It’s been a short week of preparation that included the Christmas holiday, but that hasn’t stopped a handful of injured Miami Dolphins from improving from injuries enough that they’re expected … Click to Continue »
Miami police are investigating a shooting that killed a young man and injured three people Saturday afternoon. Around 1:30 p.m., officers responded to a call of a shooting in the … Click to Continue »
Newly engaged Ariana Grande posted Christmas day photos with her fiancé, Dalton Gomez, and her family on Instagram.
The singer captioned her latest post — an update that included a snapshot of herself embracing Gomez in front of a lit up Christmas tree — with one festive word: “merry.”
Frankie Grande, Ariana’s brother, left a comment on the series of holiday pictures, some of which included him and their mother: “I love you so incredibly much! So grateful we were together!”
“I know how blessed we were to be together this Christmas and I do not take it for granted,” Frankie added on his own Instagram account.
The “Positions” singer announced her engagement to Gomez last Sunday (Dec. 20). “Forever n then some,” she captioned a series of photos of the couple (and her ring) last weekend.
They were first spotted together in public in early 2020.
See Grande’s Christmas photos on Instagram.
As downtown Nashville awoke to an explosion on Christmas morning, the country music community checked in on social media and shared messages of hope and prayers. They also expressed gratitude for the first responders serving their city.
The Friday morning (Dec. 25) bombing, which involved a recreational vehicle parked on Second Avenue, damaged dozens of businesses and injured three people. As of Saturday evening, a motive remained unknown, according to the Associated Press.
Carrie Underwood sent out “a huge thank you to all the brave first responders in Nashville” on Christmas morning.
Tim McGraw wrote a heartfelt message to the city on Saturday (Dec. 26): “Trying to find the words….but this is a tough one,” he tweeted. “Yesterday, on Christmas Morning, the world watched as Nashville was hit by another tragedy. It’s been a year….but we will rise again.”
“Grateful for the first responders who spent Christmas morning on one of our toughest years ensuring that no lives were lost. We are bruised, but not broken. Praying for my city and hopeful that we will find the strength to rise once again with the dawning of a New Year,” McGraw continued.
“Tough year for Nashville,” Brad Paisley said Friday night. “Be safe everyone.”
Early Friday morning, Cassadee Pope posted an update from Nashville, writing, “Our house shook here in Nashville. Following the info on socials and the news but just praying nobody was hurt.”
“We’re so glad to hear that all of our Nashville crew and friends are safe today,” Eli Young Band wrote after the explosion. “All of the love to Music City today.”
See their messages, and many more, below.
Roger Berlind, a producer of more than 100 Broadway plays and musicals and the winner of 25 Tony Awards, has died. He was 90.
He died Dec. 18 at his home in Montana. His family said cardiopulmonary arrest was to blame, The New York Times reported.
The Brooklyn-born Berlind enjoyed a four-decade career that boosted the success of actors including Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons.
He wasn’t born into the theater, though. Despite youthful aspirations as a songwriter, he found work on Wall Street, becoming a brokerage partner before the death of his wife and three of four children in a June 1975 plane crash in New York City that changed the trajectory of his life.
He told the Times in 1998 that building a business and making money didn’t make sense to him anymore.
Eventually, he turned to Broadway, redefining himself through a new career.
Brook Berlind, his second wife, defined the switch in stage terms.
“His life was utterly bifurcated by the accident,” she said. “There was Act I and Act II. I don’t think many other people could have gone on to such success after such catastrophe.”
His debut production in 1976 of Rex, a Richard Rodgers musical about Henry VIII, was panned by a Times theater critic. His last show, a Tony winner brought to the stage by multiple producers, was the 2019 revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma.
Other shows included the original 1980 production of Amadeus, which won a Tony for best play, and Sophisticated Ladies, a 1981 musical with a two-year run featuring music by Duke Ellington.
Star-studded revivals included Death of a Salesman in 2012 with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hello Dolly in 2017 with Bette Midler.
