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Zendaya won her third major award for her portrayal of drug-addicted teen Rue in the gritty drama Euphoria at Tuesday night’s (Jan. 10) 2023 Golden Globe Awards. But, after previously taking home two primetime Emmys for the role, the 26-year-old star was not in the house in Los Angeles to accept her best performance by an actress in a drama television series at last night’s rebooted event, but she did send her fans a heartfelt acceptance note.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to be there tonight, but I just wanted to say thank you to @goldenglobes for this incredible honor. To my fellow nominees, it is a privilege to be named beside you, I admire you all deeply,” she wrote in an Instagram post alongside a moody black and white pic in which she appeared to be dancing in her room.
She thanked her whole Euphoria family, saying without them “none of this is possible. Lastly, thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has allowed Rue into theirs. I think everyone knows how much she means to me, but the fact that she can mean something to someone else is a gift. I’m honestly at a loss for words as I type this, all I can say is thank you thank you thank you.”
Z’s first Golden Globe for the show she stars in and executive produces came in a very tight race in which she was up against a number of veteran stars, including Laura Linney (Ozark), Hilary Swank (Alaska Daily) and Imelda Staunton (The Crown); Emma D’Arcy (House of the Dragon) was also nominated in that category.
Check out Zendaya’s post below.
Your nightmares have been answered. Netflix confirmed on Friday (Jan. 6) that its massive hit series Wednesday will return for a second season on the streamer. Though a date has not yet been announced for season 2, in an interview with Tudum, creators/executive producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar talked about bringing back Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) for another go.
“We can’t wait to dive headfirst into another season and explore the kooky, spooky world of Nevermore,” showrunners Millar and Gough exclusively told the Netflix news site. “We just need to make sure Wednesday hasn’t emptied the pool first.”
The news came along with a video trailer teasing the return cued to the viral TikTok hit launched by Wednesday’s dance to The Cramps’ 1981 single “Goo Goo Muck,” which inspired users to swap in Lady Gaga‘s 2011 Born This Way deep cut “Bloody Mary.” In the 45-second clip, perennially dyspeptic teen detective Wednesday recaps being hunted by monsters, haunted by ghosts and mocked on the internet.
“It’s been pure torture,” she says grinning as the sped-up version of Gaga’s “Mary” swells in the background and the screen reads, “More misery is coming.”
“[Wednesday] sticks to her guns, and she’s not out to please anybody,” Ortega told Tudum of the series that smashed records for Netflix, with 411.29 million hours viewed in its second week, 22 billion views on TikTok and 1.237 billion hours viewed, making it the second most-popular English-language hit in the streamer’s history. “Which, as someone who used to be an immense people pleaser, I really respect.”
The viral “Bloody Mary” phenomenon helped push the Gaga track into the top 40 of the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart las month despite it not being featured in the series proper; the revamped dance sequence also helped propel “Bloody” onto the Billboard Global 200. The trend blew up so big, in fact, that even Mother Monster got in on the action, posting a black and white response video in early December in which she slips into the signature Wednesday Addams look and dancing with her hands, hands, hands.
“It’s been incredible to create a show that’s connected with people across the world,” Millar and Gough said while (spoiler alert) hinting that the stalker running around Nevermore in the season one finale remains a threat to Addams. “We’re thrilled to continue Wednesday’s torturous journey into Season 2.” Millar and Gough said that casting and plot news will be revealed at a later date.
Check out the video below.
No major spoilers, but if you tuned in to the second season of HBO’s hit vacation nightmare series White Lotus you may have missed a super low-key guest appearance from Oscar-winning actress Laura Dern. On Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday night (Jan. 5), the host asked Dern to describe how she ended up making a hush-hush cameo on the series.
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And, of course, what it’s like to be spotted by Taylor Swift fans in the wild thanks to her role in the singer’s “Bejweled” video.
“Recorded from the closet of my room,” Dern said of the secret bit she laid down as a favor to her old friend, Lotus writer and creator Mike White, who previously teamed up with Dern on his previous HBO series, Enlightened. As explained by Kimmel, Dern had an uncredited voice role as star Michael Imperioli’s estranged wife, who is heard, but never seen, in the show.
“It was amazing,” Dern said of the drop-in. “I loved literally recording into my phone and him saying, ‘just go to town, be as angry as you want.’” Dern said she didn’t tell anyone about phoning it in, but noted that her son figure it out when they watched the show together.
