(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Atlanta 130, Chicago 124
Boston 120, Memphis 107
Miami 113, Brooklyn 107
Detroit 108, Toronto 106
Dallas 122, Golden State 113
Sacramento 115, San Antonio 112
LA Clippers 132, LA Lakers 111
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Washington 4, Carolina 0
Minnesota 5, Philadelphia 4
Pittsburgh 5, Tampa Bay 1
Florida 3, Ottawa 0
Vancouver 4, NY Islanders 3
Chicago 4, Edmonton 3 (OT)
Arizona 2, Colorado 1
Boston 5, Vegas 2
Montreal 5, Calgary 4 (OT)
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Arizona 81, Stanford 69
Kansas 72, TCU 68
Houston 84, Temple 46
Illinois 60, Penn St. 55
Ohio St. 80, Michigan St. 69
Iowa 82, Michigan 71
He’s vengeance, and he’s finally in theaters! The Batman debuts on the big screen this weekend. It’s director Matt Reeves take on the caped crusader, with Robert Pattinson in the starring role. So what makes this one different from the others?
Jeffrey Wright, who plays Lieutenant Gordon, tells ABC Audio this film goes back to its comic book roots.
“Matt set out to go back into the comics and celebrate Batman yes as superhero, yes as dynamic crime fighter, but primarily as world’s greatest detective,” he explains. “It gives my Gordon an opportunity to be engaged in a way that maybe we previously haven’t seen.”
Another difference lies in Wright being cast as Gordon, a move he says was not just “for diversity sake” but “because it reflects the reality of who we are.”
“I know there are a lot of questions about… why I might have been cast as Gordon? Well, Gordon’s Black now, what does that mean? And if you look at the original Gotham of 1939, Bill Finger, Bob Kane fashioned it after New York City, 95 percent white at the time. You look at New York City today it’s a far cry from that,” he says.
Wright adds, “A fantasy about a major American city that’s not inclusive of people from, you know, a myriad of American backgrounds makes no reasonable sense.”
Even with the differences, as a fan of Batman since the 1960s Adam West series, Wright assures that their version should satisfy fans, while also bringing something new to the franchise.
“Yes, it’s a Batman film… it’s adrenaline filled… it’s kinetic, it’s got a velocity to it, but it’s also psychological and emotional. And at its core, it’s a murder mystery. And a bit of a love story as well,” he shares.
Vampire Weekend and Cage the Elephant lead the lineup for the 2022 Float Fest, taking place July 23-24 in Gonzales, Texas.
Other artists on the bill include CHVRCHES, Lord Huron, Two Feet, Sueco and Daisy the Great.
As for the floating part of Float Fest, festival-goers will have an opportunity to purchase a floating pass, which allows you to go tubing down the nearby Guadalupe River.
For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit FloatFest.net.
Michael Bublé’s new album Higher will be out March 25, and an initial glance at the track list shows that it includes material you’ll find on most of his albums: originals, new interpretations of standards and pop classics, and a duet or two. But Michael says the album does have a theme: When you listen to it, he says he wants you to feel “joy and hope and peace.”
“It’s funny, I went from all of these different ideas of ‘Do I have a concept record? Is it this? Is it sexy, is it romantic…?'” Michael told ABC Audio last year about the project. “And the further I got along, the more I kept thinking, ‘No, I just want to make a great Michael Bublé record, and I don’t want to chase hits. I just want to try to chase great music.'”
Making the album during the pandemic further cemented Michael’s determination to make the kind of music that would lift people’s spirits.
As he explains, “As we got into COVID and as more and more of my friends, and people that I loved — or even strangers — [became] affected by it, and as we started to see people and the heartache of them losing people and…their fear and losing jobs…the more I realized that as a human being and as an artist, my job was simply to try to bring joy and hope and peace.”
Michael is also calling for hope and peace amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Posting an image of the country’s flag, he wrote, “I stand with the Ukrainian people. At a time when we can all feel a bit helpless and our hearts are breaking, join me in supporting them.”
He linked to Unicef’s home page — the charity is focused on helping children caught in the conflict.
ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons has curated a new exhibit called the “Billy F Gibbons Texas History Experience” celebrating his career and music and their connections to his home state, which will open on March 25 at The Bryan Museum in Galveston, Texas.
The exhibition will feature some of Gibbons’ personal equipment and will look at how some songs written by Billy relate to Texas history and certain locations in the state.
A webpage dedicated to the exhibit at TheBryanMuseum.org features biographical information about Gibbons, as well as background on four ZZ Top songs with Texas-related themes — “La Grange,” “Heard It on the X,” “Deguello” and “Balinese.”
The “Billy F Gibbons Texas History Experience” will run through July 3 at the museum.
The Bryan Museum opened in 2015, with a mission of bringing to life the history of Texas and the American West.
In other news, for a second year in a row, Gibbons will be headlining the Tennessee Motorcycles and Music Revival, taking place this year May 19-22 at country legend Loretta Lynn‘s ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.
While Gibbons performed with his solo band The BFG’s at the 2021 event, this year he will be accompanied by a star-studded group of friends and guest artists. Billy performance is scheduled for May 20. The lineup also features more than a dozen other artists, including The Outlaws.
Besides the music, the four-day event will feature stunt shows, bike shows, motorcycle racing, off-road trail riding, a custom motorcycle showcase, and more.
Tickets for the extravaganza can be purchased at Tixr.com.
Less than a month shy of his second birthday, Maren Morris’ baby boy Hayes is rocking his first pair of cowboy boots.
It’s rare that the country star shares photos of Hayes on her socials, but she made an exception to document the big moment, which took place during a trip to Fort Worth, Texas. The family snaps show Hayes giving his new boots a spin outside the store where he bought them, as proud parents Maren and Ryan Hurd watch their boy embrace his Texas roots.
