Category: Pop Daypop

The Weeknd has announced ‘The Dawn FM Experience,’ a new immersive music special based on his most recent album of the same name. The special will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on Saturday, February 26.  A synopsis reads that ‘The Dawn FM Experience‘ will expand the Dawn FM album “into a mesmerizing visual, creating a theatrical performance event that will envelop audiences in its unnerving and moody world.”

The Weeknd — Abel Tesfaye — said in a press release:  “I’m ecstatic to partner with Amazon to premiere the most elaborate live TV special I’ve ever done. Welcome to the next phase of Dawn FM — a purgatory otherworld where live performance, theater, and performance art collide for a night out at the club.”

The Dawn FM Experience will only be available to Prime subscribers. Other content will be available around the special program, including an eight-track live EP that will be available to stream exclusively on Amazon Music.  Exclusive merch will also be launched to celebrate the special, including limited-edition items and will only be available to customers in the US via amazon.com/theweeknd from 3pm ET on Friday, 2/25.

Dawn FM was released in January 2022, and features guest appearances by the likes of Lil Wayne, Quincy Jones, Oneohtrix Point Never, Tyler, The Creator, and actor Jim Carrey.  You can buy or stream Dawn FM – here.

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Disney+ will exclusively premiere Olivia Rodrigo’s film Driving Home 2 U, which will chronicle the creation of her 2021 breakthrough record Sour.  Rodrigo shares in the trailer: “I think I just wanted to tell people what was going on in the back of my head in a way that was proud and not ashamed. Coming from this place of hurt and you manage to turn it into something that you’re proud of – there’s like nothing better than that.”

The hybrid film, directed by Stacey Lee, ‘paints the picture of Sour using behind-the-scenes footage captured in the studio and throughout Rodrigo’s day-to-day life, from her process of transfixing hyper-personal experiences into chart-topping songs to her parlay into the realm of pop’s elite as a young woman.’

Driving Home 2 U is set to debut on March 25.  Shortly after the film’s release, the 18-year-old Rodrigo will make her first appearance at the Grammy Awards where she’s nominated for seven awards including Best New Artist, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Music Video, Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Solo Performance.

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The 2022 Billboard Music Awards are set to air live on NBC from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 15. A host and performers for the event, which celebrates music’s greatest achievements, will be announced in coming weeks.

Honorees for the Billboard Awards will be determined by their performance on the Billboard charts, while nominees and winners are based on key fan interactions with music including streaming, album, digital sales, radio airplay, touring and more.

This year’s broadcast will include the ICON Award, honoring record-breaking artists and their wider impact. Pink was the recipient of this award in 2021, with other past recipients including Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez, Stevie Wonder and Janet Jackson.

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Lizzo’s dance competition series, titled “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” is premiering on Amazon Prime Video next month. The eight-episode unscripted show, which is Lizzo’s first project as part of her first-look deal with Amazon Studios, will premiere on the streaming service March 25.

According to an official description, the show “follows “global superstar and icon Lizzo, who is on the hunt for confident, bad-ass women to join the elite ranks of the Big Grrrls and join her world tour. With 10 hopeful women moving into the Big Grrrls House, they must prove they have what it takes to make it to the end and join Lizzo in front of a global audience on the center stage.”

Choreographer Tanisha Scott joins Lizzo to help with her search for the next Big Grrrls, as well as original tour dancers Chawnta’ Marie Van, Shirlene Quigley and Grace Holden. The show will also feature several special guests, including SZA, choreographer Charm La’Donna and body movement expert Rashida KhanBey Miller.

Watch the full trailer for “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” – here.

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Billboard has confirmed with a representative of Justin Bieber that he tested positive for COVID-19, and as a result, was forced to postponed his concert at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

A statement on the venue’s website reads:  “Due to positive COVID results within the ‘Justice Tour’ family, we will unfortunately have to postpone Sunday’s show in Las Vegas. Justin is of course hugely disappointed, but the health and safety of his crew and fans is always his number one priority. The tour launch in San Diego was a massive success, and Justin is excited to bring this spectacular show to his Las Vegas fans as soon as possible.” The 27-year-old pop star’s Las Vegas show has been tentatively rescheduled for June 28; however, that date is contingent on the National Hockey League playoff schedule. Tickets for the original date will be honored and refunds are available at point of purchase.

Bieber launched his Justice World Tour on Friday, Feb. 19 at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego. As of press time, the tour is scheduled to continue on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz.   It was unclear at press time whether Bieber would need to reschedule additional dates due to his positive diagnosis.

