State Champ Radio TV/Film
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Kelly Clarkson is flexing her balladeer muscles. On the Friday (Feb. 17) installment of The Kelly Clarkson Show‘s Kellyoke series, the three-time Grammy winner wowed her audience with a triumphant cover of Cher‘s 1998 track “Strong Enough.”
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Clarkson brought out the self-love anthem’s emotional texture by performing the first few bars with nothing but piano accompanying her soulful voice. “Where did you sleep last night, and was she worth it?” she crooned, before a drumroll and electric guitar boomed into the mix.
“‘Cause I’m strong enough to live without you, strong enough/ And I quit crying long enough,” she continued, now leaning full-throttle into her robust, trademark belt. “Now I’m strong enough to know you gotta go/ Come hell or waters high you’ll never see me cry/ This is our last goodbye, it’s true.”
Released in 1998 as a single off of Cher’s album Believe, “Strong Enough” is certainly a fitting track for an artist whose biggest hit to date is called “Stronger” to cover. In fact, the two songs have strikingly similar messages as well, with Clarkson also singing on her 2011 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 about being strong enough to live without an ex, or as she puts it, with “just me, myself and I.”
The latest Kellyoke isn’t the first time Clarkson has paid tribute to Cher, though. In a previous season of her daytime talkshow, the Voice coach covered the dance pop legend’s “If I Could Turn Back Time.”
Watch Kelly Clarkson perform Cher’s “Strong Enough” on The Kelly Clarkson Show below:
Ms. Nordbury and Principal Duvall are bringing their love to the big screen. During an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Thursday (Feb. 16), Tina Fey revealed that the North Shore High lovebirds — portrayed by Tim Meadows and herself in the beloved 2004 film — will slip back into those roles for the upcoming Mean Girls movie musical.
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Fey said the fellow Saturday Night Live will be on hand when filming begins on March 6 with a cast that also includes Angourie Rice (Cady Heron), Auli’i Cravalho (Janis Ian), Renée Rapp (who originated the role of Regina George on Broadway) and Jaquel Spivey (Damian). The musical based on the big screen teen comedy that starred Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert and Amanda Seyfried was turned into a hit coming-of-age Broadway musical in 2018 with a book by Fey after making its premiere at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. in Oct. 2017.
“We have an amazing cast. I’m super excited about this cast,” Fey told Meyers, noting that she and Meadows will reprise their original roles nearly two decades later because, “teachers work forever. I want it to be like when Gilligan from Gilligan’s Island was at a trade show and you’d be like, ‘Oh, he looks so old in his little hat.’ That’s my goal,” she said.
The musical with music from Fey’s husband, composer Jeff Richmond, and lyrics by Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde), features the songs “Where Do You Belong?,” “Meet the Plastics,” “Apex Predator,” “Stupid With Love,” “More Is Better” and “I’d Rather Be Me,” among others. Fey said the original compositions from the show will be adjusted for the film, with the actor/writer/producer promising that they will be more “pop.”
SNL boss Lorne Michaels will produce the film along with Fey, who wrote the book for the musical and is also writing the movie musical’s script; Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. will direct.
Fey also noted that her upcoming Restless Leg Tour with pal Amy Pohler had already sold out within days of going on sale.
Watch Fey on Late Night below.
The world lost one of its biggest stars on Aug. 8, 2022, but Chloe Lattanzi lost her mom. About six months after Olivia Newton-John died at the age of 73, her daughter has revealed the sweet last words she ever heard the Grease sensation say to her before the star lost the ability to speak.
“The last words she could say to me was, ‘My sunshine,” Lattanzi told TODAY‘s Hoda Kotb Friday (Feb. 17) in her first TV interview since Newton-John’s death. “And right before she lost her ability to speak, she was making jokes.”
“I love my mom more than anything,” continued Lattanzi, whom Newton-John shared with ex-husband Matt Lattanzi. “She’s my mama, you know? She’s not Olivia Newton-John to me, but I’m so glad that she was Olivia Newton-John for so many people.”
