TV/Film

14 Nov 2024

Josh Groban to Headline Star-Studded Christmas Special on CBS

Josh Groban, whose 2007 holiday album Noël topped the Billboard 200 for five consecutive weeks, will headline a festive-season special for CBS, Josh Groban & Friends Go Home for the Holidays, set to air on Dec. 20.  

Musical performances include holiday classics, new releases and duets with Groban and his guests, including James Bay, Jennifer Hudson, Tori Kelly and The War And Treaty.

Hosted and executive produced by Groban, the special is said to feature a new format combining compelling stories, music, comedy and a live adoption on stage, celebrating the creation of a new family.

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“I am honored and excited to host a show with friends old and new to celebrate the unity and togetherness of the holidays,” Groban said in a statement. “It’s especially important because it will spread the importance of adoption and will feature the most incredible kids. I can’t wait for everyone to watch with their families, sing along and hopefully make room in their hearts and homes for a child who needs one.”

For the last 25 years, Home for the Holidays has shined a light on the thousands of American children in foster care, and has inspired tens of thousands of adoptions. Josh Groban & Friends Go Home for the Holidays continues its legacy of showcasing the transformative power of adoption and the true meaning of family.

Josh Groban & Friends Go Home for the Holidays is produced by Triage Entertainment and Goldsmith Entertainment. Groban, Karen Mack, Stu Schreiberg, Stephen Kroopnick, Marilyn Seabury and Diarmuid Quinn are the executive producers. Jennifer Perry, Nicole Cadena and Kelly Brock are producers. Michael Simon is director.

The special was filmed in the Bram Goldsmith Theater at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Beverly Hills, Calif.

Groban’s previous specials include Josh Groban in Concert (2002) and Josh Groban’s Great Big Radio City Show (2022), both for PBS.

Josh Groban & Friends Go Home for the Holidays is set to air on Dec. 20 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS (live and on-demand for Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers, or on-demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the special airs).

14 Nov 2024

Composer Siddhartha Khosla Elected to Television Academy’s Board of Governors: Full List

Emmy-winning composer Siddhartha Khosla was elected to the Television Academy’s board of governors, representing the music branch. Khosla will serve a two-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2025.

Khosla has received seven Primetime Emmy nominations for his work on two hit series – NBC’s This Is Us andHulu’s Only Murders in the Building. He won his first Emmy – outstanding music composition for a series (original dramatic score) – in September for the latter show.

Khosla’s other credits include FOX comedy Grandfathered, Lionsgate/E!’s The Royals and Hulu’s Runaways, and feature films Fat Camp and Liv. He also composed original songs for the musical film Basmati Blues and ABC series The Neighbors. Khosla is also known for founding the New York-based band Goldspot, which released three albums from 2008-13.

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Khosla is one of 13 newly-elected governors, out of a total of 31 on the board. The Television Academy reports that its 2025 board of governors is the most inclusive in its history. For the second year in a row, the board reflects gender parity. In addition, 47% of its members are from what the academy calls “historically marginalized groups (based on racial and cultural identity, sexual orientation, et al.),” the highest in its history, surpassing last year’s record of 45%.

The 13 newly-elected governors who will serve a first-ever two-year term are: Kevin Blank (special visual effects); John Boyd (lighting, camera & technical arts); Allison Dorenbosch (children’s programming); Megan Galizia (television executives); Trayce Gigi Field (costume design & supervision); Phil Gurin (producers); Shana Hagan, ASC (cinematographers); Siddhartha Khosla (music); Vicki Lemar (sound); Joseph Litzinger (reality programming); Angela Moos (makeup artist/hairstylists); Sean Presant (writers) and Megan Sleeper (casting directors).

In addition, 15 governors were reelected to serve a second two-year term: Wendy Aylsworth (science & technology); Eva Basler (daytime programming); Bobbi Banks (sound editors); Mary Lou Belli (directors); Hillary Bibicoff (professional representatives); Megan Chao (documentary programming); Yvette Cobarrubias (commercials); David Hartle (production executives); Christina Lee (public relations); Kate Linder (performers); Robert M. Malachowski Jr., ACE (picture editors); Eddie Perez (stunts); Eric W. Shamlin (emerging media programming); Steve Viola (motion & title design) and Kimberly Wannop (art directors/set directors).

