TV/Film
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Texas can barely hold its excitement for Beyoncé‘s newly announced halftime-show performance at this year’s Houston Texans vs. Baltimore Ravens game on Christmas Day — much less the rest of her fans across the world. As revealed late Sunday (Nov. 17) via a cinematic teaser — which showed off the superstar’s impressive football-catching skills — […]
Charli XCX hosted SNL for the first time and starred in nine sketches Saturday night (Nov. 16) in an episode that indulged in the pop star’s brat vibes.
Pulling double duty Saturday night as host and musical guest, Charli got things going with a monologue that explained how her career started (“I played at my first rave when I was 15 years old — my parents actually drove me there”), how she’s gotten to where she is (“Today, I consider myself to be a triple threat, which in England means I sing, I drink and I smoke”) and what it truly means to be “brat.”
“So many people have asked me, ‘What is ‘brat’?’ And honestly, it’s just, like, an attitude. It’s a vibe. For example, the new Martha Stewart documentary: When Martha gets mad about an old magazine article and she says that she’s glad the journalist who wrote it is dead, that is brat. And on Friday, when that exact journalist responded and said, ‘Hey, I’m alive, b—-!’ — that is extremely brat,” Charli said in front of the live audience at Studio 8H.
Besides bringing a dose of dry wit, the three-time musical guest brought her late-night party to the stage Saturday with Brat tracks “360” and “Sympathy Is a Knife” (the original album versions, not her Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat collabs).
The episode had an SNL cast member playing Charli in one sketch — so that Charli could star opposite, as her tourmate Troye Sivan. (Sivan’s response: changing his profile pic to Charli’s version of him.)
Charli’s impersonation skills were also put to the test in portrayals of Adele and Victoria Beckham, and she was part of a group cover of Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go!” that welcomed the now-recurring character Domingo, the guy who crashed a wedding reception in Ariana Grande’s episode last month.
The best sketch, which had Charli’s humor matching a certain SNL trio’s comedy, was actually cut for time during the live broadcast. Thankfully we’ve got the internet and SNL uploaded this one online.
Here’s a ranking of every sketch Charli XCX was in Saturday night, when SNL‘s Nov. 16 episode aired. Watch all nine sketches below.
“Banger Boyz”
Charli XCX delivered some Wicked impressions during her hosting debut on Saturday Night Live.
On Saturday (Nov. 16), the 32-year-old British pop star pulled double duty as both host and musical guest. She showcased her comedic chops in a standout sketch about auditions for the upcoming live-action adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked.
The sketch begins with a voiceover for the movie: “Audiences can’t wait to see the star-studded cast of Wicked,” as clips from the Jon M. Chu-directed film, featuring Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, play on screen. “But before production starts, actors across Hollywood audition to step foot in Oz. Here are their never-before-seen screen tests.”
The sketch features a series of hilarious fake auditions from various celebrities, including JoJo Siwa (Chloe Fineman), Bernie Sanders (Sarah Sherman), Sydney Sweeney (Fineman), Al Pacino (Dana Carvey), Martha Stewart (Fineman), and Bad Bunny (Marcello Hernandez).
Charli kicks things off with a spot-on impression of Adele. Dressed in an elegant black dress and sporting long, wavy hair reminiscent of the British singer’s look during her Weekends With Adele residency in Las Vegas, Charli’s Adele exclaims, “Oh, hello, can I take me shoes off? OK, wicked!” as she flings off her heels and struts down a yellow brick road. “Oh my God! I said the name of the bloody movie! That’s f—ing funny!” she adds, laughing with exaggerated flair.
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Later in the sketch, SNL‘s Bowen Yang, who famously impersonated Charli during the show’s Season 50 premiere, returns to play Charli once again — this time while standing next to Charli herself, who appears as her Sweat tour mate Troye Sivan.
“Can I call you Elphie?” Bowen’s Charli asks, prompting Troye (played by Charli) to respond, “No.” Bowen continues, “I only bullied you because I’m a b—- and you’re a witch. And you’re a witch, I’m confused.” Charli’s Sivan clarifies, “I’m not a witch. I’m a top.”
Yang also plays Pfannee in Wicked, which hits theaters on Nov. 22.
Elsewhere in the episode, Charli electrified the crowd with performances of “360” and “Sympathy Is a Knife,” both tracks from her sixth album, Brat. Released in June, the set debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and earned widespread acclaim, including a 2025 Grammy nomination for album of the year.
