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Not for nothing, but singer/producer Mk.gee literally taught us how to say his name on his 2018 EP, Pronounced McGee. But, here we are with this week’s Saturday Night Live promo featuring host comedian Bill Burr, in which cast member Sarah Sherman just can’t do the math on how to sound out the Two Star & Dream Police performer’s stage moniker.
“Hi, I’m Bill Burr and I’m hosting SNL this week with Mk.gee,” says Burr, who will anchor the first show following this week’s historic election in which former President Donald Trump beat out Vice President Kamala Harris. “Mk.gee, how do you spell your name?” a confused Sherman asks.
“M, as in Mk.gee,” responds the enigmatic indie singer-songwriter, who recently revealed that he’s working in the studio on Justin Bieber’s next album. “Yeah, ‘K’ as ‘Kiss From a Rose,’ by Seal,” adds Burr. “Dot as in ‘dot com,’ the host continues as the musical guest concludes, “G as in ‘gee.’”
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“Okay, never mind, forget I asked,” an exasperated Sherman tells the men.
In the second bit, Sherman is very impressed with herself, rolling her eyes and saying, “Thank you, I do look ravishing today!,” to which Burr says, “I didn’t say you looked ravishing” as Mk.gee stands silent in a giant brown coat and matching hued shirt and black baseball hat. “I’m talkin’ about Mk.gee,” Burr assures her.
“Your hotel room tonight?,” Sherman goes on, as she pretends to be having a private conversation with a suitor via a non-existent earpiece. “What?” a confused Burr wonders. “Sorry, I’m on a call. Let me know when the promo starts,” Sherman tells him. “Sorry about that… where were we, Mickey Rourke?” Sherman coos while holding a finger to her ear to continue the phantom chat. The latter finally gets the attention of Rourke superfan Burr, though it’s too late at that point.
This weekend’s gig will mark 27-year-old New Jersey native Mk.gee’s SNL debut. Mk.gee is currently on a world tour that take him to Australia in December.
Watch this week’s SNL promo below.
Chloe Fineman has a well-established reputation for doing wickedly funny celebrity impressions, from her killer Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears takes to her wacky, mega-energy JoJo Siwa, eerily accurate Timothée Chalamet, as well as perfect takes on Nicole Kidman, Elizabeth Olsen and, of course, her daffy Jennifer Coolidge.
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So when Entertainment Tonight asked the comedian earlier this week if she was working on dialing in an impression of over-the-top pop star Chappell Roan for this weekend’s episode where the “Hot To Go” singer will be the musical guest alongside six-time host comedian John Mulaney, the typically game-for-anything Fineman wasn’t so sure.
“I might have one [an impression], but I also respect her too much that I’m like, ya know….” Fineman said of Roan, whose brash, colorful stage persona seems ripe for a Fineman take. “I feel like I have to get a temperature check,” Fineman added about what sounds like a game-time decision.
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Fineman also said she was psyched for the combo of Roan and Mulaney — a stand-up star who was is also a former SNL writer — admitting, “that wasn’t necessarily on my vision board, the two of them together, so I’m excited.” In September, Fineman wore her Roan fandom on her sleeve, telling People that she ” definitely had a Chappell Roan summer, as we all did… So, I was like, I can’t believe I might get to be in the same building and sing ‘Pink Pony Club,’ you know? So we’ll see. Hopefully that will happen.”
Saturday’s show will mark Roan’s SNL debut. The singer appeared to tease her next era on Tuesday in an Instagram post in which she shared some selfies and hinted at the follow-up to breakthrough The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess album.
“Album kinda popped off imo but it is time to welcome a hot new bombshell into the villa,” she captioned the pics, in a reference to the Love Island catchphrase welcoming new contestants that led fans to speculate that she’s working on her sophomore LP. Producer Dan Nigro also revealed that the album is in the works earlier this month when he said the pair had completed five songs already, including a “fun, up-tempo country song,” a “couple of ballads” and a “mid-tempo rock song.”
