Robert Rodriguez has delivered fans of The Mandalorian (and Baby Yoda) the ultimate Christmas gift…
The 52-year-old Mexican American filmmaker and director, and The Book of Boba Fett executive producer joined the Child (a.k.a. Grogu) for a holiday jam session.
Rodriguez, who also directed Alita: Battle Angeland Netflix’s We Can Be Heroes, tweeted a video on Christmas Eve that served as an early holiday present to fans asking what it’s like to be on set with the beloved creature at the center of Jon Favreau’s Star Warsspin-off. Strumming the chords of his guitar, Rodriguez joined the child for a short performance.
In the video Rodriguez strums out an excerpt of a snazzy number while the Child nods his head, smiles and coos to the beat.
Rodriguez directed Chapter 14, titledThe Tragedy, of the Disney+ series which stars Pedro Pascal in the titular role. The Mandalorian rounded off its second season a week before Christmas with a buzzy finale that had Star Wars fans celebrating the return of familiar faces.
The final episode of The Mandalorian season two saw The Child join Luke Skywalker (a CGI’ed version of Mark Hamill) and R2-D2 to train in the ways of the Jedi.
The 51-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning songstress’”All I Want for Christmas Is You” is the biggest song in the world for a second week, as her 1994 carol spends a second frame at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart.
Carey’s insta-classic holiday single tops the Billboard Global 200 for a second week, up 6% to 83.7 million streams and 19% to 21,000 sold worldwide in the week ending December 17.
The song was first released on Carey’s 1994 holiday album Merry Christmas.
The chart (dated December 26) premiered in September and ranks songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Nielsen Music/MRC Data. The Billboard Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data.
Chart rankings are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.
Mariah Carey’s global domination during the holiday season is complete…
The 51-year-old half-Venezuelan American singer’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is officially the biggest song in the world, as it rises to No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200chart twenty-six years after its original release.
Carey’s insta-classic Christmas track rises from No. 2 to No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200, up 19% to 79.3 million streams and 18% to 17,000 sold worldwide in the week ending December 10.
The song, first released on Carey’s 1994 album Merry Christmas, returns to No. 1 on the U.S.-based Billboard Hot 100, which it led for the first time last holiday season.
Meanwhile, Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” jingles 3-2 on the Global Excl. U.S. chart, with 51.4 million streams (up 20%) and 10,000 sold (up 27%) outside the U.S.
The charts (the latest of which is dated December 19) premiered in September and ranks songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Nielsen Music/MRC Data. The Billboard Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data.
Chart rankings are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.
More than a quarter century after its release, the 51-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” has reached No. 1 single in the United Kingdom.
Carey’s classic Christmas tune climbs from its peak position of No. 2 to the top spot on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, completing a record 26-year journey.
“All I Want For Christmas Is You” reaches the summit in its 104th week.
According to the Official Charts Company, no other song in history has spent as many weeks in the U.K. Top 40 before eventually reaching No. 1.
The Queen of Christmas leads a festive U.K. chart which features 23 holiday-themed songs in the Top 40, including six in the Top 10.
The 37-year-old Afro-Panamanian & Mexican American actress/singer will receive the Actors Award at the Critics Choice Association’s third annual Celebration of Black Cinema event.
Thompson will receive the prize after earning critical acclaim as both star and executive producer of Amazon’s Christmas release film Sylvie’s Love, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. The period piece takes place in late ‘50’s Harlem and centers around two Black people falling in love while individually working to carve their own professional paths amidst many challenges.
Other winners include Delroy Lindo (Career Achievement Award) John Legend and Mike Jackson (Producers of the Year), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Breakthrough Award) and, Andra Day (Special Honoree).
Additionally the cast of Amazon Studios’ One Night in Miamiwill receive the Ensemble Award.
The virtual ceremony will take place on Tuesday, February 2, and will be hosted by author and media personality Bevy Smith.
