TV

Mary J. Blige Affirmed Herself In A Performance Of ‘Good Morning Gorgeous’ At The 2023 Grammys

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Mary J. Blige returned to the Grammy stage tonight for a powerful performance of the title track from her Grammy-nominated album, Good Morning Gorgeous.

On stage, Mary stood in an activation resembling a morning sky, surrounded by clouds, and displaying a wide range of vocals that have aged like fine wine. Joined by cellists, she dived deep into her range, reminding the audience — and most importantly — herself

Good Morning Gorgeous pulled in six nominations for this year’s awards, as its title track is up for Record Of The Year,
Best Traditional R&B Performance, Best R&B Song. Her Anderson .Paak collaboration “Here With Me” is nominated for Best R&B Performance, and the album itself is up for Best R&B Album and the highly coveted Album Of The Year.

But even with all of these nominations, as well as her nine past wins, Mary revealed to People last month that she still makes time to center and ground herself. She does so with her morning ritual, by reciting “Good morning, gorgeous” to herself in the mirror.

“I do it in my prayer time. There’s no makeup, no nominations for an award,” she said. “It’s just me and God. And the beauty of being able to say, “I appreciate my life.” To look in the mirror, my eyes are half closed, and say something to myself that I never even believed.”

You can check out the performance of “Good Morning Gorgeous” above.

Mary J. Blige is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Chrisean Rock Tells Blueface She’s “Not Gay,” Doesn’t Want To Kiss Other Girls In Front Of Him

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Since late last year, many reality TV lovers have been watching the drama between Blueface and Chrisean Rock play out on the small screen. The main episodes of the first season of Crazy In Love have come to an end. Thankfully, Zeus is keeping users entertained with a few bonus releases. In the most recent one, the embattled couple finds themselves feuding over the idea of bringing another girl into the bedroom.

On Saturday (February 4), @theneighborhoodtalk uploaded a preview from the series, teasing the drama that’s to come. In the clip, the 26-year-old asks his girlfriend if she’s “part of the LGBTQ community” as she tells him about her upcoming performance at Pride. “I am not gay baby,” she immediately responds while doing her makeup.

“You just like to make out with girls for fun?” Blueface asks Rock, who gives him a telling look. “Not no more,” she says in a quiet tone of voice. “I like making out with you.” After hearing this, the “Thotiana” rapper suggests that they find another woman to join them for an evening of kissing. “You could just make out with her, and that’s it,” he pleads.

The 22-year-old is undeniably unimpressed with her beau’s plan. “You’re making me uncomfortable,” she tells him. “This is why I be ready to fight you. Since when did I start wanting to share?!” As the California native plays it off, saying, “What do you mean? You like to kiss!” Chrisean makes it known that she’s not okay with getting intimate with another girl in the presence of “[her] n*gga.”

“I ain’t gonna kiss her,” Blueface pushes the idea further. “You kiss her!” The Baddies cast member begins getting emotional at this point, and her boyfriend responds with, “That’s crazy. You kiss all the bitches without me, but with me, you don’t want to kiss nobody.

We’ve obviously seen them engage in endless bickering on Crazy In Love. However, Blueface and Chrisean’s antics have been taking place in real-time too. Just a few days ago, the pair appeared on The Perfect Network podcast. During that interview, Rock was left annoyed when her beau spent too much time talking to co-host Moniece Slaughter.

Chrisean Rock attends Normal Culture presents: Evolutionary Inception Fashion Show hosted by Winnie Stackz on February 03, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Victoria Sirakova/Getty Images)

See a video of the “Lit” artist’s reaction to the situation here. Afterward, tell us if you would tune into a second season of the Zeus Network’s controversial reality series, or if you think it should be cancelled in the comments.

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Pedro Pascal Jokes About FIlming “The Last of Us” During “SNL” Monologue

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Pedro Pascal opened Saturday Night Live, over the weekend, with a monologue in which he joked about his highly successful HBO series, The Last of Us. The series is based on a video game for PlayStation of the same name.