The late four-time Grammy winner had been open about her breast cancer diagnosis and treatments during her lifetime. Following her death, Newton-John’s family asked that donations be made in her honor to her cancer research foundation, the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund.
Before her passing, the “Physical” singer recorded a duet of “Jolene” with the song’s original singer, Dolly Parton. It was released posthumously on the same day as Lattanzi’s TODAY interview. Listen to it here.
Appearing at Lattanzi’s side during the interview was Newton-John’s husband, John Easterling, who spoke tenderly about the 15 years he spent with his wife. “She had the willpower, even in her most difficult times, to really bring in the light and to bring in the love,” he said. “And she was who she was all the way through.”
“A guy I was flying with said, ‘You know, John, when you’re lucky enough to have found your true soulmate, and you share a heart, when one passes, the other has the obligation to live life for both,’” he added. “And that was very empowering and very powerful for me, and gave a way forward.”
Saturday Night Live is continuing its jam-packed 2023 with its next lineup of hosts and musical guests, revealed on Thursday (Feb. 16).
The iconic NBC sketch comedy show previously announced that Woody Harrelson will host SNL for the fifth time on Feb. 25, just weeks ahead of the release of his upcoming film, Champions, which hits theaters on March 10. Jack White will join the episode as musical guest.
The next weekend, on March 4, tight end for the recent Super Bowl champion team Kansas City Chiefs, Travis Kelce, will make his hosting debut. Kelsea Ballerini will also take the stage as musical guest for the first time, fresh off the release of her heartbreaking EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat and its accompanying short film.
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On March 10, Wednesday star Jenna Ortega will host the show for the first time, accompanied by The 1975 as musical guests. The band, who have previously performed on SNL one other time, is currently on their sold-out world tour for their recent album, Being Funny in a Foreign Language.
Saturday Night Live enjoyed an impressive 2022, in which the series won an Emmy Award for outstanding variety sketch series. SNL is the most Emmy-nominated show in television history and currently holds 93 Emmy wins.
The show airs every Saturday live on NBC at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT. For those without cable, the broadcast will also stream on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans on demand access to previous SNL episodes as well.
Demi Lovato took to social media on Wednesday (Feb. 15) to officially announce that she recorded a new song for the upcoming Scream VI.
“What’s your favorite scary movie?” the pop star captioned her post on Instagram before revealing the track’s title — “Still Alive” — and its March 3 release date. In the photo, they pose ominously with a dagger reflecting the image of the newest Ghostface killer.
In the comments section, Lovato’s boyfriend Jutes hyped up the track, writing, “lfg baby…u don’t miss” with a heart eyes emoji, while her tour photographer Angelo Kritikos cheekily promised, “song is KILLER.”
The singer’s contribution to the Scream VI soundtrack will serve as their first new music since 2022’s Holy Fvck. That studio set, which contained singles “Skin of My Teeth,” “Substance” and “29,” marked the Disney Channel alum’s return to pop-punk and peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. Additionally, it completed a rock-centric hat trick by topping the Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums charts.
Since then, Lovato has teased her return to the studio, earned a GLAAD Media Award nomination for outstanding music artist and performed an intimate set at the NMPA & Billboard Grammy Week Showcase ahead of this year’s Grammy Awards.
Meanwhile, Scream VI will premiere in theaters across the country on March 10. As a direct sequel to 2022’s Scream, the horror flick stars Courteney Cox, Hayden Panettiere, Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Dermot Mulroney, Samara Weaving and more.
Check out Lovato’s creepy announcement of “Still Alive” below.
We’re just three months away from the long-awaited release of The Little Mermaid live-action remake, and on Wednesday (Feb. 15), Disney unveiled a new teaser.
