Tag Archives: Ariana Grande

America Ferrera to Serve as Presenter at This Year’s Oscars

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Win or lose, America Ferrera will be taking the Oscars stage…

The 39-year-old Honduran American actress, who earned her first-ever Academy Awards nod this year for her performance in Barbie, will serve as a presenter at Sunday’s Oscars.

She’s part of a roster of new presenters that includes Emily Blunt, Cynthia Erivo, Sally Field, Ryan Gosling, Ariana Grande, Ben Kingsley, Melissa McCarthy, Issa Rae, Tim Robbins, Steven Spielberg, Mary Steenburgen, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlize Theron, Christoph Waltz and Forest Whitaker.

They join previous announced presenters Bad Bunny, Chris Hemsworth, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Keaton, Regina King, Jennifer Lawrence, Kate McKinnon, Rita Moreno, John Mulaney, Catherine O’Hara, Octavia Spencer and Ramy Youssef, Mahershala Ali, Nicolas Cage, Jamie Lee Curtis, Brendan Fraser, Jessica Lange, Matthew McConaughey, Lupita Nyong’o, Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ke Huy Quan, Sam Rockwell, Michelle Yeoh and Zendaya.

The Oscars will be broadcast live on March 10 ceremony from the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.

Jimmy Kimmel is returning to host the ceremony for a fourth time.

ABC, which has aired the Oscars since 1976, is televising the show live starting at 7:00 pm ET/4:00 pm PT — an hour earlier that usual. The network, which has begun to use the Oscars as a lead-out to showcase its top programming, will follow its coverage of the live ceremony with an original episode of Abbott Elementary.

ABC’s time tweak also means that its annual pre-show will now run for 30 minutes — instead of the usual 90 — beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT. As per usual, the main Oscar telecast will be rebroadcast in the Pacific Time zone in primetime after the live presentation.

Raj Kapoor will serve as showrunner and executive producer of the 96th Oscars, with Molly McNearney and Katy Mullan executive producers. Hamish Hamilton is directing.

Karol G Named Billboard’s 2024 Woman of the Year

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Karol G is a woman on top…

After a year of career-defining moments, including a history-making album, a momentous stadium tour, headlining Lollapalooza and her first Grammy win, the 32-year-old Colombian singer-songwriter has been named Billboard‘s 2024 Woman of the Year.

Karol GKarol G will be honored with the award at the Billboard Women in Music Awards on Wednesday, March 6, at the YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park in Los Angeles, and streaming March 7.

Karol G will also grace the stage for a special performance.

Hosted by award-winning actor and producer Tracee Ellis Ross, the annual event will recognize music’s rising stars and A-List artists, creators and executives for their contributions to the industry and community.

“With her immense talent, Karol G has created a movement for women across the globe due to her empowering lyrics and inspiring confidence,” said Hannah Karp, Billboard’s editorial director. “The release of her groundbreaking album Mañana Será Bonito has proven her a force to be reckoned with in both the English and Spanish charts. We are so excited to honor her as Woman of the Year.”

Over the past few years, Karol G has become a leading force in Latin music. Two years after releasing her breakthrough album KG0516 in 2021, Karol G became the first female artist to top the Billboard 200 with a Spanish-language album thanks to Mañana Será Bonito.

The follow-up album, Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season), then debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. On Sunday, she won her first Grammy, taking home best música urbana album for Mañana Será Bonito.

Last summer, Karol launched her own Bichota Records and inked a distribution deal with Interscope. Additionally, The Con Cora Foundation was established to continue the artist’s social work and mission to support women who lead households, at-risk youth, children facing chronic or disabling diseases, those dealing with teenage pregnancy, women deprived of liberty and post-penalty, as well as low-income women.

Past recipients of Woman of the Year include SZA, Olivia Rodrigo, Cardi B, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Madonna, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift.

Karol G joins the previously announced lineup of powerhouse women set for the 2024 Billboard Women in Music Awards: Kylie Minogue will receive the Icon Award; Maren Morris will receive the Visionary Award; Ice Spice will receive the Hitmaker Award; Charli XCX will receive the Powerhouse Award; Young Miko will receive the Impact Award; Victoria Monét will receive the Rising Star award; NewJeans will receive the Group of the Year Award; TEMS will receive the Breakthrough Award; and Luísa Sonza will receive one of Billboard’s new Global Force Awards.

