Demi Lovato to Serve as Co-Host at This Year’s Global Citizen Festival

Demi Lovato is celebrating her global citizenship…

Global Citizen has announced several guest appearances for its annual Global Citizen Festival on September 23, including the 25-year-old part-Mexican American actress/singer.

Demi Lovato

Lovato will serve as a co-host, alongside Aaron Paul, Priyanka Chopra, Kal PennLupita Nyong’o, Nashville‘s Connie Britton and many more.

Hugh Jackman and actor/producer Deborra-lee Furness will serve as lead hosts.

Dianna Agron, Freida Pinto, Wendy WilliamsMark CubanBridget MoynahanDaymond JohnCamren BicondovaElaine Welteroth, Erin Richards, Latina supermodel Joan Smalls, Malin Akerman, Rachel BrosnahanMichelle Monaghan and Serge Ibaka will also serve as hosts for this year’s festival, taking place in New York City’s Central Park.

The social advocacy group hosts the free festival each year to raise awareness of its goal to end extreme poverty by 2030.

Fans can earn their tickets by taking part in Action Journeys, a series of challenges designed to promote social activism.

This year’s headliners include Stevie Wonder, Green Day, The Killers and The Lumineers, with featured performances by The ChainsmokersPharrell Williams, Big SeanAndra Day and Alessia Cara.

The one-day festival will also be broadcast live from Central Park on YouTube, Twitter and MSNBC.

To hear more from this year’s hosts and learn more about the festival, visit Global Citizen’s official site.

Fifth Harmony to Perform During Good Morning America’s 2017 Summer Concert Series

Ally Brooke Hernandez and Lauren Jauregui are preparing for a televised jam session this summer…

The Latina singers and their fellow Fifth Harmony members, Normani Kordei and Dinah Jane, have been added to the lineup for Good Morning America‘s 2017 Summer Concert Series.

Fifth Harmony

Fifth Harmony will take the stage on the third week (June 2) of the 17-week series, which takes place live from the SummerStage in New York City’s Central Park.

The Summer Concert Series will kick off on May 19 with Green Day performing songs from their latest, Revolution Radio.

Other schedules appearances include Florida George Line, The Chainsmokers, The Lumineers, Little Big Town, Bebe Rexha, Big Sean, Lady Antebellum and many others.

All the concerts are free and open to the public and will take place at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park on Fridays from 7:00 – 9:00 am ET.

Here’s the full lineup:

May 19 – Green Day (#GreenDayOnGMA)
May 26 – Florida Georgia Line & Nelly (#FGLonGMA and #NellyOnGMA)
June 2 – Fifth Harmony (#5HOnGMA)
June 9 – The Chainsmokers* (#ChainsmokersOnGMA)
June 16 – The Lumineers (#LumineersOnGMA)
June 23 – Little Big Town (#LittleBigTownOnGMA)
June 30 – Bebe Rexha* (#BebeOnGMA)
July 7 – Big Sean (#BigSeanOnGMA)
July 14 – Lady Antebellum (#LadyAOnGMA)
July 21 – Zedd featuring Alessia Cara (#ZeddOnGMA and #AlessiaOnGMA)
July 28 – Imagine Dragons (#ImagineDragonsOnGMA)
August 4 – Linkin Park (#LinkinParkOnGMA)
August 11 – Bleachers (#BleachersOnGMA)
August 18 – Eric Church (#EricChurchOnGMA)
August 25 – Paramore (#ParamoreOnGMA)
September 1 – Jason Derulo (#DeruloOnGMA)
Date TBD – Dierks Bentley*

(*The Chainsmokers will require advanced tickets for entry; tickets will be available closer to the show date. Bebe Rexha will perform in GMA‘s Times Square studio and the Bentley show information will be announced later.)

Gomez to Headline This Year’s Global Citizen Festival

Selena Gomez is a global citizen

The 24-year-old half-Mexican American singer/actress has been named one of the headline acts at this year’s Global Citizen Festival.

Selena Gomez

The annual free-ticketed event, which is held on the Great Lawn in New York City’s Central Park, will take place on Saturday, September 24, 2016.

In addition to Gomez, other headliners include Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, Major Lazer and Metallica.

The Festival will harness actions from millions of Global Citizens around the world to hold world leaders accountable to the progress made toward achieving the Global Goals set out by the United Nations last year.

Special guest performers include Usher, Chris Martin, Eddie Vedder, Ellie Goulding, Yandel, and Yusuf/Cat Stevens.

Hosts for this year’s festival include Chelsea Handler, Deborra-lee & Hugh Jackman, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra, Salma Hayek Pinault and Seth Meyers.

Since 2012, more than six million actions from Global Citizens have led world leaders to enact policy changes and commit significant resources to issues of girls and women’s equality, education, health, water and sanitation, environment, finance and innovation, and food and hunger. These financial and policy commitments and announcements are set to affect the lives of up to 656 million people.

