After the better part of a decade, the Florida Department of Health’s rules on how businesses can enter the state’s medical marijuana industry are finally here. Sort of. The Department … Click to Continue »
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Heading out of town for the holidays? According to AAA, an estimated 113 million people are expected to travel to their holiday destination and 102 million of them will be hitting the road.
Meanwhile in the friendly skies, the TSA expects 2022 holiday travel numbers to hit “pre-pandemic levels.”
With gas prices still high and seasonal stress levels rising, the holidays can be overwhelming, but there are things that can help relieve some of your anxiety, like making sure that you have everything needed for your upcoming trip. To make the travel process a little easier, we’ve put together a list of travel necessities to take on your flight or road trip.
Hard Shell Suitcase
Zimtown 3-Piece Nested Spinner Suitcase
First on the list: luggage! When it comes to the best suitcase for travel, pricier doesn’t always equal better quality. Although top brands such as Samsonite, CalPak and Rimowa suitcases are well worth the investment, you can find moderately-priced, hard shell suitcases and duffle bags at just about every major retailer, including Walmart where this 3-piece set is on sale for $114.99 (regular $299.99). Hard shell suitcases are great for flying but a soft-shell suitcase might be more suitable for other trips. Traveling by car? Be sure to keep snacks, travel toiletries and other necessities within arm’s reach, so that they’re easily accessible.
Airline passengers are allowed to bring one carry-on and a small personal item, including a purse or tote bag or travel backpack such as the Troubadour Momentum Backpack ($275). See more travel backpack options here.
Not sure what you can and can’t bring on the plane? Be sure to review the TSA travel guidelines.
Comfortable Shoes
Cariuma Knit Sneakers
Sneakers, UGGs or slides? No matter your style preference, comfortable shoes are a must for travel. If you’re looking for an eco-friendly option, try Cariuma knit sneakers. Comfortable, affordable and low maintenance, the sustainable shoe is made from recycled plastics, bamboo knit, a sugarcane outsole and cork insole. Cariuma knit sneakers are available in low-top and high-top designs in over a dozen different colors. Click here to see our list of best shoes for travel.
Tablet Streaming Device
Buy: Amazon Fire 7 tablet, 7-Inch Display, 16 GB $59.99
Whether you’re traveling by car, bus, plane, or train, you’ll probably need a streaming device. You can stream mostly anything from a smart phone nowadays, but it doesn’t hurt to get an Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Microsoft Surface Pro or Amazon Fire 7, which is only $59.99 at Amazon. If you’re traveling by plane, most streaming platforms allow subscribers to download content that you can catch while the device is in airplane mode.
Delta and other airlines provide in-flight entertainment on domestic flights, while American Airlines passengers have to stream from their own devices. If you plan on flying AA, be sure to have a smart phone, notebook or tablet device handy, a charging cable and a travel adapter, if you’re traveling internationally.
Headphones or Earbuds
Buy: Beats Studio Buds – True Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds $89.95
You’ll need headphones to binge all your favorite content, jam away to music playlists, listen to podcasts and more, without disturbing those around you. If you prefer earbuds, you can’t really go wrong with Beats Studio Buds, AirPods, Google Pixel Buds or Sony LinkBuds. Click here for the best over-ear headphones.
A Good Book
Buy: Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story $21.29
A long flight might be the only time you get to relax and read a good book! Kindle, Nook Glow and other gadgets have made it easy to read digitally, but for those of you who still enjoy reading physical books, the New York Times Best-Sellers List is a great guide. The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama tops the most recent listm followed by Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died. Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story by Bono landed at No. 4 on the list.
Travel Blanket & Pillow
Bring a warm and cozy travel blanket and matching pillow, or you can go for a traditional neck pillow.
Disinfectant Wipes
Buy: Clorox Disinfecting Wipes, Bleach Free Cleaning Wipes $11.90
The pandemic has made us all more aware of spreading germs. Airplanes and hotels get professional cleaning, but it’s good to have your own disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer or anti-bacterial spray. Face masks are no longer required for travel, but the CDC recommends wearing them due to rising cases of the flu, COVID-19 and RSV.
As 2022’s most successful K-pop debut with the triple-punch release of surprise singles “Attention,” “Hype Boy” and “Cookie,” NewJeans have followed up with the new track “Ditto” that shows off a cooler and more subtle pop approach suitable for the winter months.
While their NWJNS EP was more focused on effervescent pop hooks suited for the sunshine, “Ditto” is more subtle while remaining true to the sweet style NewJeans established at the start. Over a soft, chopped-staccato beat somewhat reminiscent of the Baltimore club style, members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein mix eerie, dulcet harmonies with fun and fast melodies to match the breakbeat. The quintet spill about the rush of hoping to take the next step in a relationship and having their feelings reciprocated: “I don’t want to stay in the middle, like you a little/ Don’t want no riddle…/ Say it back, oh say it ‘ditto’/ I want you so I want you/ So, say it ‘ditto.’”
