State Champ Radio TV/Film
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The month of M3GAN — the camp-horror film starring a robot doll who’s more sinister than she first appears — marches on, with winning box office receipts and a newly announced sequel. Meanwhile, M3GAN is slicing her way into the music world as well, with a mini-revival of David Guetta and Sia’s 2011 hit “Titanium.”
Midway through the film (minor spoiler), M3GAN croons the pre-chorus and hook of “Titanium” to comfort Cady (played by Violet McGraw), her human companion, after a traumatic incident. The out-of-nowhere serenade makes for one of the more memorable moments in M3GAN, and theatergoers have sought out the original version of “Titanium” — as well as a new, stripped-down take on the song, cleverly dubbed “Megan’s V3rsion,” that Sia released days after the film’s Jan. 6 premiere.
During the film’s first full week of release, the original “Titanium” rose 4.6% in weekly U.S. on-demand streams, to 1.6 million, according to Luminate. “Titanium” originally peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a commercial breakthrough in the U.S. for Sia, as the acclaimed Australian singer-songwriter would go on to find solo success with hits like “Chandelier” and “Cheap Thrills.”
On Jan. 9, Sia, sensing a M3GAN-led revival of the song, unveiled “Titanium (Megan’s V3rsion),” a piano rework that recalls M3GAN’s demon-doll balladry (although, sadly, does not feature any of her vocals). “Megan’s V3rsion” has earned 226,000 U.S. on-demand streams to date, a figure that’s separate from the streams of the original “Titanium,” according to Luminate.
While M3GAN creeps toward a $100 million global box office gross, a sequel, titled M3GAN 2.0, was announced with a Jan. 17, 2025 release date. If the character of M3GAN is simply a Sia fan, which single does she belt out in the sequel? “Wild Ones”? “Elastic Heart”? We’ll find out in two years.
Sadie Sink is used to acting alongside demogorgons and shadow monsters on Stranger Things, but it was working with Taylor Swift that she thought was “bizarre.” During her Wednesday (Jan. 18) appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers, the 20-year-old star opened up about how she was scouted for the singer’s All Too Well short film, which Sink explained was one of the most unexpected roles she’s ever been offered.
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“I was a fan of hers before,” she recalled. “Her team reached out and I guess she had me in mind for this video. I said, ‘Yes, of course.’”
When asked by Meyers whether Swift’s invitation had been the “trippiest” offer she’s ever told friends and family about receiving, she immediately said it was. “You would never think that our paths would really cross, someone being in the music industry and then in the film industry,” she explained.
“It was like two different worlds,” she added. “It was kind of a bizarre mashup, but everyone was very excited.”
The Whale actress starred alongside Dylan O’Brien in Swift’s All Too Well: The Short Film, which was released on YouTube in November 2021, and marked the longest motion picture project the “Anti-Hero” singer had yet directed. The short went on to win video of the year at last year’s VMAs, and Swift has since signed a deal with Searchlight Pictures to write and direct her first feature-length film.
The 11-time Grammy winner explained how important it was to her to get Sink onboard the All Too Well project when she made her own appearance on Late Night in 2021. “The only two people I imagined playing the two characters, it was Sadie and Dylan,” she told Meyers.
“If Sadie had said no, I don’t think I would have made it, I don’t think I would have made the film,” she continued. “I think I would’ve just been like, this is a sign.”
Watch Sadie Sink talk about working with Taylor Swift on Late Night With Seth Meyers above.
Fans got a glimpse of Kelly Clarkson at her most soulful during the Wednesday (Jan. 18) Kellyoke. Singing Joji‘s 2022 breakthrough hit “Glimpse of Us” on The Kelly Clarkson Show, the three-time Grammy winner stayed true to the original by performing the track with just piano backing her up.