Tickets to attend the Billboard Women in Music Awards are available to the public. Prices range from $89 – $279. Fans can watch the show on Thurs, March 7 at 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET on billboardwomeninmusic.com; more details about the stream will be announced soon.

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” Ends Year Atop Australia’s ARIA Chart

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Mariah Carey is ending the year with a bang Down Under…

The 54-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer reigns over Australia’s final chart of 2023 with “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”

Mariah CareyCarey’s holiday classic rises 2-1 to close out the festive season Down Under, leading an all-Christmas top 5 on the ARIA Chart, published on Friday, December 29. 

Last week, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was pipped for the Christmas No. 1 by Jack Harlow’s “Lovin On Me.”

By completing its chart climb, the hit from 1994 boasts a sixth successive year reaching No. 1.

The top five on the latest tally is rounded out by Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” (up 5-2 via Warner/Universal), Wham’s “Last Christmas” (up 4-3 via Sony), Michael Bublé’s “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas” (up 10-4 via Reprise/Warner) and Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” (up 7-5 via Universal), respectively.

Mariah Carey Makes Special Visit to the White House

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Mariah Carey is in the (White) House…

The 54-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning superstar made a special visit to see the president and vice president of the United States.

Mariah Carey, White HouseAs shared on Instagram this Wednesday (December 20), the vocalist recently swung by the White House in Washington, D.C., to meet with President Joe Biden and his second in command, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Carey’s 12-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe, whom she shares with ex Nick Cannon, also got to visit the Oval Office and chat with the leaders of the nation.

While there, Carey posed for photos with both Biden and Harris, as well as with her kids in front of the White House’s impressive Christmas decorations.

“Last week I had the pleasure of meeting President Biden & Vice President Harris at the White House to ring in the holiday season!” the singer captioned the pictures, which the White House also shared on its official account. “While there, we got to see all the festive decor and spread some cheer! 🎄❄️☃️”

And what does an international superstar wear to greet the POTUS and VP? A sequined tweed suit jacket and dress, complete with pink trimming and matching heels.

Later, Carey and the president jointly posted a video of their first meeting, both of them professing “I’m a fan” to the other while shaking hands.

The hitmaker is fresh off the finale of her Merry Christmas One and All! Tour, which wrapped with a special show at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Jennifer Hudson and Ariana Grande joined Carey onstage to perform “Oh Santa!,” marking the trio’s first time performing the remix live since releasing it in 2020.

Carey also just claimed her 13th week atop the Billboard Hot 100 with her evergreen holiday smash “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”

The track also scored a record-breaking 16th week atop the Billboard Global 200 earlier this week.

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” Rules First Holiday 100 Chart of 2023 Holiday Season

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Mariah Carey’s Christmas reign has resumed…

Billboard has brought its Holiday 100 back to it charts menu, with the 54-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer ruling the holiday’s first official ranking of the top seasonal songs of all eras.

Mariah CareyCarey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” – which surges from No. 17 to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 – rules the Holiday 100 for a 58th week of the chart’s 63 total weeks since the list launched in 2011.

The insta-classic has topped the seasonal survey for 43 consecutive weeks, dating to the start of the 2015-16 holiday season.

Using the same formula used for the Billboard Hot 100, the Holiday 100 blends streaming, airplay and sales data.

The only other Holiday 100 No. 1s to date: Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe” for a week in the 2011-12 holiday season; Pentatonix’s “Little Drummer Boy” (one, 2013-14) and “Mary, Did You Know?” (two, 2014-15); and Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” (one, 2014-15).

Carey’s 1994 carol reigns with 22 million streams (up 57%), 15.6 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 105%) and 3,000 sold (up 70%) in the United States Nov. 17-23, according to Luminate.

Carey performed “All I Want for Christmas Is You” on an awards show for the first time as part of the 2023 Billboard Music Awards (November 19). She was also honored with the Billboard Chart Achievement Award for the song, presented to her by her 12-year-old twins, Monroe and Moroccan.

The song also boasts top honors on Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs chart.

“When I wrote [it], I had absolutely no idea the impact the song would eventually have worldwide,” Carey marveled of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” in 2021. “I’m so full of gratitude that so many people enjoy it with me every year.”

Rounding out the Holiday 100’s top five are more classics, released between the 1950s and ‘80s: Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” (No. 2); Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” (No. 3); Wham!’s “Last Christmas” (No. 4); and Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas” (No. 5).

