Entertainment

Bieberchella: Justin Bieber to make major concert comeback at Coachella this weekend

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: 6:01 AM CDT

 

Bieberchella is upon us.

Justin Bieber is set to make a major concert comeback when he headlines the Coachella music festival on Saturday.

During a series of Twitch streams last year, Bieber told fans he would be “putting on a hell of a show."

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Giller Prize boycott ends after organizers say pressure was successful

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Giller Prize boycott ends after organizers say pressure was successful

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 9:06 PM CDT

TORONTO - A group that organized collective action against the Giller Prize more than a year ago says its boycott of the literary event is over.

CanLit Responds says the group received confirmation in the form of an email from executive director Elana Rabinovitch that the Giller no longer has sponsorship ties to Scotiabank or the Azrieli Foundation. 

In the email, which was shared with The Canadian Press, Rabinovitch also clarified the prize's connection to Indigo Books, noting it was
only ever a promotional partner, not a sponsor.

Rabinovitch did not respond to requests for comment.

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Updated: Yesterday at 9:06 PM CDT

Demonstrators gather in front of a downtown Toronto hotel on Monday afternoon as the Giller Award ceremony was about to begin, chanting "free Palestine" and holding banners, in Toronto, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Eduardo Lima

Demonstrators gather in front of a downtown Toronto hotel on Monday afternoon as the Giller Award ceremony was about to begin, chanting

Music Review: Holly Humberstone continues constructing her lush pop universe with ‘Cruel World’

Elise Ryan, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Music Review: Holly Humberstone continues constructing her lush pop universe with ‘Cruel World’

Elise Ryan, The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 12:41 PM CDT

On her 2023 debut album, “Paint My Bedroom Black,” Holly Humberstone considered her interior life, turning to her worries, wishes and emotions for inspiration. The British singer-songwriter’s sophomore album, “Cruel World,” sees Humberstone take her atmospheric pop and look outward — at the space between breakups, long distance relationships, connections and settings that make up a life.

If before, she looked to mute out color (“I’m gonna paint my bedroom black,” as she once sang) here, she embraces shades of the world around her. Lyrically, Humberstone draws on their symbolism (the guitar-and-sax retro “Red Chevy,” the psychedelic “Blue Dream,” the plaintive ballad “Peachy”). Yellow appears as a “patch of golden sun,” on “Lucy,” an ode to her sisters and girlhood; orange is the mandarin light that interrupts “Blue Dream”; green is the globe that “keeps on spinning to the beat” on the frantic love song “To Love Somebody.”

“White Noise” looks for comfort in the external: “So play a sad song DJ,” Humberstone pleads over the country-tinged track, chimes and a lap steel sneaking in beneath synths and percussion. “I just want to sway tonight,” she sings. She's overstimulated but still looks to a busy dance floor for relief.

Sonically, Humberstone has always embraced abundance. She's succeeded in building a lush musical world since her early EPs, because of her knack for pairing cool, vulnerable lyrics with her temporal sound, which combines live instrumentation with electronics.

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Updated: Yesterday at 12:41 PM CDT

This cover image released by Polydor shows "Cruel World." (Polydor via AP)

This cover image released by Polydor shows

Top 20 Global Concert Tours from Pollstar

The Associated Press 1 minute read Yesterday at 10:03 AM CDT

The Top 20 Global Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows Worldwide. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.

TOP 20 GLOBAL CONCERT TOURS

1 Bad Bunny $7,574,259 53,289 $142.13

2 Ed Sheeran $5,804,043 44,355 $130.85

‘Euphoria,’ returning for a third season, launched a generation of new stars

Jocelyn Noveck, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

‘Euphoria,’ returning for a third season, launched a generation of new stars

Jocelyn Noveck, The Associated Press 6 minute read Yesterday at 9:38 AM CDT

Few TV shows have served as a launchpad for an array of new talent quite like “Euphoria,” which returns for a third season Sunday on HBO Max.

Premiering in 2019, this is the series that showcased the rising careers of Zendaya, Jacob Elordi and Sydney Sweeney — all of whom have since become bona fide stars.

The dark suburban teen drama has also featured more established figures like Colman Domingo, who has received two best actor Oscar nominations in the last few years, and the late Eric Dane. And it’s given visibility and recognition to other actors: Hunter Schafer, Alexa Demie, Maude Apatow and Barbie Ferreira. Angus Cloud, another of its breakout performers, died in 2023.

Series creator Sam Levinson says it's a thrill to see many cast members thriving.

