The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled short lists in 10 categories for the 2023 Oscars on Wednesday, and among those in contention for Best Original Song nominations are Rihanna, The Weeknd, and Drake and Giveon.
Rihanna is one step closer to her first Oscar nomination thanks to “Lift Me Up,” her contribution to the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack. This means director Ryan Coogler and Tems,who co-wrote the movie, could be headed for nominations, as well.
Drake and Giveon were short-listed for their help in writing “Time,” a song featured in the film Amsterdam, while Jazmine Sullivan and producer Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II were recognized for their pen on Till‘s “Stand Up.” The Weeknd’s writing on “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)” from Avatar: The Way of Water helped him to make the first cut.
A total of 81 songs were eligible in the Best Original Song category, but only 15 made the short list. The official Oscar nominations will be announced on January 24.
Luke Combs has shared the music video for his single, “Going, Going, Gone.” The song comes off the track list of his newest album, Growin’ Up.
Miranda Lambert’s second annual Mutt Shop for MuttNation is underway. Just in time for the holidays, the country star — and her Instagram-famous husband, Brendan McLoughlin — are stocking up on pet foods, toys and supplies to take to shelters. You can follow along on Twitter.
Will we see a member of the Pussycat Dolls and the music industry’s resident cat mom hit the studio together? If Nicole Scherzinger has her way, it would have happened yesterday.
The singer took to TikTok to confirm that she’s been flirting with some Taylor Swift-caliber Easter eggs on her social media. Followers took notice of some Reputation-era flare in her recent manicure and asked Nicole if she had something to say about it.
“Is the black nails a Reputation Easter egg? You and Taylor working together?” one hopeful fan wrote, which earned a cryptic response from Nicole.
The singer shared a video of herself singing in the studio to a mashup of the Pussycat Dolls’ “Buttons” and Taylor’s “Anti-Hero.” She then looks toward the camera with a devious smile and shrugs.
She captioned the post, “I’d be down for a collab @Taylor Swift,” including a sly-eyed emoji, as well as a black heart.
Taylor has not responded to the invite, but Nicole’s fans are going nuts over the thought of the two singers collaborating.
Adam Lambert is reflecting on his mental health journey and how hiding his queer identity contributed to his anxiety.
He shared a teaser of a forthcoming interview set to air in full Christmas Eve, where he opens up about when he began to realize he needed help.
“I started feeling like this isn’t fun. I’m not enjoying this because I’m completely stressed out about the technical side of it and it’s pulling me out of the moment,” Adam explains in the candid trailer. “And that, to me, is like so much of the magic of performing, is this feeling that you get where it’s very liberating.”
He said his anxiety began to disrupt the connection he felt with himself, as well as his music and audience.
The interview will explore how his mental health suffered when he masked his queer identity early on and when he stepped into the limelight, where he was expected to “perform at a high level.” Adam will also talk about taking medication and working on his mental health.
“I’ve started recently being more vocal and open about my own personal experiences. After the pandemic, I think a lot of people had some extra weight that they were carrying. I think that caused an extra amount of anxiety across the board for most people,” he continued in another clip.
Adam also touched upon the economy increasing people’s uncertainty and how those stresses triggered more anxiety, depression and other mental health challenges.
“I think, especially given the state of the world, it’s more important than ever to start talking about this stuff,” he said.
Adam’s interview will be featured on Britain Get Singing, which airs December 24 at 8:05 p.m. GMT on ITV1 and ITVX.
(NEW YORK) — One of the most vilified pest species on the planet continues to outsmart the ways in which humans attempt to get rid of them.
“Super” mosquitoes have evolved to withstand insecticides, according to new research — and the most “sobering” finding is the high rate in which a species known for carrying disease has developed mutations.
Researchers at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan studied mosquitoes in dengue-endemic areas in Vietnam and Cambodia and found that they harbor mutations that endow them with strong resistance to common insecticides, according to a study published in Science Advances on Wednesday.
One of the most concerning mutations appeared in about 78% in collected specimens of Aedes aegypti — one of the most infamous species of mosquito and a major vector of dengue, yellow fever and Zika virus, according to the study.
Developing resistance pyrethroids often occurs when mutations appear in the Vgsc gene, which encodes the molecular target of pyrethroids, the paper states. The researchers discovered 10 new sub-strains of Ae. aegypti and noticed that one Vgsc mutation — called L982W — endowed mosquitoes with high resistance to the pyrethroid insecticide permethrin in the lab.