Three of the elected governors are returning to serve a new two-year term after an absence from the Television Academy’s governing body: Janet Dimon (animation), Mandy Moore (choreography) and Greg Taylor (Los Angeles area).

14 Nov 2024

KATSEYE’s New Single ‘Flame’ Soundtracks ‘Jentry Chau vs the Underworld’ Teaser

KATSEYE are turning up the girl power. The group’s single “Flame” is featured on the upcoming soundtrack for Netflix’s Jentry Chau vs the Underworld, and was officially released on Thursday (Nov. 14).

The song, which will also be the animated series’ theme song, is included in a new teaser for the show, starring and executive produced by comedian Ali Wong. The Echo Wu-created Jentry Chau vs the Underworld follows the titular character (voiced by Wong), who is a Chinese-American teenager living in a small Texas town with supernatural powers she’s been trying to repress. She soon finds out a demon king is hunting her for the aforementioned powers, and “with the help of her weapons expert great-aunt and a millennia-old jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire), Jentry must now fight an entire underworld’s worth of monsters while balancing the horrors of high school,” per the series description.

The show, which hits Netflix on December 5, also stars Bowen Yang, Lori Tan Chinn, Lucy Liu, Jimmy O. Yang, Sheng Wang, Woosung Kim and A.J. Beckles.

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Watch the full Jentry Chau vs the Underworld teaser below, as well as the full soundtrack track list. The soundtrack, which also arrives on December 5, will be a double album featuring original songs and series score by Brian H. Kim.

1. Flame – KATSEYE
2. 3X (세 번) – Jessi
3. Do You See Me – Yaeji
4. Ghost – Sugs
5. Face to Face – Jonah Wolf 
6. Sen Qi Qi (森77) – Notiz Yong, Kenton Chen
7. See – eaJ
8. Nightmare – BAER
9. Sweetest Nothings – Thuy
10. Remember the Alamo – Rekstizzy
11. Maniacal – Alice Longyu Gao 
12. Silhouette – rei brown

13 Nov 2024

Lady Gaga Joins ‘Wednesday’ Season 2 After Viral Jenna Ortega ‘Bloody Mary’ Dance

Two years after Lady Gaga‘s “Bloody Mary” was resurrected by a runaway TikTok trend surrounding Netflix’s Wednesday, Mother Monster has reportedly joined the Jenna Ortega-led cast.

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According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gaga will appear in the second season of the hit Addams Family-inspired show slated for 2025. Details regarding her role are still unknown, but production is currently under way in Ireland.

Billboard has reached out to reps for Gaga and Netflix for comment.

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Though the cameo will mark the “Rain on Me” singer’s first official step into the Wednesday universe, she’s unofficially been in the show’s orbit since its first season premiered in 2022. When one scene of Ortega — who plays the titular role of Wednesday Addams — dancing to The Cramps’ 1981 single “Goo Goo Muck” went viral, fans began editing the sequence to Gaga’s Born This Way deep cut “Bloody Mary.” The edits sparked a broader trend on TikTok of users re-creating the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star’s choreography, which the Oscar winner herself tried out that December.

The “Bloody Mary” craze also propelled the song into the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time, a full 11 years after it was first release. It bowed at No. 41 in April 2023.

Centered on Wednesday’s experience leaving her famous spooky family behind for boarding school, the first season of Wednesday featured Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams, Luis Guzmán as Gomez and Fred Armisen as Uncle Lester. Emma Myers played Ortega’s onscreen best friend Enid, while Gwendoline Christie portrayed Nevermore Academy principal Larissa Weems and Christina Ricci — who played Wednesday in 1991’s The Addams Family — starred as Marilyn Thornhill.

Around the time of the “Bloody Mary” resurgence, Ortega addressed the possibility of Gaga joining the cast. “I’m sure Netflix would love that,” Ortega said on the Golden Globes red carpet in January 2023. “If Lady Gaga were to be a part, [she and Wednesday] would have to be two monsters that understand each other.”