Kimmel also asked Dern about her on-screen cameo as the evil stepmother to the Haim sisters in Taylor Swift’s Cinderella-inspired “Bejeweled” video. “Taylor asked me and it sounded like such an incredible time and I was amazed by what a great filmmaker she is, how prepared she was, how improvisational and fun it was. I had the time of my life,” Dern said of Swift’s turn as a director on the shoot for the song from her Midnights album.
Sure, it was fun and tens of millions of people saw the video, but Dern noted that on a recent trip to Hawaii with family she happened to be standing near a sign for a tour of scenes from the Jurassic Park series — Dern has appeared in three films in the series — when a Swiftie spotted her in the wold. Not wanting to do the “whole Jurassic Park thing” while trying to enjoy a vacay with her family, Dern was expecting the girl to ask for a selfie with legendary paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler.
Instead, the fan squealed, “‘Oh my God! Oh my God! Aren’t you the girl in the Taylor Swift video?’” A good sport, Dern said she agreed to a photo marking her pivotal role as a Swift-adjacent actress, which, of course, was framed with the “Welcome to Jurassic Park” sign in the background.
Watch Dern on Kimmel below.
On Sunday afternoon (Dec. 18) , Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Hunter Schafer and Maude Apatow took part in an awards season Q&A for their hit show Euphoria, accompanying a screening of season two’s fifth episode, “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird.”
The episode was largely seen as the season’s breakout, as Golden Globe nominee Zendaya’s Rue runs throughout the night to evade police, drug dealers and her mother’s attempts to bring her to rehab — while also revealing Cassie’s (Sweeney) secret relationship with Nate (Jacob Elordi). Creator Sam Levinson had originally written an entirely different version of the season, but Zendaya said that the plan for this stand-alone episode always remained pretty constant.
“There was a much sadder ending to this season, and so we were thinking, ‘We can’t leave her here, she means too much to us,’” Zendaya told the crowd inside the Paramount Theater. “I think, collectively, as a people, we all needed a little bit of hope. We needed something to look forward to, some goodness and some joy, and trying to find that in a very painful time,” as they worked on the second season amid the pandemic.
“That felt very relevant to, I think, a lot of people, but also important to me when it comes to Rue. I want people to know that there is something beautiful inside of her, whether she can see it at that time or not,” the star and executive producer continued. “So then, he proceeded to completely change the ending, and it ended in the most beautiful way and the most incredible performances that you guys brought to life that blow my mind. And really, the idea [is] that art can save lives in many ways. So it went through many iterations, but I’m grateful where it ended, and I’m grateful for all the stories that were then shared with me after that ending.”
The cast also discussed each of their characters’ arcs in that pivotal episode (which originally aired in February) and the logistics of that Rue run (which surely played a part in Zendaya’s second Emmy win in September). With a third season on the horizon, the stars were also asked what “euphoria” looks like to each of their characters going forward.
Sweeney said that for Cassie it would be a family, as “she’s looking for a family in everyone else. She looks for it and her friends, she looks for it in the guys,” and Apatow said for Lexi it’s “freedom from yourself and your thoughts and negative thoughts, negative self-talk. Once that’s out of the way. you can realize your full potential, and I think that’ll probably [be] hers: stop attacking herself.”
“Each of these characters have their own vice in a way, and I think the product of Jules’ vice that she’s looking for is closeness with other people and feeling affirmed in that closeness without any judgment or real connection and safety in that connection,” Schafer added for her character. “I think she finds it in not the best ways a lot of the time, but I think end of the day, it’s what she’s looking for — what she knows is there with, Rue but there’s stuff in the way; what she knows is with her dad, but there’s stuff in the way; what she knows could be with Elliot, but he’s an addict and everything.”
Finally, Zendaya said for Rue, her one wish “is literally just to be able to be alive and maybe enjoy it.” She said Rue feels like she’s always drowning and hopes that she can, for a moment, just be able to breathe and keep her head above water with “a little bit of happiness and a little bit of joy.”
“And I know that she can do it because Sam wrote it, and Sam is Rue, and he’s done it,” Zendaya continued, as her character is famously based off of the creator’s own struggles with addiction. “He’s proof that there is hope for Rue and anyone like Rue, and from the beautiful letters and people who have reached out — I am so grateful for those experiences when somebody comes up to me, and they speak about Rue and how they’ve connected to her or whatever part of their healing journey she has been able to be a part of. To me that is the greatest, greatest gift I can ever ask, it gives me euphoria and purpose in what I do.”