This mutation appeared with a frequency of more than 79% in mosquitoes collected from Vietnam, and mosquitoes in Cambodia harbored combinations of L982W and other Vgsc mutations that displayed “extreme” levels of pyrethroid resistance, the researchers said.
The L982W mutation has not been detected outside of Vietnam and Cambodia, but the researchers believe that it could be slowly spreading to other parts of the Asia.
The findings could pose a serious threat to infectious disease control and eradication programs, as the mutation is some of the highest insecticide resistance seen in a field population of mosquitoes, the researchers said.
Many health initiatives rely on pyrethroids and other insecticides to control mosquito-borne infections, especially for those that don’t have a vaccine, like dengue.
“It is important to be aware that the insecticides we normally use may not be effective against mosquitoes,” Shinji Kasai, author of the study and senior research scientist of NIID’s Department of Medical Entomology, told ABC News.
It will be necessary to continue to monitor these mutant alleles, especially in southeast Asia, to in order to take appropriate countermeasures before they spread globally, Kasai said. In addition, rotation of different insecticide group is sometimes effective, Kasai added.
“Governmental health officers should chose appropriate, more effective insecticide for controlling mosquitoes,” he said.
Mosquitoes appear to be evolving both physically and instinctively to avoid human attempts to eradicate their presence.
In February, scientists published research that mosquitoes are learning to avoid pesticides used to kill them.
Scientists who studied two species of mosquitoes — Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus — found that the females learned to avoid pesticides after a single non-lethal exposure.
Allison Holker has shared a tribute to her late husband,Stephen “tWitch” Boss, one week after news broke of his tragic death.
Boss died by suicide on December 13. The So You Think You Can Dance alum and The Ellen DeGeneres Show star was 40 years old.
Holker, 34, shared a selfie of her and Boss on Instagram Wednesday, writing, “My ONE and ONLY Oh how my heart aches. We miss you so much.”
Boss and Holker married in December 2013 and shared three children: Weslie, Holker’s daughter from a previous relationship; son Maddox Laurel, 6; and daughter Zaia, 3.
Holker, who competed on SYTYCD season 2 and later as an All-Star, released a statement on December 14 about Boss’ death, calling him “the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans.”
“Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him,” she said. “To say he left a legacy would be an understatement…” adding, “I am certain there won’t be a day that goes by that we won’t honor his memory.”
Holker concluded her statement, saying, “Stephen, we love you, we miss you, and I will always save the last dance for you.”
Boss was a hip-hop dancer best known for being the runner-up on SYTYCD season 4 and a judge for season 17 earlier this year. He was also the DJ, and eventually an executive producer, on DeGeneres’ talk show.
If you are in crisis or know someone in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or by visiting 988lifeline.org. You can also contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
Allison Holker has shared a photo of her late husband,Stephen “tWitch” Boss, one week after news broke of his tragic death.
Boss died by suicide on December 13. The So You Think You Can Dance alum and The Ellen DeGeneres Show star was 40 years old.
Holker, 34, shared a selfie of her and Boss on Instagram Wednesday, writing, “My ONE and ONLY Oh how my heart aches. We miss you so much.”
Boss and Holker married in December 2013 and shared three children: Weslie, Holker’s daughter from a previous relationship; son Maddox Laurel, 6; and daughter Zaia, 3.
Holker, who competed on SYTYCD season 2 and later as an All-Star, released a statement on December 14 about Boss’ death, calling him “the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans.”
“Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him,” she said. “To say he left a legacy would be an understatement…” adding, “I am certain there won’t be a day that goes by that we won’t honor his memory.”
Holker concluded her statement, saying, “Stephen, we love you, we miss you, and I will always save the last dance for you.”
Boss was a hip-hop dancer best known for being the runner-up on SYTYCD season 4 and a judge for season 17 earlier this year. He was also the DJ, and eventually an executive producer, on DeGeneres’ talk show.
If you are in crisis or know someone in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or by visiting 988lifeline.org. You can also contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
Paul McCartney is giving fans a little insight into how he dealt with the grief of John Lennon’s death in 1980. While discussing the making of the 1982 record Tug Of War with Sirius XM’s The Beatles Channel, he opened up about writing the tune “Here Today,” in which he pays tribute to his Beatles bandmate.