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Yesterday at 9:38 AM CDT

This combination of images released by HBO shows cast members, from left, Zendaya, Jacob Elordi and Sydney Sweeney from the series "Euphoria." (Patrick Wymore/HBO via AP)

This combination of images released by HBO shows cast members, from left, Zendaya, Jacob Elordi and Sydney Sweeney from the series

PEN America launches a US safety program for authors facing harassment

Hillel Italie, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

PEN America launches a US safety program for authors facing harassment

Hillel Italie, The Associated Press 3 minute read Yesterday at 8:18 AM CDT

NEW YORK (AP) — A coalition of publishers and literary agencies are teaming with PEN America on an initiative meant to counter a growing trend of harassment against members of the literary community.

PEN America, the century-old free expression organization, announced Friday that it was launching the U.S. Safety Program, which would provide safety training and other resources for authors amid a wave of censorship efforts around the country.

“We have heard from countless authors, illustrators, and translators who are under siege, fending off a steady stream of abuse and threats, online and at book events,” said Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, co-chief executive officer of PEN America. “Through this new program, the literary and publishing community is stepping up together because writers should not be forced to choose between their safety and their voice.”

Viktorya Vilk, who directs PEN's digital safety efforts, told The Associated Press that she first noticed a rise in harassment against journalists a decade ago, around the time Donald Trump was first elected president, and has seen it spread to writers and educators over the past couple of years. Maia Kababe, Jon Evison and George Johnson are among the authors of censored works who have spoken out about being harassed and threatened and even physically assaulted.

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Yesterday at 8:18 AM CDT

FILE - Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center in Salt Lake City, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents, including "Gender Queer" by Meir Kobabe, on Dec. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center in Salt Lake City, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents, including

Olé, Olé or Nay? Some say Jelly Roll’s World Cup tune falls flat, but Canadians are making their own anthems

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Olé, Olé or Nay? Some say Jelly Roll’s World Cup tune falls flat, but Canadians are making their own anthems

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 9:20 AM CDT

TORONTO - If World Cup songs are meant to sound like the world linking arms, Jelly Roll’s entry for 2026 is striking a more divisive chord.

Last month, FIFA released “Lighter,” the first official track for the tournament, pairing the American country artist with Mexican singer Carín León and Canadian producer Cirkut. On paper, it’s a cross-border collaboration for a World Cup spanning Canada, Mexico and the United States.

But the battle-worn country-rock anthem — heavy on imagery of breaking free from personal shackles — has drawn mixed reactions, with critics arguing it misses the mark for what FIFA is touting as its “largest and most inclusive” tournament yet.

“Jelly Roll’s verses honestly sound a little MAGA,” says Canadian sports media scholar Stephen Sheps.

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Updated: Yesterday at 9:20 AM CDT

Jelly Roll performs during the 2025 Invictus Games closing ceremony, in Vancouver, B.C., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Jelly Roll performs during the 2025 Invictus Games closing ceremony, in Vancouver, B.C., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Singer Delta Goodrem follows in Celine Dion’s footsteps to Eurovision

Hilary Fox, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Singer Delta Goodrem follows in Celine Dion’s footsteps to Eurovision

Hilary Fox, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 11:06 AM CDT

LONDON (AP) — With links to Celine Dion and Olivia Newton-John, Delta Goodrem is one of the best-connected contestants at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

She’s also one of the most successful participants, as the award-winning Australian singer-songwriter has sold over nine million albums and topped charts in eight countries.

Goodrem is representing her home country in the world’s largest live music event, which takes place this year in Vienna. Even though it’s way outside of Europe, Australia has been invited to compete since 2015.

In the 1990s Goodrem, who was a former star of Australian soap “Neighbours,” wrote a track called “Eyes on Me” for Dion, who won Eurovision representing Switzerland in 1988.

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Updated: Yesterday at 11:06 AM CDT

Delta Goodrem poses for portrait photographs on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

Delta Goodrem poses for portrait photographs on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

Dave Chappelle helps keep Ohio radio station rooted in hometown with restored building

Jonathan Landrum Jr., The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Dave Chappelle helps keep Ohio radio station rooted in hometown with restored building

Jonathan Landrum Jr., The Associated Press 4 minute read Thursday, Apr. 9, 2026

YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio (AP) — Comedian Dave Chappelle stood on the front lawn of a newly restored 19th-century schoolhouse Thursday, joining neighbors and local officials as a small-town radio station secured its future in the community he calls home.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony marked two historic moments: Chappelle's restoration of the Union Schoolhouse and WYSO's relocation of its new broadcast facility inside it, bringing together distinct efforts to keep the station rooted in Yellow Springs at a time when local media outlets face mounting challenges.

“It’s like our lifeblood in the community,” Chappelle told The Associated Press about the station, recalling how its possible departure to nearby Dayton would have been “a crushing blow” for Yellow Springs.

