Video games have long been seen as just a hobby but these days even universities see the importance of eSports. Because of this shift, the City of Hialeah has established … Click to Continue »
A Cambodian official accused of illegally importing wild, long-tailed macaque monkeys into the United States that were destined for Miami was acquitted Friday of conspiracy and smuggling charges after a … Click to Continue »
A New York City police officer was shot and killed Monday during a traffic stop, the city’s mayor said. It marked the first slaying of an NYPD officer in two … Click to Continue »
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill blocking most kids from social media websites, setting up an expected court battle that could prevent the legislation from ever taking effect. … Click to Continue »
The Golden Globes are set to air on CBS for the next five years, it was announced Monday (March 25).
The deal, which begins with the 2025 edition of the ceremony, will see the film and TV awards show air on CBS and stream live on Paramount+.
“CBS’ collaboration with the Globes for this year’s broadcast was a big win for both of us and established strong momentum for awards shows in 2024,” CBS CEO George Cheeks said in a statement. “The Globes is a one-of a-kind live event that adds another marquee special and valuable promotional platform to CBS’ annual calendar. I’m excited to expand the partnership with [chairman and CEO of Penske Media and Dick Clark Productions] Jay [Penske] and the entire team to continue to drive the Globes forward.”
Globes president Helen Hoehne added, “Today marks a significant milestone for the Globes as we solidify our partnership with CBS and Paramount+ for the next five years. We are incredibly proud of the audience we garnered in 2024 and look forward to building upon the immense success to make the 82nd annual Golden Globe Awards the best and most memorable show yet.”
The 2024 Golden Globes, which took place Jan. 7, saw Poor Things, Succession, Oppenheimer, The Bear and Beef among the night’s big winners.
“We’re so proud to continue to call CBS our home for the Golden Globes,” said Penske. “CBS stepped up for the Globes during a very challenging time, and inherently understood its value, while having the foresight, imagination and conviction to bring this iconic show to its many platforms. We’ve long admired CBS’ commitment to some of the greatest cultural live events and partnering for the long-term further cements this show’s legacy and incredible place in history.”
The Golden Globes telecast was something of a hot potato prior to this new deal. After the old iteration of The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, then in charge of the awards show, became persona non grata with industry publicists over accusations of bribery and much-publicized reports about a lack of diversity within the group, longtime broadcaster NBC put the 2022 telecast on ice. A slightly revamped show aired on NBC in 2023, fulfilling its contract. CBS aired the show in 2024 as a one-off. And while the reviews for the show were abysmal — thanks in large part to the hosting job by Jo Koy — the ratings were up and the guest list was wildly impressive. The telecast neared 10 million multiplatform viewers, up 50 percent from its final NBC outing.
That seems to have been enough to seal the deal for CBS. There’s also slightly less baggage these days, now that operation isn’t run by the HFPA. The group fundamentally disbanded in 2023. Dick Clark Productions now owns and produces the Golden Globe Awards. DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge that also owns Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
The man who shot and wounded a police officer in a Fort Lauderdale hotel room on Thursday had a history of arrests and mental health problems severe enough that police … Click to Continue »
A wet weekend — and severe weather warnings — paused the party temporarily for festivalgoers at Ultra. Will the weather be similar for the work week? While more than 100,000 … Click to Continue »
Sandra Crouch, the late Andraé Crouch’s twin sister who co-wrote “Jesus Is the Answer,” has died. She was 81.
Sandra Crouch passed away on Sunday, March 17 at Northridge Hospital in Northridge, California, following complications from radiation for a non-cancerous brain lesion, Billboard has learned.
Sandra and Andraé were born on July 1, 1942, in Los Angeles to parents who went into ministry and founded Christ Memorial Church C.O.G.I.C. in 1951. The siblings began performing music together around 1960 as The COGICS, alongside friends who were active at church.
Andraé went on to form the group Andraé Crouch & The Disciples, and Sandra worked as a percussionist in Hollywood. As a percussionist, Sandra’s credits included playing on notable projects like The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back,” Neil Diamond’s Tap Root Manuscript and Janis Joplin’s Pearl album.
In the 1970s, Crouch joined her brother with The Disciples, singing, playing and co-writing songs including “Jesus Is the Answer,” which became a mainstay on gospel radio.
Among the twins’ musical accomplishments together was backing Michael Jackson on several songs on History – Past, Present and Future Book 1, and on “Man in the Mirror” when Jackson performed it live at the Grammys in 1988. Both Andraé and Sandra also worked on film soundtracks for 1985’s The Color Purple, 1993’s Free Willy and 1994’s The Lion King.
Sandra released three of her own albums in the 1980s, all of which resulted in Grammy nominations — and collected a Grammy for one of them.