Omarion is set to star in and executive produce an upcoming original drama series titled Wild Rose. According to Variety, the former B2K lead singer and solo star will take on the lead role of Roosevelt (aka “Rose”), in the ALLBLK series that follows the contract killer whose family also runs a nonprofit. Explore Explore […]
If you were looking for a breezy break from the unrelenting torrent of news about the Nov. 5 presidential election, SEVENTEEN had just what you needed on Wednesday morning (Oct. 30). The 13-member K-pop boy band marked their debut performance on ABC’s Good Morning America by providing some musical caffeine via the first U.S. TV run-through of their new single, “LOVE, MONEY, FAME” from their 12th mini album, SPILL THE FEELS.
Though the song’s featured artist, DJ Khaled, was not on hand, S.COUPS, JEONGHAN, JOSHUA, JUN, HOSHI, WONWOO, WOOZI, THE 8, MINGYU, DK, SEUNGKWAN, VERNON and DINO, rocked the GMA stage with their signature mix of smooth vocal harmonies, rapping and intricate choreography as the members took turns in the spotlight for the English-language version of the song.
The performance came after the group racked up their sixth top 10-charting release on the Billboard 200 album chart with SPILL, which debuted at No. 5 with 66,000 equivalent album units earned for the week ending Oct. 24.
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The superstar group kicked off the U.S. leg of their [RIGHT HERE] world tour in Chicago last week, marking their first American dates in more than two years. The three-hour, 22-song show showcased tracks from across their four album, 12 EP catalog, including the debut live performance of “LOVE, MONEY, FAME.”
American CARATs can check them out next on Halloween night (Oct. 31) at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio (and again the next night), Oakland Arena in Oakland, CA (Nov. 5-6) and BMO Stadium in Los Angeles (Nov. 9-10); the latter will be their first U.S. stadium shows.
Watch SEVENTEEN perform “LOVE, MONEY, FAME” on GMA below.
Olivia Rodrigo is likely still on a sugar high after wrapping up her sold-out 95-show Guts world tour. So, naturally, on Tuesday night (Oct. 29) when she visited the Tonight Show, host Jimmy Fallon asked her to talk about two of the wildest things that happened to her on the road.
After holding up a copy of the Touring Issue of Billboard magazine with Rodrigo on the cover, Fallon dug right in on the singer’s intense road run-in with some border cops. “I got in trouble with the law for the first time in my life,” Rodrigo admitted. “We were going from Canada to, like, Portland or something. We were at border control, I give them my passport, and they’re like, ‘OK, whatever.’ And they knock on the door and they’re like, ‘We need Olivia.’”
Thinking it might be a border agent wanting an autograph for their daughter, Rodrigo came out of her bus at 3 a.m. to see what the problem was. “I’m delirious, and they take me to a room—and it’s an interrogation room, and there’s like, a big cop [with] a gun,” she recalled. “He’s like, ‘Have you ever been arrested?’ I’m, like, ‘No, I haven’t been arrested.’ He’s like, ‘Are you sure?’ I’m like gaslighting [myself]. I’m, like, Oh, my God, maybe I was, like, arrested and I didn’t know it,” she said breathlessly.
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After being warned she could go to jail for lying to a federal officer, Rodrigo said she started to freak out, worrying she would not be let back into the U.S. “Like, I’m so scared. I’m, like, having a panic attack,” she said. After a 30-minute interrogation, the border agent looked at her again and asked her to spell her last name. “[I said] ‘Olivia Rodrigo, like, R, O, D, R, I, G, O,’ And he’s, like, ‘Oh, there’s a girl who looks just like you, that’s your same age, that’s been arrested multiple times, and her name’s Olivia Rodriguez.’”
Fallon also asked Rodrigo, 21, to run down some highlights of the tour, which she said included going to the Philippines for the first time, which was special for her due to her Filipino heritage. “Yeah, it was so special and everyone was so great. [And] such good singers!,” she said, remembering how her fans there sang all her lyrics back to her perfectly on pitch and in key.