Saturday’s appearance marked Charli’s third time on SNL, following previous musical guest spots in 2014 and 2022.
Watch SNL‘s “Wicked Auditions” sketch below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.
Charli XCX brought songs from her Grammy-nominated Brat album to Saturday Night Live on Nov. 16. The 32-year-old British pop star pulled double duty as both host and musical guest on the iconic NBC sketch comedy show. Between cracking jokes in sketches, Charli delivered electrifying performances of “360” and “Sympathy Is a Knife,” both from […]
Elmo’s traveled from Sesame Street all the way to a chicken shop in London to go on a date with Amelia Dimoldenberg.
The Chicken Shop Date creator/stae has had dates with many famous faces in her 10-year journey to find love at the chicken shop — most recently, Andrew Garfield. (If you’re one to read the comments, you’ll know fans of both have been convinced he’s the one.)
From the music world, Burna Boy, Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX, Cher, Billie Eilish, Jack Harlow, Matty Healy, Rema, Rosalia, Ed Sheeran and SZA are among the many talented artists who’ve been to the chicken shop with Dimoldenberg. British rapper Ghettz was her first date, in 2014, for the series that’s become a short-form comedy hit on YouTube.
You might say she went for a different type for the latest episode of Chicken Shop Date.
Dimoldenberg invited Elmo, the lovable puppet from Sesame Street, out for a playdate version of one of her typical dates. She met with him at the chicken shop only to learn he doesn’t eat chicken, that he can match her deadpan delivery, and that he also has an innate talent for making the moment awkward.
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“Does Elmo like nuggets?” she asks to open the episode, which dropped Friday (Nov. 15) on YouTube.
“Well, Elmo does vegetarian nuggets,” Elmo replies.
“Oh, you’re a vegetarian?” Amelia asks.
“Well, Elmo knows lots of chickens, you know. Elmo has friends that are chickens,” he says.
Elmo dishes the truth to his date about hugs (ask first), getting out of your head, and learning a word called “patience.” He also shouts out Beyoncé in hopes of bringing her to both Sesame Street and Chicken Shop Date — a move that Dimoldenberg warns him is desperate, before admitting that she’s desperate to be getting advice about romance from Elmo.
“What do you think Cookie Monster would make of chicken shops?” she wonders at another point.
“A mess,” Elmo says.
“Right,” says Amelia.
Watch Elmo on Chicken Shop Date below to see how the date went.
She’ll show you what shoes to wear, how to fix your hair — and while she’s at it, Ariana Grande will also tell you the correct lyrics to her character Glinda’s signature song in Wicked. Shortly after the fast-approaching musical film shared extended looks at a few of its featured songs on Instagram Wednesday (Nov. […]
Jelly Roll was Dwayne Johnson’s rock long before the musician was a bestselling recording artist.
While appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show Friday (Nov. 15), The Rock opened up about discovering the “Need a Favor” singer’s music many years prior, during what the actor described as a rough patch in his life. “I was going through a hard time at that time — he didn’t even know it, because we didn’t know each other,” Johnson recalled.
“That was one of my bouts with depression, and I was struggling, and I was really wobbly,” he continued. “I was trying to balance a lot, we were pregnant with our second baby … my older daughter, she was long distance, I was trying to film a movie. There was a lot going on.”
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Johnson — who shares daughter Simone with his ex-wife, producer Dany Garcia, and daughters Jasmine and Tiana with musician Lauren Hashian, whom he married in 2019 — went on to read aloud a lyric of Jelly’s 2017 track “Only,” which the Moana star says particularly inspired him at the time.
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“What if the darkness inside of me has finally taken my soul?/ What if the angels in heaven were sent to take me home?” Johnson quoted. “Would they fight through the demons that I have in my life?/ Lord, I’m believing eventually see the light.”
“That really moved me and touched me,” The Rock concluded. “We got in contact with each other and I told him what it meant to me. We didn’t know each other but became really good friends. That’s my boy, and I love that guy.”
As host Clarkson pointed out, the exchange occurred well before Jelly hit his commercial breakthrough in late 2022 with “Son of a Sinner” — which reached No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 — and sealed in his superstar status with 2023’s Whitsitt Chapel. The Tennessee native has since scored his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with October’s Beautifully Broken, and he’s fresh off of nabbing two new Grammy nominations: best country song and best country solo performance for “I Am Not Okay.”
