To help set a spooky mood for this year’s noche de brujas festivities, we’ve created the ultimate Halloween Latin playlist packed with 20-plus songs with cryptic messages or that simply have a Halloween-themed title.
If you’re not totally feeling the Halloween spirit yet, Los Fabulosos Cadillac’s “Calaveras y Diablitos,” Héroes del Silencio’s “Maldito Duende” and Cazzu’s “Miedo” will help you get there.
Keep scrolling for a Spotify playlist that you can blast this Halloween.
Fresh off his exclusive Facebook Live performance of “Lao’ a Lao’,” Prince Royce conquers the radio airwaves as the song jumps 4-1 to lead the overall Latin Airplay chart (dated Oct. 30). It concurrently takes over atop Tropical Airplay (2-1).
The bachata track was released Aug. 12 and opened on Latin Airplay at No. 16 on the Aug. 28-dated survey, with 5 million audience impressions earned in the U.S. On the latest chart, it bounds with a 34% gain, to 10.7 million, in the week ending Oct. 24, according to MRC Data. The growth gives Royce his 14th leader and secures the song the week’s greatest gainer honor.
“Lao’ a Lao’” follows Royce’s only other No. 1 on the all-Latin ranking, which arrived more than six months ago: “Hasta Que Salga El Sol,” with Natti Natasha (one week atop the April 17-dated list).
“Lao’ a Lao’” also rebounds to No. 1 on Tropical Airplay to become the radio format’s most-played song for a second week after its Aug. 28 lead. The champ then earned Royce his 21st leader, the third-most, trailing only Marc Anthony’s 34 wins and Victor Manuelle’s 29.
Beyond its Latin Airplay and Tropical Airplay coronations, “Lao’” pushes 35-25 on the all-metric Hot Latin Songs chart.
All Grammys look the same, but some categories are vastly more competitive than others. In the upcoming 64th annual Grammy Awards, three categories — best music video, record of the year and song of the year — each have more than 1,100 entries. At the other extreme, four categories have fewer than 50 entries each: best traditional blues album, best large jazz ensemble album, best Latin jazz album and best regional roots music album.
First-round Grammy voting opened Friday and continues through Nov. 5. As Grammy voters ponder their choices in 80 categories (nominations in the other six categories are determined by craft committees), let’s take a look at all the categories on this year’s ballot.
We start by dividing all Grammy categories into six classifications – the closely watched Big Four, genre albums, genre songs, genre performances, other classifications and the six categories in which the nominees are determined by craft committees.
There are surprises galore here. Music videos are sometimes thought to be decades past their peak, but there are more entries for best music video (1,185) than for any other category — even record and song of the year.
Similarly, rock is sometimes portrayed as being on its last legs, but rock leads in two classifications: There are more entries for best rock song than for any other genre song award and more entries for best rock performance than for any other genre performance award.
Among genre album categories, best rock album is third, behind best score soundtrack for visual media (includes film, television, video games and other visual media) and best spoken word album (includes poetry, audiobooks and storytelling). The fact that those two categories include so many subcategories probably explains why they’re on top.
The Grammy Awards structure emphasizes album achievements. There are 40 genre album awards, compared to 19 genre performance awards and eight genre song awards. There are also 11 other categories that don’t fit neatly into any of the previous classifications and six craft categories.
More surprises: Few would expect best new age album (170) and best comedy album (132) to have more entries than best country album and best R&B album (which are tied with 91 entries each).
In terms of performance categories, best rock performance (523) is followed by best American roots performance (521) and best pop solo performance (454).
But combining separate genre performance categories that are in the same Grammy field, classical leads with 838 entries, followed by pop (829), rock (618), American roots (521), R&B (488), rap (456), jazz (436), gospel/contemporary Christian music (416), country (220) and global music (205).
Classical is probably higher than you might have thought, especially if you see it as a niche market. Country is probably lower than you might have expected. It may lag because there are so many country music awards shows.
The Grammys added two new categories this year. They are shown in italics in the list. Neither had a huge number of entries. Best música urbana album has 52 entries, which puts it 35th among the 40 genre album categories. Best global music performance has 205 entries, which puts it 11th among the 19 genre performance categories.
Within each classification, categories are listed in descending order in terms of most categories. Ties are shown in alphabetical order.
Note: The Grammys have two categories that honor performances and songs jointly – in gospel and contemporary Christian music. We show them under both of those classifications.
