Television
Lip Sync Herstory: 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Jennifer Lopez & Pitbull’s ‘On the Floor’
After a long and eventful season filled with dazzling highs and crushing lows, we’re finally in the home stretch of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12. On the May 15 episode, the final five queens duked it out to secure their spot in the top 4 by putting on a show-stopping Las Vegas singing and dancing spectacle in honor of RuPaul’s Drag Race Live! In one of the stiffest competitions to date, Gigi Goode, Jaida Essence Hall, and Sherry Pie advanced to the grand finale, while Crystal Methyd and Jackie Cox found themselves in the bottom and having to fight for the last remaining spot. After a close lip-sync battle to Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull’s 2011 hit “On the Floor,” fan favorite Crystal Methyd claimed her spot in the finals, while Jackie Cox sashayed away. With less than two weeks to go u...
Ryan Seacrest Didn’t ‘Have Any Kind of Stroke’ During the ‘American Idol’ Finale, He’s Just Super Tired
Nothing was as it usually is on Sunday night’s (May 17) American Idol season finale. The contestants were all singing in their homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, Katy Perry had to perform on a green screen set instead of a big stage in Hollywood and host Ryan Seacrest had to pull his old Idol logo out of mothballs and set up shop in his garage to host the two-hour coronation. Also, Seacrest didn’t seem to be quite himself. As the show progressed, viewers noticed that something seemed a bit off with the typically unflappable, consummate professional host. His speech sounded slurred at points and his left eye seemed strangely larger and more wide-open than his half-shut right eye. A spokesperson for Seacrest, 45, responded to the questions on Monday morning (May 18), te...
Lionel Richie Leads All-Star ‘Idol’ Rendition of ‘We Are The World’: Watch
If you lived through the ‘80s, you’ll remember “We Are The World” was just about the biggest number of them all. Featuring a “Dream Team” of pop stars, the song dropped in 1985 to shine a light on famine in Africa. Written by Lionel Richie and the late Michael Jackson, the charity single ruled the Billboard Hot 100 for four successive weeks after its release, and an all-star Artists for Haiti remake in 2010 was also a hit. Sunday night (May 17) during the American Idol finale, Richie assembled an all-star Idol lineup for a lockdown-era rendition of the blockbuster. Joined by his fellow judges, Richie led a cast that included 2020 winner Just Sam, Alejandro Aranda aka Scarypoolparty, Fantasia, Gabby Barrett, Jordin Sparks, Katharine McPhee, Kellie Pickler, Laine Hardy, Lauren Alaina, Philli...
Katy Perry Debuts ‘Daisies’ on ‘American Idol’ Finale: Watch
The American Idol finale had some massive moments, not all of them involved the contestants. Idol judge Katy Perry delivered her debut live performance of “Daises,” inside of a spectacular digitally-enhanced environment. Wearing a pink dress, no shoes and showing her baby bump, Perry looked like Alice in her animated wonderland, as walls and cartoon furniture appear around her and steep falls appear under her feet. “Daises” dropped last week, a triumph against the haters. Watch the performance below. [embedded content]
What’s Behind the Ratings Slumps for Remotely Shot Shows
Declining TV usage and maybe the end of the novelty for at-home production have driven shows like ‘American Idol’ and ‘The Voice’ to season lows recently. American Idol and The Voice made a big deal about continuing with their final rounds in recent weeks, with the remaining contestants on each singing competition performing from their homes and hosts and judges all weighing in remotely. Yet the ratings for the remotely produced “live” episodes have fallen flat: Both ABC’s Idol and NBC’s The Voice have recorded same-day season lows in the past two weeks. A similar fate befell ABC’s second Disney Family Singalong special on Sunday, which drew little more than half the audience of the first edition of the special on April 16. Similarly, t...
‘American Idol’ Season 18 Winner Crowned in First At-Home Finale
[Spoiler alert: This article contains the name of the winner of Sunday night’s American Idol finale.] No matter who ended up in the winner’s circle after Sunday night’s (May 17) two-hour American Idol finale, they were destined to make history as the first champ to celebrate from the comfort of their own home. Not by choice of course, by due to the way the 18th season of the beloved singing competition had to completely change things up mid-way due to the COVID-19 lockdown. And, like all aspects of the show since everyone was sent home, the coronation was… different, with host Ryan Seacrest calling the action from his garage instead of the big stage in Hollywood, judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie dialing in from their homes and the contestants making t...
