Janet Jackson Addresses Fans in Emotional Video: ‘I Was Crying Because … I Am So Thankful for All of You’

While Janet Jackson has not responded to Justin Timberlake’s recent public apology to her, she did take the time this weekend to connect with her fans via a new video posted on social media.

Jackson tweeted a 45-second clip on Saturday (Feb. 13) in which she thanked her longtime supporters for being a part of her life. Speaking directly to the camera, she wore a mask — but she seemed to have a smile on her face.

“I was at home just the other day by myself and I began to cry,” said Jackson. “I was crying because I was so thankful for all that God has blessed me with, all that he has given me. I’m so thankful for Him being in my life. And I am so thankful for all of you being in my life.”

“You’re so special to me,” she said.

She added, “And I want to thank all of you for making ‘Control’ number one once again after 35 years. I never, never in a million years, I would never think that this would happen. I really appreciate you and I love you so, so much. Thank you.”

Jackson’s influential Control album, released on Feb. 4, 1986, just celebrated its 35th anniversary.

Her latest message to fans comes a day after Timberlake — her former co-star at the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, where her breast was exposed by Timberlake on live television in what was deemed a wardrobe malfunction, one for which Jackson faced the fallout — issued an apology to her (as well as to Britney Spears), years later. He expressed regret over his past “ignorance” and for benefiting “from a system that condones misogyny and racism.”

Watch Jackson speak to her fans in the video below.

/by

Kelly Clarkson Opens Up About the Perfect Date With Herself Ahead of Valentine’s Day: Watch

Kelly Clarkson is opening up about how she enjoys spends her alone time while being single.

During Friday’s (Feb. 12) episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, the 38-year-old pop star described her perfect solo date, which typically involves relaxing by her fireplace a glass of wine while reading a book or watching Netflix.

“We all know that we don’t need someone by our sides to live our best lives,” Clarkson said before opening the discussion to her virtual audience. A female fan then asked the talk show host and singer, “What do you do to date yourself?”

“This is going to be real boring,” the mother of two prefaced her response. “I love literally having a glass of wine. I put the fireplace on in my bedroom … and read a book or I watch some Netflix.”

She added, “Or I literally just hang out with my girls. I love that.”

Clarkson’s comments arrived ahead of her first Valentine’s Day since splitting with husband Brandon Blackstock. In early June, she filed to end her seven-year marriage with Blackstock.

Elsewhere during the segment — which included interviews with actress Sarah Chalke and comedian Kym Whitley — another audience member asked Clarkson, “What’s something that you pretended to be cool with that you weren’t cool with while in a relationship?”

The host replied with a laugh, “I dated this guy, and I think because I’m a singer-songwriter … if you date (people who are music artists), they feel like, ‘I’m gonna write her a song’ — don’t.”

Watch the full Kelly Clarkson Show clip below.

/by

Taylor Swift’s Re-Recorded ‘Love Story’ Sells 10,000 in U.S. on First Day

Taylor Swift’s “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” is off to, well, a swift sales start. Meanwhile, the track — which is not being actively promoted to radio stations — drew a smattering of airplay on its first day of release.

The Sales ‘Story’ … The new re-recording, which was released on Feb. 12, sold 10,000 downloads in the U.S. that day, according to initial reports to MRC Data.

To compare, in the week ending Feb. 4, just three songs sold more than 10,000 in the entire week in the U.S. — Tom MacDonald’s Fake Woke (14,000), BTS’ “Dynamite” (13,000) and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” (13,000). (Sales in the week ending Feb. 4 are reflected on Billboard’s Digital Song Sales chart dated Feb. 13.)

On Feb. 11, Swift announced that she has re-recorded her 2008 album Fearless, as Fearless (Taylor’s Version), and that the updated lead single, “Love Story (Taylor’s Version),” would be unveiled that night. Fearless became Swift’s first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, while “Love Story” was her second Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit. Since then, Swift has tallied seven more No. 1 albums, and 27 more top 10 Hot 100 hits.

As for the original version of “Love Story,” it sold about 200 downloads in the U.S. on Feb. 12. In the week leading up to the release of the re-recording’s release, the original version had been selling a negligible amount on a daily basis. Through Feb. 4, the original “Love Story” had sold 6.13 million downloads in the U.S.

Re-recordings of older songs or albums are treated separately from their originals, with independent chart histories for each version. Thus, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” will chart separately from Swift’s original 2008 recordings of the album and song, respectively.

News on the Feb. 12 streaming activity of “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” will be reported in the coming days.

And Now, The Radio ‘Story’ … As for radio airplay in its first day, “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” — which is not being actively promoted to radio stations — drew 144 plays on Feb. 12 on 89 stations that report to Billboard’s all-genre, audience-based Radio Songs chart, a sum that translates to 777,000 audience impressions. Leading the way among those 144 plays, 83 were on reporters to the Pop Airplay chart, 34 were on Adult Pop Airplay reporters and 12 were on Country Airplay panelists.

How does that play compare to the 2008 version?

The new take drew more than twice as many plays as the original on Feb. 12, which logged 67 plays yesterday on Radio Songs reporters. Adult Contemporary chart reporters accounted for 25 of those spins, followed by Country Airplay panelists contributing 12.

While the new version attracted 777,000 in audience impressions on Feb. 12, the original drew 227,000.

