Old Dominion Thanks Dolly Parton for Paying Tribute to Ukraine at 2022 ACM Awards

The 57th Academy of Country Music Awards took place in Las Vegas on Monday (March 7) night, hosted by Dolly Parton, Jimmie Allen and Gabby Barrett. Parton opened the show by sending “hope and love” to Ukraine amidst an ongoing invasion from Russian forces. “I don’t want to be political and this is not. I’d rather pass a kidney stone than do that. I want us to send our love and hope to our brothers and sisters in Ukraine,” Parton said. “Let’s dedicate this whole show to them and pray for peace around this crazy world.”

It was a move that resonated greatly with Old Dominion. Shortly after winning the ACM Award for vocal group of the year for the fifth year in a row, the Nashville country rockers took the stage to accept the award and shout-out Parton.

After thanking the ACM Awards for the fifth win and assuring everyone they did not take it lightly, the group’s Brad Tursi praised Parton for addressing the ongoing invasion. “So many people here have fought for their dreams,” the guitarist said, “But there are people fighting for their lives right now.” Tursi noted it felt a bit “weird” to celebrate in the midst of the situation, so he appreciated Parton opening the show with by addressing it. “Thank for you saying that,” he concluded.

The 57th Academy of Country Music Awards is produced by MRC Live & Alternative, which is owned by MRC. MRC is a co-owner of Billboard through a joint venture with Penske Media titled P-MRC

/by

Dolly Parton Opens 2022 ACM Awards By Sending ‘Love and Hope’ to Ukraine

Hosting the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas alongside Jimmie Allen and Gabby Barrett on Monday (March 7) night, Dolly Parton opened the 2022 ACM Awards with a nod to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“I don’t want to be political and this is not. I’d rather pass a kidney stone than do that. I want us to send our love and hope to our brothers and sisters in Ukraine,” Parton said. “Let’s dedicate this whole show to them and pray for peace around this crazy world.”

While the iconic country singer-songwriter opened the show with a few jokes – she called her co-hosts the “real deal” and quipped, “You know how I hate anything fake” – her segue into a deadly serious topic was deft and graceful. Few people can switch from a breast implant gag to a prayer for peace during wartime and pull it off, but Dolly Parton long ago demonstrated that she is certainly a human being unlike any other.

2022 has been a busy year for Parton so far. She joined goddaughter Miley Cyrus in a Super Bowl commercial parodying charity singles for T-Mobile and was recently nominated for induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“I was absolutely floored when I heard that. I’ve never thought of myself as being rock and roll in any sense of the word — but I guess they judge it on the music and the influence certain songs have had,” Parton told Billboard last month. “I’m not expecting that I’ll get in. But if I do, I’ll immediately, next year, have to put out a great rock and roll album — which I’ve wanted to do for years, like a Linda Ronstadt or Heart kind of thing.”

The 57th Academy of Country Music Awards is produced by MRC Live & Alternative, which is owned by MRC. MRC is a co-owner of Billboard through a joint venture with Penske Media titled P-MRC.

/by

Chris Stapleton Performs ‘Watch You Burn’ in Remembrance of Route 91 Tragedy at 2022 ACM Awards

Chris Stapleton took the stage at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Monday night (Mar. 7) to play “Watch You Burn,” his song about the tragic shooting at Vegas’ Route 91 country festival in 2017.

Introduced by Jason Aldean, who was performing at the festival when the shooting took place five years ago, Stapleton delivered an incendiary performance of the Starting Over album cut, with furious lyrics like “If I could snap my fingers, if I could flip a switch/ I’d make that last bullet first, you son of a b–ch.” Towards the end, a row of backing vocalists stationed in front of Stapleton raised their arms as the vocals rose in intensity, and the singer-guitarist’s shredding built to a cacophony — an intense climax for an emotional moment.

Stapleton is nominated for four awards at this year’s ACMs, including the coveted entertainer of the year, as well male artist of the year and single of the year (for Starting Over hit “You Should Probably Leave”) — the latter of which was awarded to Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood’s “If I Didn’t Love You” shortly after his performance.

The 57th Academy of Country Music Awards is produced by MRC Live & Alternative, which is owned by MRC. MRC is a co-owner of Billboard through a joint venture with Penske Media titled P-MRC. 