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BTS will be bringing its ‘Permission To Dance On Stage’ tour to its hometown next month, performing its first in-person concerts in Seoul in two years.   The band will perform at the Jamsil Olympic Stadium on March 10, 12, and 13, their first concerts at that same venue since the ‘Love Yourself: Speak Yourself (The Final)’ shows in October 2019.

The concerts on March 10 and 13 will be streamed online in real-time, while the March 12 concert will be broadcast at “live viewing” events in theaters across the globe. Tickets for the in-person shows are available via the Korean INTERPARK ticket reservation site and will only be made available to members of the BTS Global Official Fanclub ARMY Membership.

BTS began its ‘Permission To Dance On Stage’ tour last year with four in-person concerts at LA’s SoFi Stadium. Prior to that, the band held an online-only concert at Jamsil Olympic Stadium under the same tour moniker.

More details on the online and live viewing broadcasts, including ticketing details, will be announced soon.

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Ed Sheeran and Bring Me The Horizon performed a collaborative version Sheeran’s “Bad Habits” together at the BRIT Awards on February 8; and now the pop star and rock band have released a studio version of the song, which you stream –here.

Sheeran also revealed he and Bring Me The Horizon are working on a new song together, saying “playing with Bring Me The Horizon was a dream. I got in touch with Oli and we were going to write together but then the pandemic happened, so we were in touch – I’ve been a fan for a long time.” 

Take a listen to Sheeran’s “Bad Habits” featuring Bring Me The Horizon – here.

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The Coachella and Stagecoach festivals have revealed that there will no longer be any COVID-related barriers to entry.  After stating last fall that vaccinations would not be required for entry, now attendees will not be required to present a negative COVD-19 test, and there will be no requirement to wear masks while attending the festivals.  The California Department of Public Health issued new guidelines that went into effect Wednesday, saying vaccination proof will no longer be required for large outdoor events.

A tweet from the Stagecoach account read: “Festival Admission Update: As we prepare to spend an incredible weekend in the desert together we are announcing that there will be no vaccination, testing or masking requirements at Stagecoach 2022, in accordance with local guidelines.”  Visit http://stagecoachfestival.com for more info.

No similar tweet has come from the Coachella account, but Coachella’s safety page declares an “update” which says: “In accordance with local guidelines, there will be no vaccination, testing or masking requirements at Coachella 2022.”  A bullet point adds: “However, the event shall be presented in accordance with applicable public health conditions as of the date of the event and which may change at any time as determined by federal, state or local government agencies or instrumentalities, artists or the promoter; such requirements may include, without limitation, changes to capacity, attendance procedures and entry requirements, such as proof of vaccination and/or negative COVID-19 test, and other protective measures such as requiring attendees to wear face coverings.”

Coachella will take place over two successive weekends — April 15-17 and 22-24 — with headliners Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and Kanye West.  Stagecoach takes place April 29-May 1 with Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood and Thomas Rhett headlining the festival.

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Australian pop star Troye Sivan portrays Caleb, a teenager from South Florida, in the coming-of-age film ‘Three Months.’  The film marks Sivan’s first return to the big screen since 2018’s Boy Erased, where he portrayed a young man named Gary going through the motions at a gay conversion therapy assessment program.

In Three Months, the character of Caleb finds out he’s been exposed to HIV the day before he’s scheduled to walk across the stage at his high school graduation.  The trailer for Three Months introduces the characters who play a role in Caleb’s understanding of the world as he waits 90 days for a definitive test result that could change his future.  This moment in Caleb’s life is accompanied in the trailer by a new song from Sivan; the film features two new songs from Sivan, whose last single “Angel Baby” was released in September 2021.

Three Months arrives to Paramount+ on February 23.  You can check out the trailer for the film – here.

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Bebe Rexha and Jimmie Allen serve as celebrity mentors on the upcoming Season 20 of American Idol.  Rexha shared the news from Disney’s Aulani Resort & Spa in Hawaii in a video clip; and on Twitter, American Idol also also shared the news.

The role of ‘celebrity mentor’ has previously been filled by country radio DJ Bobby Bones for the past four seasons, but Bones revealed in January that he won’t return to Idol this season because of a conflict with another show that he’s involved in.

Season 20 of American Idol will premiere on Sunday, Feb. 27 at 8PM ET on ABC, its network home for the past four seasons. Ryan Seacrest will return as host, and the show’s celebrity judges will remain Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.

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