Jelly previously opened up on the Kelly Clarkson Show about his side of the story of his friendship with Johnson, a snippet of which the talk show played during the Jumanji actor’s episode. “He was a fan when I wasn’t worth being a fan of,” the musician says of The Rock in the clip. “By him being a fan, I was like, ‘If one of the greatest personalities of this generation — one of the greatest actors and entertainers — if he sees something in this music, maybe I’m on to something.’”
Watch Johnson gush about Jelly below.
Luke Bryan, a co-host of this year’s CMA Awards and a two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner, is set to guide viewers through country music’s current moment, offering fans a journey into the artists, songs and stories that have led the genre over the past year, when he hosts the ABC News special Vegas Lights & Country Nights: Countdown to the CMA Awards — A Special Edition of 20/20.
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The one-hour special will air Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 10:01 p.m. ET on ABC, and will stream the following day on Hulu and Disney+.
Filmed in Las Vegas, the special will take fans behind-the-scenes as country music gears up for the 58th Annual CMA Awards. The awards ceremony is hosted by Bryan, Peyton Manning and Lainey Wilson, and will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 20, on ABC, and the following day on Hulu.
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Vegas Lights & Country Nights will feature Jason Aldean, who will sit down for a candid discussion of his career history in Vegas, at his new Jason Aldean Kitchen+Bar Vegas location; he will also surprise first responders from 2017’s Route 91 Harvest Festival with an intimate musical performance. Bryan’s fellow American Idol judge and eight-time Grammy winner Carrie Underwood will take fans behind the curtains of her Reflection: The Las Vegas Residency, while Blake Shelton will show fans around his Ole Red Las Vegas bar while talking about his life and upcoming residency.
From there, Keith Urban will also reflect on his new album, High, and his Las Vegas residency, while Shaboozey will discuss his breakthrough year and his 17-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Shaboozey has two nominations leading into this year’s CMA Awards, including new artist of the year and single of the year for “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
The special will also feature conversations with Thomas Rhett, who will launch a limited Las Vegas residency in December, as well as Carly Pearce, who offers an all-access pass to her “Hummingbird” tour stop in Las Vegas. Dustin Lynch, Brandi Cyrus and the YEEDM DJ duo VAVO will also provide an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at their performances at the Professional Bull Riders after-party.
Vegas Lights & Country Nights: Countdown to the CMA Awards – A Special Edition of 20/20 is produced by ABC News Studios and 20/20. Emily Whipp serves as executive producer, and Janice Johnston is senior executive producer. Monica Escobedo serves as senior entertainment producer.
Get an early look at the ABC News special below:
Jon M. Chu is giving a bit of insight into the highly anticipated film about the life and career of pop princess Britney Spears. “I cannot talk much about the Britney story other than I have been a Britney fan for many years,” the director told The Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview. “I saw her […]
Boyz II Men have joined the list of beloved artists getting the biopic treatment.
The group — which includes members Nathan Morris, Shawn Stockman and Wanyá Morris — have partnered with Compelling Pictures and Primary Wave to develop the film, according to Variety. Additionally, Compelling is working on a documentary about the group’s rise and impact throughout the 1990s and 2000s, and how their success continues today.
Producers for the upcoming film include Denis O’Sullivan and Jeff Kalligheri for Compelling; Larry Mestel for Primary Wave; Joe Mulvihill for the Mulvi Group; and Jeremy M. Rosen for Roxwell Films. All three members of Boyz II Men will serve as executive producers for the project, along with Ori Allon, Dennis Casali and Steven Garcia. The producers are reportedly in talks with writers and directors to lead the project.
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“We’ve been waiting to find the right partners who understand our story and are willing to tell it all,” Morris said in a press statement. “Denis and Jeff at Compelling Pictures understood us day one.”
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Among the musicians whose biopics are currently in production include Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Jenni Rivera, Janis Joplin, Queen Latifah, Sublime and more.
Biopics have proven to be wildly successful over the past few years. 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody (which grossed over $900 million globally) gave Queen’s discography a major boost. In the six months following its release, Queen’s music streams tripled, from 588 million to 1.9 billion. Sales, too, had a 483% increase from the previous year. In mid-2019, the band occupied the top two spots on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart.
Meanwhile, Elton John’s hits collection Diamonds occupied the No. 4 slot thanks to a biopic boost from the 2019 musical Rocketman. In June, the set also catapulted to No. 7 on the Billboard 200, making it John’s 20th top 10 album.