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There was, however, a small twist. Clarkson had not one, but two accompanists onstage with her, with musicians Jason Halbert and Kyle Whalum playing dual pianos, one on either side of the “Stronger” singer. Unlike Joji’s original recording, which features layers of gorgeous vocal harmonies, Clarkson’s voice stood on its own.
The bareness of the talk-show host’s tone gave it a particularly soulful edge, which Clarkson enhanced by bending certain notes and riffing through others. “Sometimes I look in his eyes, and that’s where I found a glimpse of us,” she sang, taking the final chorus up an octave and personalizing the pronouns by changing “her” to “his.”
Though Joji has been successful on the periphery of mainstream pop for years, “Glimpse of Us,” released in June, is undoubtedly the 30-year-old singer-songwriter’s biggest hit to date. The track peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Joji’s top 10 debut and by far his highest charting song so far.
Just a couple months ago, Joji release his third studio album, Smithereens — off which “Glimpse of Us” was the lead single — in November. The set debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, and logged its 10th week on the chart this week.
Watch Kelly Clarkson perform Joji’s “Glimpse of Us” on The Kelly Clarkson Show above.
Michael Jackson is the subject of an upcoming biopic helmed by Lionsgate and director Antoine Fuqua.
The film, titled Michael, will take on the musician’s life and career and will be produced by Graham King (Bohemian Rhapsody) and John Branca and John McClain, who are the co-executors of the Michael Jackson estate, according to The Hollywood Reporter. There is no information yet surrounding casting and release date.
“The first films of my career were music videos, and I still feel that combining film and music are a deep part of who I am,” Fuqua shared in a statement, per THR. “For me, there is no artist with the power, the charisma, and the sheer musical genius of Michael Jackson. I was influenced to make music videos by watching his work – the first Black artist to play in heavy rotation on MTV. His music and those images are part of my worldview, and the chance to tell his story on the screen alongside his music was irresistible.”
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In a career that spanned throughout almost his entire life, the King of Pop had 13 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. He first saw success as part of the family band the Jackson 5, and four of their songs topped the Hot 100.
As a solo artist, Jackson’s 1982 album Thriller became one of the best-selling albums of all time and spent an impressive 37 weeks atop the Billboard 200. Additionally, its seven singles all reached the top 10 of the Hot 100.
Jackson died on June 25, 2009 at age 50.
As an apocalyptic fungal pandemic rages on in the new series The Last of Us, the characters need all the help they can get to survive — including, it would seem, from the Billboard charts.
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In the premiere episode of HBO’s long-awaited adaptation of the critically acclaimed video game, viewers find out just how that help is being given. In a pivotal scene toward the end of the 90-minute episode, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) joins Joel (Pedro Pascal) in his apartment as they await instructions on how to smuggle themselves out of a quarantined Boston. Finding an old radio, Ellie also spies and begins flipping through The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits by Fred Bronson.
Detailing the stories behind every No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 since its inception in 1955, Bronson’s book was published in 2003 — the same year that the world was essentially ended by a super-evolved version of the cordyceps fungus in the show.
In the show’s 2023, the book helps decode a secret communication over radio between smuggler Joel and a third party: If a ’60s song is played, it means there’s no new goods to be picked up; if a ’70s song is played, there is something new. And as Ellie learns by the episode’s end, “’80s means trouble.”
So, when the premiere wraps with the radio playing Depeche Mode‘s “Never Let Me Down Again,” we know that there is trouble ahead. It is worth noting that, despite the book Joel is using as a reference, “Never Let Me Down Again” never actually reached the summit of the Hot 100 — no song from the English electronic duo has made it to the top of the all-genre chart. Instead, the track topped out at No. 63 on the tally.
The Last Of Us airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO. Watch the premiere episode now on HBO Max.
At the end of the day, Gollum is a simple guy. He likes all-powerful magical rings and … big butts? During her Tuesday (Jan. 17) appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Danielle Deadwyler did her expert impression of the famous Lord of the Rings creature while performing Sir Mix-A-Lot’s hit “Baby Got Back.” And as the cursed Stoor Hobbit himself would say, it was absolutely precious.
