Month: March 2022

Categories
Entertainment Daypop

‘And Just Like That’ renewed for second season at HBO Max

shutterstock_2088541852

HBO Max has picked up a second season of And Just Like That, the ‘Sex and the City’ sequel that wrapped its 10-episode first season in February.  Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis reprised their roles from the 1998-2006 HBO series. as well as serving as executive producers on the new series.

Showrunner Michael Patrick King in a statement: “I am delighted and excited to tell more stories about these vibrant, bold characters — played by these powerful, amazing actors. The fact is, we’re all thrilled. And Just like That… our Sex life is back.” HBO Max head of original content Sarah Aubrey added: “We have been delighted by the cultural conversation generated by these characters and their stories, set in a world we already know and love so much. We are proud of the work Michael Patrick King and our wonderful writers, producers, cast and crew have done to bring these stories to the screen. We can’t wait for fans to see what’s in store for season two.”

In addition to Parker, Nixon and Davis, the season one cast of And Just Like That featured Sex and the City returnees Mario Cantone, David Eigenberg, Willie Garson, Evan Handler and Chris Noth, along with newcomers Sara Ramirez, Sarita Choudhury, Nicole Ari Parker and Karen Pittman.

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Entertainment Daypop

Beyoncé to perform ‘Be Alive” at 2022 Oscars ceremony

shutterstock_1129097906

Beyoncé will appear on the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony this Sunday, March 27.   The superstar will perform a rendition of her song “Be Alive,” which is nominated for Best Original Song and included in the film ‘King Richard.’  As of press time, it was unclear whether Beyoncé would be performing the song live from Dolby Theatre at Ovation in Hollywood, or if it will be pre-taped as she sings from the tennis courts where Venus and Serena Williams used to train in Compton.

Other fellow Best Original Song nominees that will be performing during the show are Sebastián Yatra delivering “Dos Oruguitas,” Billie Eilish and Finneas performing “No Time to Die,” and Reba McEntire singing “Somehow You Do.” Van Morrison was also nominated for his song “Down To Joy” from the film Belfast, but will not appear at the Academy Awards ceremony.

Beyoncé can possibly earn her first Academy Award if “Be Alive” takes home the Oscar for Best Original Song. The 2022 Academy Awards are set to take place on March 27 live from Dolby Theatre at Ovation in Hollywood, CA.

Official: Beyonce to Perform at Oscars 2022

Editorial credit: DFree / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Entertainment Daypop

‘Saturday Night Live’ to welcome hosts Lizzo, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jerrod Carmichael and musical guests Camila Cabello and Gunna this April

shutterstock_2003958038

“Saturday Night Live” has announced its April lineup of hosts, including Jerrod Carmichael, Jake Gyllenhaal and Lizzo, who will be pulling double duty as her own musical guest. Gunna and Camila Cabello will perform as musical guests along with Gyllenhaal and Carmichael.

Carmichael will make his “SNL” hosting debut April 2, joined by Gunna, who is also marking his first time at “SNL” musical guest. The Grammy-nominated artist’s latest album, “DS4Ever,” debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 chart.

On April 9, Gyllenhaal will host “SNL” for the second time, joined by Cabello who makes her second appearance as “SNL” musical guest.

For the April 16 show, Lizzo will be a first-time “SNL” host and second-time musical guest. The Grammy winner stars in the competition series “Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” which premieres March 25 on Prime Video.

“SNL” airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC. The show also streams live on Peacock.

Editorial credit: Brian Friedman / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

Ex-wife of Missouri GOP Senate candidate Eric Greitens accuses him of domestic violence

shutterstock_480924760

Eric Greitens, Missouri’s former governor and current Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, has been accused by his ex-wife Sheena Greitens of allegedly being physically abusive and “unstable,” according to court records filed on Monday.

Sheena Greitens and Eric Greitens have been part of an ongoing child custody battle. Their divorce was finalized in May 2020 and a county court decision said the marriage was “irretrievably broken” and that a joint parenting plan is “in [the] best interest of minor children.” However, Eric Greitens has since said he wants full custody of their two children.

