After cleaning up at the Grammys and the BRIT Awards, Harry Styles is poised to do the same at this year’s Ivor Novello Awards, also known as The Ivors.
The awards, which have been handed out since 1956, are the most prestigious music honor in the United Kingdom. They celebrate excellence in British and Irish songwriting, and are peer awards, voted on by British and Irish songwriters and composers.
Harry and his collaborator Kid Harpoon are the leading nominees with three nods. They’re collectively up for Songwriter of the Year, while their global hit “As It Was” is nominated for Best Song Musically and Lyrically and Most Performed Work. That latter category has to do with the song that’s been heard the most on broadcast, online and general performances in the past year.
Also nominated in the Most Performed Work category is Ed Sheeran‘s “Bad Habits,” which won last year. He’s the first person ever to have their song nominated for a second year after a win.
In addition, Ed’s hit “Shivers” is included in that category, as is “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals and, 37 years after it was originally nominated for Best Contemporary Song, “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush.
The winners will be revealed at a ceremony in London on May 18. As previously announced, this year Sting is being given the Ivors’ highest honor: he’ll become a Fellow of the Academy.
Billy Idol is giving fans a sneak peek at a very special concert he performed earlier this month at the Hoover Dam.
The singer headlined the first-ever concert at the dam on the Nevada/Arizona border, along with his guitarist Steve Stevens and special guests Alison Mosshart of The Dead Weather, the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones and No Doubt’s Tony Kanal.
The concert, which took place April 8, was filmed and will be getting a theatrical release through Encore Nights later this year. The first look shows Idol and the band performing his 1990 classic “Cradle of Love,” with Idol changing the lyrics to sing “I rocked the Hoover Dam.”
Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once star Michelle Yeoh is boldly going back to Gene Roddenberry‘s universe with a Paramount+ movie called Star Trek: Section 31.
Section 31 refers to Starfleet’s black ops agents, who were to be at the center of a long-gestating TV project.
On the TV series Star Trek: Discovery, Yeoh played both Philippa Georgiou, the captain of the Federation’s USS Shenzhou, and also Emperor Philippa Georgiou, the ruler of the militaristic Terran Empire, which controlled Earth and the surrounding space.
The dual role came courtesy of a Trek conceit known as the mirror universe, a parallel dimension to our own. While the former died in battle, Star Trek: Section 31 will center on the latter.
Paramount+ teases of the film, “Emperor Philippa Georgiou joins a secret division of Starfleet tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets and faces the sins of her past.”
“I’m beyond thrilled to return to my Star Trek family and to the role I’ve loved for so long,” Yeoh said in the announcement. “Section 31 has been near and dear to my heart since I began the journey of playing Philippa all the way back when this new golden age of Star Trek launched.”
She enthused, “To see her finally get her moment is a dream come true in a year that’s shown me the incredible power of never giving up on your dreams. We can’t wait to share what’s in store for you, and until then: live long and prosper (unless Emperor Georgiou decrees otherwise)!”
(NEW YORK) — Dominion Voting Systems, in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit, has accused Fox News of knowingly pushing false conspiracy theories that the voting machine company rigged the 2020 presidential election in Joe Biden’s favor, in what Dominion claims was an effort to combat concerns over declining ratings and viewer retention. Fox has defended its coverage, dismissing the suit as a “political crusade in search of a financial windfall.”
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 18, 1:34 PM EDT
Judge authorizes special master over potential ‘discovery issues’
After sanctioning Fox News last week for a delay in turning over evidence, Judge Eric Davis has now officially authorized a special master to investigate Fox News’ potential “discovery issues,” according to a new order from the judge.
The order comes just before opening arguments in the case are scheduled to begin.
According to the order, the investigation by the special master will “include a determination” of whether Fox News and Fox Corp “complied with their discovery obligations.”
The special master, who was previously appointed to oversee discovery in the case, is now “further authorized and empowered” to look into multiple declarations made by Fox attorneys in the case, the order says.
Apr 18, 11:40 AM EDT
You aren’t ‘Dick Tracy,’ judge tells jurors
In his initial instructions to the jury, Judge Eric Davis told jurors not to talk amongst themselves or discuss the case with family or friends.