In the 30-second clip, Halle Bailey is seen singing “Part of Your World” as Ariel, before a few scenes quickly flash on the screen and we get a glimpse of the mermaid’s pal Flounder (voiced by Jacob Tremblay) and Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric. At the end of the teaser, a villainous cackle is heard before Melissa McCarthy appears as the devious Ursula, with tentacles covering the bottom half of her face.
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In November, the Chloe x Halle star revealed that the most “touching” part of playing the iconic Ariel was getting to see the reaction little girls had to her performance of “Part of Your World” when it initially was released in September.
“It just makes me cry,” she shared. “The fact that all these little Black and Brown babies are going to be able to feel like they’re being represented is really special to me. I know that if I had that when I was younger, it would have changed a whole lot for me and my perspective on who I am as an individual.”
The Little Mermaid live action remake, which will feature four original songs in addition to the classic hits, will be released on May 26, 2023. Watch the new teaser below.
ABC News Studios is releasing an hour-long documentary titled Rap Trap: Hip-Hop on Trial on the criminal case against Young Thug and Gunna, to air on Hulu Feb. 23. The doc will explore the debate around whether or not rap lyrics should be permitted in criminal prosecutions, and the subsequent effects on artists’ free speech rights.
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Rap Trap: Hip-Hop on Trial will feature interviews with 300 Entertainment CEO Kevin Liles, Young Thug’s ex-girlfriend Jerrika Karlae and artists including will.i.am, Fat Joe and Killer Mike. “Rap music is judged unlike any other genre like Black people are judged unlike any other people,” says rapper and activist Killer Mike in the trailer.
The documentary will also dive into the case of activist and former No Limit rapper McKinley “Mac” Phipps Jr., who served 21 years in prison for a crime he says he did not commit. Phipps and his family are interviewed for the show, opening up about the lasting impact of the case. Additional interviews include scholar Michael Eric Dyson and Erik Nielson, co-author of Rap on Trial.
In May 2022, Young Thug and Gunna were among 28 people indicted in Georgia on conspiracy to violate the state’s RICO act and street gang charges, according to documents obtained by Billboard. The state was building the case since 2012, according to jail records. The indictment heavily cited Thug’s lyrics, something that became a heated point of debate in connection to racism and free speech.
The indictment directly quoted from Young Thug’s music, including a 2018 video in which he rapped, “I never killed anybody but got something to do with that body.” While prosecutors claim such statements were made “in furtherance” of the gang’s criminal enterprise, critics say that pulling on rap lyrics — a known form of creative expression — only furthers racial biases against young Black men that can have permanent consequences.
In the midst of the Georgia case, California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation statute into law that aims to restrict prosecutors’ usage of rap lyrics as criminal evidence against the artists who wrote them. Titled the Decriminalizing Artistic Expression Act, the move had extensive music industry support, including Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr., Mitch Glazier, the chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America, 300 Entertainment CEO Liles, among others.
In December 2022, Gunna pleaded guilty to the charges against him in order to secure his release from jail, but stressed that he was not cooperating with prosecutors.
Rap Trap: Hip-Hop on Trial begins streaming Thursday, Feb. 23, on Hulu.
Watch the trailer below:
It’s been nearly 10 years since Austin Butler‘s mom Lori died of cancer in 2014, when the Elvis actor was just 23 years old. In an exclusive clip shared with Billboard from Butler’s upcoming conversation with Willie Geist on Sunday TODAY, the Golden Globe-winning actor revealed how his beloved mother would feel about his success.
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“I think she’d be very proud,” Butler shared, choking up and visibly teary-eyed. “She sacrificed so much. She quit her job to drive me to auditions and drive me to acting classes. She’d wait outside and drive all the way back down to Orange County.”
He added that Lori wanted to be an actress herself back when she was in high school. “I think I’m sort of getting to live this life for both of us, in that way,” he added. “She was my best friend and I think she’d be happy.”