/by

Where to Buy Yeezy Slides Online Without Spending a Fortune

Missed out on the latest restock of Kanye West‘s Yeezy slides? New colorways in “Onyx,” “Pure” and “Ochre” were restocked on Monday (March 7) and they’re already sold out at Adidas, and don’t even think about trying to find them at Nordstrom.

Not to worry though, if you’re looking to cop a pair — without blowing your budget completely out of the water, we searched around to find a few places to buy Yeezy slides online at an affordable price. Yeezy slides typically retail for $50-$70, but the rate tends to spike once they land on resell sites.

StockX, Farfetch, and eBay are just a few of the retailers that have them for sale online without too much of a price hike.  For example, at Stockx, the Yeezy Slides are available in all three colorways starting at $104.

Buy: Yeezy Slides “Ochre” (from $104) 

Buy: Yeezy Slide “Pure” (from $162)

Buy: Yeezy Slides “Onyx” (from $174)

eBay is another decent option for Yeezy slides, although due to limited quantities you might end up paying more than you would on other sites. Right now, the price for the newest slides on eBay start at $130 to $155 and can go up to $275 and higher.

Stadium Goods has Yeezy slides on deck for about $175 and up, though pricing varies depending on the colorway and size. For example, the Yeezy slide in “Pure” are nearly $300 on Stadium Goods while others are closer to the $155 and up.  Similarly, at Faretch.com, the three Yeezy slides colorways start at about $260 for the “Pure” slides  and $163 for the earth-toned slides.

The next Yeezy Boost 350 V2 “Oreo” sneakers in core black, core white and more core black, will be restocked on March 12. For more Yeezy gear, check othe Yeezy x Gap Engineered by Balenciaga collection.

/by

A giant message for Ukraine will be on display in downtown Miami. It’s 700 feet tall.

The 60-story Paramount Miami Worldcenter skyscraper adds a new look to South Florida’s message of support for Ukraine as Russia’s aggression against Ukraine escalates. Starting Saturday evening, the Paramount Miami … Click to Continue »
/by

A hit-and-run driver killed a woman in Broward. Here’s the Range Rover’s description

Sunday night, Lauderhill police released pictures of the Range Rover they say was involved in a hit-and-run that killed a pedestrian in Sunday’s first hours, Lauderhill police said. The tragedy … Click to Continue »
/by

Shirley Bassey, Emilia Jones to Perform at 2022 BAFTA Awards

This month’s BAFTA film awards are set to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the James Bond franchise, having hired its most famous singer to open the ceremony.

Dame Shirley Bassey — forever connected with 007 after soundtracking multiple films throughout her career, most notably Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever — will sing an exclusive performance of a Bond theme, raising the curtain of the 75th BAFTAs at the Royal Albert Hall on March 13. The song itself will be revealed on the night.

The British Academy noted that in the 60 years since Dr. No premiered in 1962, the James Bond franchise had earned 32 BAFTA nominations and four wins to date.

Also performing on the night will be Emilia Jones, star of awards darling CODA. Jones — who has a BAFTA nomination for best actress in a leading role — will perform a rendition of Joni Mitchell’s ballad “Both Sides Now,” taken from the film.

The 2022 BAFTAs — a return to an in-person ceremony after last year’s pandemic-impacted virtual event — will be hosted by Rebel Wilson. Denis Villeneuve’ grand sci-fi spectacle Dune leads the 48 films vying for awards with 11 nominations, followed by The Power of the Dog and Belfast. Meanwhile, the latest Bond film, No Time to Die, has five, while CODA has three.

This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.

/by

Dua Lipa Reacts to Oscar Isaac Reading Fan Fiction About Her on ‘SNL’

Dua Lipa seemed delighted that Oscar Isaac gave a live reading of Dua Lipa fan fiction Saturday night.

“adds to list of things I never thought would happen in my life,” the pop star commented along with laughing emojis on Instagram, where she shared a clip of one of the SNL host’s sketches from this weekend.

On the March 5 episode, one of the actor’s characters was Michael, a school janitor with an unexpected hobby.

In the sketch, the janitor interrupts an evening writing workshop by sharing his own love of books and a story he’s been working on, “The Apogee of Midnight.”

He reads aloud a tale of a janitor who’s alone in a school at night and approached by a woman who says she’s been looking for him.

