It was sweet victory for Jordan Peele‘s Candyman, crushing the box office with a $22.4 million opening weekend. Considering the surge in COVID-19 cases across the country, paired with the arrival of Hurricane Ida in the Gulf Coast, the movie performed above expectations for a horror flick and enjoyed the third-best opening numbers for a final weekend in August.
The R-rated thriller, considered the spiritual successor of the classic 1992 film, nearly made back its entire $25 million production budget in its debut weekend in the U.S.
Candyman — which stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris and Colman Domingo — made a much smaller splash overseas, raking in an additional $5.23 million for a global haul of $27.6 million.
Ryan Reynolds‘ Free Guy dropped to second place over the weekend, earning an additional $13.55 million in its third week of release and pushing its overall domestic box office earnings to $79.3 million.
Free Guy, showing exclusively in theaters, is from 20th Century Studios, which is owned by ABC News’ parent company, Disney.
Coming in third was Paramount’s Paw Patrol, which dug up an additional $6.6 million in its second week. The movie, which stars the voices of Tyler Perry, Kim Kardashian, Dax Shepard and Jimmy Kimmel, earned $24 million to date.
Dropping to fourth in its fifth week of release is Disney’s Jungle Cruise, earning an estimated $5 million. That brings the movie’s domestic box-office total to $100.1 million. Jungle Cruise is also available to Disney+ subscribers for a $30 surcharge.
Rounding out the top five Don’t Breathe 2, now in its third week of release, with an estimated $2.8 million. Overall, the movie has earned $24.6 million during its box office run.
(New York) — School board meetings have become emotional battlegrounds for parents and local officials who disagree over mask and vaccine mandates as children return to brick-and-mortar learning.
At least nine states — Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah — have laws or executive orders prohibiting mask mandates in classrooms.
Those rules have triggered legal challenges and public fury as many children returned to classrooms earlier this month, at a time when COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are on the rise due to the delta variant, but children under the age of 12 remain ineligible for the vaccine.
Mask opponents say masks inhibit kids from socializing and restrict breathing.
Advocates cite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s August guidance recommending universal indoor masking by students and staff at K-12 schools — regardless of vaccination status — due to the threat of delta.
Here’s a snapshot of the debate in four states:
Arizona
In Arizona, the Republican-led state that never imposed a mask mandate throughout the pandemic, Gov. Doug Ducey banned mask mandates in schools and required a return to in-person learning in July.
This month he announced that all school districts and charter schools in the state “following all state laws and remaining open for in-person learning” would be eligible for grant funding through the American Rescue Plan, and offered up to $1,800 per student.
Talitha Baker, a community activist in Arizona, called Ducey’s financial incentive a “bribe” that’s forced some schools to sacrifice face masks for money.
Earlier this month, the Chandler Unified School District voted against requiring face masks in the district of about 49,000 students and staff. Board member Joel Wirth stated, “I don’t think it’s worth losing $50-60 million dollars in funding that we can use to sanitize the facility and provide staff,” radio station KJZZ reported.
“My dad came to the [CUSD] board meeting Wednesday night to speak and he was moved to tears. He just couldn’t believe the way kids were being used as pawns,” Baker said.
“This is personal for us,” she said, noting that her nieces, ages 5 and 8, who attended school in nearby Queen Creek, “did catch COVID in their unmasked school, although they were masked, the week after school started.”
School Board member Lindsey Love was one of two board members who voted against keeping the current optional mask measure in place in Chandler.
She said that school board meetings have turned into a “circus” where people from out of the area have taken over. Love said a majority of parents in the district are in favor of masks.
“In our last meeting, it wasn’t a lot of Chandler parents, It was a lot of parents from some of the surrounding cities. We have a group that’s been going around to all the school board meetings to take over and push out the board,” Love told ABC News. “We’ve had board members receiving death threats. I’ve received death threats throughout this and harassment.”
Initially, people rallied at these meetings to open schools, then for and against masks, and now some people are against even quarantining kids who test positive for COVID-19, Love said.
“These meetings have become a bit of a circus. It’s not just masks that they don’t want. They read from this list, ‘We don’t want you to muzzle our kids, or indoctrinate our kids with your critical race theory agenda,'” she said. “It’s just a really odd cobbling of issues.”