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Deadwyler began the interview by telling Fallon’s audience about how she fell in love with performing, revealing that she was inspired heavily by the first film in the LOTR franchise — specifically, Andy Serkis’ portrayal of Gollum, aka Sméagol. The Till star confessed that she watched the movie — which was inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien’s popular 1954 fantasy novel — at least “20 to 30 times the summer it came out.”
“Andy Serkis as Gollum, as Sméagol, is divine,” she gushed. “It’s vocality, it’s physicality, it’s all of the things.”
Noting that Deadwyler had practiced acting by mimicking Serkis’ portrayal of Gollum, Fallon asked the 40-year-old actress whether she could show off some of her skills on the spot. “When I was on From Scratch with Zoe Saldana, I did a song,” she said. “I did ‘Baby Got Back’ for her.”
“Are you ready?” she added, her voice suddenly morphing into Gollum’s sickly warble. “Here we go!”
“I like big butts and I cannot lie/ You other brothers can’t deny,” Deadwyler — or should we say Gollum — sang as she broke into song.
At the very end, she personalized one of the lyrics with Gollum in mind: “My homeboys tried to warn me/ But that butt you got makes me so … precious!”
Watch Danielle Deadwyler perform Sir Mix-A-Lot’s 1992 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 on Fallon above.
Leslie Jones took over The Daily Show as guest host on Tuesday night (Jan. 17), and she took some time to share her characteristically hilarious thoughts on the new Martin Luther King Jr. statue in Boston.
The statue, which was inspired by a photo of the legendary civil rights leader hugging his wife after he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, features the couple’s arms embracing without their heads — which sparked criticism as some believe that it accidentally ended up looking quite erotic.
Jones wasted no time getting right to the point. “Has anyone in here ever been eaten out?” she asked the audience, who promptly broke out into cheers and laughter. “I’m serious! Has anyone in here ever participated in the munchy, munch, munch, munch? Because they are celebrating you in Boston right now.”
The comedian then turned to the camera with a message for the white viewers at home. “White people, you don’t need to be saying sh– about this statue. Do you understand? Black hands only. You need to sit your a– in the back of the bus for this one. You need to honor this statue. This is our civil rights icon going down on his wife.”
After more roaring cheers, Jones continued, “OK, black people. What the f— are we going to do? We got to talk about this, because you know it’s messed up when black people and the Proud Boys hate the same statue.”
To conclude, Jones compared the statue to other famous ones, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, noting that people probably didn’t love them at first. “Maybe it’s a matter of time,” she joked about the newly unveiled MLK statue. “In time, we will see the statue for what it truly is. Martin Luther King going down on his wife. I can’t unsee it!”
Jones will guest-host three episodes of The Daily Show this week, followed by fellow comedians Wanda Sykes, D.L. Hughley, Chelsea Handler and Sarah Silverman with weekly stints through Feb. 16. Following the exit of host Trevor Noah, the show will keep up this guest-hosting rotation until the fall.
Watch the full clip below.
To love Glee is to know that the hit Fox TV series is haunted by several startling tragedies. Most notably, the high-profile deaths of stars Cory Monteith, who passed away from an accidental drug overdose in 2013, Mark Salling, who died by suicide in 2018 after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography, and Naya Rivera, who suffered a drowning accident in 2020.
This phenomenon is the basis for Investigation Discovery’s new docuseries, The Price Of Glee. Airing roughly eight years after Glee wrapped in 2015, the project chronicles the untimely deaths of both cast and crew members and details behind-the-scenes moments of alleged tension and drama, beginning with a fitting quote about the show from creator Ryan Murphy: “What started off as being such a great celebration of love and acceptance ultimately became about darkness and death.”