More than 200 people gathered outside the former Union Schoolhouse, where Chappelle attended along with his wife, mother, station leaders and village officials, including Yellow Springs Mayor Steve McQueen and Dayton Mayor Shenise Turner-Sloss, to celebrate the opening the schoolhouse and the 68-year-old station into its next chapter.

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Thursday, Apr. 9, 2026

Comedian Dave Chappelle, center, takes part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new studio for WYSO Public Radio at a building in Yellow Springs, Ohio, on Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jonathan Landrum)

Comedian Dave Chappelle, center, takes part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new studio for WYSO Public Radio at a building in Yellow Springs, Ohio, on Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jonathan Landrum)

Gene Simmons of Kiss visits Detroit Rock City to open new restaurant location

Mike Householder, The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Gene Simmons of Kiss visits Detroit Rock City to open new restaurant location

Mike Householder, The Associated Press 2 minute read Thursday, Apr. 9, 2026

ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) — Gene Simmons visited Detroit Rock City on Thursday to celebrate the grand opening of a restaurant co-founded by him and his Kiss bandmate, Paul Stanley.

“Everybody talks about Detroit, we owe our stuff to Detroit — first city that appreciated the band that I’m in,” Simmons said before cutting the ribbon at the new Rock & Brews in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Since opening their first location in Southern California in 2010, Simmons and Stanley have opened Rock & Brews in states from Washington to Florida.

“Our CEO is here, because he wants to go back in the kitchen and even bring it up a notch,” Simmons said in an interview. “You don’t want to keep the same old, same old. We got to kick it up, because people deserve the best. You wanted the best, you got the best — the hottest food in town.”

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Thursday, Apr. 9, 2026

In this image taken from video, KISS frontman Gene Simmons appears with co-franchise owner Danny Yezbick at a ribbon cutting ceremony for Rock & Brews restaurant in Royal Oak, Mich., on Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)

In this image taken from video, KISS frontman Gene Simmons appears with co-franchise owner Danny Yezbick at a ribbon cutting ceremony for Rock & Brews restaurant in Royal Oak, Mich., on Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)

Pink to host the 2026 Tony Awards on June 7 at Radio City Music Hall

Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Pink to host the 2026 Tony Awards on June 7 at Radio City Music Hall

Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press 2 minute read Thursday, Apr. 9, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — The Tony Awards have turned to a singer with a reputation for a high-energy, physical live show to be the next telecast host — Pink.

The three-time Grammy Award winner will make her debut as MC for the awards on June 7 at its familiar home of Radio City Music Hall.

“It is the honor of an entire lifetime to host a night celebrating the literal hardest working people in showbiz,” Pink said in a statement. “Broadway has shaped my life and how I put my own shows together — it is a community that is supportive, and inclusive, and full of talent and love. These people give magic every single day, and I cannot wait to celebrate them with the entire world.”

While Pink hasn't yet made an appearance on Broadway, she has had 15 Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including four No. 1s — like “Raise Your Glass” and “Just Give Me a Reason” — and is known for her acrobatic, ceiling-swinging live sets.

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Thursday, Apr. 9, 2026

FILE - Pink accepts the Icon award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles on March 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

FILE - Pink accepts the Icon award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles on March 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

On a New Kids on the Block cruise, Emma Straub found a way past grief

Alicia Rancilio, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

On a New Kids on the Block cruise, Emma Straub found a way past grief

Alicia Rancilio, The Associated Press 4 minute read Thursday, Apr. 9, 2026

Emma Straub wrote her 2022 novel “This Time Tomorrow” — about a woman who is able to return to her 16th birthday and spend time with her father as a healthy young man — as her own father's health was declining. It was a love letter to the father-daughter bond. A few months later, her father, the novelist Peter Straub, died.

She was deep in grief when an advertisement for a New Kids on the Block fan cruise caught her attention. She ended up among the thousands of fans who set sail on a four-day cruise with the boy band on board. They performed intimate concerts and other events were organized for their supporters to mingle. Straub decided then and there it was perfect setting for her next book.

“For the first time, I had the whole idea,” said the author of “Modern Lovers,” “All Adults Here” and “The Vacationers.” “I knew it was a book. I could write it and I would have the time of my life doing it.”

The result was “American Fantasy,” released Tuesday. Her protagonist is Annie, a newly single empty-nester who agrees to embark on a fan cruise for a '90s boy band and ends up forming a connection with one of its members.