Florida
Meanwhile in Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis gave parents the final say over whether children can wear masks or not.
But the first week of school led to chaos with thousands of kids isolated or quarantined due to COVID-19 cases and exposure across the state.
At the Hillsborough County Public School District in Florida, over 10,000 students and staff were isolated or quarantined due to COVID one week into the school year.
In a heated school board meeting last week one mother of a student yelled, “Have any children died?” as a result of the virus. Some people in the audience shouted back that children have. One high school student told the anti-maskers, “This tiny piece of cloth is not taking away your freedom. … Grow up.”
The district ended up voting to institute a mask mandate for at least 30 days, but parents would still have the option to opt their kids out with a medical note.
So far at least 10 Florida school districts have implemented requirements for masks in the classroom with no parental opt-out, according to The Associated Press.
But Florida’s State Board of Education threatened financial penalties to some districts if they didn’t get rid of the mandates.
On Friday, a Florida judge ruled DeSantis’ executive order on banning mask mandates in schools as unconstitutional. DeSantis said he’d appeal that decision.
Texas
In the Lone Star state, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued a ban on mask mandates in schools, triggering the Paris Independent School District in east Texas to add face coverings as a part of its dress code to get around the ban.
About 70 school districts have instituted mask mandates of some kind according to a list compiled by Attorney General of Texas Ken Paxton.
Houston Independent School District, mandated masks on Aug. 11, a move praised by teachers in the city.
“Gov. Abbott is on the wrong side of science, health and safety,” Jackie Anderson, the president of the Houston Federation of Teachers said in a statement at the time.
One exasperated Texas father stripped down to his swim trunks as he advocated in favor of mask mandates during a meeting Monday for the Dripping Springs Independent School District, near Austin, where masks are currently optional for staff and students in the district.
James Akers, a father of three who has a child currently in high school, said during public comments at the meeting that he hated the jacket, shirt and tie he’s required to wear for work, and proceeded to take off all three.
His bold statement, he said, was to demonstrate that “we follow certain rules for a very good reason.”
On Wednesday, a Dallas judge issued a temporary injunction against Abbott’s ban, allowing mask mandates issued by local leaders and school districts to remain in place for the time being.
Louisiana
At the same time, states that have enacted mask mandates for schools, such as Louisiana, have seen fierce opposition.
Louisiana’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s meeting earlier this month ended in chaos when a raucous crowd of angry parents packed into a hearing room and refused to wear face coverings, shouting “no more masks.”
One person screamed, “Don’t infringe on our rights!”
At the time, Louisiana had the nation’s highest rate of new COVID-19 cases per capita.
Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, defended the mask mandate for schools, saying on his monthly radio show, “It is the only way that we have a reasonable shot to keep schools open and kids safe.”
“There is no reasoning with some people,” Edwards said on mask opposers. “The vast majority of the people in Louisiana do take this seriously.”
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Chaos has enveloped Kabul after Afghanistan’s government collapsed and the Taliban seized control, all but ending America’s 20-year campaign as it began: under Taliban rule.
Officials said the terror group ISIS-K carried out what the Pentagon called a “complex attack” outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Thursday, killing at least 13 American service members and wounding 20, among scores of Afghan casualties.
When President Joe Biden sat down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive one-on-one interview at the White House last week, the president’s first interview since the withdrawal from Afghanistan, he warned of the threat of attacks on the ground.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Aug 30, 7:23 am
Americans are not being turned away at Kabul airport, ambassador says
The evacuation effort in Kabul remains a “high-risk operation,” according to Ross Wilson, the acting U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. But he denied that Americans are being turned away by U.S. forces or embassy personnel at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
“This is a high-risk operation,” Wilson wrote on Twitter early Monday. “Claims that American citizens have been turned away or denied access to HKIA by Embassy staff or US Forces are false.”
Several Republican lawmakers and other critics have accused the Biden administration of refusing to admit U.S. citizens at the airport in Kabul and leaving them behind.