“I just hope for a little bit of joy and for her just to be able to breathe and love without the fear of losing,” she added. “I mean she’s gonna have to go through some things, yes, but you know, we’ll get there.”
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
With a record nine wins on the board, The Voice coach Blake Shelton is feeling pretty confident about making it an even 10. In fact, in a new promo video for the show’s upcoming season 23 shared by EW just hours before Shelton’s season 22 charge country singer Bryce Leatherwood took home the title on Tuesday night (Dec. 13), Shelton pretended that he didn’t even know who one of his new co-workers was.
“Do you think I’ve got a chance of beating you in your final season,” asks Niall Horan in the video teasing the season slated to kick off in March 2023. “No,” says Shelton confidently to a gobsmacked Horan. “Strong words from a big man,” says the former One Direction star while brushing some stage make-up onto Shelton’s cheeks in what seems like a new guy hazing ritual.
Next up is fellow newbie Chance the Rapper, who asks returning coach Kelly Clarkson to asses his odds on the singing competition. “Do you think I have a chance of beating you?” he asks the singer and daytime talk show host. “A chance?” Clarkson says with a stage laugh as she and the MC joyfully dance it out together.
“I think my biggest competition is probably Kelly,” Chance adds. “But I’mma still win, though.”
The 30-second sneak peek ends with Kelly asking Blake to share his thoughts about the new kids on the block, which Shelton answers with his typical tall guy confidence. “Who are they again?” he quips as Chance and Niall point to themselves in another frame. “Blake is now my dad… no offense to my dad,” Horan says while hugging his new TV pops. Clarkson posits the upcoming season as “the vets versus the newbies,” as Horan promises that no matter what they’re going to have a lot of fun next year.
The sole remaining original coach, Shelton announced in Oct. that the upcoming season will be his final spin in the show’s signature red captain chair. He’ll be flanked by Clarkson, who appeared on seasons 14-21, with her sibling trio, Girl Named Tom, taking home the trophy during season 21. And while Horan will be making his Voice debut, he, of course, began his career as a contestant on the UK’s The X Factor, where he was teamed up with the rest of the One Direction gang.
The upcoming season of The Voice will premiere on March 6 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
Click here to watch the promo.
Everyone’s doing the “Bloody Mary.” The viral TikTok dance sensation inspired by Wednesday star Jenny Ortega’s quirky moves that is set to the sanguineous 2011 Lady Gaga song has blown up so big that even Mother Monster couldn’t resist throwing her black veil into the ring.
“Bloody Wednesday,” Gaga dubbed her black and white TikTok response video, in which she quickly applies her gothy white makeup and fills out her eyebrows while slipping into leather Mary Janes, plaid knee socks, black shorts, a matching jacket and a black shirt with a frilly white front. And then she dances. Waving her hands behind her body while rocking an impassive look and then bopping them back and forth in front of her chest to the song’s sped-up, chipmunk-like vocals, Gaga goes full tragic teen.
Born This Way deep cut “Mary” went viral a few weeks ago when TikTokers began using it to soundtrack video recreations of Wednesday Addams’ (Ortega) standout dance scene in the hugely popular new Netflix series about the creepy, kooky family.
It’s not the first time Gaga has nodded to the trend. On Dec. 1, she tweeted, “Slay Wednesday! You’re welcome at Haus of Gaga anytime (and bring Thing with you, we love paws around here 😉).” The singer’s tweet was a response to a cute message from the Wednesday Addams official Twitter account, expressing the fictional character’s approval of the “Bloody Mary” trend. “I see you doing my dance moves to @LadyGaga’s Bloody Mary,” it read. “I understand she is followed by little monsters. I approve.”
Just two weeks after its debut, Wednesday is Netflix’s third most-watched English-language series of all time with more than 752 million hours viewed since its Nov. 23 premier.
Clips showcasing Ortega’s instantly lovable portrayal of the gothy teenage character quickly started circulating online after the series dropped, especially a scene in which she shows off her peculiar style of boogying at a school dance. Ortega actually choreographed the dance herself, later revealing on Twitter that she’d taken inspiration from several artists as well as old videos of goths getting down at dance clubs in the 1980s.