Jimmy also just had to bring up one of the most embarrassing moments from the tour, a mishap in Melbourne, Australia where Olivia went crashing through a trap door in the stage. After playing the clip of Rodrigo handling the trip-and-fall like a pro, the singer said it was actually “really scary. Watching the video back is pretty terrifying. I mean, show must go on, that’s showbiz, baby.”
That said, Rodrigo said it was actually kind of a “beautiful” accident in hindsight because she had just been in the Philippines and she’d been thinking about her family and heritage and after getting shaken up by the fall she went to the hospital to make sure she hadn’t sustained a concussion. While there, she was treated by a Filipino nurse who had the same name as the singer’s grandpa, who passed earlier this year.
“And so I was like ‘wow that was him looking out for me,’” she said. “Making sure I didn’t get hurt and so I’m really happy it happened. I think it’s a beautiful story.”
Rodrigo also plugged her new Netflix concert special Olivia Rodrigo: GUTS World Tour and stuck around to play a fun game of “What’s Behind Me.”
Watch Rodrigo on The Tonight Show below.
It’s early in season 26 of The Voice, but Monday night’s (Oct. 21) kick-off of the Battle rounds had the coaches wondering if they’ve already spotted one of this season’s frontrunners. With the blind auditions in the rear view, coaches Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, Michael Bublé and Reba McEntire counseled their teams on strategy, then had the unenviable task of pitting two of their chosen vocalists against each other.
Stefani picked two promising teens on her team, 15-year-old Buffalo, N.Y. native Sydney Sterlace and 19-year-old Pittsburgh singer Sloane Simon, tasking them with taking on Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather.”
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Sterlace was up first, appearing a bit nervous as she crooned, “I want you to stay/ ‘Til I’m in the grave/ ‘Til I rot away, dead and buried/ ‘Til I’m in the casket you carry.” Simon proved she was equally up to the task, jumping in on the second verse with airy, confident vocals as she stared down her opponent.
The women then sang directly at each other as they dueted on the song’s wistful chorus, “Birds of a feather, we should stick together/ I know I said I’d never think I wasn’t better alone,” changing places and expertly working the stage as they blended their voices and did their best to stand out during the individual bits with impressive runs and soaring ad libs.
Proud coach Stefani leapt to her feet (along with McEntire) as Bublé told the pair that their singing was “really beautiful” and Gwen admitted that she was totally “momming out right now.” Bublé said he could sense a bit of nervousness in Sterlace’s vocals, noting that she was not as settled as her battle mate, “nor should you be. You’re 15. Besides that your voice was great, I loved that you moved towards Sloan,” he said.
Snoop added that he was “thrilled” with the performance, dubbing both singers “true professionals… do not let the age dictate what you could possibly be because we were all young once upon a time.” Snoop dubbed them equally good, suggesting Stefani shold pick the singer she can “grow with,” even as the No Doubt and solo star lamented, “how can a mommy choose between their daughters?”
McEntire also said she was impressed with both, but suggested that her vote would be for Simon, agreeing that Sterlace has some more years to develop her craft. “You’re gonna blossom like the most beautiful rose ever,” she said. “‘Cause you’re a beautiful bud right now.”
Stefani said her heart was in her throat about the tough decision, recalling that she was blown away by Sterlace’s blind audition and wanted to hear more, while also being stunned by Simon’s “sparkly personality,” confidence and tone. It may have helped that Simon was, literally, wearing a silver sparkle dress with matching stacked heels.
In the end, Stefani focused in on Sterlace’s still-germinating stage presence rather than already established vocal talents. “You have come so far since our rehearsals. I’m shocked,” Stefani said, doubling down on McEntire’s rose bud metaphor. “I keep hearing that word ‘bud,’” veteran toker Snoop joked. Stefani said that the reality was that Simon is “a little bit more ready… you have that star-quality personality.”