The event will also showcase a series of powerful photographs captured by Black filmmaker Tommy Oliver around Los Angeles.
Camila Cabello is hoping to get you into the holiday spirit…
The 23-year-old Cuban and Mexican singer and her singer-boyfriend Shawn Mendes have joined voices for a surprise holiday duet, a sweet version of the classic “The Christmas Song.” And they followed up the holiday treat with a special clip that features vintage-style footage of the couple showing off sweet PDA, looking at Christmas lights, and playing with their dog Tarzan.
“This has been such a crazy year with so many challenges. This holiday season, it is more important than ever to spread love and kindness to everyone! Shawn and I wanted to send all our love to you amazing humans so we put together something special for you, our rendition of #TheChristmasSong,” Cabello wrote on Instagram.
The singer added that streams will “support those in need right now,” and said that she and Mendes are donating $100,000 to Feeding America.
“We love you all so much and hope you get to enjoy this song over a very safe and merry holiday!” said Cabello. “It would make our holidays if you went on their website and donated to one of their sectors and help out your community! They have sectors all over the nation. Let’s make our little corner of the world more beautiful today.”
“The Christmas Song” is featured on the holiday deluxe edition of Mendes’ new album, Wonder.
It’ll be a wickedChristmas for Helena Bonham Carter.
The part-Spanish actress will star opposite her The Crown co-star Olivia Colman in a socially distanced, virtual staging of pantomime classic Cinderella for BBC Two, with Richard Curtis executive producing.
Bonham Carter and Colman will perform from the safety of their homes for the Comic Relief special, which airs on Christmas Eve and will be brought to life with illustrations from iconic children’s illustrator Quentin Blake.
Colman plays the fairy godmother, while Bonham Carter features as the wicked stepmother Lady Devilia. Meanwhile, the breakout star of Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, Anya Taylor-Joy, will play the title role.
Other cast includes The Night Managerstar Tom Hollander and Guz Khan as Baron Hardup and Buttons respectively. Daisy May and Charlie Cooper, the stars and creators of This Country, have been cast as the evil step-sisters. The pair are siblings in real-life.
Written by the Dawson Brothers, and based on an original script by Ben Crocker, Cinderella: A Comic Relief Pantomime for Christmas will be a retelling of the timeless panto classic. It is made by Crook Productions.
Curtis said: “It’ll be very funny and merry — and also a great seasonal opportunity to raise crucial funds for the projects that will help the most vulnerable people, at home and abroad — especially now when Covid has made things harder than ever for many.”
The BBC has promised other starry cameos, including an “incredibly famous person wearing an incredibly unconvincing horse costume.”
Kirstin Maldonado is counting down to Christmas in an entertaining way…
The 28-year-old Mexican & Spanish American singer and her Pentatonix group mates are ringing in the annual countdown to the season but with a sonic twist in their new “12 Days of Christmas” music video.
Starting midway on the sixth day of Christmas, the five golden singers in the Grammy-winning a cappella group – Maldonado, Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kevin Olusola and Matt Sallee – deliver their verses with a wide range of genres, including hip-hop, electro-pop, island folk and more, predominantly backed by Olusola’s beatboxing.
“The PTX holiday cheer continues as we countdown to Christmas with our version of ’12 Days of Christmas,'” Pentatonix wrote on their social media. “We had fun putting our touch on this iconic Christmas song!”
Their funky-yet-festive rendition of “12 Days of Christmas” is the first song on their sixth holiday set We Need a Little Christmas, which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard‘s Top Holiday Albums chart, dated November 28.
The five-piece group also released holiday visuals for “Thank You” and “Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)” off the Christmas album.
Billboard’s Holiday 100 has returned to the charts menu, ranking the top seasonal songs of all eras, with the 51-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning songstress ruling the roost.