Her first solo album, We Sing Praises — featuring singles “He’s Worthy,” “There’s Power in the Blood” and “We Need to Hear From You” — was released in 1983. The set earned Crouch three nominations and won the award for best soul gospel performance, female at the 26th annual Grammy Awards.
We’re Waiting, Crouch’s sophomore solo album, arrived in 1985 with the song “Completely Yes.” The album and track were nominated for best soul gospel performance by a duo, group, choir or chorus at the 28th annual Grammy Awards, though Crouch did not take home an award this time around.
Crouch’s third and final solo album, With All of My Heart, was released in 1992. It received a nomination, but did not win, for best gospel album by a choir or chorus at the 35th annual Grammy Awards. She went on the road in support of the album with Daryl Coley and the Richard Smallwood Singers on the Gospel: Good for the Soul Tour.
Sandra won two GMA Dove Awards for traditional gospel album, first for We Sing Praises in 1984, and then for With All of My Heart in 1993.
Andraé Crouch had taken over their parents’ church, Christ Memorial COGIC in San Fernando, California, in 1998 and ordained Sandra as a co-pastor, which defied the COGIC denomination’s policy against female preachers. They gave the church a new name: New Chris Memorial Church.
Sandra assumed the role of senior pastor beginning in 2015, when her brother passed.
The church’s assistant pastor, Kenneth J. Cook, released a statement about Sandra’s death last week via social media, writing, “It’s with a heavy heart that I announce that at 12pm today, March 17, 2024, our beloved Senior Pastor Sandra Elaine Crouch transitioned into the arms of the Lord. We as believers know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. We will forever cherish the memories and teachings we received from her.”
Crouch’s life will be celebrated with an April 16 viewing and musical tribute at New Christ Memorial Church, followed by a homegoing service on April 17.
The 2024 Juno Awards looked to the future of Canadian music, while also honoring its history.
A quartet of acts who’ve had major breakthroughs this year won the major awards given out on the CBC-televised broadcast on Sunday night (March 24) live from Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Punjabi-Canadian global star Karan Aujla won the TikTok Fan Choice award, the only fan-chosen award of the ceremony. “Sometimes I can’t believe I’m that same kid who lost my parents when I was in India, made my way to Canada, and now I’m here!” said the B.C.-based artist, one of Billboard Canada’s inaugural cover stars. “If you are dreaming, make sure you dream big.”
Charlotte Cardin won album of the year for her album 99 Nights. The 2023 album has propelled the Montreal-based artist to new crossover heights, hitting No. 3 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, while its popular single “Confetti” reached the top 10 of the Canadian Hot 100 and spent 35 weeks on the chart. It also earned her first American chart hit, and it is currently on the Adult Pop Airplay chart. Cardin later performed the infectious earworm while actual confetti rained from the ceiling.
The Beaches, meanwhile, won group of the year. Accepting the award from Nova Scotia’s own Anne Murray, who holds the record for most Junos ever with 25, the Toronto band dedicated their speech to the next generation of rockers. “To all the young girls watching, go start bands with your best friends!” They later closed the festivities with a rendition of their major breakthrough single “Blame Brett.”
Both Cardin and The Beaches won awards at the 2024 Juno Opening Night Awards the night before (March 23) for pop album of the year and rock album of the year, respectively.
In a white fur cape, TALK had a rock star moment performing his epic single “Run Away to Mars,” which went to No. 1 on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart last year. The Ottawa-born artist, who’s had over 400 million global streams, later took home the award for breakthrough artist of the year. In his speech, he talked about the importance of arts funding, just after Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St.-Onge announced the government would increase the Canadian Music Fund.
A number of the night’s performances motioned toward the increasingly diverse and global future of Canadian music. Dressed in a spiffy white outfit with a four backup dancers in red, Aujla performed early on, playing pop hits “Admiring You” and “Softly.” Both came from his album Making Memories, which made history as the highest-charting Punjabi debut ever on the Canadian Albums chart. Ikky, who made the album with Aujla, acted as hype man on an elevated platform.
In the BillboardPunjabi Wave cover story, AP Dhillon talked about his performance at the 2023 Junos ceremony and how he lobbied to ensure majorly popular Punjabi music would have a prolonged platform at the awards. Evidently, they’ve kept their word.
This year’s Junos also had the most Indigenous nominees in award history. Anita Landback, Tanas Sylliboy, Sarah Prosper set the stage with a land acknowledgment that intersected with a performance by Juno winner Jeremy Dutcher in Wolastoqey, who then joined in a duet with Elisapie on an Inuktitut version of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass.” Along with Aujla and others, it meant performances featured at least six different languages, including English and French.