The U.S. Department of State said Sunday that 250 Americans were still seeking to get out of Afghanistan. They have been given specific instructions on when or how to enter Hamid Karzai International Airport, although that journey is still fraught and dangerous. All airport gates are closed and the security threat there remains high.
Aug 30, 1:16 am
US anti-missile system fired to intercept rockets at Kabul airport
There are no signs of casualties Sunday night after five rockets were fired toward Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, a U.S. official told ABC News.
The official said the U.S. military’s anti-projectile C-RAM fired to intercept the incoming rockets, though it is not yet clear how many it took out, if any.
The airport remains operational and flights are continuing, the official added.
Aug 30, 1:16 am
Multiple rockets fired in attack on Kabul airport
As many as five rockets were fired toward Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul Sunday evening, a U.S. official confirms to ABC News.
ABC News is still trying to assess whether there were any casualties inside the airport, whether the airport’s defensive counter rocket, artillery, and mortar system was used, and if there were any U.S. counter strikes against suspected launch positions.
Aug 29, 8:55 pm
Former acting FEMA administrator to lead Afghan refugee resettlement
Bob Fenton, the former acting Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, is set to lead the efforts to resettle Afghans who are coming to the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security said Sunday.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas chose Fenton after President Joe Biden tasked the agency to lead the federal coordinating efforts.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement the resettling group will report directly to Mayorkas and will include a plethora of services from immigration processing to COVID-19 testing.
“The Department of Homeland Security is prepared to serve as the lead federal agency coordinating efforts across the federal government to welcome vulnerable Afghans to our Nation in a way that is consistent with our laws and our values,” Mayorkas said in a statement.
The “Unified Coordination Group” will work with Homeland Security’s partners in state and local governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Milwaukee 6, Minnesota 2
Chicago White Sox 13, Chicago Cubs 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Toronto 2, Detroit 1
Tampa Bay 12, Baltimore 8
Cleveland 7, Boston 5
Texas 13, Houston 2
Seattle 4, Kansas City 3
Oakland 3, N.Y. Yankees 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Miami 2, Cincinnati 1
Pittsburgh 4, St. Louis 3
Philadelphia 7, Arizona 4
Atlanta 9, San Francisco 0
N.Y. Mets 9, Washington 4
Colorado 5, L.A. Dodgers 0
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PRESEASON
Jacksonville 34, Dallas 14
Miami 29, Cincinnati 26
San Francisco 34, Las Vegas 10
New England 22, N-Y Giants 20
Cleveland 19, Atlanta 10
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Chicago 107, Seattle 75
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
FC Dallas 5, Austin FC 3
Vancouver 4, Real Salt Lake 1
Portland 2, Seattle 0
If you’ve missed it, “Fancy” is the rap-influenced, country-flavored earworm that extols the virtues of a girl who “wanna dip me like them fries in her Frosty” at Wendy’s, and get the “Bourbon Street steak with the Oreo shake” from “Applebee’s on a date night.”
And it was all fueled by a video Walker made with his 15-year-old daughter.
“Lela and I did the dance on Sunday afternoon,” Walker explains. “She said, ‘Hey Dad, “Fancy Like” doesn’t have a dance. We need to do one.'”
“We kinda created it together,” he continues. “She made up most of the moves. I made sure most of the moves could be done, even if you weren’t a great dancer — like me.”
“We popped it off in two takes… And the rest is history,” he reveals. “We pretty much knew hours later, we had accidentally done something — odd.”
Since then, at least one of the restaurants Walker name-dropped has come calling.
“Within days, people began to predict ‘song of the summer,’ how viral it would go, things like that,” he tells ABC Audio. “I don’t necessarily say I believed ’em, but here we are.”
“There’s an Applebee’s commercial,” he points out. “The Oreo shake is back on the menu thanks to the power of a song.”
“And millions of people have done this dance,” he marvels. “And the song continues to climb all charts, all genres. It’s mind-blowing. It’s absolutely mind-blowing.”
Sure enough, “Fancy Like” has already spent six weeks atop Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs ranking, while sitting at #12 on the pop-oriented Hot 100 as well.
(NEW YORK) — Ida is barreling through Louisiana after making landfall in the state as a powerful Category 4 hurricane on Sunday afternoon.