This year, Gaga starred alongside Joaquin Phoenix in Joker: Folie à Deux — for which she dropped a companion album, Harlequin, in September — and she previously acted in A Star Is Born, American Horror Story and House of Gucci.

The musician is also currently gearing up to release her seventh studio album in February. Its lead single, “Disease,” dropped in late October, debuting at No. 27 on the Hot 100.

13 Nov 2024

Charli XCX Is Feeling Really ‘Brat’ About ‘SNL’ in New Promo

Charli XCX is pulling double duty on Saturday Night Live this weekend as both host and musical guest, which means that 30 Rockefeller Plaza’s Studio 8H is getting a whole lot more Brat.

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In a new promo for the upcoming episode, the “Apple” singer is seen going over her lines before SNL cast member Chloe Fineman joins her to express excitement over her joining the show. “Brat,” Charli responds, and continues to respond with the same one-word phrase for Fineman’s series of conversation starters, including asking how she’s feeling, inquiring about a rash and more. Of course, the phrase is in reference to her pop culture-dominating album that dropped back in June.

At some point, the comedian tells Charli, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re saying. It sounds like you’re repeating the word ‘Brat,’” which Charli confirms by responding, you guessed it, “Brat.”

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New SNL cast member Emil Wakim then joins in on the conversation, admitting, “I feel like I still don’t understand what ‘Brat’ means.” Charli then shares her longest response of the clip, telling Wakim, “But you will, babes,” before turning up the drama as Fineman blows the singer’s hair back with a leaf blower.

Charli XCX’s SNL appearance comes shortly after she wrapped up her Sweat tour with Troye Sivan. Over the course of 22 shows, the run earned $28 million and 297,000 tickets sold, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. 

Watch Charli XCX in the SNL promo below. Catch the full episode of Saturday Night Live on Nov. 16 at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC, before it streams on Peacock.

13 Nov 2024

‘Wicked’ Shares Extended Looks at Ariana Grande’s ‘Popular’ & Cynthia Erivo’s ‘The Wizard & I’: Watch

Fans just got their longest tastes yet of two highly anticipated Wicked performances from stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, with the film sharing extended looks at the former’s “Popular” and the latter’s “The Wizard & I” Wednesday (Nov. 13).

Accompanied by a visual lyric display, the “Popular” video finds the pop star as Glinda, frenziedly dressing up the Pinocchio actress’ perplexed Elphaba in pink accessories. “Don’t be offended by my frank analysis/ Think of it as personality dialysis,” she sings on the signature track, originally performed by Kristin Chenoweth on Broadway. “Now that I’ve chosen to become a pal/ A sister and adviser, there’s nobody wiser/ Not when it comes to popular.”

In the “Wizard & I” video, Erivo roams the campus of Shiz University and explores the Ozian outdoors while belting out the hopeful ballad, adding her own custom riffs. (Sorry, Wicked superfans, it looks like you’ll have to wait for the full movie to hear her take on the track’s famous final high note.)

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“When I meet the Wizard/ Once I prove my worth/ And then I meet the Wizard/ What I’ve waited for since, since birth,” she sings, making the Idina Menzel-originated song her own. “He’ll say to me I see who you truly are/ A girl on whom I can rely/ And that’s how we’ll begin/ The Wizard and I.”

The new videos come just nine days ahead of the premiere of Wicked Part 1, which hits theaters Nov. 22. Part 2 will arrive one year later. Leading up to the movie’s theatrical release worldwide, the two stars — and the rest of the Wicked cast — have been traveling to various premieres, most recently greeting fans on the red carpet in Mexico City Monday (Nov. 11).

As sampled in the newly released performance videos, both Grande and Erivo sang live vocals on the set of Wicked. “When we were shooting it, those girls were like, ‘F–k the pre-records,” Chu recalled in a March Vanity Fair interview. “We’re going live.’”

Watch Grande sing “Popular” above, and see Erivo perform “The Wizard and I” below.

13 Nov 2024

Jin of BTS to Make His Solo Debut on Jimmy Fallon’s ‘Tonight Show’

Jin of BTS on The Tonight Show? He’ll be there. 