Throughout his career, Berlind took the flops in stride with the successes, finding value in some losing productions.
“I know it’s not worth it economically,” he told The Times in 1998. “But I love theater.”
Berlind exhibited his own flair for the dramatic after the Sept. 11 attacks when he took then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s encouragement of Broadway to heart and appeared onstage on Sept. 23 after the conclusion of what had been scheduled to be the last performance of Kiss Me, Kate.
“The show will go on,” he declared to an emotional audience, extending a two-year run for three months despite declining sales.
Survivors include his wife and son, two granddaughters and a brother.
Taylor Swift gave fans a look at life at home with one of her cats on Boxing Day.
On a social media feed otherwise full of posts about her latest album, Evermore, Swift checked in with an amusing photo of Olivia on Saturday (Dec. 26). In the picture, Olivia is, fittingly, sitting inside a box.
“Boxing day,” she captioned the cute moment of her cat curled up in her chosen cozy space, along with a box emoji.
Swift hadn’t shared any new cat photos in quite a while — the last time being April — and many Swifties were happy to see a personal pic from her the day after Christmas.
“YES MORE CAT CONTENT IS WHAT WE NEEDED,” one fan commented. Another found humor in the pointed look Olivia gave the camera: “Olivia is always in a mood,” they tweeted.
See Swift’s Boxing Day snapshot below.
Congratulations are in order for Nick Cannon and his girlfriend, Brittany Bell, who welcomed their second child together.
The former Miss Arizona USA took to Instagram on Christmas Day (Dec. 25) to announce the birth of the couple’s new baby daughter.
“The best gift ever we have been surprised with… A GIRL!!!!!” Bell captioned a holiday-themed slideshow of family photos. “Powerful Queen Cannon came this week perfect timing for Christmas.”
Cannon and Bell also share their 3-year-old son, Golden.
The new mother’s photo gallery includes several photos of the happy family, including one of the new parents sweetly embracing their newborn daughter, and others of Cannon dressed up as Santa Claus while happily posing alongside his girlfriend and kids.
“So much more to share,” Bell added in the caption. “All I can say is that Nick was my rock through the most intense yet empowering natural water birth. It was nothing but POWERFUL Merry Christmas!!!! THANK YOU GOD.”
See the adorable Christmas-themed slideshow of Cannon’s beautiful family here.
We’ve made it to the big holiday weekend, everybody. Pour yourself some coquito and chill. Or don’t. But if you don’t, know what’s open and closed. Some restaurants and stores … Click to Continue »
Two shootings Friday, Christmas Day, marked the continuation of a violent week in South Florida. An officer-involved shooting saw one suspect taken into custody in Little Haiti, a Miami police … Click to Continue »
J-pop boy band King & Prince’s “I Promise” debuts at No. 1 on this week’s Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Dec. 14 to 20. The rising Johnny’s group’s sixth single sold 578,092 copies in its first week, topping the first-week figures for its previous single “Mazy Night” (531,162 copies). “I Promise” dominates three metrics of the chart’s methodology this week, coming in at No. 1 for physical sales, look-ups, and Twitter mentions.
LiSA’s “Homura” and BTS’s “Dynamite” both hold at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. The two songs have been in close competition for weeks now, with the former leading downloads for the tenth week and karaoke for the fifth (both in a row), while the latter tops streaming for the eighth non-consecutive week and video views for the third straight week.
Looking at figures, BTS’s advantage over LiSA in streaming and video is both pretty close, with “Dynamite” at 11,819,614 weekly streams and 4,824,661 views and “Homura” at 11,271,882 streams and 4,290,040 views. With the annual year-end media blitz for musicians coming up, how these and other songs on the list perform in the new year is something to keep an eye on.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, Twitter mentions, YouTube and GYAO! video views, Gracenote look-ups and karaoke data.
Check out the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, dated Dec. 14 to 20, here.