It was one of the strongest hurricanes on record — by both wind speed and pressure — to roar ashore in Louisiana.
Ida, now a tropical storm, is hitting on the 16-year anniversary of Katrina, a Category 3 hurricane that ravaged the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina unleashed a series of events, taking the lives of more than 1,800 people and leaving more than $100 billion worth of damage in its wake.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Aug 30, 8:20 am
‘We’re a broken community right now’
The president of hard-hit Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” Monday that all communication lines with Grand Isle were down.
Cynthia Lee Sheng said about 40 people are believed to have stayed on the barrier island, located about 100 miles south of New Orleans.
“We have lost contact with them since yesterday afternoon,” Sheng said. “We have first responder teams out there planning their strategy for today, ready to go out.”
Sheng also said there were concerns about Lafitte, Louisiana, saying officials had received reports of people trapped in their attics by high water.
“This is an area if you want to think of it like swampland, there’s alligators out there,” Sheng said.
She said rescue workers have not been able to reach the area due to darkness and downed power lines.
In addition to thousands in the area losing power, Sheng said the parish was losing pressure in its water system.
“We’ve had a lot of water main breaks,” she said. “Our water system is losing pressure and so in order to be able to fight fires, that is a very critical element. So, we’re trying to clear roads to do those water repairs.”
Sheng added, “We’re a broken community right now.”
Aug 30, 7:33 am
Over 1.1 million customers without power in 2 states
Ida, with its blustery winds and torrential rain, has left more than 1.1 million utility customers without power in Louisiana and Mississippi on Monday morning.
More than 1 million customers were without electricity in Louisiana, mostly in the southeast part of Bayou State where Ida made landfall, according to state emergency management officials.
In Mississippi, another 105,417 homes and businesses were without electricity, state officials said.
Aug 30, 5:41 am
Ida downgraded to tropical storm
About 16 hours after making landfall in Louisiana, Ida was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm early Monday morning.
As of 4 a.m. CT, Ida was moving north at 8 miles per hour with the eye of the storm located about 95 miles south-southwest of Jackson, Mississippi, and 50 miles north-northeast of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The storm’s maximum sustained winds have decreased near 60 miles per hour with higher gusts, according to an advisory from the National Weather Service.
The storm surge warning has been discontinued from Morgan City to Grand Isle, Louisiana. The hurricane and tropical storm warnings have been discontinued west of Grand Isle. The hurricane warning has been replaced with a tropical storm warning from Grand Isle to the mouth of the Pearl River, including Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas and metropolitan New Orleans. Storm surge and tropical storm warnings remain in effect for Grand Isle to the Alabama-Florida border, according to the National Weather Service.
Meanwhile, 16 states from Mississippi to New Jersey are still on alert for flash flooding. A flash flood watch is in place from the Gulf Coast to New Jersey.
So far, the highest rainfall total was recorded in LaPlace, Louisiana, which received 15 inches. A flash flood emergency remains in effect there, according to the National Weather Service.
Ida is forecast to rapidly weaken even more over the next day or so, becoming a tropical depression by Monday evening.
The storm will move farther inland over southeastern Louisiana early Monday and into southwestern Mississippi later in the morning. Ida is then forecast to move over central and northeastern Mississippi on Monday afternoon and evening before moving across the Tennessee Valley on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Aug 30, 4:40 am
Tornado warning issued for parts of southern Mississippi
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for eastern Harrison County and northwestern Jackson County, both in southern Mississippi.
As Hurricane Ida approaches the Magnolia State, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located via radar over Biloxi in Mississippi’s Harrison County early Monday at 2:46 a.m. CT. The “tornadic thunderstorm” was moving north at 65 miles per hour, according to an alert from the National Weather Service, which urged people to “take cover now!”
“Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows,” the National Weather Service said. “If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris.”
The storm could impact the Gulfport–Biloxi International Airport as well as several miles of Interstate 10 and 110 in Mississippi, according to the National Weather Service. The tornado warning will remain in effect until 3:45 a.m. CT.
“Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter,” the National Weather Service warned. “Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely.”
