Sabrina Carpenter and Quinta Brunson teamed up for a catchy musical tribute to short people during Saturday Night Live on May 3.

In her opening monologue, the Abbott Elementary creator and star joked about her height before the “Please Please Please” singer joined her for a playful performance celebrating “shorties” everywhere.

Brunson, hosting SNL for the second time, noted that she was “proof you can do anything you put your mind to even if people look down on you.” She continued, “Whether it’s because of where you come from or literally because you’re only 4’11′ — yeah, that’s right, I’m short … But I love being short, and I want other short people to know the sky’s the limit. So shorties, tonight, this one’s for us!”

Brunson then launched into a humorous song about her stature, noting that she’s a cheap date who gets “wasted off of one glass of wine,” and name-checked other famously petite celebrities including Simone Biles, Kendrick Lamar and Tom Holland.

Carpenter — who’s around five feet tall herself — soon joined Brunson on stage, exchanging jokes with the host about eating short ribs and reading short stories. The performance culminated in a group number joined by SNL cast member Marcello Hernandez (5’6″) and former NBA star Dwyane Wade (6’4″).

“It’s how we like our movies, and how we like our margins,” they all sang together. “We’ve been the same height since kindergarten. Life is just more fun when you’re fun size.”

Elsewhere in the episode, pop star Benson Boone made his SNL debut, performing two tracks — “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else” and “Mystical Magical” — from his upcoming sophomore album, American Heart. The new project is scheduled for release on June 20 through Night Street Records/Warner Records. Watch Boone’s SNL performances here.

Check out Brunson’s SNL monologue below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.

Police in Brazil said on Sunday (May 4) that two people have been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to detonate explosives at a free Lady Gaga concert in Rio de Janeiro.

The Rio event on Saturday (May 3) was the biggest show of the pop star’s career that attracted more than 2 million fans to Copacabana Beach and had crowds screaming and dancing along.

Even as Brazilian authorities said they arrested suspects in the hours before Gaga’s show, the event went ahead without disruption — leading some to question the seriousness of the threat. Serious security concerns typically lead organizers to cancel such massive events — as happened with Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna last year.

Police said said nothing about the alleged plot at the time to in an effort to “avoid panic” and “the distortion of information.”

On Sunday, a spokesperson for Gaga said the pop star and her team “learned about this alleged threat via media reports this morning. Prior to and during the show, there were no known safety concerns, nor any communication from the police or authorities to Lady Gaga regarding any potential risks.”

The statement added: “Her team worked closely with law enforcement throughout the planning and execution of the concert and all parties were confident in the safety measures in place.”

Security was tight at Saturday’s concert, with 5,200 military and police officers deployed to the beach where fans were reveling in the pop singer’s classic hits like “Born This Way,” which became something of an LGBTQ anthem after its 2011 release.

Rio de Janeiro’s state police and Brazil’s Justice Ministry presented the bare outlines of a plot that they said involved a group that promoted hate speech against the LGBTQ+ community, among others, and had planned to detonate homemade explosive devices at the event.

“The plan was treated as a ‘collective challenge’ with the aim of gaining notoriety on social media,” the police said. The group, it added, disseminated violent content to teenagers online as “a form of belonging.”

Authorities arrested two people in connection with the alleged plot — a man described as the group’s leader in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul on illegal weapons possession charges, and a teenager in Rio on child pornography charges. Police did not elaborate on their exact roles in the plot or on how the group came to target Gaga’s free concert.

“Those involved were recruiting participants, including teenagers, to carry out integrated attacks using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails,” police said.

The Justice Ministry said that it determined the group posed a “risk to public order.” It said the group falsely presented themselves online as “Little Monsters” — Gaga’s nickname for her fans — in order to reach teenagers and lure them into “networks with violent and self-destructive content.”

The ministry said there was no impact on those attending the open-air concert.

During a series of raids on the homes of 15 suspects across several Brazilian states, authorities confiscated phones and other electronic devices. Although police said they believed homemade bombs were intended for use in the planned attack, there was no mention of the raids turning up any weapons or explosive material.