While Danielle wrote on “Attention” and Hanni wrote on “Hype Boy,” this time eldest member Minji helped write “Ditto,” giving three of the five members songwriting credits just five songs into their career. As the group told Billboard in an earlier interview, NewJeans label CEO Min Hee Jin gives the group “plenty of opportunities to participate” in different ways in their music despite being so new in the industry.
Just like how “Hype Boy” and “Attention” were released in multiple music video versions to help tell the group’s stories, “Ditto” comes with two different visuals. The video’s “Side A” and “Side B” versions both focus on a look back to the five NewJeans members playing and dancing in younger school days alongside a sixth, faceless friend in an arm cast who tends to record their dance rehearsals. While the viewer never gets to see the sixth friend’s face fully, we follow her journey which includes a crush on a schoolmate and reminiscing on her time with the girls by looking through old VHS tapes as an adult.
Visually, the “Ditto” video does a fantastic job in capturing not just the technology middle ground of the ’90s/’00s, where memories lived on fuzzy video cameras and grainy VHS tapes, but in the loneliness and awkwardness one can feel in adolescence, even when surrounded by friends. Lyrically, “Ditto” might be initially thought to be about a romantic crush, but the visual offers the possibility of hoping a new friend reciprocates your feelings to take a friendship to the next level too.
As previously reported, “Ditto” is NewJeans’ pre-release buzz track ahead of the new single “OMG” dropping on Jan. 2. Check out both the “Side A” and “Side B” versions of “Ditto” below:
The musical stage adaptation of Almost Famous will play its final Broadway performance on Jan. 8, the production announced Monday (Dec. 19).
The musical, an adaptation of Cameron Crowe’s 2000 film, began previews at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Oct. 3 and opened on Nov. 3.
This is the latest Broadway show to announce its closure, following KPOP, which closed on Dec. 11, two weeks after opening, and Ain’t No Mo, which received a closing notice, but is now extended through Dec. 23 after the production and celebrities backers rallied around the show.
Related
The closing notices come as tourism remains down in New York and as Broadway shows grapple with higher running costs and changing audience behavior. Almost Famous also received mixed to poor reviews, with The Hollywood Reporter‘s David Rooney highlighting its “infectious energy” while asking, “Did it need to become a stage musical? Debatable.” Grosses have been fairly average, with the musical bringing in $765,060 in the week ended Dec. 11, but while playing to theaters at 74 percent capacity.
“Almost Famous, like the music it celebrates, will endure. We look forward to the release of the cast recording on March 17, and to the many productions in communities across the country and world, for years to come,” said producers Lia Vollack and Michael Cassel.
The musical features a book by Crowe, a score by Tom Kitt, direction by Jeremy Herrin and choreography by Sarah O’Gleby.
The Broadway production stars Chris Wood as Russell Hammond, Anika Larsen as Elaine Miller, Solea Pfeiffer as Penny Lane, Drew Gehling as Jeff Bebe and Casey Likes as William Miller.
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
Justin Bieber is calling out retail clothing company H&M for selling products featuring his image and song lyrics, claiming that the items were released without his approval.
“I DIDNT APPROVE ANY OF THE MERCH COLLECTION THAT THEY PUT UP AT H&M,” Bieber wrote in an Instagram Story on Monday afternoon (Dec. 19), adding that it was done “all without my permission and approval SMH I WOULDNT BUY IT IF I WERE YOU.”
“The H&M MERCH THEY MADE OF ME IS TRASH AND I DIDNT APPROVE IT DONT BUY IT,” he emphasized in a second Instagram Story.
Bieber was referring to items that appeared online on H&M’s website including a tote bag, a sweatshirt, a sweatshirt dress and more. On a fan Instagram account that shared images of some of the products, Bieber left the comment “When everyone finds out I didn’t approve any of this merch smh.”
Billboard reached out to H&M for comment on Bieber’s allegation.
“As with all other licensed products and partnerships, H&M followed proper approval procedures,” a representative for H&M said in a statement via email Monday night.
After a significant 2022 that included NCT DREAM‘s first Billboard 200 entry, first KCON appearance and first international movie release, the boy band closes the year with a holiday album for worldwide fans that also pays homage to a formative song for the Korean-pop industry.
For NCT DREAM’s special winter album Candy, the septet reinterpreted the classic K-pop song of the same name for its title track single. “Candy” was originally released in 1996 by the five-member boy band H.O.T., credited as the first “idol” group in Korea’s music industry and setting the formula still used today. From their debut track “Warrior’s Descendant” tackling school bullying, H.O.T. released music that acted as social critique, but it was their saccharine single “Candy” that became the band’s breakout hit. The group disbanded in 2001, but “Candy” is considered a quintessential track in any K-pop primer.
