Ariana DeBose Opens 2023 BAFTA Awards With Musical Performance

After winning the BAFTA supporting actress award last year for West Side Story, Ariana DeBose returned to open the 2023 ceremony on Sunday (Feb. 19).

The actress — also known for Hamilton and Westworld — performed an exclusive contemporary song inspired by this year’s nominees on stage at London’s Royal Festival Hall. Richard E. Grant serves as the host of the ceremony.

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Volker Bertelmann

‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ Wins 2023 BAFTA Award for Best Original Score

Alongside DeBose, Mercury Prize-winning artist Little Simz was also set to perform and will sing a track from her album, No Thank You. The pioneering hip-hop artist and actress — who has starred in Top Boy (which also stars this year’s BAFTA best-supporting actor nominee Micheal Ward) — has won MOBO, Ivor Novello and BRIT awards.

Last year, iconic Welsh singer Dame Shirley Bassey raised the curtain on the 75th edition of the BAFTAs with a rendition of the classic James Bond theme “Diamonds Are Forever” in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the film franchise.

All Quiet on the Western Front led the pack of nominees for this year’s BAFTA awards with a record-equaling haul of 14 nominations. Netflix’s acclaimed anti-war epic entered the Sunday ceremony competing for best film, director (for Edward Berger), adapted screenplay and supporting actor (for Albrech Schuch) alongside almost every single below-the-line category.

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.

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Jewel Performs the National Anthem at 2023 NBA All-Star Game

Jewel, a native of Utah, performed the U.S. national anthem ahead of the 2023 NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City.

Jewel, introduced as a “Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and actress from Payson, Utah,” sang her take of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Sunday night’s (Feb. 19) matchup between Team LeBron vs. Team Giannis. Guitar in hand, she strummed along and offered a folk rendition of the national anthem.

This year’s All-Star Game took place at Salt Lake City’s Vivint Arena.

Jewel’s latest album, Freewheelin’ Woman, was released in 2022 via her own Words Matter Media.

Watch Jewel sing the national anthem below.

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Meta to Test Verified Subscription Service for Facebook and Instagram

Meta Platforms Inc. is launching a “Meta Verified” subscription service on Facebook and Instagram that allows users to verify their accounts with a government ID.

The company’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg revealed Sunday (Feb. 19) on social media that the platform will begin testing the service in Australia and New Zealand. The authentication will also include proactive account monitoring for account impersonation, direct access to customer support and increased account visibility and reach.

The monthly subscription-based plan can be purchased on Instagram or Facebook for $11.99 on the web and $14.99 on iOS and Android. According to a news release, for users to be eligible, accounts must meet minimum activity requirements and submit a government ID.

Meta clarified that there will be no changes to already verified accounts as they test the new plan.

The news release said that the “Meta Verified” service was developed after the platform received an abundance of requests from creators for broader access to verification and account support. The release explained that the service’s goal is “to help up-and-coming creators grow their presence and build community faster.”

The company added that it hopes to expand the service globally soon.

Meta isn’t the first social platform to introduce a paid verified subscription plan. When Elon Musk took over Twitter in October 2022, he re-vamped Twitter Blue, with a paid plan for users to sign up for $8 a month on the web and $11 a month for iOS. He also replaced the “official” label with a gold or gray checkmark, depending on the account.

This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.

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P!nk Addresses Comments About ‘Shading’ Christina Aguilera and ‘Lady Marmalade’ Video Shoot

P!nk has responded to comments that she’s been “shading” fellow pop star Christina Aguilera.

The singer was recently asked by Buzzfeed UK to rank her music videos, and what she said about her apparently less-than-ideal personal experience filming “Lady Marmalade” — her 2001 single with Christina Aguilera, Mya and Lil’ Kim — got folks talking over the weekend.

“Well, there’s ‘Lady Marmalade,’” P!nk said in video interview, looking back at the supergroup collaboration from more than 20 years ago, which was a No. 1 hit on the Hot 100. “I’m gonna put that down here at 12. It wasn’t very fun to make. I’m all about fun, and it was like a lot of fuss — and there were some personalities. Kim and Mya were nice.”