“I spent the last year shooting The Last of Us on HBO,” he said to the live audience. “For some, HBO shows you get to shoot in five-star Italian resorts surrounded by beautiful people. But I said, ‘No, that’s too easy.’ I want to shoot in a freezing Canadian forest while being chased around by a guy whose head looks like a genital wart.” Pascal was likely referencing HBO’s other popular series, The White Lotus. Season 2 of the show, which just finished airing in December, took place at a water-side resort in Italy.

HOLLYWOOD, CA – AUGUST 24: Actor Pedro Pascal attends the Season 2 premiere of Netflix’s “Narcos” at ArcLight Cinemas on August 24, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

From there, Pascal spoke about the “honor” it is to star in so many wildly popular film and television franchises. He starred in Game of Thrones, Star Wars, and now The Last of Us. For Star Wars, Pascal currently stars in the Disney+ series, The Mandalorian. Season 3 of the show is dropping on March 1. As for Game of Thrones, Pascal played Oberyn Martell in Season 4.

Pascal previously discussed his appearance on SNL during an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. At the time, Pascal admitted he is afraid to host the legendary show.

“I think it’s the top at everybody’s bucket list, I am scared,” Pascal said. There’s like a wall of sheer terror I think that you start with, and then it’s such a well-oiled machine, everybody’s so amazing and talented, and they take these, you know, blocks of white-hot terror apart for you with big cue cards.”

Check out Pedro Pascal’s opening monologue for Saturday Night Live below. Coldplay served as the musical guest for the episode. Elsewhere in the show, the cast tackled the Chinese spy balloon as well as Mario Kart, and more.

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Khalid, Lil Baby, Elley Duhé, And More Will Perform At A Special ‘Outer Banks’-Themed Festival This Month

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We are just weeks away from the return of Outer Banks season three, but the surprises don’t stop at hotly-anticipated new episodes. Ahead of the show’s season 3 premiere, Netflix has announced a special music festival called Poguelandia: An Outer Banks Experience.

Poguelandia will take place at Huntington Beach in California on Saturday, February 18, just days before the season 3 premiere of Outer Banks. Set to perform are Khalid, Lil Baby, Elley Duhé, Alt-J, Surf Mesa, and The Nude Party.

In addition to these musicians, the cast of Outer Banks will also be in attendance. According to the festival’s poster, attendees will also be able to “vibe out by the twinkie,” “drink up at the boneyard,” and “chow down at the wreck,” and most importantly, “make some memories worth their weight in gold.”

Clothing brand American Eagle will also be present at the event, offering live custom printing of exclusive Outer Banks designs, and selling items from their exclusive Outer Banks capsule collection.

Tickets for the festival are set to go live tomorrow (February 4). Fans will be able to register for free tickets here. You can check out the festival lineup below.

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All episodes of Outer Banks‘ third season will premiere on Netflix on Thursday, February 23

Meagan Good Brought Blonde Bombshell Energy To Amazon’s “Harlem” Season 2 Premiere

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In the world of celebrity relationships and marriages, breakups and divorces obviously aren’t all that uncommon. While they’re undeniably emotionally tumultuous to navigate, several famous women have been showing us lately that the end of a romance doesn’t mean life isn’t worth living. Among them are Kim Kardashian and Nia Long. Recently, Meagan Good also joined the ranks. She looked absolutely stunning as she graced the pink carpet last night.

The 41-year-old stepped out for the season two premiere of Amazon Prime’s Harlem series. In the show, the California native stars alongside Jerrie Johnson, Grace Byers, and finally, Shoniqua Shandai. The group plays four ambitious best friends navigating life, personal relationships, and career growth.

The show has quickly become a fan favourite on the streamer. Season one previously arrived in December of 2021. To kick off 2023, the latest edition landed on Thursday (February 2).

Along with the episodes making their way onto Prime yesterday, Good also hit the town with her co-stars to celebrate. For her big night out, the Day Shift actress donned an all-white outfit. It was complete with thigh-high snake print boots and a curve-hugging dress complete with several cutouts.

At this time, Meagan hasn’t posted any photos from the event on her own Instagram feed, but those are sure to come later.

Several have already been circulating online thanks to paparazzi snaps, many of which show Good grinning from ear to eat, her toned abs on display beneath her sultry outfit of the night.