Now, more than 25 years after H.O.T. released “Candy” under SM Entertainment, the K-pop super label brings back the bubblegum classic with its youngest group, NCT DREAM. The ’90 track is a perfect fit for the bouncy, youthful energy DREAM brings into their music with the track reinterpreted with a slightly updated arrangement. The accompanying music video has a glossy look that K-pop is known for today but pays tribute to H.O.T.’s original visual for “Candy” with the fashion (like Jeno’s very fuzzy, very ’90s yellow hat) and the sets (including filming in an amusement park just like the original).
Candy delivers more treats for listeners as well, including the standout R&B cut “Graduation” and the synth-pop throbber “Tangerine Love (Favorite),” with member Mark co-writing the winter-themed, mid-tempo track “Take My Breath.” The new release follows Glitch Mode, which debuted at No. 50 on the Billboard 200 in April. The LP bore a deluxe repackage titled Beatbox, which included the new single of the same name.
Check out NCT DREAM’s “Candy” and the original “Candy” music video by H.O.T. in its newly remastered version shared by SM Entertainment just two weeks ago.
An Opa-locka man who pressured four young girls into taking naked photos and videos of themselves will spend decades behind bars. Oscar Williams Jr., 30, was sentenced Friday to 30 … Click to Continue »
The Restaurant Depot chain’s motto is “Where Restaurants Shop” but there’s 7,500 pounds of Domino sugar and 22,250 pounds of salt that won’t be bought from the Restaurant Depot in … Click to Continue »
Elon Musk, under fire for recent policy changes at Twitter Inc., is asking users to vote on whether he should step down as head of the social media site. The … Click to Continue »
“I’m going to be singing this whole time, so get ready,” one attendee laughingly declared to her neighboring seatmates at Stevie Wonder’s annual House Full of Toys Benefit Concert. But not to worry.
Wonder and his guests — including Gregory Porter, Trombone Shorty and Jody Watley — had everyone inside Los Angeles’ sold-out Microsoft Theater singing and dancing along to each and every note Saturday evening (Dec. 17). Just Wonder playing a few notes on his harmonica in the wings before walking onstage with the evening’s musical director/longtime friend Rickey Minor was enough to send the audience into a cheering frenzy even before the concert got underway.
House Full of Toys, presented through Wonder’s nonprofit We Are You Foundation, benefits children, people with disabilities and families in need with concertgoers donating an unwrapped toy. Now in its 24th year, the performer lineup featured Trombone Shorty who had attendees second-lining a la his native New Orleans when he joined Wonder onstage for an exuberant romp through “Sir Duke.” Prior to that, Jody Watley took fans on her own nostalgia tour, performing her 1989 R&B/pop hit “Real Love” before segueing into a classic from the traditional holiday special A Charlie Brown Christmas, “Christmas Time Is Here.”
Meanwhile, Gregory Porter’s sonorous voiced blanketed the venue with “Take Me to the Alley,” the title track to his 2016 album. “That’s what we’re here for,” added Porter afterwards, referencing the hungry, homeless and others going through life struggles. “That’s why I had to sing that song.”
Rounding out the lineup of performers were Tina and Teddy Campbell, the John Paul McGee Trio with Amber Bullock, Kimberly Brewer and Wonder’s daughters Zaiah and Nyah. The pair danced together on a holiday song that Wonder recorded in the late ‘60s, “One Little Christmas Tree,” and returned later to sing along with their dad on the standard “The Christmas Song.” Lucky Daye was also scheduled to perform but canceled owing to not feeling well.
Related
As always in years past for this holiday concert — and with no offense to the guest stars who have appeared — the night belonged to Wonder. The legend gave as good as he got from an already enthusiastic audience that became more ecstatic each time he sat down at the keyboards or piano and simply sang. Early in the show, Wonder boosted the festive spirit already resonating around the venue when he performed “What Christmas Means to Me,” singing to the original instrumental track recorded back in the ‘60s.
Shifting from a raucous sing-along to “I Wish,” one of his many classics, Wonder celebrated the 50th anniversary of his 1972 album Talking Book. Beginning with “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” he then saluted his late ex-wife and co-writer Syreeta Wright (“Such a wonderful spirit”) with the moving “Blame It on the Sun” before closing the Book suite with an emotional turn on “You and I (We Can Conquer the World).”
Said a tearful Wonder after an ensuing standing ovation, “I love all of you so much. I give all praise to God for all the songs I’ve written or co-written. If you understand love, you can’t spend one second entertaining the spirit of hate … Let’s show the world how to love again.”
With the clock ticking down to after 11 p.m., Wonder gifted the audience with a mini-concert. The set list included “Do I Do,” “I Love You More” with the aforementioned Brewer, “As,” “Ribbon in the Sky,” “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” “Living for the City” and “Higher Ground.” Closing with another Talking Book selection, the crowd-pleaser “Superstition,” Wonder brought his children and the concert’s entire staff onstage.
Before walking offstage to “Another Star,” a smiling Wonder said, “I wanted to give you all everything I could give you … I love you; God bless you — and we are done!”