Aug 30, 4:16 am
New Orleans ‘experiencing technical difficulties’ with 911 system
The emergency communications center for New Orleans said it is “experiencing technical difficulties” with its 911 system, after the city lost power due to Hurricane Ida.
“If you find yourself in an emergency, please go to your nearest fire station or approach your nearest officer,” the Orleans Parish Communication District announced via Twitter early Monday. “We will update you once this issue has been resolved.”
(NEW YORK) — Ida is barreling through Louisiana after making landfall in the state as a powerful Category 4 hurricane on Sunday afternoon.
It was one of the strongest hurricanes on record — by both wind speed and pressure — to roar ashore in Louisiana.
The storm is hitting on the 16-year anniversary of Katrina, a Category 3 hurricane that ravaged the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina unleashed a series of events, taking the lives of more than 1,800 people and leaving more than $100 billion worth of damage in its wake.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Aug 30, 7:33 am
Over 1.1 million customers without power in 2 states
Ida, with its blustery winds and torrential rain, has left more than 1.1 million utility customers without power in Louisiana and Mississippi on Monday morning.
More than 1 million customers were without electricity in Louisiana, mostly in the southeast part of Bayou State where Ida made landfall, according to state emergency management officials.
In Mississippi, another 105,417 homes and businesses were without electricity, state officials said.
Aug 30, 5:41 am
Ida downgraded to tropical storm
About 16 hours after making landfall in Louisiana, Ida was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm early Monday morning.
As of 4 a.m. CT, Ida was moving north at 8 miles per hour with the eye of the storm located about 95 miles south-southwest of Jackson, Mississippi, and 50 miles north-northeast of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The storm’s maximum sustained winds have decreased near 60 miles per hour with higher gusts, according to an advisory from the National Weather Service.
The storm surge warning has been discontinued from Morgan City to Grand Isle, Louisiana. The hurricane and tropical storm warnings have been discontinued west of Grand Isle. The hurricane warning has been replaced with a tropical storm warning from Grand Isle to the mouth of the Pearl River, including Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas and metropolitan New Orleans. Storm surge and tropical storm warnings remain in effect for Grand Isle to the Alabama-Florida border, according to the National Weather Service.
Meanwhile, 16 states from Mississippi to New Jersey are still on alert for flash flooding. A flash flood watch is in place from the Gulf Coast to New Jersey.
So far, the highest rainfall total was recorded in LaPlace, Louisiana, which received 15 inches. A flash flood emergency remains in effect there, according to the National Weather Service.
Ida is forecast to rapidly weaken even more over the next day or so, becoming a tropical depression by Monday evening.
The storm will move farther inland over southeastern Louisiana early Monday and into southwestern Mississippi later in the morning. Ida is then forecast to move over central and northeastern Mississippi on Monday afternoon and evening before moving across the Tennessee Valley on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Aug 30, 4:40 am
Tornado warning issued for parts of southern Mississippi
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for eastern Harrison County and northwestern Jackson County, both in southern Mississippi.
As Hurricane Ida approaches the Magnolia State, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located via radar over Biloxi in Mississippi’s Harrison County early Monday at 2:46 a.m. CT. The “tornadic thunderstorm” was moving north at 65 miles per hour, according to an alert from the National Weather Service, which urged people to “take cover now!”
“Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows,” the National Weather Service said. “If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris.”
The storm could impact the Gulfport–Biloxi International Airport as well as several miles of Interstate 10 and 110 in Mississippi, according to the National Weather Service. The tornado warning will remain in effect until 3:45 a.m. CT.
“Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter,” the National Weather Service warned. “Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely.”
Aug 30, 4:16 am
New Orleans ‘experiencing technical difficulties’ with 911 system
The emergency communications center for New Orleans said it is “experiencing technical difficulties” with its 911 system, after the city lost power due to Hurricane Ida.
“If you find yourself in an emergency, please go to your nearest fire station or approach your nearest officer,” the Orleans Parish Communication District announced via Twitter early Monday. “We will update you once this issue has been resolved.”
After releasing their album Dreamland over a year ago, Glass Animals is finally getting the chance to tour behind it. Their Dreamland tour kicks off tonight in Lewiston, NY — and frontman Dave Bailey says fans can have fun looking at their “bonkers” stage, and predicts he’ll spend some of the night “crying a little bit.”
