped by Emmy winner and Abbott Elementary star/writer Quinta Brunson in her SNL hosting debut alongside fellow first timer Lil Yachty.
It’s been a season 48 to remember so far this year for the long-running sketch show, which welcomed Aubrey Plaza and Sam Smith on Jan. 21 to kick off the year, followed by Michael B. Jordan (Creed III) and Lil Baby on Jan. 28 and a memorable turn by The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal with five-timers Coldplay on Feb. 4. The hot streak continued with Woody Harrelson (White House Plumbers) and Jack White on Feb. 25 and Super Bowl LVII winner Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs and Kelsea Ballerini on March 4, followed by the most recent episode, which paired Wednesday‘s Jenna Ortega and The 1975 on March 11.
Saturday Night Live airs live on NBC at 11:30 p.m. ET and streams live on Peacock at the same time.
Check out the Instagram promo for the April SNL episodes below.
American Idol judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan became visibly emotional when contestant Cam Amen sang a rendition of Leonard Cohen‘s “Hallelujah” during Sunday night’s (March 26) auditions.
Before launching into his passionate version of Cohen’s track, the judges asked Amen about his back story, in which he revealed that he and his siblings lost their mother and ended up in the foster care system. Once 18, Amen took care of his brother and sister until it was time for them to graduate, and tearfully shared he is now chasing his dream on Idol.
Accompanied by a piano player, he sang, “Now I’ve done my best, I know it wasn’t much/ I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch/ I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come here to London just to fool you/ And even though it all went wrong/ I’ll stand right here before the Lord of song/ With nothing, nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah/ Hallelujah, Hallelujah/ Hallelujah, Hallelujah.”
All three of the judges were noticeably moved by Amen’s rendition of the song, with Bryan visibly tearing up. “This is our sixth year here. Stylistically … your style is so beautifully unique. I don’t have anybody that I’ve seen in this chair to compare you to, and every time I wanted you to do something amazing, you did it,” he said. “It was just incredible. You came out of being upset and crying and just started singing like that. You didn’t even have all the tears dry.”
Richie added, “Cam, do you believe in divine guidance? It just happened, for whatever reason, that divine guidance brought you to us. And my friend, you are going to have one heck of a ride.”
After requesting Amen bring his girlfriend in the room, Bryan told his fellow judges, “He might be the best soul singer we’ve ever had.”
Bryan then revealed that Amen was the winner of a platinum ticket, allowing the hopeful to sit out the first round of Hollywood week. “This is the first time I ever went for something for myself, and it’s a dream,” Amen shared following the audition.
Watch Amen’s platinum ticket story unfold in the video above.
Ahead of his award-show hosting debut tonight (March 27) at the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Awards, Lenny Kravitz is feeling cool, calm and collected. “It’s an honor to be here and I’m happy to be asked,” he says.
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When it comes to his hosting approach, Kravitz plans to “keep it chill” and notes that he hasn’t called up any previous hosts for advice. “I purposely have not called anybody [or] watched anything,” he tells Billboard. “They’re like ‘Did you call LL [Cool J]? Did you call Usher?’ I’m just gonna go up there and do what I gotta do.”
It was his authentic approach to hosting that caught the attention of old friends and iHeart Radio execs John Sykes and Tom Poleman, during the induction of Lionel Richie into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November. “He won over the room,” Sykes says. “He was funny, he connected with the audience because he’s such a serious musician. When we saw this other side of him and called him up, he said, ‘I’d love to do it.’”
The 58-year-old hitmaker has served as an inspiration to generations of pop stars and rising artists throughout his decades-long career as a boundary pushing rock star. Watching a new class of Black artists centered in pop, rock and alternative spaces, Kravitz feels great to witness “that artistic freedom.”
Recalling the climate of the music industry at the time of his first record deal, he says, “Everything was in these really tight boxes, white and black. Like ‘the pop department,’ it meant white, and the Black department was R&B.”
Kravitz says that watching artists like Steve Lacy — who he interviewed in October for the “Bad Habits” singer’s Billboard cover story — “reinspires” him. “It makes me feel great that there is that artistic freedom. I’m always flattered and honored when those artists come up to me and tell me how much I meant to them. They grew up listening to my music and looking at the visuals, and felt that they could push the boundaries.”
For the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, Poleman and Sykes are planning a “special moment,” planned in part by rap legend LL Cool J.
“We really thought the Grammys did a wonderful job doing this,” Poleman says. “LL [Cool J] had a very cool idea of how, in a very short period of time, he could tip his hat to the artists that inspired him in the 80s to get into hip-hop. It started back in 1973, when DJ Kool Herc played a song at an outdoor party in the Bronx and a format was born.”
Kravitz, who spent his early years in Brooklyn as the seeds of hip-hop were just sprouting, is excited by the evolution of the genre, but hopes to see more positivity in the future. “Well, in every genre,” he adds. “But things have to go the way they go, and that creates a reaction and turns into something else. There’s great artists and great concepts of how they’re doing their beats, sounds and styles.”
Kravitz has his next two albums “pretty much cut” and is eager to set off on the continuation of his world tour. “I was two years into a three year world tour when COVID hit,” he explains. “So I’m really happy to be getting back on the road and playing and sharing that experience with the people.”
The 2023 iHeartRadio Music Awards will include nine performances across a variety of genres, including a set from Kravitz himself, Kelly Clarkson, Keith Urban, Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, Latto, Muni Long, Cody Johnson and Coldplay, who will appear at the event live from its Music of the Spheres World Tour stop in Brazil.
“We don’t foster competition. This is not about who’s better — we actually celebrate the artists that have gone to No. 1, and tell the stories that come during the show,” Poleman says of the show’s purpose. “So many artists know already that they’ve won, and it’s more of a celebration.”
“This is the first year we’re giving [an award to] the most-played artists across all of our genres — that’s going to be Doja Cat. She had so many hits, so it’s nice to honor her. We have some socially voted categories, like best use of a sample in a song.”
The award show will also feature appearances from Cher, the Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin, Donald Faison, H.E.R., Joel McHale, Jordan Davis, Nicole Scherzinger, Nikki Glaser, Phoebe Bridgers, TLC, Vella Lovell, Zach Braff and more. The 2023 iHeartRadio Music Awards airs tonight (March 27) from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
