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New York Film Critics Circle postpones awards ceremony; Critics Choice Awards going on as planned

December 21, 2021 by WDNY Radio

The New York Film Critics Circle is postponing their annual awards ceremony due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases.

The ceremony was originally supposed to take place on Monday, January 10 at Tao Downtown in NYC. A new date for the event will be announced early next year.

As previously reported, the New York Film Critics Circle named Drive My Car as Best Film, Jane Campion as Best Director for The Power of The Dog, Lady Gaga as Best Actress for House of Gucci, and Benedict Cumberbatch as Best Actor for The Power of the Dog.

The 2022 Critics Choice Awards, however, still plans to move forward with its in-person ceremony under strict COVID-19 protocols, according to Variety. The ceremony, hosted by Taye Diggs and Nicole Byer, is scheduled to air live from Los Angeles on The CW and TBS on Sunday, January 9, at 7 p.m. ET.

Belfast and West Side Story lead those nominations, with 11 each.

Camila Cabello on her “really special” White House performance and her favorite Christmas tradition

December 21, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Camila Cabello, The Jonas Brothers and Pentatonix are among the artists appearing on In Performance at the White House: Spirit of the Season, which debuts tonight, Tuesday, on PBS at 8 p.m. ET. For Camila, her performance is especially meaningful, because in some ways, it shows that her family is living the American Dream.

At the White House, Camila performs a mariachi arrangement of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” with her mom and dad there for the occasion. Camila’s mom is a Cuban immigrant, while her dad is a Mexican immigrant who recently became a citizen.

“The fact that I’m able to kind of pay tribute to my heritage and represent Latinos and also have my dad be sharing this moment with me, it’s kind of like a crazy moment,” Camila notes. “You know, the fact that, we’re an immigrant family and we’re at the White House is really special and really cool.”

Speaking of family and heritage, Camila says her favorite Christmas tradition is all about that.

“Latinos celebrate Christmas, the 24th, and it’s something that we call Nochebuena,” she explains. “And that’s when we have kind of like our party, and there’s, like, rice and beans and I guess like the traditional food from the countries.”

“And it’s also my grandma’s birthday is the 24th and my mom’s birthday is the 25th!” Camila adds. “So it’s a lot happening in those two days, so we celebrate their birthdays, too.“

Tonight’s In Performance at the White House also features President Biden and first lady Jill Biden, as well as Norah Jones, Billy Porter, Jennifer Garner, Andrea Bocelli and country star Eric Church. Check your local listings.

Thomas Rhett shares adorable photo of one-month-old daughter

December 21, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Thomas Rhett is giving fans a look into life at home with a new baby.

On Monday, Thomas shared a new photo of his one-month-old daughter, Lillie, looking up at the camera with a serious yet precious expression on her face. “Lillie girl,” he captioned the sweet pic with the raised hands emoji.

Fans were quick to flood the comment section with kind words, writing, “so gorgeous,” “so adorable” and “she’s beautiful!”

Thomas and his wife Lauren welcomed Lillie in November. She joins older sisters Willa, 6, Ada, 4, and one-year-old Lennon.

The country star recently turned his parenthood experience into a song called “Years Are Short,” which he shared on Instagram.

Rupert Grint teases emotional ‘Harry Potter’ reunion special

December 21, 2021 by WDNY Radio

HBO Max’s Harry Potter reunion special is fast approaching, and Rupert Grint is teasing fans about what they can expect.

The actor, who played Ron Weasley in the series, tells Entertainment Tonight that the reunion was an emotional one. It’s the first time he, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson have reunited on screen since the final Harry Potter movie in 2011.

“Those movies were our childhoods. We grew up on those sets so it has incredible meaning to all of us,” Grint tells ET. “It’s been 10 years since we wrapped the last movie and we’ve seen each other quite a bit in-between that but not a great deal. So it was great to see them again and talk about it. I don’t really talk or think about it a lot, so it was fun to remember.”

Grint wouldn’t reveal much more in the way of secrets or surprises, though he did promise that stars from all eight movies would be present. He also addressed talk of a possible reboot or sequel to the original films, and said he wouldn’t be opposed to playing Ron again.

“There’s been a lot talk of [playing Ron again] with everything going on and I feel like I am that character,” Grint says. “I think I had a very strange relationship with him at first but I feel like there’s a lot of me in there so I’m quite protective of him. I don’t really have a good reason to say no, I’m very proud to be a part of it.”

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts premieres January 1 on HBO Max.

SZA celebrates first major acting role

December 21, 2021 by WDNY Radio

After receiving five Grammy nominations last month, SZA is now celebrating her first major acting role.

The “All the Stars” singer posted in an Instagram story, “Can’t believe I got the part I wanted. She’s an actress,” as captured by The Shade Room.

Born Solani Rowe, the 32-year-old entertainer received a cake from an anonymous person that read, “Congrats record breaker and fire actress.” SZA didn’t give more details on the role. Her only previous acting experience was an appearance on Insecure in 2020.

Last week, SZA’s new single, “I Hate You,” set an Apple Music record as the most-streamed R&B Song by a female artist in its first week.

“Y’all really took a song from SoundCloud and made it number one for 7 days straight . No promo no radio . no nada. Jus YALLS LOVE,” SZA commented on Instagram. “I AM SO BEYOND THANKFUL TO HAVE YOU ALL IN MY LIFE! Thank you to my fire a** team for helping me get this song on streaming asap.”

As SZA enjoys the success of “I Hate You,” she’s looking forward to the Grammy Awards on January 31. Her nominations include Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Kiss Me More,” with Doja Cat.