On the influence that his mother had on him as he continues his acting journey, Butler praised Lori’s benevolent personality. “She was also just the most kind person,” he said. “She lit up every room and she was so vibrant. She was just nice to everyone. There’s so many things that — I just want to make her proud. I want her to live through me and the lessons that she taught me and the way that she was.”
Watch the clip below, and catch the full interview on NBC News’ Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist on Feb. 19.
It’s been nearly two weeks since Sam Smith and Kim Petras danced with the devil at the 2023 Grammys. Now, thanks to a new performance, they’re back in the controversial spotlight.
On Wednesday (Feb. 15), U.K. broadcasting regulator Offcom revealed that Smith and Petras’ performance at the 2023 Brit Awards on Sunday (Feb. 12) had received more than 100 complaints, despite not engaging in the same devilish imagery as their Grammys set.
For the Brit Awards, Sam and Kim took a more literal approach to their “Body Shop” metaphor from the song’s lyrics, with an industrial set, flying sparks and mechanic’s outfits on both performers and their dancers. While it is unclear which parts of the performance received complaints, Offcom received 106 complaints for the 2023 Brit Awards, the majority of which were aimed at Smith and Petras.
The complaint comes after the pair’s highly publicized Grammy’s performance, which also drew plenty of criticism for its use “satanic” imagery from viewers and even a few right-wing politicians, including Ted Cruz and Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Church of Satan itself ended up weighing in, saying the pair’s performance felt pretty tame.
The ongoing controversy seems to have followed Smith into their daily life — in a viral video posted on Wednesday, Smith can be seen in New York’s Central Park Zoo ignoring a yelling woman, who refers to them as a “pedophile,” “demonic,” and “evil,” while also declaring “Sam Smith belongs in hell.”
Check out what all the fuss was about with Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” performance at the Brit Awards above.
The hardest working man in show business has one less gig. On Thursday morning (Feb. 16), Ryan Seacrest announced that he is stepping down from his co-hosting slot on Live with Kelly and Ryan after a six-year run.
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“Last year we spoke and I made the decision to make this my last season as co-host,” Seacrest said on air, describing the choice as “bittersweet” and a “tough, tough decision.” Luckily for Ripa, her co-star’s replacement is already lined up and she’s very familiar with her new TV spouse. In fact, it is her actual husband, Mark Consuelos, who has filled in for Seacrest in the past; Seacrest assured viewers he’ll pop in as a guest host from time-to-time in the future.
The show will now be called Live with Kelly and Mark and Consuelos will be on camera on Friday (Feb. 17) to begin settling into his new gig. In a statement, Seacrest — who will keep hosting American Idol, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest and his syndicate On Air with Ryan Seacrest daily radio show — said working the Ripa has been a “dream job” and one of the highlights of his career.
“She has been an amazing partner, friend, and confidant, and although we will always be a part of each other’s lives, I will miss our mornings together,” he said, also thanking the show’s executive producer Michael Gelman and the crew. “We’ve made memories to last a lifetime, met some of the most incredible people and had the warmest welcome into the homes of so many viewers across America. It’s been a memorable ride and now I’m excited to pass the baton to Kelly’s ‘real’ husband, Mark.”
Repeatedly placing her hand on his arm, Ripa said, “You are a gem. You are one of my best friends. The greatest part of this experience has been that you’ve gone from being a friend to a family member. You are family. We love you. We are so proud of you… I know how much of a sacrifice it’s been. I know how exhausting it’s been going back and forth [from New York to L.A.] I fully understand your decision making.”
Appearing choked up, Seacrest heaped praise on Ripa — who joined the show in 2001 alongside late co-host Regis Philbin — telling his co-host that he respects and looks up to her. He got sentimental about his opportunity to connect with viewers every morning as she gently rubbed his back and he marveled at how much they “winged” it every day.
At the end of the segment, Seacrest and Ripa hugged and he joked about promising her that he wouldn’t cry, so they cut to commercial to give him time to weep off camera.
Watch Seacret’s announcement below.