“First pair of boots,” Maren wrote.
The Forth Worth Stockyards is familiar stomping grounds for Maren, no pun intended. The place where the photos were taken is just blocks away from Billy Bob’s Texas, a mainstay honky tonk on the regional and national country touring circuit.
Hayes comes by his flair for Western wear honestly. Not only are his parents country singers, but Maren’s also a Texas native. In March 2020, when she was nine months pregnant with Hayes, she played the famed Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, meaning that Hayes was yee-hawing even in utero.
Sure enough, hours after purchasing the boots, Maren shared a picture of Hayes, still rocking his new kicks. “He won’t take them off,” she explained.
Lights, camera, action: All the staging and performance details are falling into place for the 2022 ACM Awards, and all the acts on the bill are eagerly awaiting the big night — even if it rains.
“I think they’ve got a roof on that place, right?” jokes Josh McSwain of Parmalee, who will perform their hit duet with Blanco Brown, “Just the Way,” along with special guest Brooke Eden.
With an extra act onstage with them, Parmalee’s Matt Thomas promises “a different version of the song,” but he’s not spilling too many details for now.
“It’s good to kind of just broaden the view of the song,” he elaborates. “And for us, you know, [it’s] the first time being on an awards [show] stage, you know?…So we’re blown away already by just being part of it.”
Mitchell Tenpenny admits that he’s feeling anxious as he gears up to perform “At the End of a Bar,” his single with Chris Young. “I’m a little nervous, honestly, because it’s just been so long since we’ve done it,” he notes.
But those are good nerves: It’ll be a lot of fun to get onstage during the show, especially with a friend, he admits.
“I’m beyond excited,” Mitchell says. “It’s been two or three years since I’ve been back. So I’m excited to, first…go to the ACMs again and sit down there with everybody. But then to get to perform with my buddy Chris?…Exciting is the word.”
The ACMs will stream on Amazon Prime Video on March 7 beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
Bring Me the Horizon‘s Malta Weekender festival will be better than Fyre Festival in at least one regard.
Speaking to NME about the upcoming destination event, which the “DiE4u” rockers will host and headline on the Mediterranean island country, frontman Oli Sykes declared, “It’ll be like Fyre Festival, but with better sandwiches.”
In case you blocked it out of your memory, Fyre Festival was billed as an exclusive, luxury event in the Bahamas, co-founded by rapper Ja Rule and promoted by high profile models including Kendall Jenner and Emily Ratajkowski. However, when attendees arrived, they were instead greeted with unfinished facilities and disaster relief tents.
Better food aside, BMTH’s Malta Weekender just needs to happen at all to have a leg up on Fyre Festival, which was soon canceled after headliners Blink-182 and other artists dropped off the bill.
Malta Weekender takes place May 26-30. In addition to Horizon’s own headlining sets, the lineup includes Bullet for My Valentine, Beartooth, Motionless in White, PVRIS and Spiritbox.
In related news, Bring Me the Horizon has helped Ed Sheeran earn a career-first with their joint rendition of the pop star’s song “Bad Habits.”
The collaboration, which the two acts performed together at the BRIT Awards in February before releasing a studio version, debuts at number two on Billboard‘s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, marking the first time Sheeran has appeared on the ranking.
Camila Cabello and Ed Sheeran are back at it again! And, by back at it, we mean back with another collaboration in the form of their new single “Bam Bam.”
Over an upbeat, Latin-inspired melody, Cabello sings about life and growth after a breakup with lyrics that seemingly reference her prior relationship with Shawn Mendes, whom she split from late last year.
“You said you hated the ocean / but you’re surfin’ now / I said I’d love you for life / but I just sold our house,” the song begins. “We were kids at the start / I guess we’re grown-ups now / Couldn’t ever imagine even havin’ doubts / But not everything works out, no.”
Coming to terms with the fact that not everything works out as planned, the Cuban-American singer takes on a carefree attitude, learning to dance and have fun through the heartache, as shown in the chorus lyrics: “Así es la vida, sí / Yeah, that’s just life, baby / Yeah, love came around and it knocked me down / But I’m back on my feet.”
Later, Sheeran chimes in with his own verse and the two harmonize together before the song comes to an end.
“Bam Bam” is the latest collaboration from Cabello and Sheeran, who previously teamed up on the English singer-songwriter’s 2019 track “South of the Border,” which also featured Cardi B.
Prior to the songs, release the “Havana” singer shared a teaser of the music video, which shows the two enjoying a drunken night with friends. Also ahead of the “Bam Bam” drop, Cabello revealed the release date for her third studio album.
“2 facts: it’s my birthday and this album is my whole f****** heart,” she tweeted. “FAMILIA. Out April 8.”
Yes, you read that correctly…rapper Snoop Dogg and supermodel Heidi Klum have teamed up for an upbeat, catchy dance track, “Chai Tea with Heidi.”
In the video for the new song, which dropped Thursday, Snoop can be seen dancing and bopping alongside Klum, who sings the hook of the tune.
“When I give my heart again, I know it’s gonna last forever/ No one tell me where or when, I know it’s gonna last forever,” the model sings.
“It was truly an honor to collaborate with so many amazing people to create this fun and upbeat music video,” said Klum. “I am still pinching myself to make sure this really happened.”
The 48-year-old model teased the new song and video many times on her Instagram, including a February behind-the-scenes post captioned, “Cant wait for my turn.”
“I love stepping outside of my comfort zone and challenging myself, so it was something I was definitely considering,” Klum said about the song in an interview with the New York Post. “I am a huge Snoop Dogg fan and I figured I needed to go big or go home.”
The fun dance track marks Klum’s first since her 2006 holiday tune, “Wonderland.”