“You have to fight human nature. This is the hardest thing you’ll have to do during the trial,” Davis said. “You have to refrain from talking about the case with your fellow jurors or a third party.”
The judge also reminded the jurors that they are not Dick Tracy.
“Do not do any detective work,” he said. “You cannot do any independent research about this case.”
Davis told jurors they can bring water or some other beverage into the courtroom, provided it has a cap or lid.
“You can bring some type of drink,” Davis said, jokingly adding, “non-alcoholic.”
The trial is expected to last about six weeks.
Apr 18, 11:30 AM EDT
Jury is seated
A jury has been seated to hear the defamation accusations against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems.
The jury is made up of six women and six men who were previously asked about their Fox News viewing habits. Six women and six men were also seated as alternates.
The jurors will remain anonymous for the duration of the trial. Judge Eric Davis had expressed concern about possible jury tampering amid the international attention on the case.
Immediately after the jurors were sworn in, alternate juror No. 3 raised his hand from his seat and told the judge, “Sir I can’t do this. I’ve been up all night. I can’t do this.”
Judge Davis offered to talk with the man off the bench and, ultimately, opted to dismiss him from service.
“I’ve excused alternate No. 3 and we will swear in a new No. 3,” Davis said.
Apr 18, 9:30 AM EDT
Jury selection underway
Jury selection is underway Tuesday morning at Delaware Superior Court in Wilmington, Delaware.
The jury is expected to be seated by the end of the morning, with opening statements expected to begin shortly thereafter, according to the judge in the case.
Apr 17, 10:42 AM EDT
Judge says trial will proceed Tuesday
The judge overseeing Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News said Monday morning that the trial will proceed Tuesday, saying a delay like this “is not unusual.”
Judge Eric Davis’ remarks in court Monday morning came after an [eleventh-hour delay]} in the case was announced Sunday night before the trial was set to begin Monday morning.
The Wall Street Journal — a publication owned by Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch — reported Sunday night that Fox had made a “late push to settle the dispute out of court,” according to “people familiar with the decision.”
Judge Davis made no mention of potential settlement talks Monday morning.
“It’s a six-week trial, things happen,” he said.
Apr 18, 9:30 AM EDT
Jury selection underway
Jury selection is underway Tuesday morning at Delaware Superior Court in Wilmington, Delaware.
The jury is expected to be seated by the end of the morning, with opening statements expected to begin shortly thereafter, according to the judge in the case.
(BISMARCK, N.D.) — Lawmakers in North Dakota advanced an abortion bill Monday that seeks to ban the procedure with few exceptions.
The state House passed SB 2150 with a vote of 76-14, mostly along party lines, which makes performing or aiding an abortion a class C felony, which is punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine of $10,000.
According to the language in the bill, the pregnant woman would not be charged.
The only exceptions are if the mother’s health or life are in danger and in cases of rape or incest, but only up until six weeks’ gestation, before many women know they’re pregnant.
Additionally, the state’s Department of Health & Human Services will be required to publish material on services that can assist a woman through pregnancy, color photographs documenting the development of a fetus, material on the “long-term risks” of an abortion and the possibility of reversing an abortion.
The bill will next head to the Senate. If it passes, Gov. Doug Burgum is expected to sign it into law.
It comes just a month after the North Dakota Supreme Court declared a trigger ban that was set to go into effect — which would make it a felony to perform an abortion with only exceptions for rape, incest or if the mother’s life is in danger — as unconstitutional.
“We’re going to send another message to the North Dakota Supreme Court,” said House Majority Leader Mike Lefor, a Republican. “This is what this Legislature wants. We want pro-life in North Dakota.”
While anti-abortion groups, including North Dakota Right to Life, praised the decision, Democratic lawmakers criticized it.
“The 6-week ‘exception’ is before most people know they are pregnant, particularly young victims of sexual violence, and forcing an unwanted pregnancy to continue adds to the trauma,” Rep. Karla Rose Hanson, who voted against the bill, wrote in a tweet.
She pointed out that in 2014, about two-thirds of voters in North Dakota rejected a ballot measure that would have amended the state constitution to declare an “inalienable right to life” for humans at any stage of development, essentially banning abortion.
“Proponents of the bill said this ‘cleans up’ & ‘clarifies’ existing abortion law, but in reality the trigger ban has been enjoined, so this bill puts new restrictions into law,” she added.