It’s important to note that neither Murphy nor any of the main cast are involved in the three-part documentary, which premiered Monday (Jan. 16) on ID and is available for streaming on Discovery+ that same day. In fact, some of the former New Directioners have denounced the docuseries altogether.
Kevin McHale, who played Artie Abrams, likened it to trash, and in December told In Touch that he and his castmates had “nothing to do with it.” Chord Overstreet, who played Sam Evans, called it “bulls–t” on the Elvis Duran radio show.
This was the nice version, ftr. Don’t make me speak on this again.— Kevin McHale (@druidDUDE) December 10, 2022
The stories that are included in The Price of Glee come from various crew members and some actors who served as stand-ins for the main cast. Rivera’s father, George Rivera, is also featured in the doc, as are a couple of Cory Monteith’s former friends — one of whom is Stephen Kramer Glickman, a supporting actor on Nickelodeon’s Big Time Rush, who claimed to have befriended Monteith while their respective shows were filming near each other.
Keep reading to see nine of the biggest revelations from The Price of Glee.
Disney+ premiered its first teaser for Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, With Dave Letterman on Friday (Jan. 13).
“Dublin is a real part of our story,” Bono tells Letterman, adding, “It’s in our songs” before the clip cuts to a live performance of 2004’s “Vertigo.” As a montage of the rockers’ journey back to their homeland flashes across the screen, the U2 frontman’s voice can be heard singing, “Hello, hello/ I’m at a place called Vertigo/ It’s everything I wish I didn’t know/ Except you give me something/ I can feel.”
For his part, a bushy-bearded Letterman seems more than happy to be along for the ride, telling the U2 members, “Many nice things have happened for me in my life; this is right at the top of that list.”
Directed by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville, the documentary will debut March 17 on Disney+ and showcase Bono and The Edge‘s special concert performance in Dublin. A release announcing the special promises it will be “part concert movie, part travel adventure plus a whole lot of Bono and The Edge, with Dave’s humor throughout.”
“Recently, I won a radio contest,” said Letterman in a statement. “Winner gets to visit Dublin with Bono and The Edge (radio contest part not true, but I feel like a winner). They showed me around, introduced me to their musician friends, and performed some of their greatest songs in a small theater. It’s a great tour. Get in touch with them ― I’m told there are still availabilities. I’m the luckiest man on the planet. (There are no availabilities).”
The release of A Sort of Homecoming also happens to coincide with the release of Songs of Surrender, the upcoming compilation of 40 tracks selected from U2’s storied discography — including “One,” “Where the Streets Have No Name,” “Walk On (Ukraine)” and many, many more — which have been re-recorded and entirely reimagined by the band.
Watch the teaser for Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, With Dave Letterman below.
Marisa Abela has fans doing a double take in the first photo from director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s upcoming biopic, Back to Black, in which the 26-year-old Industry actress is set to play Amy Winehouse.
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“Marisa Abela…watch out everyone! Cameras roll on Monday. Here we go!” Taylor-Johnson captioned a photo of Abela, in which she’s seen in Winehouse’s signature beehive hairstyle and hoop earrings.
Abela also shared a series of photos her her own Instagram page, posing in front of a large brick mural of Winehouse. “And for London. This is for London. Cause Camden Town ain’t burnin down,” she captioned the post, in reference to the “Tears Dry on Their Own” singer’s speech at the 2008 Grammy Awards.
Studiocanal is behind the Back to Black, which is backed by Winehouse’s estate. Matt Greenhalgh penned the screenplay, with exact plot details currently unknown.
The Grammy-winning singer is best known for her groundbreaking sophomore album Back to Black, which included the Hot 100 hits “Rehab” and “You Know I’m No Good.” The singer, who battled drug and alcohol addiction, died in 2011 at age 27 from alcohol poisoning.
Taylor-Johnson directed the first installment of the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise. Taylor-Johnson’s other film credits include Nowhere Boy and A Million Little Pieces.