“My name is Dua Lipa,” says the woman in the story. “I’m a big pop star, and I’m looking for a janitor here named Mike.”

Continuing with his story, he reads: “The janitor paused. That was his name. Dua Lipa sighed. ‘You haven’t heard of me, have you?’ ‘Sorry, ma’am. More of a classic rock guy, myself — but sure, maybe I’ve seen a bikini pic or two.’”

SNL cast member Aidy Bryant attempts to interrupt at this point, but he goes on with his fanfic about the singer. In the story, she’s somehow just arrived at the school following a concert in Europe and is “still in her sparkly show getup.”

The fantasy moves along quickly as Dua Lipa becomes “fast friends” with Mike the janitor and asks him to teach her how to make out. “I’ve never done it before,” she says in his story.

Watch the reading below to see how the writers’ group reacts to his Dua Lipa fanfic.

/by

Netflix, TikTok Block Services in Russia to Avoid Crackdown

Netflix and TikTok suspended most of their services in Russia on Sunday (March 6) as the government cracks down on what people and media outlets can say about Russia’s war in Ukraine.

TikTok said Russian users of the popular social media app would no longer be able to post new videos or livestreams and they also wouldn’t be able to see videos shared from elsewhere in the world.

Netflix said it was suspending its service in Russia but didn’t provide additional details.

The actions are likely to further isolate the country and its people after a growing number of multinational businesses have cut off Russia from vital financial services and technology products in response to Western economic sanctions and global outrage over the invasion of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday intensified a crackdown on media outlets and individuals who fail to hew to the Kremlin line on the war, blocking Facebook and Twitter and signing into law a bill that criminalizes the intentional spreading of what Moscow deems to be “fake” reports.

“In light of Russia’s new ‘fake news’ law, we have no choice but to suspend livestreaming and new content to our video service while we review the safety implications of this law,” TikTok said Sunday in a statement on Twitter. “Our in-app messaging service will not be affected.”

TikTok spokesperson Hilary McQuaide said the TikTok app in Russia now appears in “view-only” mode and won’t let people post or see new videos or livestreams. They can still see older videos, but not if they came from outside the country, she said.

“The safety of employees is our top priority,” she said, adding that the company — part of China-based tech company ByteDance — didn’t want to put either its Russian employees or users at risk of severe criminal penalties.

The new legislation, quickly rubber-stamped by both houses of the Kremlin-controlled parliament and signed by Putin, imposes prison sentences of up to 15 years for those spreading information that goes against the Russian government’s narrative on the war.

Multiple news outlets have also said they would pause their work inside Russia to evaluate the situation. Russian authorities have repeatedly and falsely decried reports of Russian military setbacks or civilian deaths in Ukraine as “fake” news. State media outlets refer to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation” rather than a war or an invasion.

The law envisages sentences of up to three years or fines for spreading what authorities deem to be false news about the military, but the maximum punishment rises to 15 years for cases deemed to have led to “severe consequences.”

/by

Charli XCX Duets With Oscar Isaac as Singing Meatballs in Weird ‘SNL’ Sketch

After three “incredible” dates, everything goes strangely wrong in the most offbeat sketch from SNL Saturday night (March 5).

A woman (Sarah Sherman) is getting closer to her new romantic interest (Chris Redd) when their chemistry is derailed by a bunch of singing meatballs that are secretly all over the woman’s body — singing meatballs with the faces of the episode’s host, Oscar Isaac, as well as cast members Aidy Bryant, Kenan Thompson, Bowen Yang and more.

“We are little meatball men, singing our little meatball song/ Join us please and sing along,” they sing in an unexpected little ditty during the pre-taped sketch.

Mid-breakup, Redd’s character — overwhelmed by the bizarre body meatballs — asks, “I’m sorry. Is there a piano in your armpit?”

There is indeed a piano in Sherman’s armpit, played by none other than SNL musical guest Charli XCX, who croons a power ballad with Oscar Isaac about not giving up on love over meatballs. (Elsewhere on the episode, Charli performed “Beg for You” and “Baby,” both tracks from her upcoming album Crash.)

Watch the odd, but hilarious, sketch below. See the full episode on Hulu here. The streaming service is currently offering a 30-day free trial, which you can sign up for here.

/by