Meagan Good attends Prime Video’s “Harlem” Season 2 Exclusive Los Angeles Screening on February 02, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Arnold Turner/Getty Images for Prime Video)

Apart from her good looks, Meagan’s divorce from Devon Franklin has also been keeping her name in the headlines over the past year. The couple finalized their settlement in April of last year, and just last month, the actress revealed that Whoopi Goldberg was one of her famous friends who had some advice to offer the starlet.

Read what The View host had to say to Good here, and let us know if you’ll be watching season two of Harlem on Amazon Prime below.

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The Weeknd Is Making Up For His LA Fumble With A ‘Live From SoFi Stadium’ Special On HBO Max

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Does it seem to anyone else that all the streamers are investing pretty heavily in concert films? I mean, it makes sense; they’re relatively cheap to produce, they come with a built-in audience, and they tend to have pretty long streaming tails. It’s the rare recent streaming strategy that is a win-win for both the platforms and their viewers — as well as the artists who license their concert footage out.

The latest act to take advantage of this lucrative trend is The Weeknd, whose new concert special for HBO Max, The Weeknd: Live At SoFi Stadium, has a premiere date of February 25.

If ever there was a case of turning lemons into lemonade, this would have to be it. During his After Hours Til Dawn Tour, The Weeknd’s voice gave out during the second Los Angeles show, prompting him to promise a refund to the 70,000 fans in attendance. At the time, he promised to “make it up to you with a new date” after confirming that his voice was “safe.”

It looks like many more fans will get to see the show thanks to the upcoming concert special, which is a pretty cool way to make up for the fumble.

Linda Ronstadt Won’t Make Any Money From ‘The Last Of Us’ Using Her Song ‘Long, Long Time’

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Depending on your level of familiarity with how publishing rights work in the recording industry, it may surprise you (or not) to learn that despite the resurgence of interest in Linda Ronstadt‘s 1970 hit “Long, Long Time,” the retired singer won’t make any money from the licensing that prompted it.

According to Billboard, streams of the song on Spotify jumped nearly 5,000% after the third episode of HBO’s sci-fi thriller The Last Of Us aired. The episode prominently featured the song, with two different characters singing it during a pivotal moment and two other characters listening to it as the episode ends. Meanwhile, on-demand streaming across all services increased from 8,000 the day before the episode to 149,000 the day after.

So, why won’t Ronstadt get paid for all that?

Well, per the details of her original Capitol Records contract, she never owned the master rights for the song, which was her first Billboard hit (it peaked at No. 25). Meanwhile, the song’s writer, Gary White, will still see his share coming in, for which Ronstadt expressed gratitude: “I still love the song and I’m very glad that Gary will get a windfall,” she said.

Besides, even if she had owned them, in 2021, she joined the slew of legacy artists who sold their master recording ownership rights, meaning Iconic Artist Group. The trend of artists selling their catalogs has swept the industry, consolidating much of music ownership with a handful of investment groups — for better or worse.

Ronstadt doesn’t feel like she missed out, though. According to her manager, the surge of interest will help her upcoming work, such as a planned biopic with James Keach, and her books, the most recent of which was released late last year.

Go Ahead And Add The ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ TV Series To The List Of Things We Need To Thank Dolly Parton For

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For years, there have been rumors that Dolly Parton was a secret producer on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series that became a massive genre hit in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Well, it’s no longer a mystery. While appearing on The Tonight Show, Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar confirmed to Jimmy Fallon that the iconic singer played a silent role in the show’s breakout success. Not only that, but Parton was a fan of the vampire-slaying series and its star, which Gellar was not prepared for at the time.

Via Gizmodo:

“Little known fact, the legend Dolly Parton was a producer,” Gellar revealed on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. “And you know, we never saw her. We’d get Christmas gifts in the beginning that would have our name and I would think, ‘She doesn’t know who I am.’ And then one day somebody asked her about it and she complimented the show and my performance. And I was like ‘Oh, I can die now. Dolly Parton knows who I am and thinks I’m good.’ Her partner was Sandy Gallin and they produced Buffy.”