After seeing people make assumptions about her choice of words, and her choice to leave out Aguilera’s name from her list of who was “nice” on set, she replied to tweets Saturday night (Feb. 18).

“Y’all are nuts,” she wrote. “Xtina had s— to do with who was on that song. If you don’t know by now- I’m not ‘shading’ someone by telling it over and over and over what actually happened. I’m zero percent interested in your f—ing drama. If you haven’t noticed- I’m a little busy selling.”

P!nk clarified, “And by selling- I mean tickets and albums and bake sales and s—.”

“Also- I kissed xtinas mouth. I don’t need to kiss her a–,” she added.

P!nk had previously admitted that back in the “Lady Marmalade” days, the pair’s egos had clashed.

“We were super young and super new at the whole thing, and I think I’m an alpha, and she’s an alpha,” she noted in a 2017 interview with Andy Cohen. “I’m used to taking my altercations physical and she’s used to having them verbal. We’re just very different, we’re very different. And we were very young and new.”

“You have to learn — women have to learn how to support each other,” P!nk continued. “It’s not taught to each other in the playground.”

P!nk said that the two had gotten past any bad blood, in time: “We became moms. We grew up. We hugged it out. It’s that simple. I feel so good about that.”

See a Buzzfeed UK TikTok clip of her talking about the “Lady Marmalade” video here and her tweets that followed below.

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Olivia Rodrigo Shares Photo From the Studio Ahead of 20th Birthday

Olivia Rodrigo is spending the day before her 20th birthday in the recording studio.

The Sour hitmaker checked in with fans on Instagram on Sunday (Feb. 19), wearing headphones and dark sunglasses while sitting next to a microphone.

“2day is my last day of being a teenage dirtbag,” Rodrigo wrote, referencing the 2000 Wheatus track that became a TikTok trend in 2022. “Teenage Dirtbag” had users uploading photos of their teen selves to their social media accounts, with notes of nostalgia and cringe.

The singer-songwriter, who’s turning 20 on Feb. 20, teased new music in January, on the two-year anniversary of her breakthrough single, “Drivers License.”

“working on so many new songs I’m excited to show u! thank u for everything,” she wrote on Jan. 8.

Rodrigo’s debut album, Sour — which featured Hot 100 No. 1s “Drivers License” and “Good 4 U” — hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 upon its release, spending five weeks on the top spot of the chart in 2021.

See Rodrigo’s pre-birthday post below.

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‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ Wins 2023 BAFTA Award for Best Original Score

Volker Bertelmann’s score for All Quiet on the Western Front won a BAFTA Award for best original score on Sunday (Feb. 19). The awards were presented at Royal Festival Hall in London. The score is also nominated for an Academy Award in that category.

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Alexandre Desplat

Alexandre Desplat & Justin Hurwitz Among 2023 BAFTA Awards Nominees: Full List

This was Bertelmann’s second BAFTA nomination, but his first on his own and his first under his own name. He was nominated six years ago for Lion, on which he teamed with Dustin O’Halloran. Bertelmann went by the name Hauschka at the time. He and O’Halloran were also nominated for an Oscar for that film, but lost both awards to Justin Hurwitz for La La Land.

The other scores nominated for a BAFTA Award this year were Babylon (Hurwitz), The Banshees of Inisherin (Carter Burwell), Everything Everywhere All at Once (Son Lux) and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Alexandre Desplat).

All of those scores except Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio are also nominated for Oscars. John Williams’ score for The Fabelmans is nominated instead at the Oscars. Oscar voting will conducted from March 2-7. The awards will be presented on March 12.

Unlike the Oscars, the BAFTAs don’t present an award for best original song.

All Quiet on the Western Front won in six other categories at the BAFTAs – best picture, best director (Edward Berger), best adapted screenplay, best film not in the English language, best cinematography and best sound.

Austin Butler won best actor in a leading role for his portrayal of Elvis Presley in Elvis. Cate Blanchett won best actress in a leading role for Tár. The awards for best actor and actress in a supporting role went to Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon, both for The Banshees Inisherin.

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