Month: February 2021

Music superstars Jazmine Sullivan, Eric Church, H.E.R., and Alicia Keys, as well as U.S. youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman and deaf rapper Warren "WAWA" Snipe, set a lovely tone for Super Bowl Sunday when they passionately performed during the pre-show kickoff in Tampa. The cross-genre pairing between country star Church and R&B diva Sullivan was especially notable, as they were as the first duo to sing "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl since Aretha Franklin and did so Aaron Neville in 2006 — and the stunning combination of Church’s bluesy electric guitar licks and Sullivan’s fiery vocals now seems just as likely to go down in NFL history. Interestingly, Church had been reluctant to sing the national anthem at the big game at all — until Sullivan signed on. He recently conf...

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Where’s all the blood and carnage? The Weeknd decided to play it safe on one of pop culture’s biggest stages on Sunday during his Super Bowl 2021 halftime performance. The multi-faceted 30-year-old decided his own face was good enough for his big, live — definitely-not-pre-recorded — gig, rather than the odd prosthetics and makeup he’s been donning throughout his latest album’s release. Backed by a chorus of gospel singers, the “Starboy” singer kicked off his performance pacing through a series of under-stage labyrinths. When it came to his 2015 hit “I Can’t Feel My Face,” dozens of bandaged-up doppelgangers were dancing around him. At least they took a chance with something weird. Later, the entire field was filled with the masked backups as he sa...

If you didn't watch Phoebe Bridgers' Saturday Night Live performances, drop everything and watch 'em both right now. View this video on YouTube youtube.com / Via youtu.be The singer-songwriter performed "Kyoto" and "I Know the End," from her excellent 2020 album Punisher. At the end of Bridgers' performance for "I Know the End," she smashed her guitar on a speaker in front of the stage. It was pretty cool. View this video on YouTube NBC / YouTube / Via youtube.com After country singer-songwriter Jason Isbell weighed in on some of the negative comments about the gui...

We had an inkling that there might be big movie news during the Super Bowl and there was: Marvel released a new trailer for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, a six-episode series that debuts on Disney Plus March 19th. The show takes place after the events of Avengers: Endgame. Steve Rogers has retired from as Captain America, in an attempt to live a simple life in an alternate reality with his love, Peggy Carter. Sam Wilson (Falcon) has picked up the Captain’s shield. The show had been delayed a few times, and fans have only been able to see a brief, 30-second teaser before now. Filming shut down in March because of the pandemic, Disney said at the time, and was forced to remain shut down until a couple of months ago. The trailer opens with our heroes being interviewed i...

8.39pm EST20:39 Benjamin Lee Photograph: Kevin C Cox/Getty Images Knowing that the singer reportedly spent an extra $7m of his own money to ensure the show was everything he wanted explains just who it’s even more extravagant than usual. There’s also the issue of space, more to play with than usual. He’s on the pitch now with his creepy lookalikes, changing tempo yet again. It’s time for his biggest hit to date Blinding Lights, performed ambitiously with choreographed chaos surrounding him. One of the benefits of the plastic surgery masks worn by his many many many dancers is that at least they’re being safe but in a way that’s also part of the performance. Kind of genius really. 8.34pm EST20:34 Benjamin Lee ...

1:03 PM PST 2/7/2021 by Etan Vlessing Riz Ahmed and Frances McDormand were among the acting award winners on Sunday. The Toronto Film Critics Association named Chloe Zhao's Nomadland as its best picture of 2020 as the sci-fi western continued its run as an early award season contender. On Sunday, Zhao picked up the best director honor for Nomadland, which also earned Frances McDormand the best actress trophy for her role in the film, while Riz Ahmed earned a win for best actor for his performances in Sound of Metal.  Elsewhere in the acting categories, Daniel Kaluuya was voted best supporting actor for his role as Black Panther chairman Fred Hampton in Warner Bros.' Judas and the Black Messiah, while Maria Bakalova earned the best supporting actress crown for...