Katie Christensen, state director of external affairs for Planned Parenthood North Dakota Action Fund, also decried the passing of the bill.
“It’s heartbreaking and frustrating to watch a near total abortion ban pass the North Dakota House after the Supreme Court recognized the right to life saving and health preserving abortions,” she said in a statement. “Abortion is essential health care, and North Dakotans deserve to make decisions about their bodies and futures.”
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer, at least 14 states have ceased nearly all abortion services.
Florida will be the 15th state once a new six-week abortion ban is implemented — but only if the state’s current 15-week ban is upheld as legal challenges play out in court.
(NEW YORK) — An internet user claiming to be a member of the small online community where a Massachusetts Air National Guard member is accused of leaking hundreds of classified U.S. intelligence documents told ABC News that he looked up to the airman, calling him “very smart, and always was [one] step ahead of everyone.”
In an interview with ABC News conducted on the social media platform Discord, a user using the name Vahki said he was a longtime member of the server on that site where National Guard member Jack Teixeira, who is now in custody, is accused of sharing images of classified U.S. intelligence documents.
Two administrators on the separate, larger Discord server where images of the alleged documents were subsequently shared to a much wider audience told ABC News that Vahki was a member of the smaller, tight-knit group where Teixeira allegedly posted the images. Vahki was first publicly named by Aric Toler, a researcher with the investigative outlet Bellingcat.
Vahki, who described himself as a minor, said he had been a member of Teixeira’s server for four to five years, and that Teixeira was admired within the group of 25 people. The young user detailed how Teixeira “supported” members of their small online community as the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on their mental health.
“He was compassionate for people’s problems, always. He would always walk us through and help us with that,” Vahki said. “And I mean, obviously this is over the course of many years — he was super nice to everyone to the point where you wouldn’t even notice it at some points.”
Vahki said the topic of religion was popular on their small Discord server.
“Most of us were Orthodox Christian,” he said, explaining that the group had a separate channel where members could share “good prayers to say” and “good places to pray at.”
Vahki described Teixeira as a “Christian,” with politics that were “Libertarian at most.” The pair first met on a server for fans of the YouTuber Oxide, who posts videos about weapons and the military. Oxide, who did not disclose his real name, told ABC News that he remembered banning Vahki and Teixeira from the community years ago for repeatedly posting racist memes.
Vahki said his motivation for speaking with ABC News was to clear up misconceptions around Teixeira, namely, according to Vahki, that the accused leaker is a racist.
Vahki acknowledged that some members of the group posted “funny memes” that might appear racist, sexist, or transphobic to outsiders, but claimed that Teixeira did not participate in posting them. Vahki said the group had a diverse membership and that when members complained, offending content was removed.
The Washington Post last week reported to have reviewed a video that featured Teixeira at a shooting range making “a series of racial and antisemitic slurs into the camera” before firing several rounds at a target.
“People seem to have this mob mentality on [Teixeira] already, without understanding him further. He is a good person, at the end of the day,” Vahki told ABC News.
Teixeira took an interest in educating the group, Vahki recalled, claiming the airman was not interested in “clout” or winning arguments.
“He just wanted us to be informed, ahead of the news cycle,” Vahki told ABC News.
But when it came to the classified documents that Teixeira first allegedly transcribed and shared in the group, few members seemed to take an interest, Vahki said.
“There was no reactions to the documents, nobody talked about them,” he said.
Vahki, however, said the lack of response did not make Teixeira upset. Instead, Vahki said, the muted response led Teixeira to abandon the laborious task of transcription in favor of printing and photographing the documents, which Vahki said required less effort.
This shift happened around the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023, Vahki said.
Later, in early March, images of the purported leaked documents appeared on a larger Discord server dedicated to the YouTube creator “wow mao.” These images were posted by a young user known by the username Lucca, according to records reviewed by ABC News.
Discord admins for that server previously described Lucca to ABC News as a “hyperactive kid.”
“He was still like, a little kid on the server. He was a good kid, you know? He’s mid to late teens,” an admin who goes by the username Krralj said. “And like he was, he’s always active. He joined the voice call to listen … when he was in school.”