“When John died, it was so difficult,” Sir Paul says. “It was difficult for everyone in the world because he was such a loved character and such a crazy guy. He was so special.”
McCartney says he remembers hearing people talk about Lennon on TV, which was something he just couldn’t do. “I can’t just go on TV and say what John meant to me,” he shared. “It was just too deep. It’s just too much. I couldn’t put it into words.”
But, McCartney says “once the emotions had sort of settled a little bit” he was able to channel his grief into music. He explains, “I found a room and just sat on the wooden floor in a corner with my guitar and just started to play the opening chords to ‘Here Today.'”
Paul says the line “the night we cried” refers to an experience in Key West, Florida, where they were stuck in a motel for a few days and got drunk together.
“We got drunk and started to get kind of emotional,” he continued. “There was a lot of soul-searching. We told each other a few truths, you know, ‘Well, I love you,’ ‘I love you man,’ ‘I love that you said that,’ and we opened up.”
Paul notes, “So that was kind of special to me. I think that was really one of the only times that ever happened.”
(NEW YORK) — For the second year in a row, a 12-year-old Boy Scout has turned into secret Santa, buying Christmas presents for over a hundred children in foster care and shelters who might not otherwise get to enjoy the holiday season.
Jonathan Werner said he was inspired to carry out his philanthropy project after hearing about his father’s own childhood experience in foster care.
“Based upon stories that I have from him, it didn’t really sound like they had much of a Christmas,” he told “Good Morning America.”
“I was in foster care from the time that I was five to [when] I got adopted at about 12, so like seven years of my childhood and I don’t remember my Christmases ever really being very special until after I was adopted,” Jonathan’s dad, Steven Kolk, told “GMA.” “So having him do a project like this and knowing that where I was those years, I could have had somebody like [Jonathan], it would have been really special.”
This year, 138 children across four Minnesota counties – Kanabec, Isanti, Pine and Chisago counties – as well as some children in part of Anoka County will receive basic necessities and personal care items some requested and gift cards and toys Jonathan selected for them. He chose the items on multiple shopping trips based on lists that local social workers he partnered with would share with him to help guide the process.
“For example, if the kid had asked for a Lego set of some sort, we would go off of age and gender and then we would buy a Lego set for them and based upon other interests, we would also try to find a Lego set that also intertwines with those interests as well,” Jonathan said.
The seventh-grader said he bought about 600 presents overall, totaling approximately $11,300.
To fund the gifts, he sold popcorn to local community members and this year, he made more than he was expecting.
MORE: Boy Scouts jump into action after Amtrak derailment: ‘We’re really proud’
But throughout the journey, Jonathan said he’s simply happy to give back.
“I’ve definitely learned a lot throughout this. I’ve learned money management. I’ve learned other things of that nature as well. It also makes me really happy to know that kids that wouldn’t really get a Christmas are getting a Christmas because of my project,” Jonathan said.
His parents say they couldn’t be more impressed.
“I’m proud of what he chose to do and the number of people that he can reach with this project,” Steven Kolk told “GMA.”
“It’s really special. I have seen it move not even myself, it has inspired me personally. But I’ve also seen it inspire our other children and friends of ours and other people in the community at the stores and things like that and so it’s really special. It really brings a tear to your eye and makes you feel like he’s really making a difference for people,” Serena Kolk added.
Clothing retailer H&M has pulled the plug on its Justin Bieber merchandise line after the singer criticized it on Instagram.
Earlier this week, Justin was made aware of a new merchandise line from the Swedish retailer and publicly condemned its sale.
“I didn’t approve any of the merch collection that they put up at H&M .. all without my permission and approval [shaking my head] I wouldn’t buy it if I were you,” he told fans via his Instagram Story. “The H&M merch they made of me is trash and I didn’t approve it. Don’t buy it.”
The line included hoodies, tees, bags, cellphone covers and charms that featured the singer’s lyrics or his image.
H&M denied wrongdoing to Good Morning America and said in a statement, “As with all other licensed products and partnerships, H&M followed proper approval procedures.”
The retailer has since decided to pull the line. A spokesperson told Rolling Stone they decided to cancel sales “out of respect for the collaboration and Justin Bieber.” No further information was provided.
Neither Justin nor his team have reacted to the news.