“I couldn’t be more honored to participate in the Global Citizen Festival as it continues to help solve important issues around the world. I am particularly proud to be involved this year as the focus is on education. As an artist with many young fans, I believe everyone has the right to an education,” said Gomez.

A live simulcast of the full concert will air on MSNBC and MSNBC.com.

Global Citizens can earn their admission to the free-ticketed Festival by joining the social action platform at globalcitizenfestival.com. Ticket draws will occur throughout the summer and fans will be notified via Global Citizen when they have been selected. A limited number of VIP tickets will also be available for purchase through Ticketmaster starting on Thursday, July 28th.

Fania Records Signs with Creative Artists Agency

Fania Records is experiencing a resurgence…

A half-century after its founding, the iconic Latin music label is capping off its 50th anniversary by signing with the Creative Artists Agency (CAA), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Fania Records

Founded in New York City in 1964 by Dominican Republic-born bandleader Johnny Pacheco and attorney Jerry Masucci, Fania Records went on to represent artists including Hector Lavoe, Willie Colon, Celia Cruz, Ray Barretto, Ismael Miranda, Ruben Blades, Cheo Feliciano and Roberto Roena. That impressive roster help cement the label’s status as the definitive home for genres like Latin big band, Afro-Cuban jazz, boogaloo, salsa and Latin R&B.

Masucci became Fania’s sole owner in 1967 (Pacheco stayed on as artistic director), and when he died in 1997, the label, which had fallen dormant for decades, became entangled in probate court.

Miami-based Emusica Entertainment Group purchased Fania’s assets from Masucci’s estate for a reported $9 million to $12 million in 2005 (ownership was later transferred to Codigo Group). The new management got to work sorting through its newly acquired catalog (it eventually unearthed almost 3,000 albums, 3,000 compositions and approximately 10,000 master tracks) and remastering and reissuing them for a new generation of listeners.

The new Fania has been adroit at adapting to changing times. In 2013, the label resumed profitability with approximately a quarter-million albums sold, most of them via digital download. In April, the label partnered with Spotify to launch a dedicated Latin-music app, a first for the genre. The app makes Fania’s entire digital catalog available for streaming, along with visually rich artist pages and a timeline of the label’s 50-year history.

This year, Fania also issued digital compilation albums and DJ remixes and partnered with Central Park’s SummerStage program for a concert series that married its classic tunes with “new school artists,” including DJ Turmix, Canyon Cody, Timothy Brownie and Whiskey Barons.

“Fania has evolved into a robust entertainment brand,” Codigo CMO Michael Rucker said in a statement. “CAA, with its breadth and depth of expertise in harnessing the power of pop culture, will guide us as we move forward into new creative and business territory and introduce us to a broader fan base.”

Leguizamo to Star Opposite Tina Fey & Amy Poehler in “The Nest”

John Leguizamo is flying to the nest

The 49-year-old Colombian actor has landed a role in The Nest, a comedy starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as two 30-something sisters who throw one last party in their parents’ soon-to-be-sold house.

John Leguizamo

Directed by Pitch Perfect-helmer Jason Moore froma screenplay by Paula Pell, the film will also star John Cena, James Brolin, Ike Barinholtz and Maya Rudolph.

No word yet on Leguizamo’s character in the film for Universal Pictures.

Earlier this year, he starred in the hit comedy Ride Along, where he co-starred with Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. He was also recently seen in the Open Road pic Chef and has a handful of projects set to go into production, including Fugly and American Ultra.

The multi-hyphenate has also begun expanding his brand outside of film with his HBO special Ghetto Klown premiering in March and his PBS special American Masters: The Boomer List currently in pre-production. He will also be performing at Central Park SummerStage on July 28th.

The Nest is set for release on December 18, 2015.

Carey Performs Hurricane Sandy Benefit Concert in NYC’s Central Park

Mariah Carey sings for a good cause…

The 43-year-old half-Venezuelan singer performed for a large crowd in New York City’s Central Park this past weekend to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Mariah Carey

Despite doctor’s orders to rest after dislocating her shoulder several days earlier while shooting a music video, Carey entertained a crowd of more than 50,000 on Central Park’s Great Lawn.

Carey took the stage in a form-fitting white dress with her injured arm in a sling – draped in a matching white fur Gucci stole – to sing one of her greatest hits, “My All.”

The “#Beautiful” singer  – who was accompanied by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at the benefit concert, which was organized by Major League Baseball, or MLB

said it was an honor to be there with the New York Philharmonic before this “incredible” audience in order to help the people who were affected by the natural disaster.

“I love you madly, I love you madly,” she told the crowd, and said she was going to sing before it started to rain.

On the night of October 29, Hurricane Sandy and its winds that registered over 120 kph (75 mph) left a trail of death and destruction through New York with fatalities and thousands of homes destroyed or badly damaged, especially on Staten Island and the Rockaways.