ABC News is withholding Lucca’s real name. Vahki said he and Lucca are close friends and claimed that Lucca and Teixeira had minimal interactions.
Vahki said that he has not been contacted by law enforcement. Asked whether he was aware of investigators reaching out to other group members, he declined to comment.
ABBA has been having huge success with their London hologram show Voyages, and it sounds like they are ready to expand to other countries.
In an interview with NME, ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus opened up about plans for the show’s future — and it sounds like not only do they want to continue in London, they are definitely looking to bring it to other cities.
“We hope to stay in this venue for as long as we can. We hope they’ll have us for many years, and we might build other replicas of this in other places: Asia, Australia, North America,” he says. “There are lots and promoters and cities that we’re talking to at the moment about that.”
But should the show go on tour, it won’t happen so fast, with Björn saying it “would take at least two years to build” each production. “But there will be announcements towards the end of this year or the beginning of next about where we actually are going,” he adds. “That’s if we’re going somewhere, which we will.”
Björn also says there’s a chance the set list of the show may change a bit. “We did motion capture more songs that we have in this concert,” he explains. “There are songs in the pipeline which might be animated and ‘ABBA-tarred’ in the future. Who knows? There might be a new song every now and then somewhere – but I can’t give you any details as of right now.”
Alicia Keys is personally giving fans the Keys to the Summer when she heads out on tour this June.
The trek follows her sold-out The Alicia + Keys World Tour, but will feature a new set list, and a reimagined and redesigned concert experience.
“The Keys to the Summer Tour is going to be completely unforgettable and unmissable! I describe it as a celebration of freedom and self-liberation! It’s going to be colorful, magical and will light up your body, soul and all of your senses! This is my first time creating a 360 experience and we’ve made sure it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen! I’m so excited to see y’all this summer!”
The Keys to the Summer Tour kicks off June 28 in Fort Lauderdale before traversing to 22 other North American cities, including Atlanta, Memphis, Boston, Toronto and New Orleans. Tickets for the outing, produced by Live Nation, go on sale April 21 at 9 a.m. local time.
Before then, fans can attempt to secure tickets via the Alicia Keys Fan Club and Keys Soulcare presales starting April 18 at 1 p.m. ET and the Spotify, Live Nation, Ticketmaster and venue presales, which will begin April 20 at 10 a.m. local time.
Alicia Keys will venture to Latin America this May to continue her The Alicia + Keys World Tour.
Kelly Clarkson switched things up a bit for her Kellyoke performance on Tuesday’s edition of The Kelly Clarkson Show: Instead of performing another artist’s hit, she sang one of her own songs.
Kelly premiered one of her two new songs, “Mine,” from her upcoming album, Chemistry. “I was feeling all the feelings when I wrote that one,” she told the audience. “I just love that I’ve never really done anything like that on a chorus and never changed tempo in a song — it was just a different vibe for me overall, so I was very excited.”
“Obviously, I was also very angry and sad,” she laughed. “But I let it out and I feel great now.”
Speaking about the entire album, Kelly said, “It’s not all just sad and angry, I swear. It’s like a whole arc of an entire relationship because you can’t diminish something to just one feeling.”
Chemistry is out June 23. On April 24, Kelly will sing the album in its entirety at a special show at LA’s Belasco Theater. Tickets for that are on sale now.
Parkway Drive has announced a U.S. tour celebrating the band’s 20th anniversary.
The outing, dubbed the Monsters of Oz tour, kicks off September 10 in Atlanta and concludes October 6 in Irvine, California. The bill will also include fellow Australian bands The Amity Affliction, Northlane and Make Them Suffer.
“20 years is a milestone in any career,” says frontman Winston McCall. “The journey that has [led] us to this moment has been insane, to say the least. We wanted to mark this time with a tour that represents who we are and where we come from.”
“For the first time on North American soil, we are bringing the fully-formed version of the Parkway Drive live experience,” McCall continues. “And if that wasn’t enough, we’re bringing an all-Australian lineup with us. No compromise, no surrender. This is who we are — the Monsters of Oz. Come celebrate with us and burn it all away.”
Tickets go on sale Friday, April 21, at 10 a.m. local time. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit ParkwayDriveRock.com.
Parkway Drive’s most recent album is 2022’s Darker Still.