Greitens’ campaign said that the affidavit is part of a “politically-motivated attack.  His children deserve a father who will speak the truth and stand up against malicious attacks that are clearly politically motivated. This attack is nothing more than a sad attempt to force a father to yield custody of his children to a deranged individual.”  In a statement, Eric Greitens said: “I will continue to love and care for my beautiful sons with all of my being, and that includes fighting for the truth and against completely fabricated, baseless allegations. I am seeking full custody of my sons, and for their sake, I will continue to pray for their mother and hope that she gets the help that she needs,” adding that “ultimately truth will always prevail.”

Greitens served just over one year as Missouri’s governor before he resigned in 2018 after allegations of sexual misconduct and blackmail for allegedly taking a picture of his former hairdresser with whom he was having an affair, as well as an ethics investigation and a computer data tampering criminal charge. Greitens admitted to the affair and called it consensual, but denied taking the photograph and the blackmail accusation. Prosecutors dropped an invasion of privacy charge related to the alleged incident in May 2018.

Eric Greitens is looking to succeed retiring Republican Senator Roy Blunt in his bid for U.S. Senate. Also in the field are Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, Representatives Billy Long and Vicky Hartzler. Hartzler, Schmitt, Long and Lucas Kunce, a Marine and Democratic candidate in the race, have called for Greitens to drop out of the U.S. Senate race.

The deadline for candidates to file for the Missouri primary is March 29, 2022; the primary is slated to be held August 2.

Editorial credit: Gino Santa Maria / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

Day 1 of hearings begin for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

shutterstock_1161472813

President Biden’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, addressed senators on the first day of confirmation hearings on Monday, telling the lawmakers she would “decide cases from a neutral posture” if they approve her nomination to the high court.  Jackson told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee: “Members of this committee: If I am confirmed, I commit to you that I will work productively to support and defend the Constitution and the grand experiment of American democracy that has endured over these past 246 years. During this hearing, I hope that you will see how much I love our country and the Constitution, and the rights that make us free.”

Jackson sat silently for most of the 4.5-hour session as the 22 committee members delivered opening statements and previewed their lines of inquiry for the two days of questioning ahead. Many Democrats lauded Jackson for shattering barriers with her nomination, and Republicans also applauded Jackson for her nomination, previewing the aspects of her professional record they plan to examine, namely the sentences she imposed on child pornography offenders while serving as a judge on the federal district court in Washington and clients she represented as a federal assistant public defender and in private practice. Many GOP members of the Judiciary panel pledged to avoid personal attacks on Jackson, but they still vowed to probe her judicial philosophy and views of the Supreme Court.

Jackson’s four-day confirmation hearings begin just 24 days after President Biden announced her as his nominee to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court.  Currently a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Jackson served on the federal district court in Washington for eight years and was a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. If appointed to the Supreme Court, Jackson will be the second-youngest justice at 51 years old.

Editorial credit: RozenskiP / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Country Daypop

Jamey Johnson invited to become member of Grand Ole Opry

shutterstock_154824215

Jamey Johnson has been invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry, with Opry member Bill Anderson surprising Johnson with the invitation at the close of a writer’s round featuring Anderson, Johnson, and songwriter/producer Buddy Cannon.

During the show, the artists performed songs such as the smash “Give It Away,” which became a No. 1 for George Strait, “Everybody Wants To Be Twenty-One,” and “Cheaper Than A Shrink.”  After their final song Anderson said: “Jamey, you made your Opry debut 17 years ago and you’ve been a frequent guest many times. But Opry management told me to tell you that this is going to be your last guest appearance…The next time you appear on this stage you will be the newest member of our Opry cast and family!”

Johnson replied: “I accepted it 20 years ago! I really don’t know what to say except the obvious. I love country music. I would have never moved here if it wasn’t for that; for the Opry keeping it alive and for the fans. I love you. Thank you.”

Editorial credit: s_bukley / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Country Daypop

Cody Johnson’s “‘Til You Can’t” earns the No. 1 spot on the Country Radio charts

shutterstock_1367064257-3

Cody Johnson’s “‘Til You Can’t” has reached #1 on the Mediabase country radio singles chart.

