‘American Idol’ Judges Imagine Alternate Careers In Season 20 Promo: Watch

American Idol returns on Feb. 27, marking its 20th season overall and fifth season on ABC. Ahead of the milestone year, a promo for Idol‘s new season will air during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2022 on ABC, and Billboard has an exclusive preview of the clip.

The 90-second video finds Idol judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan, as well as host Ryan Seacrest, imagining what life would be like had they never been discovered. Richie’s alternate career in sculpting is suspiciously reminiscent of the video for his Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “Hello,” while Perry’s mirror universe job involves her selling the explosive namesake of one of her Hot 100 toppers. Bryan’s non-musical gig involves tending bar while serving up some of the lyrics to his 2020 single and Country Airplay No. 1 “One Margarita,” and as for Seacrest, well, if Idol hadn’t come along, he would apparently be bringing his signature energy to a bar mitzvah near you.

“We were all given our shot — now let’s give it to someone else,” Seacrest concludes at the end of the clip. “Yeah, let’s go discover the next American Idol,” Perry agrees.

The promo, which you can check out below, will air during New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, which begins on ABC at 8 p.m. ET on Dec. 31.

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Normani & Cardi B’s ‘Wild Side’ Tops Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay Chart

Normani achieves her first No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart as “Wild Side,” featuring Cardi B, ascends from the runner-up spot to lead the list dated Jan. 1. The single climbs despite a 2% drop in plays in the week ending Dec. 26 to become the most played song on U.S. monitored mainstream-centered R&B/hip-hop radio stations, according to MRC Data. (The previous week’s No. 1, Drake’s “Girls Want Girls,” featuring Lil Baby, falls to No. 2 with a 7% decline in plays.)

Notably, “Wild Side” completes its slow-but-steady trek to No. 1 in its 22nd week on the chart, tying for the fifth-longest march to the top slot since the chart began in 1992. Here’s a look at the tracks with the most weeks to No. 1:

Weeks to No. 1, Song Title, Artist, Date Reached No. 1
25, “Before You Walk Out My Life,” Monica, Jan. 13, 1996
24, “Planez,” Jeremih featuring J. Cole, Sept. 12, 2015
23, “Location,” Khalid, May 13, 2017
23, “Crew,” GoldLink featuring Brent Faiyaz & Shy Glizzy, Nov. 18, 2017
22, “Oui,” Jeremih, May 14, 2016
22, “Wild Side,” Normani featuring Cardi B, Jan. 1, 2022

While “Wild Side” is Normani’s first champ on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, it gives her a third radio chart No. 1 of her solo career, after two previous successes in the pop sphere. “Love Lies,” her debut with Khalid, topped the Pop Airplay chart for two weeks in 2018, while “Dancing With a Stranger,” a collaboration with Sam Smith, led the Adult Pop Airplay list for one week the following year.

For Cardi B, “Wild Side” is the rapper’s ninth No. 1 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. As the new champ joins the ranks, here’s a rundown of Cardi B’s chart-toppers on the radio ranking:

Song Title, Artist (if other than Cardi B), Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1
“Bodak Yellow (Money Moves),” nine, Sept. 16, 2017
“No Limit,” G-Eazy featuring A$AP Rocky & Cardi B, five, Dec. 9, 2017
“I Like It,” with Bad Bunny & J Balvin, one, July 28, 2018
“Ring,” featuring Kehlani, one, Nov. 17, 2018
“Money,” five, Feb. 2, 2019
“Backin’ It Up,” Pardison Fontaine featuring Cardi B, one, March 9, 2019
“Please Me,” with Bruno Mars, six, April 13, 2019
“Up,” one, March 27, 2021
“Wild Side,” Normani featuring Cardi B, one (to date), Jan. 1, 2022

In line with its journey on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, “Wild Side” also hits a longevity mark on Rhythmic Airplay, where it wraps the second-longest wait to the chart’s top 10. The single advances 11-10 in its 23rd week, trailing only the 25-week wait of Los Del Rio’s “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)” to reach the Rhythmic Airplay top 10 since the list began in 1993, though the latter required two separate chart runs before its top 10 appearance.

Among female artists, “Wild Side” outdoes previous record holder Christina Milian’s “Dip It Low,” which needed 21 weeks to reach the top 10 in 2004.

The “Wild Side” wait aligns with the song’s second wind on Rhythmic Airplay. The track debuted on the radio ranking on July 31 and climbed to a No. 20 peak by mid-September before it retreated as low as No. 33 on the 40-position chart. Amid renewed acceptance with R&B/hip-hop audiences and increased promotion, “Wild Side” has rallied at rhythmic radio to its new levels of success.

Elsewhere, “Wild Side” rebounds 5-4 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay despite a 1% drop to 15.3 million in audience in the week ending Dec. 26. The song previously reached a No. 3 best alongside a weekly audience peak of 18.7 million in the week ending Nov. 4.

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Watch Chance the Rapper Turn Nelly’s ‘Hot in Herre’ Into a Country-Rock Sensation

Chance The Rapper lends a hand to Nelly‘s hip-hop-country crossover narrative with the rapper’s country-rock cover performance of “Hot in Herre.”

During a sneak peek of Jimmy Fallon’s new music and comedy variety game show series That’s My Jam on Thursday (Dec. 30), Chance pulled the lever and landed on the musical genre challenge, where the participant gets a song and completely different genre that they have to sing it in. When the screen selected “Hot in Herre” and “country-rock,” the Chicago MC took the mic and remixed the song with an extra twang (and fake Southern accent) that the Country Grammar star would certainly approve of.