Faced with a tough choice, Stefani followed the “weird voice” insider her head and chose Sterlace. And even after McEntire praised Simon’s “voice of an angel,” in her pitch to steal, Sloane ended up choosing Bublé — who also called her voice “angelic” — as her new team leader.
New episodes of The Voice air Monday and Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, and then stream on-demand via Peacock the next day.
Watch Sterlace and Simon face off below.
There’s a very good reason that Henry Winkler is considered to be one of the nicest guys in show biz. The eternally sunshiny 78-year-old Happy Days veteran always brings the good cheer to his talk show appearances, that is when he’s not taking time to send fan notes to fellow artists he’s inspired by.
During a visit to Live with Kelly and Mark on Tuesday (Oct. 15), Winkler was predictably enthusiastic about one of his recent kind letters eliciting an equally generous response when he shared how happy he was to get a thank you video from Jelly Roll.
“Oh my gosh, it was the most amazing thing that it came from you and that he answered,” Winkler told Ripa about getting an equally sweet reply from the “I Am Not Okay” that the singer sent to the daytime talk show host. Winkler explained to the studio audience that he often writes what he calls “fan notes” to artists he admires. “And I wrote one to Jelly Roll, ‘Dear Mr. Roll,’” he explained. “And I never thought I would hear back and all of a sudden I got a video from Kelly of Mr. Roll thanking me!”
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Ripa responded that being a conduit of the mutual admiration society was “the most exciting thing that has ever not happened to me… it was for you, so it had nothing to do with me. “It was great,” Winkler said before Ripa cued up the tape.
“Hey Mr. Winkler, it’s Jelly Roll,” the singer said in the clip scrolled on Ripa’s device. “I’m just sending my love. I have been hoping to see you ‘cause I got a note and they said it was from you. I didn’t believe it and this is my publicist — she hates being embarrassed but now she is — and she told me it was you, she confirmed and I cannot tell you how much that meant to me.”
Jelly promised to send Winkler a picture of the letter when he gets back home. “I hope you don’t mind, I framed it. I hung it up on my wall where I have like hand written lyrics from Craig Morgan, all the stuff that’s really been special in my career. Thank you, I’m absolutely honored Mr. Winkler. I can’t wait to see you and hopefully give you a hug man. I’m a big hugger, I’ll squeeze you.”
During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last week, Winkler first revealed that he’d sent the letter to the country star. “I really believe that when I see something that I think is wonderful you’ve got to let the person know,” he told the late night host, who has been on the receiving end of some of those nice notes. When asked who the most recent recipient was, Winkler said it was Jelly Roll, following an appearance on Kimmel’s show.
“I wrote him a letter, ‘Dear Mr. Roll,’ and all of a sudden I got a video back on my phone… it was amazing,” Winkler said. “I think that he is so filled with emotion.”
Watch Winkler kvell about his Mr. Roll moment below.
The Voice season 26 contestant Camryn Brooks provided living proof on Monday night (Oct. 14) that you should never give up on your dreams. Three years after washing out of season 21 after getting no chair turns, the California native made a triumphant return that elicited four chair turns.
After impressing the judges with her soaring cover of Maggie Rogers’ “Light On,” Brooks, 24, brought down the house and got Gwen Stefani out of her chair, inspiring the solo star and No Doubt singer to brag, “I was first!”
“I’m literally crying right now because this is like, absolutely unreal. I was a contestant on season 21 and I didn’t get any chair turns,” Brooks told coaches Snoop Dogg, Reba McEntire and Micael Bublé after her performance. “I didn’t ever envision I was going to get four so this is literally a dream come true.”
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McEntire, who praised Brooks’ “beautiful” voice, was elated by the redemption story, reminding viewers that the show’s judges often tell singers who don’t get a chair turn to “please come back.” Bublé also had high praise, adding that he hit his button because of FOMO, with Snoop giving the Mt. Shasta native props for her tone, composure and stage presence.
She and Bublé also bonded over their early gigs singing the National Anthem, though the Canadian crooner couldn’t get Brooks to join him on a chorus of his native “Oh Canada” as Snoop repeatedly trolled him for singing the “wrong” anthem. He got his own redemption, though, when Brooks noted that when she attended a performing arts school the only song she sang to earn money in competitions was Bublé’s rendition of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good.”