Journalist suspended for requesting salary on social media
A journalist with the Imo State government has been suspended indefinitely from her job for taking to Facebook to request her three months unpaid salary and the wages of her co-workers. Officials said the Facebook post was an “embarrassment” to the Imo State government. The suspended journalist, Vivian Ottih, is a lawyer and a senior editor with the government-owned IBC Orient FM radio station. She is the chairperson of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), in Imo State. Mrs Ottih, on May 4, posted a message on Facebook, appealing to Governor Hope Uzodinma’s media aide, Modestus Nwamkpa, to make a case to the governor on behalf of the workers in the government-owned radio and television stations who were yet to get their February, March, and April salaries. Ottih described ...
Rock and Metal Album Covers Get Reimagined With Simpsons Characters
The Bart Simpson parody poster of Nirvana’s Nevermind has adorned its fair share of desktop wallpapers, but Instagram account “Springfield Albums” has taken the concept even further. Artists Edgar Portelo and Lila Rouge “Simpsonize” rock and metal album covers, inserting characters from the long-running animated show The Simpsons into classic sleeves by Metallica, Alice in Chains, and many more. No band or character is off limits, with Portelo and Rouge parodying everything from Exodus’ thrash masterpiece Bonded by Blood — with Bart taking the place of original’s siamese demon — to Korn’s Follow the Leader, which sees Homer about to hopscotch off the cliff. Another thrash parody, Slayer’s 1983 debut, Show No Mercy, is adorned with “Evil Homer” from the season four episode “Whacking Da...
Rhino Charges Off ‘Masked Singer’ After Intense Semi-Final: ‘Singing on Stage Is Quite Scary to Me’
[Spoiler alert: This story contains the identity of the eliminated contestant on Wednesday night’s (May 13) The Masked Singer.] It’s been a long, crazy season on The Masked Singer. We’ve had pop, R&B and hip-hop icons, skateboarding legends, TV/movie stars and everything in between march on and off the stage before being unmasked. And on Wednesday night’s (May 13) semi-final featuring Rhino, Frog, Turtle and Night Angel, we had some of the best performances of to date, making season three’s penultimate episode one of the hardest ones ever. Sadly, it was the end of the line for the tall drink of water that is Rhino, who wowed America and the judges for months with a mix of seriously on-point pop, rock and country tracks, with his final run through Tim McGraw’s ...
The Killers Bring the Energy, Dedicate ‘Caution’ to Frontline Workers on ‘Fallon’: Watch
The Killers hit the right note, with the right message, when they appeared on The Tonight Show on Wednesday night (May 13). Brandon Flowers and Ronnie Vannucci represented the Las Vegas pop-rock outfit for an at-home performance of “Caution,” lifted from their forthcoming set Imploding the Mirage. At the top, Vannucci dedicated the song to healthcare workers “who are putting themselves out on the frontlines helping everybody in need.” He added, “we can’t tell you how much we appreciate that and how heroic that is.” The pair brought the energy and filled it up on guitars, keys and a drum machine, with no gimmicks. “Caution” made chart history last month when it rose 2-1 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs airplay survey, a full 13 years and six months after their last leader on the...
‘Glee,’ ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ & More: Which Musical Show Should Reunite Next?
NBC’s Broadway-centered series Smash regained buzz on the Internet this week, seven years after its final episode, when it was announced that a special livestream of the 2015 live concert of Bombshell will air on May 20 at People.com along with a cast reunion. As with the original 2015 Bombshell concert, the livestream will be benefiting The Actors Fund, the national human services organization helping support actors through health care, affordable housing, financial assistance and more. Given that we’re in an age of social distancing and Zoom meetings, it’s easier now more than ever for some of our other favorite musical TV shows to reunite (virtually). Maybe the Glee cast can come together for an iconic re...
Maroon 5’s Adam Levine Pays Tribute to Kobe Bryant With ‘Memories’ Performance
Kobe Bryant is gone, but not forgotten. Adam Levine paid his respects to the mercurial L.A. Lakers shooting guard when Maroon 5 delivered a virtual performance of “Memories” on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show. Levine donned Bryant’s old-school No. 8 jersey for the sombre song that remembers those special people who are no longer with us. Bryant, who won five NBA Championship rings and is often in the conversation on the Greatest Of All Time, perished in a helicopter crash in January, along with eight others. He was 41. The athletic scoring machine wore No. 8 until the 2006-07 season, when he switched to No. 24. The Black Mamba returned to our screens in recent weeks for Netflix’s hugely-popular documentary series on the Chicago Bulls’ final title run, “The Last Dance.&#...