As announced by host Jimmy Fallon in a video posted to to the show’s social media accounts Tuesday (Nov. 12), the 31-year-old K-pop star is set to make his solo debut on the late-night talk program. In the clip, the Saturday Night Live alum opens an envelope labeled “Top Secret” and feeds a disc into an ancient-looking computer. 

Once the contents of the disc finally load, revealing a photo of Jin’s face and the date of his upcoming Tonight Show appearance — Nov. 20 — Fallon’s jaw drops with excitement.  

The news comes about six years after BTS made its full-band debut on Fallon’s show. In 2018, the group — which is also comprised of SUGA, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jung Kook — performed Billboard Hot 100 No. 11 hit “Idol” and “I’m Fine,” as well as tried out that year’s “Fortnite” dance trend. 

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In 2020, the boys made a number of Tonight Show appearances — including a couple virtual musical numbers on the show to lighten ARMY’s moods during the COVID-19 pandemic — before returning again in 2021 for performances of their No. 1 hits “Butter” and “Permission to Dance.” Jin’s bandmates Jimin and SUGA have since made their own solo debuts on the show. 

News of the “Super Tuna” singer’s upcoming appearance comes on the heels of his new single “I’ll Be There,” which dropped Oct. 25 ahead of his debut solo album, Happy, which arrives Friday (Nov. 15). In a recent interview, Jin said of the project, “I have a very clear idea of what kind of emotions I want to share with our fans … I want our fans, our ARMY, to be happy.” 

Jin’s solo era is unfolding as most of the BTS boys are still finishing out their mandatory service in the South Korean military, which the “Abyss” artist became the first to complete in June. J-Hope is the only other member of the group to have completed his since then; full-band activities are on pause until next year. 

Watch Fallon’s announcement above.

13 Nov 2024

Tanner Frick Unexpectedly Leaves ‘The Voice’ Before Launch of Knockout Rounds

When fans of The Voice tuned in to the show on Monday night (Nov. 11) to check out the start of the Knockout rounds, there was one singer who was conspicuously absent. According to EW, host Carson Daly noted at the top of the episode that country singer Tanner Frick had dropped out of the competition after notching a four-chair turn earlier in season 26.

At press time, Frick had not commented on his absence and the show did not provide any additional information about why he left the series. But on Tuesday (Nov. 12), the Manchester, TN native who used to work at the city’s water & sewer department posted another snippet of a new song on Instagram featuring seemingly prescient lyrics.

“These whiskey nights and neon lights they all fade away/ But this lonesome road keeps calling me to stay,” he sings in his gravely country drawl over acoustic guitar. “So I’m back here, I’m on my own/ I can’t seem to leave this life alone/ I guess I’m a lone wolf and a stray/ Ain’t nobody want me anyway.” Frick did not comment on the song or his departure in the post, with the caption to the clip re-iterating the song’s refrain.

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Commenters were confused and had a lot of questions, with one asking “What happened???,” while another added, “Ugh I hate that you left the Voice. I had you as my top #1 artist! So sad to see you go but I hope everything is okay! You have an amazing voice and you have such talent. Keep pushing forward and good luck with your future.” One of his fans lamented that Frick could have “won it all.”

On Nov. 3 Frick seemed to preview his leave-taking in a TikTok video featuring the same song — which he said was titled “Lonesome Road” — while reminding fans to tune in to the show to see him perform.

Frick made a name for himself during the blind auditions round in early October with a cover of Morgan Wallen’s “Thought You Should Know,” which earned him chair turns from all four coaches, with both Snoop Dogg and Reba McEntire bonding instantly with the singer over their shared family roots in Mississippi. “While ya’ll still had your backs turned I was into this!” Snoop reminded fellow judges Michael Bublé and Gwen Stefani about his early adopter status on the country crooner.

Stefani said all the judges were won over when Frick sang with his “full voice,” which allowed his uniqueness to shine through, correctly predicting that the singer would go with country icon McEntire as his coach. Last week, Frick impressed again in a Battle Round duel with Tate Renner on Jelly Roll’s “I Need a Favor.” After he failed to advance in that round, Bublé snagged him for his team, calling the pick-up a “huge win for me” and dubbing the country singer a “piece of the puzzle” that he didn’t have.