Despite the mutual admiration, Brooks ended up going with Stefani, who said her new team member’s voice reminded was pleasantly reminiscent of her favorite 1970s singers. “There are so many singers that are good, but there’s certain ones that just like touch you because of their tone or just little taste things that they do,” Stefani said. “That’s what I was feeling from you. I would listen to that voice on a record. It’s round, it’s soothing, it would be really fun to work with you ‘cause I feel like we could pick some really cool songs and define who you are.”
Not for nothing, Brooks’ story was even wilder because after her no-turn 2021 audition she noted that her plans to finish school and start performing professionally were derailed when she was diagnosed with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. “It was really scary because I couldn’t get out more than three words at a time,” she said. “The first thought that came to my mind was, ‘Am I going to be able to sing again?’ In that moment, you just think, ‘Am I gonna die? I’m too young to have this happen.’”
Though frightening, Brooks said the ailment really put into perspective what mattered to her and made her fight harder for her dreams. “I’m just so blessed to even be here,” she said.
New episodes of The Voice air Monday and Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, and then stream on-demand via Peacock the next day.
Watch Brooks perform “Light On” below.
Retired KISS bassist/singer Gene Simmons is known for unapologetically wagging his legendarily long tongue and for his self-described reputation as a lusty Lothario. But during a guest judging stint on Tuesday night’s (Oct. 8) “Hair Metal Night” on Dancing With the Stars some commenters thought he went too far by focusing on pulchritude instead of Paso doble.
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First, Simmons reportedly got a loud round of boos on air after he gave a bewigged Reginald VelJohnson (Family Matters, Die Hard) a lowly score of 5 for his stiff cha cha to Twisted Sister’s “I Wanna Rock.” According to EW, the studio audience did not take kindly to fellow permanent judges Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli posting the same score — Carrie Ann Inaba gave them a more magnanimous 6 — but when Simmons followed suit, the boos reportedly got significantly louder.
The low score came after Simmons had previously been generous to the fellow septuagenarian, saying before the dance, “Hey Reggie, you’ve got a beautiful woman right beside you who can twist it and turn it and knows how to move it and all that. But I want to tell you, as a guy that’s been on the stage for half a century around the world, I’m kind of a big deal, Reggie. It’s all in the attitude. And you’ve got something in that beautiful face. They love you.”
VelJohnson — who was eliminated on Tuesday night — had had consistently low scores so far this season, but EW said Inaba noted that he’d been a season 33 fan favorite as he hoofed alongside such fellow stars as previous eliminees con artist Anna Delvey, actors Eric Roberts and Tori Spelling, as well as still-active contestants Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik, NFL player Danny Amendola, NBA center Dwight Howard, Olympic rugby star Ilona Maher, model Brooks Nader and Bachelorette star Jenn Tran, among others.
Simmons was repeatedly called out by viewers in comments on X for what they dubbed his “creepy” remarks, which some said treated the female dancers as if they were in a beauty pageant. The pointed to Simmons saying he couldn’t decide which one was more “hot hot hot” among Amendola and pro dancer Witney Carson and telling 24-year-old actress Chandler Kinney (Pretty Little Liars) that she “fogged up my glasses” and that she “moved me — not just with your gyrations, but with your beautiful face.”
“ABC needs to issue an apology after having Gene Simmons on there and subjecting their cast to that . Why didn’t a producer tell him to knock it off,” wrote one X user, while another joked, “Gene Simmons comments about the ladies are giving the energy of the gross uncle who corners you at the reunion.” A similar comment read, “it’s only the first dance and i’m already over gene simmons being a creep,” as one added, “Gene Simmons is seriously sucking all the energy out of the ballroom with his creepy comments about the female dancers.”