Though the dance sequence in Wednesday was actually set to “Goo Goo Muck” by The Cramps, TikTok users started making fan edits with the scene using Gaga’s “Bloody Mary,” some of them dressing up in black and doing their hair to match Ortega’s school dance look in Wednesday.
Ortega recently revealed that she was feeling super ooky while filming the scene. In fact, she said that she was sick with COVID-19 during the filming of the now-famous scene, which she choreographed.
Check out Gaga’s dance below.
Mariah Carey is known. But on Wednesday night’s (Dec. 7) Late Show With Stephen Colbert she was also seen as she sat down for the the show’s scientifically dubious “Colbert Questionert,” in which the host probed the recesses of her mind in order to peel back the unseen layers of the divine miss MC.
After a few minutes of idle chatter about how much better it is to chat in person than on Zoom — as the pair did during the COVID-19 pandemic — before he could even get the Questionert started, Colbert stumbled out of the gate. “Because you are the Queen of Christmas, I’ve got a couple…” he started, before Carey immediately cut him off.
“First of all, may I say I never called myself the Queen of Christmas. Can we please be clear on that?,” Carey said with authority as Colbert noted that he never called her that; Carey recently lost a legal fight over her effort to claim the “Queen of Christmas” trademark. “But others have [said], ‘the self-proclaimed Queen of Christmas.’ I’m like, ‘really? I’m gonna do that?’ They can look up every interview I’ve ever done, and not to get super religious, but if anybody would be the Queen of Christmas that would be Mary?”
For the record, MC said, Christmas is for all and she just happens to really love it too. With that settled, nearly 7 minutes into the segment, Colbert finally got to the first question… which he also fumbled. “White lights or colored lights at Christmas?” he asked the “All I Want For Christmas Is You” singer.
“Um, I’m going to say is that politically correct in the way that you phrased that,” Carey asked with a sideways glance. A grinning Colbert was momentarily speechless about his verbal faux pas. “I’m going to… as a biracial… as a Black and biracial mix… Black, Irish,” Carey laughed while seamlessly plugging her Black Irish liquor brand.
Asked to pick between hot cocoa and eggnog, of course MC went with the cocoa… with a splash of Black Irish, naturally. As for whether she goes angel or star on her tree top, Carey said both, because the unofficial yuletide royal has four trees in her house. But when Colbert wondered when it’s time to start playing Christmas songs, the singer — who famously does not acknowledge time — said she had no idea “All I Want” would have such long legs when she wrote it more than two decades ago. So when she goes shopping, which she only does at Christmas, she said it seems like every retail outlet she hits is playing “cool” music and not classic holiday tunes.
Among her other answers: Best Sandwich (chicken parm with mozzarella cheese instead, lightly toasted), One Thing She Owns She Should Throw Out (a “hideously ugly” jacket in her closet that is multicolored, bright and sparkly), What’s the Scariest Animal? (snakes), Apples or Oranges? (oranges), What Do You Think Happens When We Die? (“the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evidence of things yet unseen.”) and Window or Aisle? (“a bed.”)
And, finally, if she only got one song to listen to for the rest of her life, she said, “Stephen Colbert’s latest hit.” When the host informed her that the last song he sang was “All I Want For Christmas” during the previous night’s monologue, Carey insisted he prove how much of her perennial holiday No. 1 he knew. But MC being MC, after Colbert busted out the first verse and chorus, the famously exacting singer joined in and sang, “You skipped a little part of the B section, but that’s all right.”
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” has already begun its now-annual journey up the Hot 100 for this Christmas season. On the chart dated Dec. 10, the 1994 single sits at No. 2, just behind Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero.” It’s peaked at No. 1 three years in a row now, dating back to its first ascension in 2019.
Check out Mariah’s answers below.
Fox’s first-year series Monarch is finished. The network canceled the family drama set in the world of country music after a single season. The show’s season — now series — finale aired Tuesday night (Dec. 6).
Monarch had initially been slated to premiere in January 2022 with the NFL’s NFC championship game as its lead-in. A few weeks before its debut, however, Fox pulled the show from that spot and moved it to the fall, citing pandemic-related concerns that production might be interrupted.