The Junos has struggled with star power in recent years — Drake has boycotted the last half decade, while chart-topper Tate McRae was not in attendance to accept her two awards this year — they have made up for it with improved representation of what makes Canadian music unique.
This year, they also paid tribute to the country’s music history.
The ceremony was hosted by pop star Nelly Furtado, who opened the ceremony with a rapid-fire medley of her multiple decades of hits: “Say It Right,” “Maneater,” “Promiscuous,” “Give It To Me,” “I’m Like A Bird” — all from the 2000s and her new one with Dom Dolla, “Eat Your Man.”
Kardinal Offishall inducted “our rap Prime Minister” Maestro Fresh Wes into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. The hip-hop hero had the first Canadian rap record to ever chart on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Let Your Backbone Slide,” was the first winner of the rap album of the year at the 1991 Junos for Symphony in Effect, and is currently amidst a wave of recognition for his place in the country’s music history. A pre-taped video featured contributions from this year’s winner, TOBi, legacy Canadian artists like Snow and American legends like Chuck D of Public Enemy. “Now, this music we love won’t ever be underestimated,” he said. He later performed a medley of his hits, including “Backbone.”
A special performance honoured a handful of Canadian legends who died this year. Neo-classical Quebecois artist Alexandra Streliski paid tribute to Karl Tremblay of Les Cowboys Fringants with an instrumental piano performance. Then Allison Russell, Aysanabee, William Prince, Shawnee Kish, Logan Staats, Julian Taylor all joined together for beautiful renditions of Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind” and The Band’s “The Weight” for the late Robbie Robertson.
And actor Elliot Page presented the humanitarian award to Tegan and Sara, stressing the importance of the Canadian Quin sisters’ Tegan and Sara Foundation’s important work for young queer people at a time when the rights of 2SLGBTQ+ people are under threat, including from the Alberta government. “If the world were not so hostile to 2SLGBTQ+ we would see ourselves purely as musicians,” they said, adding “we love being gay. So gay.”
Here’s our report on all the winners from Saturday’s Opening Night Juno Awards.
Here are the nominees in the categories that were presented on the live telecast, with winners checked.
TikTok Juno Fan Choice
Charlotte Cardin, Cult Nation*The Orchard
Daniel Caesar, Republic*Universal
DVBBS, Ultra*Sony
Josh Ross, Universal
WINNER: Karan Aujla, Warner
Shubh, Mass Appeal*The Orchard
Tate McRae, RCA*Sony
The Weeknd, XO*Universal
ThxSoMch, Elektra*Warner
Walk off the Earth, Golden Carrot*The Orchard
Album of the Year
Néo-Romance, Alexandra Stréliski, Secret City*F.A.B.
WINNER: 99 Nights, Charlotte Cardin, Cult Nation*The Orchard
NEVER ENOUGH, Daniel Caesar, Republic*Universal
Mirror, Lauren Spencer Smith, Universal
Lord of the Flies & Birds & Bees, TALK, Capitol*Universal
Group of the Year
Arkells, Arkells Music*Universal
Loud Luxury, Armada*Sony
Nickelback, BMG*Warner/ADA
WINNER: The Beaches, AWAL*Independent
Walk off the Earth, Golden Carrot*The Orchard
Breakthrough Artist of the Year
Connor Price, Independent
Karan Aujla, Warner
LU KALA, LVK/Amigo*AWAL
Shubh, Inrependent
WINNER: TALK, Capitol*Universal
This article originally appeared in Billboard Canada.
Selena Gomez gave fans a glimpse at her natural beauty on Instagram this weekend.
The pop singer, actress and Rare Beauty founder uploaded a series of photos to Instagram Stories, including what appears to be a completely makeup-free selfie.
With tousled hair and wearing a gray robe or cardigan, a bare-faced Gomez winks and gives a playful look in the snapshot.
Gomez also posted a more professional portrait showing her natural look on her Instagram grid on Saturday (March 23). The intriguing black-and-white headshot has the star peering into the camera — in a way that caught the eye of fellow artist Camila Cabello, who voiced her reaction in the comments.
“Good god woman have mercy,” Cabello wrote, complimenting the striking shot, which Gomez had simply captioned with “Real.”
In a sweet post on Wednesday (March 20), the singer-actress shared a sweet handmade card beau Benny Blanco sent her, noting that they have entered a long-distance phase in their relationship. “Happy first virtual date!” he wrote. Gomez captioned the photo, “#longdistancerelationship vibes.”
The couple have been public about their romance since December.
“I’d have to say overall, it’s the safest that I feel and it’s been really lovely,” said Gomez of the relationship in an interview with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe in February.
Check out Gomez’s makeup-free selfie on Instagram Stories, and embedded in a fan tweet below. See her new closeup portrait on her Instagram grid.