Well known for speaking his mind on all manner of subjects, Forbes noted that Simmons has been called out before for his thoughts on the opposite sex, including over a passage in his 2017 book, On Power: My Journey Through the Corridors of Power and How You Can Get More Power, in which he wrote that leveraging sexuality is still the fastest route to the top for women.
“Women have a choice,” he said in an interview with the New York Post while promoting the book in 2017. “They can dress in potato sacks, [but] as soon as they pretty themselves up with lipstick, lift and separate them and point them in our general direction, they’re gonna get a response. Guys are jackasses — we will buy them mansions and houses . . . all because of sex.” In that same interview, Simmons told women to “get over” their biological urges, opining, “It’s natural to want to have kids, but, sorry, you can’t have it both ways. You have to commit to either career or family. It’s very difficult to have both.”
KISS said that after five decades on tour their End of the Road Tour — which wrapped in December — would be their last go-round. The group then sold its name, image and likeness rights and announced a virtual Las Vegas performance set to launch in 2027.
Watch VelJohnson’s routine and see some of the comments about Simmons below.
If Gene doesn’t think the woman is hot, she gets a low score. Get this man off my screen. No reason he tried to give Brooks a ten and THE Phaedra Parks a five? #DWTS— Shelby🌻 (@shelbykvosburg) October 9, 2024
Dear @officialdwts ,Shame on Gene Simmons for treating this like a beauty pageant. Never have him on the show again. EVER. He ruined it. #gross #DWTSWith love, Everyone— StarSamantha21 (@StarrSamantha21) October 9, 2024
underscoring the asian and black female contestants relative to the other judge’s scores after inflating scores all night??? gene simmons you may just be a racist #dwts pic.twitter.com/8MuuMVLeu2— lau (@kodylavenders) October 9, 2024
One of the enduring joys of watching The Masked Singer is seeing how totally wrong judge Ken Jeong is from week-to-week. The joyful panelist is impressively confident in his often wildly off-base guesses and in a Billboard exclusive sneak peek at Wednesday night’s (Oct. 2) Footloose-themed episode the good doctor again pushes all his chips in on last week’s bold guess at the identity of the celeb inside the towering Woodpecker costume.
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“This is a clue-based guess,” Jeong says of the singer who impressed the panel in last week’s season 12 kick-off with her bouncy cover of Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers.” Admitting that “for the first time ever” he had no idea who the singer was, a cowboy hat-wearing Jeong said he was doubling-down on his previous prediction: Willow Smith.
Now, pay attention as we try to follow Jeong’s logic, which, it’s worth noting drew a subtle eye-roll from host Nick Cannon.
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“That director’s chair? Willow Smith also directs as well as performs in her own music videos,” Jeong said of the daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith who first broke through in 2010 with her No. 11 Billboard Hot 100 single “Whip My Hair” and whose most recent album is this year’s jazzy Empathogen.
On the subject of bird clues, Jeong also noted that Willow has performed with past Masked Singer contestant Rubber Ducky (aka Anthony Anderson) in “perhaps the best and most precious Mother’s Day special of all time on VH1 called ‘Dear Mama.’” Fellow panelist Robin Thick says that, clue-wise, Jeong’s theory makes sense, but vocally he warned, “you’re going down the wrong tree hole.”
In an earlier clue package, season 11’s Miss Cleocatra, film/TV actress Jennifer Lewis spilled the tea on someone she said she has known “from her start. She’s been called a mogul, a chic CEO,” Lewis said as Woodpecker held up a roll of tape reading “NEXT.” Other clues: she’s friends with Beyoncé and is a “baddie.”
Woodpecker herself teased that “the only doors that open are ones you knock on” as she rapped on a gate next to a panel reading “Family” and said she is on a path to becoming the “youngest billionaire.”
Last week’s season premiere revealed the identity of Leaf Sheep, NFL legend quarterback John Elway, who was booted after singing Tim McGraw’s “I Like It, I Love It.” For the record, Jeong somehow got that one right.
Check out the preview video below and tune in to The Masked Singer on Fox tonight at 8 p.m. ET.