Describing what fans can expect visually, Dave tells ABC Audio, “There’s Dreamland visuals, there’s giant palm trees, there’s floating neon signs and cereal bowls, and there’s a giant swimming pool.” He laughs, “It’s quite mad. It’s definitely the most bonkers stage design we’ve ever done!”
Between headlining shows, the “Heat Waves” group will also be playing festivals like Bonnaroo, Life Is Beautiful and Outside Lands, though Dave says those shows, like, their headlining shows, will be all about reading the room.
“We try to keep festival shows fun, but honestly, we really react to the crowd, at any show that we’re doing — be it a headline show or a festival show, you have to look at the crowd and see how they’re feeling,” Dave explains. “…[I]f it’s like 6:00 in the afternoon and everyone’s pretty chill, then you can play things a bit slower, and maybe turn the ambient stuff up. Or if people are dancing and a dance artist has played before you, turn the drums up…have a total party.”
But Dave says one major highlight of tonight’s opening show will be seeing a live crowd react to “Heat Waves” — which is something he and the band haven’t really gotten to experience since it became a massive hit in the past year.
In fact, Dave admits, “I think I’ll probably end up crying a little bit.”
Ex-Creedence Clearwater Revival drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford has just released an archival album called For All the Money in the World that he recorded in 1986 with then-Greg Kihn Band bassist/songwriter Steve Wright, who died in 2017.
Clifford tells ABC Audio that the project came about when Wright, who grew up in the same town, El Cerrito, California, looked him up and suggested they write together.
“[I]t was very easy and very productive, so we kept doing that,” Clifford recalls. “And then we decided…we’ve got material and have a formula for having more material and it’d be nice to have a band to put it out there.”
Cosmo says they enlisted various Bay Area musicians for the sessions, many of whom also played with the Greg Kihn Band around that time, including guitarists Joe Satriani, Greg Douglass and Jimmy Lyon, and keyboardist Pat Mosca.
Rounding things out was a talented singer named Keith England whom, Clifford notes, had “a great rock ‘n’ roll voice.”
For All the Money in the World is an 11-track collection that offers a mix of catchy pop and rock songs.
Clifford says he loves the title track because it features a shuffle beat, noting, “Shuffles are just…fun. You can’t help but move to a shuffle.”
Cosmo also reveals that he sent the album to Steve Miller, who singled out the driving rock tune “She Told Me So” as his favorite.
Clifford says Miller told him, “[Y]ou guys ripped the roof off the barn with [that song].'”
According to Cosmo, Clifford/Wright “had the components of…something pretty special,” but the album was shelved when Wright’s lack of interest in playing clubs brought the project “to a close.”
Thirty-five years later, the album finally has been released.
Bachelor super-fan Lance Bass takes over guest hosting duties tonight onBachelor in Paradise and while he loves the entire franchise, he tells ABC Audio that Paradise is his absolute favorite version.
“Paradise, to me, I just feel is the better chance of people finding love,” he explains.
“When you have multiple people as an option to fall in love with, it’s just way more fun to watch… as opposed to when you watch The Bachelor and you just have one person vying for 30 people,” Bass adds. “It just causes a lot more drama. Of course, we’re in it for the drama. Let’s be real.”
Speaking of drama, the pop singer was also fascinated by how real it all was. Sharing that he had a TV in his dressing room and could “watch every conversation,” Bass says, “…it is amazing how real this can get in such a short amount of time, especially when you’re there just focused on finding love and no outside world. It’s the craziest speed dating on Earth.”
Another thing that took the boy bander by surprise — the heat in Mexico, which, for him, does not create a great environment for romance.
“…there’s like sweating and just like wait do I smell. And when I’m hot, the last thing I want to think about is kissing someone or having sex, like I just want to be like, no, don’t touch me, don’t touch me,” he says with a laugh.
Though the heat was tough, the most difficult thing for Bass was learning everyone’s names.
Sharingthat he had 20 minutes to pair the names and faces, he reveals, “… that was definitely the hardest part, was keeping all the names together and which ones were coupled up, and which ones were fighting.”