Meanwhile, two songs newly released this holiday season debut on the Holiday 100, both Amazon Music Original exclusives: Chloe’s version of “Winter Wonderland” (No. 57, led by 3.5 million streams, up 130%) and Stephen Sanchez’s “Silver Bells” (No. 85; 2.2 million, up 92%).

Demi Lovato Signs with Brandon Creed’s Good World Management

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Demi Lovato has a new representation…

The 31-year-old half-Mexican American Grammy-nominated superstar has signed with Brandon Creed and his newly-launched firm Good World Management.

Demi LovatoAt the end of August,. Lovato parted ways with Scooter Braun‘s SB Projects in July after originally signing with Braun and his firm in 2019. She was previously managed by Phil McIntyre of PhilyMack.

That report was followed by news that Ariana Grande and Idina Menzel had left the SB roster, too.

Lovato is the second major signing to Creed’s Good World.

At the beginning of August, he and Lydia Asrat announced they had signed Normani to a co-management deal through Good World and Asrat’s Q10.

Creed announced Good World Management in July, with an official launch date of August 1. His last major move came in 2017, when he merged his own The Creed Company with Irving and Jeffrey Azoff‘s firm to form Full Stop Management.

Creed’s current roster includes Mark Ronson, Troye Sivan and Charli XCX, among others.

His first order of business with Lovato will be the release of Demi Lovato Revamped, out September 15, which includes reworked rock versions of her biggest hits including “Heart Attack,” “Sorry Not Sorry” featuring Slash and “Cool For the Summer.”

Lovato has charted 36 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, including four top 10 hits. Over on the Billboard 200, she has charted eight albums. Her second studio album, 2009’s Here We Go Again, hit No. 1 and spent 24 weeks on the tally.

Ozuna Signs with Scooter Braun‘s SB Projects

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Ozuna is hoping to build up his music empire with a little extra braun…

The 31-year-old Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and rapper has signed with Scooter Braun‘s SB Projects.

Ozuna

The management deal is a partnership with Edgar Andino, founder and CEO of Andino Marketing Group.

Ozuna joins a SB Projects roster that includes Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato, among others.

The company also previously managed Colombian powerhouse J Balvin, who parted ways with SB in June 2022 and is now signed to Roc Nation.

“I’m confident that Scooter and his team’s global music expertise will open doors into new markets,” Ozuna said in a statement. “We all share the same strategic vision and direction to keep spreading my music worldwide. I’m truly excited about all the new opportunities the future holds.”

“His music is a true voice of his community, and we look forward to working with him here at Hybe on a global scale,” Braun, CEO of HYBE America, added.

A key figure in Ozuna’s team, Andino has helped the singer-songwriter land global deals that range from NFT collaborations to releasing a song for the Call of Duty video game.

Most recently, he led negotiations for Ozuna’s inclusion in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Official Soundtrack, performing “Arhbo” with rapper GIMS. The uplifting song, which they performed at the World Cup’s closing ceremony, peaked at No. 1 Billboard‘s Latin Airplay chart.

“Working with Ozuna over these past years, one thing is for certain, we always go big,” added Andino.  “For us, Scooter and SB Projects align with our vision. They are the perfect partners to help in our continued approach and take Ozuna to the next level of his career. We cannot be more thrilled and cannot wait for everyone to see what we have coming next.”

In May, he released Afro, a seven-track EP where he experiments with Afrobeats. It followed his 2022 studio album, Ozutochi, which landed at No. 5 on the Top Latin Albums chart. Ozuna is set to embark on his Afro Tour across Europe this summer, which has 16 confirmed dates, including stops in France, Spain, Italy, Israel and Holland. The monthlong trek kicks off July 7 in France and wraps Aug. 6 in Spain.

“We’ve been following Ozuna’s career for years and we’re excited to be bringing him into the family to work with him and Edgar,” Jennifer McDaniels, president of management at SB Projects, said in a statement.

“Ozuna’s music is unmatched.  His ability to work across genres including reggaeton, Latin pop, and more, is phenomenal. With unique songs offering fresh perspective and beautiful sounds, we’re thrilled to amplify his artistry with this partnership.”

Anitta Signs with Republic Records

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Anitta is joining the republic…

The 30-year-old Brazilian superstar has signed with Republic Records, according to Billboard.

AnittaThe news comes just weeks after Anitta and Warner Music Group agreed to part ways. The two parties released a joint statement to social media on April 4 announcing the news.