Though “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” is not being actively promoted to radio, instead, three tracks continue to be promoted to various formats from Swift’s latest LP, Evermore. “Willow” rose 11-9 on the most recently published Adult Pop Airplay chart (dated Feb. 13), becoming Swift’s 24th top 10 on the tally, extending her record for the most among women. It also held at its No. 9 high on Adult Contemporary and climbed 23-20 on Pop Airplay. Meanwhile, the set’s “Coney Island,” featuring The National, repeated at its No. 26 best on Adult Alternative Airplay, and “No Body, No Crime,” featuring Haim, kept at No. 60 on Country Airplay.

The original “Love Story” hit No. 2 on Radio Songs (and No. 4 on the all-genre, multi-metric Billboard Hot 100). It topped Country Airplay and Pop Airplay and remains the only song to have led both lists. It also crowned Adult Contemporary and rose to No. 3 on Adult Pop Airplay.

/by

Kerry Washington Wants to Get In on a ‘Remix to the Remix’ of ’34+35′

Ariana Grande and Megan Thee Stallion were touched by a tweet from Kerry Washington on Saturday (Feb. 13).

The Scandal star gave a shout-out to Grande and her co-stars, Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion, after their release of the “34+35″ remix music video. The three have something of an ideal girls’ day together in the clip, which debuted on Friday — and next time, Washington wants an invite.

“Hey @ArianaGrande @theestallion @DojaCat if there is a 34+35 remix to the remix…I am available! Just wanted to throw that out there,” Washington wrote on Twitter, throwing in some fire emojis.

Grande reacted to the tweet on Saturday with an “omg,” accompanied by a heart and a tearful emoji, echoing Meg’s “omgggg” tweet earlier.

See their sweet tweets below, and watch the trifecta’s video for the “34+35″ remix. “34+35″ is off of Grande’s Positions album; in January, the remix marked the highest-charting Hot 100 hit by a trio of women soloists in nearly 20 years.

/by

‘It doesn’t smell right’: Sudden attorney switch in North Miami Beach raises questions

The mayor of North Miami Beach is calling for a criminal investigation of his colleagues after they voted to abruptly fire the city’s contract legal team and bring in a … Click to Continue »
/by

Homeland Security officers shoot, kill a man during ‘financial’ investigation in Gables

A man was killed Friday afternoon in Coral Gables when agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security opened fire during an investigation into some sort of financial scheme, and … Click to Continue »
/by

Miami to cover one year of rent, utilities for struggling tenants under new program

Miami plans to launch a new relief program that would provide a year’s worth of rent and utilities for struggling tenants who live inside city limits. On Thursday, the commission … Click to Continue »
/by

Royal Caribbean Group will soon require crew to be vaccinated for COVID-19

Royal Caribbean Group will soon require crew to be vaccinated for COVID-19 before returning to work. In an email to crew members on Wednesday obtained by the Miami Herald, Royal … Click to Continue »
/by

News briefs

Biden plans to close Guantanamo prison by end of his term WASHINGTON — The Biden administration plans to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay by the end of … Click to Continue »
/by

MSG Entertainment Revenue Down 94%, But Things Are Looking Up

Madison Square Garden Entertainment’s (MSGE) revenue in the three months ended Dec. 31 — its fiscal second quarter — was $23.1 million, down 94.1% from the $325.4 million posted in the period a year earlier, the company announced Friday (Feb. 12).

The quarter was the live music business’s third full quarter affected by shut-down orders that bought touring to a standstill. MSGE had just $46.5 million of revenues from April 1 to Dec. 31, 2020, down 94.1% year over year from $787 million.

Although MSGE’s share price fell as much as 6.5% to $94.01 on Friday, investors have faith in live entertainment: Closing at $97.02, MSGE has lost little value since it spun off from MSG’s sports division at $100 on April 9, 2020. Its shares were trading below $70 as recently as Nov. 2 — the beneficiary of a bull market as well as positive news about vaccination rollouts.

MSGE’s $1.45 billion of liquidity on Dec. 31 was helped by a debt sale of $650 million in November and $20.6 million raised from the sale of some its stake in fantasy sports platform DraftKings.com. Its operational cash burn was just $64 million in the quarter and $107 million went to capital expenditures, mainly the construction of its next-generation venue, the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas, that is planned to open in 2023.

In New York, where tours were suspended last March, music venues and concert promoters have reason for optimism: On Wednesday, the state announced that arenas with capacities over 10,000 will start to re-open Feb. 23, 2021 — starting with an NBA game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn — with limited capacities and strict safety requirements. MSGE will begin hosting professional basketball games by the end of February. Events require approval by the state’s Department of Health and will be limited to 10% of capacity, a level that’s “very difficult” to make concerts viable, MSGE president Andy Lustgarten said during the earnings call.

Executive chairman and CEO James Dolan said in a statement the state’s actions are “another important step” to “a return to normal operations,” although he was vague enough to prevent investors from setting expectations. After all, promoters are still cancelling events more than announcing them. And while there is certainly a “pent-up demand for live entertainment,” as Dolan said, how and when that demand will be fulfilled is unknown.

A factor in MSGE’s favor is a local footprint that subjects it to fewer regulations and road blocks than a promoter that must route national tours through multiple, uneven state and city restrictions. Then again, such imbalances in entertainment can hurt a regional promoter that relies on artists that conduct national tours — without national touring, the U.S. live music business will be hamstrung.

/by