“‘Til You Can’t” – which already hit #1 hit on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart — ranks as the Mediabase country panel’s most played and heard song for the March 13-19 tracking period.

Sam Hunt’s “23” rises one spot to #2 this week, and Elle King & Miranda Lambert’s “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” moves up one spot to #3. Dierks Bentley, Breland & Hardy’s “Beers On Me” jumped one spot to #4, and Eric Church’s “Heart On Fire” jumps two places to #5, tied with Parker McCollum’s “To Be Loved By You”.

Cody Johnson Scores Very First #1 On Country Radio With “‘Til You Can’t”

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Entertainment Daypop

Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Regina King and Lin-Manuel Miranda will co-host 2022 Met Gala

shutterstock_2131194061

This year’s Met Gala, fashion’s biggest night, will be hosted by actors Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Oscar winner Regina King.  According to Vogue, the quartet will serve as the event’s official co-chairs, set to be held on May 2.

Reynolds, Lively, Miranda and King will preside over the annual gathering on the red carpet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This year’s event benefiting the Costume Institute is titled “In America: An Anthology of Fashion.”  The event’s honorary co-chairs include Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, designer Tom Ford, and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.

This will actually be the second Met Gala to be held within the last 12 months. The last Met Gala was held in September 2021, to make up for the cancellation of the 2020 Met Gala due to the pandemic. Last year’s list of co-chairs included actor Timothée Chalamet, singer Billie Eilish, tennis star Naomi Osaka and poet Amanda Gorman, who presided over a gala with the theme “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” which honored the 75th anniversary of the Costume Institute.

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Entertainment Daypop

Travis Barker, Billie Eilish and FINNEAS, Sheila E. and more announced as Oscars 2022 performers

shutterstock_74283874

The 94th Academy Awards announced an all-star lineup featuring the show’s music director Adam Blackstone, Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and singer Sheila E. as among those who will perform at the ceremony. Billie Eilish and her brother FINNEAS have also been confirmed to perform their Oscar-nominated song “No Time to Die,” from the James Bond film of the same name, during the ceremony.  Eilish, 20 and FINNEAS, 24, are first-time Oscar nominees, and widely considered the favorites to take home the best original song Oscar statuette, having already been awarded the equivalent Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and Grammy awards.

Pianist Robert Glasper and the Samples, a vocal group led by Jason White, are also set to perform, and DJ D-Nice — who united millions of people around the world with his virtual Club Quarantine parties over the past 2 years –will appear during the show, as well as at the Governors Ball, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ official post-Oscars celebration.  D-Nice will also host the official Oscars Club Quarantine pre-party featuring special guests via Instagram Live on Friday, March 25th at 9:30 p.m. EST.

More musical guests will be announced in the days leading up to the show. The Oscars, hosted by Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes, will air live from the Dolby Theater on ABC Sunday, March 27, at 8 p.m. EST.

Editorial credit: Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

U.S. Supreme Court issues statement that Justice Clarence Thomas has been hospitalized with infection

shutterstock_1080394571

The Supreme Court announced in a statement that Justice Clarence Thomas has been hospitalized with an infection.  Supreme Court spokesperson Patricia McCabe said that Thomas was admitted to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., on Friday evening after experiencing flu-like symptoms. He was diagnosed with an infection after undergoing tests and is being treated with intravenous antibiotics. McCabe did not provide more details on the nature of the infection, saying: “His symptoms are abating, he is resting comfortably, and he expects to be released from the hospital in a day or two. Justice Thomas will participate in the consideration and discussion of any cases for which he is not present on the basis of the briefs, transcripts and audio of the oral arguments.”

Thomas does not have a known history of health issues. He, along with the other eight justices, has been vaccinated and boosted for COVID-19, according to the Court.

Thomas is the second-oldest justice on the Supreme Court at 73 years old, after Justice Stephen Breyer, and is the most senior conservative.  The Court is reconvening Monday at 10 a.m. for two weeks of oral arguments.  As of press time, it appears Thomas will not be participating in the arguments remotely, but will still vote in the cases.

Editorial credit: mark reinstein / Shutterstock.com