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FINNEAS reveals why “Happier Than Ever” became the title track of Billie Eilish’s sophomore album

December 21, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Billie Eilish heads into the upcoming Grammy Awards with seven nominations, thanks to her sophomore album, Happier Than Ever. And no one is prouder than her big brother, collaborator and co-producer, FINNEAS. He spoke with Billboard about how the two created the song after which the album’s named.

“We just knew that it was important to the album,” he said, calling the song “cathartic. We were like, ‘Oh, this is definitely the title track.'”

FINNEAS reveals he and Billie began writing the track in 2019 while waiting to play a show in Denmark and were “super jet lagged.”

“I was sitting around with Billie, and we started writing that melody that was sort of the first chorus, the, ‘When I’m away from you, I’m happier than ever’ part,” he recalled, adding he played on a “little toy guitar” at the time.

FINNEAS continued, “It was correlated to what she was going through in her life at that exact moment. We knew that we liked that idea, but we weren’t in the period of time where we were like crunching down on an album, so we just put it in our back pocket and we’d write a line or two here and there.”

Eight months later, the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a lockdown and the pair found themselves “very devoted to making an album.”

“We revisited that idea and loved it,” said FINNEAS, adding he and Billie finished the title track “in May or June 2020.”

The Grammy nominee noted, “That’s a pretty long writing lifespan for songs — usually, songs are written pretty quickly. I think it’s a testament to how long and winding that song is in and of itself, so it was a really fulfilling process. I’m so happy with the way it turned out.”

Lorde premieres video for ‘Solar Power’ song “Leader of a New Regime”

December 21, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Lorde has premiered the video for “Leader of a New Regime,” a track from her new album, Solar Power.

The clip finds the New Zealand artist standing in front of the ocean, with shots of running horses and a mysterious mirror stuck in the sand, reflecting the water. You can watch it now streaming on YouTube.

“Leader of a New Regime” is the fourth Solar Power song to get a video, following “Fallen Fruit,” “Mood Ring” and the title track.

Lorde released Solar Power, her third album, in August. She’ll launch a U.S. tour behind the record in April 2022.

Watch Anthony Kiedis take a “Walk on the Wild Side” with Dave Navarro during Above Ground benefit concert

December 21, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis made an unannounced appearance at the Above Ground charity concert Monday night in Los Angeles.

Kiedis joined the event’s two organizers — Jane’s Addiction‘s Dave Navarro and Billy Idol guitarist Billy Morrison — for a rendition of the Lou Reed classic “Walk on the Wild Side.” The performance also marked a reunion for Kiedis and Navarro, the latter of whom played guitar in the Peppers for five years in the ’90s.

“Been a very long time since I performed with my brother Anthony!” Navarro wrote in an Instagram post following the show. “What a magical night. Thank you so much for coming out and supporting [Above Ground] my friend!”

The Above Ground concert, which Navarro and Morrison previously held in 2018 and 2019, raises money for MusiCares, which provides health and human services to musicians in need.

Other performers this year included Slipknot‘s Corey Taylor, The Offspring‘s Dexter Holland, Perry and Etty Lau Farrell, and Sugar Ray‘s Mark McGrath. Billy Idol and Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins were also on the initial lineup, but dropped out before the show.

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Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani meet in an orange grove for “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” duet

December 21, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani team up for a special holiday duet on Gwen’s new online series.

Recently, Gwen — a native of Orange County, California — launched a Facebook series, Live From The Orange Grove, which sees her performing a variety of holiday songs on a set that looks like an orange grove.

Gwen teased last week that she had a “special guest” coming, and she’s now fulfilled that promise with a surprise appearance by her husband. The couple join forces for a performance of their duet “You Make It Feel Like Christmas.”

The couple is seen standing on the snow-covered groupnd in front of some digitized orange trees, with Blake in a sharp suit and tie and Gwen in a shimmering silver gown. The duo show off their chemistry as they sing, “I wanna thank you, baby/You make it feel like Christmas.”

“You Make It Feel Like Christmas” is the title track of Gwen’s 2017 album. The festive song became a hit across the world, reaching the top 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

Ronnie Wood recalls his last visit with the late Charlie Watts; releases charity duet with Andrea Corr

December 21, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Guitarist Ronnie Wood has revealed that he was the last Rolling Stones member to see Charlie Watts before the drummer passed away on August 24.

Last Friday, Wood was a guest on Ireland’s The Late Late Show, where he chatted with host Ryan Tubridy and performed a duet version of the Elvis Presley hit “Blue Christmas” with Corrs singer Andrea Corr. A studio version of the tune was released as a digital charity single earlier this month.

During the interview portion, Wood revealed that he saw Watts “a couple of weeks” before he died, explaining that he visited Charlie at the Royal Marsden cancer hospital in London, where the drummer was in the same room where Ronnie stayed when he was being treated for cancer.

Wood recalled that Watts quipped, “This is the Ronnie Wood Suite. I can’t wait to get out of here,” to which Ronnie responded, “Well…come out, Charlie, in your own good time.”

Wood said Watts had been doing well at the time, but was given some additional treatments that he “didn’t handle well,” and went downhill after that.

Ronnie also mentioned that drummer Steve Jordan, who stepped in for Watts on The Rolling Stones’ recent U.S. tour, “with Charlie’s blessing,” “put a new boot in the band…and each concert got better and better.”

Reflecting on Watt’s passing, Wood added, “Everyone’s handled it well, and I’m sure he’s with us all the time when we’re playing.”

Regarding the “Blue Christmas” single, Corr explained that she approached Wood with the idea to do the track, and he happily agreed.

The song is available now, with proceeds to benefit Our Lady’s Hospice & Care Services in Dublin.

You can watch the full Late Late Show episode at RTE.ie; Ronnie’s appearance begins at the 1:07:15 mark.

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