Gaga has expressed gratitude for the enormous crowd in an Instagram post that said nothing of the alleged plot.

“Nothing could prepare me for the feeling I had during last night’s show—the absolute pride and joy I felt singing for the people of Brazil,” she wrote. “The sight of the crowd during my opening songs took my breath away. Your heart shines so bright, your culture is so vibrant and special, I hope you know how grateful I am to have shared this historical moment with you.”

Her free beach concert stood out at a time of surging ticket prices for live music around the world as concert-goers pay budget-busting costs to see their favorite artists.

Rio has done this before — last May, superstar Madonna performed the finale to her latest world tower for some 1.6 million fans on the sprawling sands of Copacabana Beach.

Ava Max‘s new album Don’t Click Play is arriving this summer. The set, featuring lead single “Lost Your Faith,” will be her third full-length album.

Max unveiled the album’s release date and its cover art on Thursday (May 1). Pop fans will be able to click play on Don’t Click Play on Aug. 22.

The album cover features Max handling the heat in a triangle of fire, her hands grasping edges that are going up in flames — perhaps serving as a visual of the fire-emoji vibes she hopes listeners will feel when they do click play. The triangle is in the form of the familiar symbol that’s recognized as a play button.

She’s dabbling in the art of reverse psychology with this album cycle. Last month, the singer led folks to the website DontClickPlayOnAvaMax.com, which under the guise of an online petition actually teased an unreleased track. She also shared a photo of a roadside “Don’t Click Play on Ava Max” billboard.

With Max’s album reveal on X on May 1, she also played on Atlantic Records labelmate Ed Sheeran’s Play album announcement, quoting his HQ account’s post from the same day; both announcements, of course, made use of the handy play button icon.

Don’t Click Play is the follow-up to 2023’s Diamonds & Dancefloors (which reached No. 34 on the Billboard 200 albums chart) and 2020’s Heaven & Hell (Max’s debut LP, which peaked at No. 27 and included breakthrough single “Sweet But Psycho,” a Top 10 hit on the Hot 100 in 2018).

In case you missed it, watch Max’s music video for Don’t Click Play‘s “Lost Your Faith” below.

Although the ceremony for the 2025 ACM Awards is still a few days away, Ella Langley and Riley Green are early winners for their breakthrough hit “You Look Like You Love Me.” The surprise was revealed while the pair were on stage at Country Thunder in Tampa, Florida, Friday night (May 2) — with the reveal coming from none other than country icon and 18-time ACM Awards host Reba McEntire.

A special video from Reba, in which she congratulated the two artists as winners of this year’s award for visual media of the year (for their “You Look Like You Love Me” music video), played during Green’s set at the festival on Friday. Langley receives honors for both artist and director in the category.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I have some big news,” Reba teased in the clip that announced their win. “Congratulations to Ella and Riley! Can’t wait to celebrate with you both in Frisco!”

Langley learned of her first Academy of Country Music award just a week ago, during her set at Rock the Country in Knoxville, Tennessee.

News of that first win — for new female artist of the year — arrived courtesy of friend and co-writer Miranda Lambert via video message. (Lambert, who called Langley “my soul sister in country music and a partner in crime,” was named winner in the same category 18 years ago.)

Langley’s the most-nominated artist at the 60th ACM Awards.

With two awards to her name already, several remain up for grabs for the singer-songwriter at this year’s ceremony: female artist of the year, plus single of the year, song of the year and music event of the year (all for her “You Look Like You Love Me” duet with Green). For song of the year, the two are nominated as both artists and songwriters.

The twangy, flirty barroom duet, released in 2024, made it to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, No. 7 on Hot Country Songs and No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The 2025 ACM Awards will stream live globally on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch on Thursday, May 8 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Expect to tune in for two-and-a-half hours to catch the full show.

The Academy of Country Music Awards is the longest-running country music awards show, with its inaugural year being 1966.

The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.