EW reported that on Monday’s show Daly told fans at home that Frick, 26, had “left the competition after rehearsals,” with no additional information available at press time on the reason for his departure.

The Voice airs on NBC on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET before streaming on Peacock the next day.

12 Nov 2024

16-Year-Old ‘American Idol’ Singer Triston Harper Expecting Baby With Wife Paris Reed

American Idol alum Triston Harper is living his American dream with wife Paris Reed, who is pregnant with the couple’s first baby together.

Hattie M. Sullivan, the mom of the 16-year-old aspiring singer, announced the news in a Facebook post just two days after Harper changed his relationship status on the site to reflect his nuptials to his 17-year-old partner Reed. “Now Everybody has congratulated me on Triston and Paris getting married but to me that is old news,” Sullivan wrote, sharing a photo of her son holding up a positive pregnancy test as Reed smiles next to him.

“Now I’m bout to be a ‘G Ma,’” she added.

The news comes a few months after Harper was eliminated from season 22 of Idol in May. He made it as far as the top five on the show — which ended that same month with 21-year-old Abi Carter as the ultimate winner — and at one point wowed the judges with a performance of Blake Shelton’s “God’s Country.”

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At the time, guest mentor Jelly Roll raved about the young performer. “He walked in with the spirit of a 75-year-old man that had been through a lifetime of pain,” the “Son of a Sinner” singer told Billboard in April. “Just wise beyond his years, with that deep Southern drawl. He has you eating out of the palm of his hand the first two seconds you talk to him, and the coolest part is he has no clue that he’s charming.

“It’s just naturally kind of who he is and then for him to be so moved by me was really cool,” Jelly added of Harper.

Since his time on the show ended, Harper has been sharing videos of himself performing songs on guitar for his Instagram followers. In August, he celebrated Reed on National Girlfriend Day by sharing a photo of them smiling together, writing, “I love you so much @reedgirl.101. There may be a 1 in a million kind of girl, but your my 1 in a lifetime time kind of woman.”

12 Nov 2024

How Will Gwen Stefani Pick Between ‘My Girls’? Watch Powerhouse ‘The Voice’ Knockout Before It Airs

Season 26 of The Voice is heating up, and on Tuesday night’s (Nov. 12) episode, Gwen Stefani‘s team members Felsmere, Gabrielle Zabosky and Kay Sibal put on three powerful performances during the Knockouts that make the choice of a winner nearly impossible for their coach.

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In the Knockouts showdown premiering exclusively on Billboard below, Felsmere is up first, and the 33-year-old Floridian shows off her impressively raspy vocal range with Dusty Springfield’s 1969 classic “Son of a Preacher Man.” Twenty-five-year-old Zabosky follows with an emotion-evoking, vocal-run-filled rendition of Miley Cyrus’ introspective single “Used to Be Young.” Sibal finishes off the Knockout face-off with a stripped-down cover of Ariana Grande’s “One Last Time,” featuring the Filipino-American Los Angeles native on the piano before she turns up the tempo at the end.

Fellow coaches Michael Bublé and Reba McEntire choose Zabosky as their personal favorite, while Stefani, of course, gives a standing ovation to all three of her “girls.”

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“Felsmere, you have the full package. I wanted to get the quirkiness out of the song, that ironic part of the lyric and the power of that, right? I really have to tell you: I think this was your best time doing it, right here in front of the whole of America,” Stefani tells the contestants. “Gabrielle, you were so vulnerable in those lyrics. You were just way down in here [gestures toward her heart] because you knew you were going to go way over here later [holds her hand over her head]. I thought it was perfect. Oh my gosh, little Kay. I know you want to be this little girl with this huge voice, but what impresses me is that vulnerable part of you. That’s my favorite part of Kay, and I loved working with you so much.”

Watch the full Knockouts competition exclusively on Billboard below, and find out Stefani’s decision when The Voice airs Tuesday night (Nov. 12) at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, before streaming the next day on Peacock.