Alessia Cara, who was partnered with Josh Groban in the competition series, bopped her head and clapped her hands to Chance’s performance while perched at the piano, while Chance’s partner Joseph Gordon-Levitt was left stunned at his seat.

“Never in my life did I think that was gonna work!” Fallon, who got up mid-performance to dance on stage, exclaimed after it was over.

“Hot in Herre” was released as the first single of Nelly’s sophomore album Nellyville in 2002. Written by Nelly and producers The Neptunes, the classic hip-hop track interpolates “Bustin’ Loose” by the Godfather of Go-Go Chuck Brown, which in and of itself proves how adaptable the song is to various genres. “Hot in Herre” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the 2003 Grammy Award for best male rap solo performance.

“Country?” Groban questioned, puzzled. “It works!” Nelly’s country sensibilities have certainly worked for him in the past as well as the present. In August, he talked to Billboard about his eighth studio album Heartland, which he calls a “country-inspired” project and features a reunion with Florida Georgia Line as well as collaborations with Blanco Brown, Breland, Kane Brown and Darius Rucker. Heartland broke in the top 10 of Billboard‘s Top Country Albums chart in September.

Watch Chance’s performance of “Hot in Herre” below before the full That’s My Jam episode airs on Monday, Jan. 3 on NBC at 9 p.m. ET.

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Florida picks another COVID fight with Washington. This time it’s monoclonal antibodies.

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Feds: South Florida ‘entrepreneur’ used PPP money to buy Lamborghini, luxury watches, clothes

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University of Miami to start classes remotely in January, amid surging Florida COVID cases

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How do you know COVID cases are on the rise? A Miami-Dade Walmart is temporarily closed

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Officials declare California oil spill cleanup complete

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Nicki Minaj Remembers Former Business Manager Angela Kukawski as ‘Sweetest Person’ After Her Death

Nicki Minaj honored her former business manager Angela “Angie” Kukawski, who recently died in a suspected homicide.

The Los Angeles-based business manager was reported missing a week ago on Dec. 22, but Los Angeles and Simi Valley police officers found her body inside her car parked on Patricia Avenue in Simi Valley the next day, according to a press release from the Los Angeles Police Department issued Wednesday (Dec. 29). Her death was ruled a homicide by the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office. She was 55.

On Minaj’s Instagram Story Wednesday, the rapper wrote, “Hardest working, most reliable, sweetest person you could ever know. You didn’t deserve this, Angela. My heart is breaking for your children. Rest In Peace.”

Kukawski worked at Boulevard Management in Woodland Hills. Aside from Minaj, her other former A-list clients include Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), Offset, the Tupac estate and the Kardashians.

Her boyfriend Jason Barker, 49, was arrested on suspicion of murder, according to Los Angeles police. Police suspect Barker killed her inside her home in Sherman Oaks and transported her body to her car that he drove to the Simi Valley street before fleeing. The LAPD release reports Barker was booked into Van Nuys Jail, and since his arrest, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has filed murder charges on him.

Todd C. Bozick from Boulevard Management told Variety in a statement, “We are saddened and heartbroken by the loss of our colleague, Angie Kukawski. Angie was a kind, wonderful person, and she will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Our deepest condolences go out to all of Angie’s family and friends.”

The Kardashian family described Kukawski as “truly the best” in a statement to E! News: “She cared about everyone of us and made things happen that were impossible. She will be greatly missed and we send our sincere condolences to her family and loved ones during this most difficult time.”

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Tori Kelly Spills on Why Doing Voiceover for ‘Sing 2’ Was ‘Really Awkward & Weird’: Watch

Tori Kelly stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Wednesday (Dec. 29) to dish about reprising her role as Meena the elephant in Sing 2.

“It’s really fun and you have to just not be scared to be silly. ‘Cause it’s very awkward,” she admitted to guest host Brad Paisley, who’s currently filling in for Ellen DeGeneres. “This was my first time doing voiceover work, so thankfully I had our amazing director Garth Jennings, who is just like a kid at heart.”

She continued: “It’s similar to being in a recording booth, like, just recording a song. So that part felt comfortable; I already knew kind of how to do that part. But it’s a lot of repetition. I mean, there would be times where they would be like, ‘OK… this scene you’re falling down a hole. And so we need you to make noises like you’re falling.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, I’ve never fallen down a hole before, so…. But I imagine it would sound like this!’ And then you just kind of try things and it’s really awkward and weird but they somehow make it sound great.”

During the chat, Kelly also dished on her pair of nominations at the 2022 Grammy Awards, where she’s up for best traditional pop vocal album for 2020’s A Tori Kelly Christmas and album of the year as a featured artist on Justin Bieber’s Justice.

“Oh my gosh, thank you. It’s so crazy,” she told Paisley. “Man, so I was not expecting it at all. I mean, I got nominated for my Christmas album… but I mean, Dolly Parton is in that category and all these legends and… it’s wild. But yeah, I got the call from my publicist and I didn’t even know why she was calling. I didn’t even know that the nominations were being announced that day; I was just not in the loop. It was a huge surprise and a huge honor — I hope I get to go!”

Sing 2 is currently playing in theaters nationwide. Watch Kelly’s full Ellen interview below.

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