Claiming its familiar perch atop the Holiday 100, Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” rules the ranking for a 41st week of the chart’s 46 total weeks since the list launched in 2011; it has topped the tally for 26 consecutive weeks, dating to the start of the 2015-16 holiday season.
The Holiday 100 uses the same formula as the Billboard Hot 100, blending 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 crowns two of the three Holiday 100 component charts (with all tallies dated December 5): Holiday Airplay (21.5 million audience impressions, up 37%, in the tracking week, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data) and Holiday Streaming Songs (17.6 million U.S. streams, up 51%). On Holiday Digital Song Sales, it ranks at No. 4 (4,000 sold, up 26%).
Rounding out the Holiday 100’s top five is a quartet of multi-generational favorites: Brenda Lee‘s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” at No. 2, as it tops Digital Song Sales for the first time (7,000 sold); Bobby Helms‘ “Jingle Bell Rock” (No. 3); Andy Williams‘ “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” (No. 4); and Wham!‘s “Last Christmas” (No. 5).
Porta dos Fundos is readying for its latest Christmas special…
The controversial hit Brazilian comedy troupe will release its annual Christmas Special, The Edge of Theocracy, on December 10.
A play on Petra Costa’s Oscar-nominated documentary, The Edge of Democracy, a trailer released on November 20 on its dedicated YouTube channel lured more than 300,000 views in three days.
Porta dos Fundos’ Christmas specials are renowned for their ironic, some would argue profane, take on the life of Christ.
Taking its cue from Costa’s The Edge of Democracy, which points to Brazil’s spiral into far-right politics as a cautionary tale to the world, The Edge of Theocracy satirizes Brazil’s political scene and delivers tart comments on global issues, like polarization, through the prism of Biblical events thousands of years ago. A delighted Costa gave her blessing and makes a brief appearance as herself in the show.
Shot in less than a week, the troupe opted for the documentary format in order to better adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols. The use of talking heads and testimonials were the perfect solution to rules on social distancing, said co-founder/writer Fabio Porchat, who spoke to Variety while filming some scenes outdoors last September.
Porchat, who plays Jesus, was standing in the middle of a field in sweltering 95F (35C) heat, with trees and mountains in the distance, while just behind him, his actors were playing out some scenes.
Their 2019 Xmas special, The First Temptation of Christ, featured a gay Christ, which unleashed a firestorm of complaints, a petition to ban the special signed by more than two million people and worst of all, a Molotov cocktail on their headquarters, which caused a fire that was fortunately put out by alert security guards.
“This is our seventh Christmas Special and they’ve always been provocative; only last year’s special produced a backlash,” he pointed out, suggesting that being the first one released during the tenure of current populist President Jair Bolsonaro made it a target. “His government is promoting fundamentalist religious thought,” he asserted.
There were some calls to cancel Netflix subscriptions, which the trailer cheekily refers to. “If you cancelled Netflix, get ready to cancel YouTube,” it declares, signaling the troupe’s return to their dedicated YouTube channel.
Their last two Christmas Specials, The First Temptation of Christ and The Last Hangover,” were Netflix Originals. The latter won a Best ComedyInternational Emmy in 2019.
“We reach a bigger audience on YouTube,” said Porchat who added that ViacomCBS, which took a majority stake in Porta dos Fundos in 2017, co-produced this year’s special with Porta dos Fundos.
Porchat admitted that the bombing of their headquarters raised their international profile so he’s grateful for that.
He is a self-confessed Monty Python fan, especially their irreverent comedy about a hapless man who is mistaken for the Messiah, Life of Brian. “We don’t insult the Bible, we research the subject matter quite extensively,” he noted.
No one is spared their satirical touch, including Buddha, Shiva and some alien creature who replies, “Ask Tom Cruise!” when asked to explain what he is in The First Temptation of Christ.
In The Edge of Theocracy various “messiahs” weigh in on an investigation of Jesus’ legitimacy.
The new special promises to be a gleeful poke in the eye to the troupe’s critics.