Big Four categories:
Record of the year: 1,172
Song of the year: 1,163
Album of the year: 837
Best new artist: 463
Genre album categories:
Best score soundtrack for visual media: 309
Best spoken word album: 308
Best rock album: 284
Best contemporary instrumental album: 281
Best jazz instrumental album: 276
Best alternative music album: 224
Best pop vocal album: 206
Best Americana album: 198
Best rap album: 198
Best global music album: 192
Best new age album: 170
Best folk album: 168
Best dance/electronic album: 133
Best comedy album: 132
Best regional Mexican music album, including Tejano: 127
Best reggae album: 125
Best children’s music album: 114
Best classical compendium: 102
Best contemporary Christian music album: 102
Best progressive R&B album: 94
Best country album: 91
Best R&B album: 91
Best Latin pop album: 86
Best traditional pop vocal album: 86
Best tropical Latin album: 72
Best compilation soundtrack for visual media: 71
Best jazz vocal album: 71
Best classical solo vocal album: 69
Best contemporary blues album: 69
Best opera recording: 67
Best gospel album: 60
Best Latin rock or alternative album: 59
Best roots gospel album: 56
Best bluegrass album: 54
Best música urbana album: 52
Best musical theater album: 51
Best traditional blues album: 49
Best large jazz ensemble album: 48
Best Latin jazz album: 47
Best regional roots music album: 41
Genre song categories:
Best rock song: 455
Best American roots song: 402
Best rap song: 319
Best R&B song: 328
Best gospel performance/song: 216
Best contemporary Christian music performance/song: 200
Best country song: 178
Best song written for visual media: 168
Genre performance categories:
Best rock performance: 523
Best American roots performance: 521
Best pop solo performance: 454
Best improvised jazz solo: 436
Best pop duo/group performance: 375
Best classical instrumental solo: 364
Best R&B performance: 312
Best chamber music/small ensemble performance: 299
Best rap performance: 268
Best gospel performance/song: 216
Best global music performance: 205
Best contemporary Christian music performance/song: 200
Best melodic rap performance: 188
Best traditional R&B performance: 176
Best country solo performance: 140
Best orchestral performance: 110
Best metal performance: 95
Best country duo/group performance: 80
Best choral performance: 65
Other categories:
Best music video: 1,185
Best engineered album, non-classical: 487
Best instrumental composition: 480
Best arrangement, instrumentals and vocals: 435
Best dance/electronic recording: 396
Best arrangement, instrumental or a cappella: 335
Best engineered album, classical: 249
Producer of the year, non-classical: 235
Best contemporary classical composition: 215
Producer of the year, classical: 156
Best music film: 111
Craft categories (number of entries not listed):
Best recording package
Best boxed or special or limited-edition package
Best album notes
Best historical album
Best remixed recording
Best immersive audio album
On the latest Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, we’ve got a Halloween treat for you! We find out the story behind one of modern film’s most iconic music sequences: Hocus Pocus’ “I Put a Spell on You,” as performed by Bette Midler.
Marc Shaiman, who produced and arranged the song for the movie, joins the Pop Shop to discuss how the song came together — and why the performance and film continues to enchant viewers so many years later.
“I Put a Spell on You” was first released in 1956 by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, who also wrote the track. It has since been covered by many artists, including Nina Simone, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Annie Lennox and, of course, by Midler and her onscreen Sanderson Sisters in Hocus Pocus, played by Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy in the 1993 film.
“The original recording… is a classic,” Shaiman tells the Pop Shop (listen below), “but it really only has like three lines of lyrics in it. So we just sat at the piano and we were like, ‘Well, there has to be lyrics that fit the story.’”
“My memory is that we just [came up with additional lyrics] right there on the spot,” Shaiman says. “Basically me and Bette. I’m sure everyone else threw in ideas … and it works. And it’s so good in the movie. And it was fun to arrange in the style of Bette Midler so that Kathy and SJP sing parts like The Harlettes would sing, Bette Midler’s backup group.”
Why has the movie, which has become a seasonal favorite, and its “I Put a Spell On You” performance endured all these years?
“Well, Bette Midler, Bette Midler, Bette Midler,” Shaiman explains simply, “And then, Bette Midler, as far as the number. And then you know, the ladies are just having so much fun. I mean, Bette still to this day says it was the most fun she ever had on a movie. I mean, I do remember it was kinda disappointing that when it came out, it didn’t do so well. I think it did OK, but, it was not unlike The Wizard of Oz — I’m not saying Hocus Pocus is like The Wizard of Oz — but it was through the television showings that it became what it is now.”
Shaiman also laments the lack of commercial or streaming availability of Midler’s “I Put a Spell on You.”
“What’s heartbreaking is the fact that it doesn’t exist on a record anywhere… I guess it must be about Bette’s record [label] affiliation. She was with Atlantic [Records] then and I bet they couldn’t make a deal to borrow her [for a soundtrack release]. It’s crazy. … It’s gotta sit somewhere in the vaults at Disney.” (Walt Disney Records could not be reached for comment. Midler’s rendition of “Spell” has never been released commercially or via streaming services, while the movie’s score has only seen a limited release on CD many years ago.)
Shaiman says “hopefully maybe” they’ll release the song — “well, now that they’re making a sequel…”
Speaking of that sequel, Hocus Pocus 2, coming to Disney+ in 2022: Is Shaiman involved? “I don’t think I’m allowed to say anything,” he says, “but maybe the fact that I’m telling you that I’m not allowed to say anything says something.”
Also in his chat with the Pop Shop, Shaiman — a Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award winner — discusses his long working relationship with Midler that dates back to the late 1970s. ( “Every dream of mine came true… I’ve been working with her, and great friends with her, ever since.”) Outside of his work with Midler, Shaiman has been an in-demand composer, lyricist, producer and music supervisor for film, television and musical theater. He received his sixth and seventh Academy Award nominations for the 2018 film Mary Poppins Returns (for best original score and best original song: “The Place Where Lost Things Go”).
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard’s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard’s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and senior director of Billboard charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
For her rivals on Dancing With The Stars, JoJo Siwa is pretty scary. When DWTS took a trip into Halloween world on Monday night (Oct. 25), she was utterly terrifying.
Siwa and her dance partner Jenna Johnson performed a jazz routine to “Anything Goes” by District 78 featuring Patrice Covington, for DWTS’ Horror Night.
As usual, viewers couldn’t look away as the pair impressed with their every move. On this occasion, Siwa was decked out as an evil clown, channeling Pennywise from Stephen King’s “It.”
Horror night was extra scary. It doubled as an elimination round. The axe didn’t fall anywhere near Siwa, who, for the second week straight, scored perfect 10s from the judges.
“That was scary,” noted Len Goodman, as the dancers nabbed 40 out of a possible 40 to stay top of the leaderboard. “If ever a dance captured the flavor of a book, that was it.”
It was an especially terrifying night for Kenya and Brandon, as the contestants finished in the bottom two and were ultimately eliminated.
Watch Siwa’s performance below.