It premiered following an NFL telecast Sept. 11 and pulled in decent ratings but was unable to keep that audience once it moved to its regular time period on Tuesday nights. Monarch was designed to have a shorter run than shows like 911 or its lead-in The Resident, but it was also Fox’s first fully owned scripted series since the network split from former sibling studio 20th Television when Disney acquired 21st Century Fox in 2019.
Fox positioned the show as its big bet for the fall — it was the only rookie series on the schedule — but it didn’t get the audience it needed to justify a renewal. The series averaged 4.1 million viewers across all platforms and a scant 0.3 rating in the key ad sales demographic of adults 18-49.
Created by Melissa London Hilfers, Monarch stars Anna Friel, country singer Trace Adkins, Joshua Sasse, Beth Ditto, Meagan Holder and Susan Sarandon — whose character died in the show’s pilot but appeared in flashback scenes in several more episodes.
Hilfers executive produces with showrunner Jon Harmon Feldman, Gail Berman and Hend Baghdady of The Jackal Group, Michael Rauch and Jason Owen. Monarch is the second first-year network show of the fall to be axed. CBS pulled the plug on its dating show The Real Love Boat in October, with the remainder of its season shifting to Paramount+.
Deadline first reported Monarch’s cancellation.
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
It was a very good night for Team Blake on The Voice on Tuesday night (Dec. 6). Country star Blake Shelton — who holds the record for the most wins (8) over the show’s 22 seasons — seems poised to usher one of his charges into the winner’s circle again during next week’s finale after three of his team members moved on.
Twitter couldn’t help but notice that the three white country singers from Shelton’s team — Bryce Leatherwood, Brayden Lape and bodie — were joined by another white performer, Team Camila Cabello’s Morgan Myles in the top four. The only non-white singer to make the cut in the top 5 was powerhouse vocalist Omar Jose Cardona, who was saved after landing in the bottom four, which “stunned” his coach John Legend; for the third time in her six seasons on the show, Gwen Stefani will not have a singer in the finals.
Cardona had to compete against Kim Cruse, Justin Aaron and Parijita Bastola for a spot in next week’s championship round, punching his ticket with a strong take on Lady Gaga’s “You and I.” The results had some on Twitter crying foul. “So the voice is really getting blatantly racist,” read one comment on Twitter, where a number of users complained about the poor representation from Legend’s team, which featured a number highly praised vocalists.
“I’m 100% disappointed!! #johnLegend has 3 of the best singer there & this is result,” said another. “If you wanna see how blatantly racist america is just watch #thevoice,” wrote one disgruntled viewer, with a similar sentiments coming in tweets that read, “America is clearly delusional, confused and oh, can’t forget racist” and “All the blacks and browns up for elimination when they are the best ones there? America is never beating the racism allegations. #TheVoice.”
A spokesperson for The Voice had not returned a request for comment at press time.
Yahoo! Entertainment‘s Lyndsey Parker wrote that “the optics were not good as Parijita, Kim, Justin, and Omar stood onstage learning the results, especially considering all the sheer talent among these four.”
It was a wild ride on season 8 of The Masked Singer, which once again served up its patented mix of non-singing celebs (William Shatner, Jeff Dunham, Mario Cantone, Daymond John, Jerry Springer, Le’Veon Bell, George Foreman, Chris Jericho, Adam Carolla, Linda Blair, Nikki Glaser), veteran pop and R&B singers (Chris Kirkpatrick, Montell Jordan, Gloria Gaynor, Kat Graham, George Clinton and Ray Parker Jr.), as well as some actors who’ve been known to carry a tune (Eric Idle, Brady Bunch trio Christopher Knight, Barry Williams and Mike Lookinland and Joey Lawrence).
But in the end, when all the masks came off, it was seasonlong front-runner Harp who plucked her way to the winner’s circle with a commanding run that began on this season’s first episode when she turned P!nk’s “Perfect” into a soaring R&B ballad that blew the judges away. On episode 2, she soared with Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing,” then cruised through the Golden Girls theme song “Thank You for Being a Friend” and easily bounced along to Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” last week.
She showed her versatility by going toe-to-toe with Panther in a battle over Steppenwolf’s road dog classic “Born to be Wild,” easily bested Fortune Teller in the “Everywhere You Look” battle, and absolutely shut it down on finale night with Lady Gaga’s “The Edge of Glory” and a moving version of John Mayer’s “Gravity.”