“After eleven years of successful partnership, we’ve agreed to go our separate ways,” the post read. “Anitta would like to thank the Warner Music team for all their support. And the Warner team wishes Anitta all the best in the future.”

Anitta signed with Warner Records in the United States in 2020 after previously linking with Warner Music Brazil in 2013. She had long voiced concerns about her relationship with WMG, from the label refusing to produce a video for an underperforming song to advising young artists to pay closer attention to what they sign.

During an Instagram livestream last May, Anitta said Warner only invested in her work “after it pays off on the internet. Unfortunately, there are things I can’t get, that’s why I don’t buy millionaire cars, because when I want to do something, I pay for it.” She added that Warner “is very tied to TikTok, to what goes viral, and if they don’t get a hit right away, they say ‘later.’”

The singer followed that with a tweet thread last month in which she blasted Warner, saying she regretted signing with the label and would have “auctioned off her organs” in order to be released from her contract.

During her run at Warner, Anitta scored a global breakthrough with her trilingual album, Versions of Me, which last year hit No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart with its TikTok-driven single, “Envolver.” The song’s music video won in the category of Best Latin at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards. That same year, she also performed at Coachella and the Latin Grammy Awards.

Anitta will now join a superstar roster at Republic that includes Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Nicki Minaj and more. Sources say Jesús López, chairman/CEO of Universal Music Latin America and Iberian Peninsula, and Paulo Lima, president of Universal Music Group Brazil, will work closely with the artist.

Anitta is managed by S10’s Brandon Silverstein globally.

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” Earns Second Week at No. 1 in Australia

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Mariah Carey is still a darling Down Under…

The 52-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer, the self-proclaimed Queen of Christmas, lives up to her nickname as her enduring holiday classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” rings in Christmas as the No. 1 single in Australia.

Mariah CareyCarey’s single, released in 1994, earns a second consecutive week at the top Down Under, and a fifth year at No. 1 during the Christmas week, ARIA reports.

Although it’s peak summer in Australia, a time when Aussies head to the beach en masse, those wintry yuletide classics dominate playlists in these parts, a fact that’s reflected by both main ARIA Charts.

Four of the top 10 singles on the chart published December 23 are Christmas numbers, including Wham’s “Last Christmas” (up 6-3), Michael Bublé’s “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” (up 11-5), Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” (up 12-7) and Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” (up 15-8), while Bobby Helms’ ‘50s tune Jingle Bell Rock lifts 19-14. Also, Xmas singles from Kelly Clarkson, Andy Williams, The Ronettes, Band Aid, Sia, John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band and Burl Ives impact the top 40.

Harvey Guillén to Serve as a Guest Judge on MTV’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race”

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Life’s a drag (race) for Harvey Guillén…

The 32-year-old Mexican American actor will appear on Season 15 of MTV’s RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Harvey GuillenGuillen will join the judging panel during one of the episodes this season in the quest to find “America’s Next Drag Superstar.”

Mainstage judges Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley and Ross Mathews will be back on the panel. Ts Madison has been upped to a rotating member of the judges’ panel as they decide who will lip-sync for their life or “sashay away.”

Ariana Grande is set to be the guest judge for the two-episode season premiere. The Grammy Award-winning star will see the queens bringing their gifts to a talent show where she will be the judge.

In addition to Grande and Guillen, this season’s guest judges also include music, television, comedy and film icons Ali Wong, Amandla Stenberg, Hayley Kiyoko, Julia Garner, Janelle Monáe, Maren Morris, Megan Stalter and Orville Peck.

The 16 queens will compete for the title and a cash prize of $200,000 – the highest in the herstory of the main franchise.

Previously announced queens include Amethyst (West Hartford, CT), Anetra (Las Vegas, NV), Aura Mayari (Nashville, TN), Irene Dubois (Seattle, WA), Jax (Queens, NY), Loosey LaDuca (Ansonia, CT), Luxx Noir London (East Orange, NJ), Malaysia Babydoll Foxx (Miami, FL), Marcia Marcia Marcia (New York, NY), Mistress Isabelle Brooks (Houston, TX), Princess Poppy (San Francisco, CA), Robin Fierce (Hartford, CT), Salina EsTitties (Los Angeles, CA), Sasha Colby (Los Angeles, CA), Sugar (Los Angeles, CA), and Spice (Los Angeles, CA).

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 premieres on MTV on Friday, January 6 at 8:00 pm ET with a commercial-free premiere episode and a limited-commercial part two.