Of course, producing shows like Buffy is just the kind of benevolent person that Dolly Parton loves to be. Case in point: The iconic singer helped put up money to develop a coronavirus vaccine and was heralded as a saint when it turned out she backed the Moderna vaccine that, along with Pfizer, helped turn the tide of the pandemic. Is there anything Dolly can’t do? We’d probably believe it if someone said she could levitate.

(Via Gizmodo)

SWV & Xscape Unite for 6-Part ‘Queens of R&B’ Series on Bravo

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SWV & Xscape Unite for 6-Part 'Queens of R&B' Series on Bravo

Words by: Brandon Simmons

Bravo’s new TV series is almost here!  SWV & Xscape: Queens of R&B just released its trailer and fans will have plenty to digest.  Legendary R&B groups, SWV & Xscape, give fans access to the making of their joint-headlining concert spanning only one night.  Produced by Mona Scott-Young, the 6-part series will air on March 5th.   All members from both groups will be involved: Tamika, LaTocha, Tiny, and Kandi of Xscape and Coko, Taj, and Lelee of SWV.

With two female supergroups, there are bound to be a few issues.  One issue is, who is going to be the headliner? Also, in the two-minute trailer, the ladies find out that one of their group members has signed a solo deal.  The TV network, Bravo, released a statement regarding their new series.

“The ladies will take viewers on the ultimate fan experience as they reveal the inner workings of putting on a live concert and expose the discord and complex dynamics of sisterhood within singing groups.”

Bravo is no stranger to having Xscape as part of its network.  Kandi Burruss has been on Real Housewives of Atlanta for years, and the group once had their own series Xscape: Still Kickin’ It as well.  The two groups have always been linked together since the 90s.  In 2021, they faced off against each other for a Mother’s Day Verzuz battle.

SWV was originally a gospel group but transitioned to R&B.  In the 90s, they had hits such as, “Weak”, “You’re the One”, and “Right Here”.  To this day, they are one of the best-selling female groups of all time, with over 25 million records sold.  Xscape was discovered by Jermaine Dupri as he signed them to his record label, So So Def.  Their debut album, Hummin’ Comin’ at ‘Cha, went platinum with some of their biggest hits, “Just Kickin’ It” and “Understanding”. 

The post SWV & Xscape Unite for 6-Part ‘Queens of R&B’ Series on Bravo appeared first on The Source.

Xscape & SWV Clash In “Queens Of R&B” Trailer: Watch

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They are two groups that dominated their era of R&B, and Xscape and SWV are uniting for a new reality show. Neither crew is a stranger to unscripted television, but fans will get an inside look at how they unite to rehearse for a one-night concert. The ladies know each other well and have performed together in the past, but Queens of R&B will give an inside look that not many are privy to.

Today (January 31), the Bravo network closed the month by sharing the first trailer for its new show. As expected, with so many famous voices, there is bound to be a bit of tension.

SWV, Xscape, R&B
NEW YORK, NY – JULY 11: Singers Leanne “Lelee” Lyons, Tamara Johnson-George and Coko from SWV attend the 2016 VH1 Hip Hop Honors: All Hail The Queens at David Geffen Hall on July 11, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jim Spellman/WireImage)
Read More: Xscape & SWV Battle It Out In Exciting “Verzuz” Showdown

The trailer shows that much of the contention concerns who will be named the headliner. Additionally, unresolved issues from the past also creep into the present day, boiling over into uncomfortable conversations.

Still, fans of both Xscape and SWV know that the women have a longstanding respect for one another. We also celebrated them on the Verzuz stage in 2021 as they brought some of our favorite R&B jams to life in real time.

ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 05: Tamika Scott, Kandi Burruss, LaTocha Scott, and Tameka “Tiny” Harris of Xscape attend 2019 Black Music Honors – Arrivals at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center on September 5, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia.(Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage)
Read More: Xscape Singer Tamika Scott Wants An SWV Or TLC “Verzuz” Battle

Make sure to tune in to watch these harmonizing icons on Queens of R&B, premiering March 5 on Bravo. Also, check out the trailer below.

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