As is always the case, judge Ken Jeong was wrong all along, absolutely confident that the woman under the golden dome was Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, giving off super-confident vibes while describing all the reasons he definitely nailed it this time. Fellow judge Robin Thicke was certain it was another triple threat, Jeong’s former Community castmate Yvette Nicole Brown, while Nicole Scherzinger was the one who knew what was up.
Wednesday night’s epic two-hour finale found judge’s favorite Harp facing off against three-headed threat The Lambs, who were in perfect harmony on Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman.” But in the end, the three doe-eyed ladies (Wilson Phillips) were not woman enough to beat former Glee star and Broadway veteran Amber Riley.
Billboard caught up with Riley before the final reveal and spoke to her about how it felt to cruise to victory, what it was like to constantly lie to everyone she loves for months, and when we can expect new music from her.
You came out strong with your P!nk cover, and it felt like you were the front-runner all season. Did you feel pretty good about your chances after that first performance?
I felt great about my performance because it was a song that I really love and I decided every time I go out I was going to leave it all on the floor. I honestly didn’t hear anyone else singing so I didn’t know where I stood. I was just as surprised as anyone when I made it through every round.
Who figured out it was you right away?
Oh my gosh, I’ve been lying my face off for the past couple of weeks. My family has been listening to me sing since I was two-years-old and my sister is calling me like, “I know it’s you little girl!” And I was like, “Huh? I have no idea what you’re talking about!” I had to lie to everyone’s face and it’s been torture.
How did it feel to be crowned first Masked Singer queen?
It felt fitting because I am a queen anyway! [Laughs] Just kidding! It felt great because it was so cool. We’re Americans, so we don’t have kings and queens. If you want to give me a crown, I’ll take it!
I’ve seen a lot of complex costumes on the show, but that giant instrument on your back seemed pretty physically limiting. You said there was no chance you could shake your booty so the vocals had to be super on-point.
[Laughs] Honestly, the costume department is incredible. They are imagineers. It wasn’t as difficult as it looked because they put it on wheels. With every step I took they asked me if it felt comfortable. Even for the moment when I had to get out [of the costume] they imagined a way for me to easily be removed from it… it wasn’t as bad as it looked.
You mentioned that there’s something freeing about being masked as well as feeling like you were not always appreciated by the industry. What were you able to do in disguise that you can’t as Amber?
I think I’m always myself, but it was a way for people to just listen to my voice and have no preconceived notions of who I am or my gifts. That was cool to me. I’ve been in the industry for a pretty long time and I’m sure people think they know who I am, but knowing that they got to hear me with new ears and see me with new eyes when I was revealed was exciting.
You’ve been on a hit show [Glee], won an Olivier for playing Effie in Dreamgirls on the West End, and you won Dancing With the Stars back in 2013, but watching you cry through your mask really made it seem like this was a big, cathartic moment for you.
I’ve been in this industry a really long time and just like anyone else I’ve dealt with rejection and second-guessed my gifts. I’ve gone through it when it’s 90% rejection and 10% go for it. Being able to hear my peers and people I admire, especially Nicole [Scherzinger], encourage me and [praise] my gifts brought me to tears. As we try to pretend we are an island, we do need to hear people encourage us. I needed that and it was inspiring to me.
Was it inspiring enough to work on the follow-up to your 2020 Riley album?
Yes! I’ve been working on it the whole year. I went into the studio with an ignited fire and the music coming out of it and the confidence I have now has been absolutely incredible. I didn’t know that was going to happen doing this show.
How did it feel when Jenny [McCarthy-Wahlberg] said your Gaga was the best performance ever on the show?
I couldn’t even believe that. I watched LeAnn Rimes’ season, and she floored me every single week, so hearing that was big.
What’s coming up for you next? It sounds like you’ll be on our screens a lot over the next few months.
I’ve got the Black Beauty Effect [available now on the Black Experience on Xfinity channel], which is an amazing docuseries I got to be part of that is talking about black women in the beauty industry and how we disrupted the status quo. It’s about finding ourselves and making a mark in beauty, makeup and hair in Hollywood. It’s a story of triumph and it’s very inspiring to hear from women behind the scenes. I’m also going to be on Celebrity Name That Tune [premiering Jan. 11 on Fox], which I got to do with my little brother [fellow Glee alum] Chris Colfer. Me and Chris are super competitive, so it was really fun to do that with him.