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Thursday, Apr. 9, 2026

Author Emma Straub poses for a portrait in New York on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Author Emma Straub poses for a portrait in New York on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Movie Review: Halle Bailey seeks romance in the hills in frothy ‘You, Me & Tuscany’

Jocelyn Noveck, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Movie Review: Halle Bailey seeks romance in the hills in frothy ‘You, Me & Tuscany’

Jocelyn Noveck, The Associated Press 5 minute read Thursday, Apr. 9, 2026

OK, this may seem like a small nit to pick. But before we get started on “You, Me & Tuscany,” can we ask this one nagging question: Why can’t movies be realistic about luggage?

When Anna (Halle Bailey), our charming hero in this travel-porn rom-com, arrives in Italy for an open-ended stay, she’s carrying a purse and a tote. You could fit maybe a water bottle, a paperback and one change of clothes in that tote. Much later, when she's preparing to leave, she’s carrying the same miraculous, featherlight tote that allegedly held all her lovely outfits — plus shoes!

What is she, Mary Poppins with the carpet bag? We’re not asking for gritty social realism here, people, but would it have hurt to give her a wheelie?

OK, rant over — but see, that weightless luggage is a perfect metaphor for “You Me & Tuscany,” directed by Kat Coiro, a movie as frothy and insubstantial as the foam on a nice cappuccino. It’s also about as believable as some of the woefully stereotypical Italian characters here. The gardener, Giuseppe, for example: He looks like Pavarotti and sings soaring arias each morning as he prunes the bushes. We rest our case.

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Thursday, Apr. 9, 2026

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Halle Bailey, foreground, and Regé-Jean Page in a scene from "You, Me & Tuscany." (Giulia Parmigiani/Universal Pictures via AP)

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Halle Bailey, foreground, and Regé-Jean Page in a scene from

Megan Moroney, Miranda Lambert and Ella Langley lead 2026 ACM Awards nominations dominated by women

Maria Sherman, The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Megan Moroney, Miranda Lambert and Ella Langley lead 2026 ACM Awards nominations dominated by women

Maria Sherman, The Associated Press 2 minute read Thursday, Apr. 9, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — Megan Moroney leads the 2026 Academy of Country Music Awards with nine nominations.

That includes a first-time nomination for the top prize of the night, entertainer of the year, as well as director and artist-songwriter of the year. She's also received her third consecutive nominations for female artist and visual media of the year.

Women appear to dominate the nods: Moroney is followed by Miranda Lambert, the most-decorated artist in ACM Awards history, with eight, as well as Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson with seven.

Then it is Chris Stapleton with six, Zach Top with five and Cody Johnson with four.

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Thursday, Apr. 9, 2026

This combination of images shows Miranda Lambert, from left, Ella Langley, and Megan Moroney. (AP Photo)

This combination of images shows Miranda Lambert, from left, Ella Langley, and Megan Moroney. (AP Photo)

Movie Review: Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel are razor-sharp in art comedy ‘The Christophers’

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Movie Review: Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel are razor-sharp in art comedy ‘The Christophers’

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Apr. 8, 2026

“The Christophers” looks like an art heist movie at first. A couple of wannabe heirs (James Corden and Jessica Gunning) hire a restoration specialist (Michaela Coel) to finish a series of paintings by their famous father (Ian McKellen), who wants nothing to do with them or the uncompleted works that would surely command an astronomical price tag.

The offspring, whom McKellen’s Julian Sklar vividly describes as wrecks — one a train wreck, one a shipwreck — feel they deserve an inheritance they’re smart enough to know they won’t receive through any will — or talent of their own. The specialist and sometimes forger Lori (Coel) has other motives. There’s the promise of paying rent, yes, but there’s also an element of revenge. Lori and Julian have a kind of history that the movie will reveal in time. She’s also been publicly critical of his later works.

But “The Christophers” is not an “Ocean's” movie or a “Logan Lucky,” which is to say it’s not really a heist. There’s the tease of one, right up until the end, and the promise of the con. This latest film by the great and astonishingly prolific Steven Soderbergh is not out to give the audience what they think they want from him. Instead, it’s a meditation on art, legacy, creativity and the oh-so-touchy subject of who has the right to critique. It might sound a bit dreary, but Ed Solomon’s razor-sharp script and the brilliant pairing of McKellen and Coel make this lean two-hander breeze by.

You can read however much you want into how much Soderbergh (or Solomon) may or may not relate to Julian, who is determined to burn, bury and shred the unfinished “Christophers,” a series of paintings of a former boyfriend that became his most famous. It’s a fun and prickly exercise for any creative person to reconcile with the peaks and lulls of a long career in the arts — and Julian is luckier than most. He actually got famous and relatively wealthy from his paintings.

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Wednesday, Apr. 8, 2026

This image released by Neon shows Michaela Coel, left, and Ian McKellen in a scene from "The Christophers." (Claudette Barius/Neon via AP)

This image released by Neon shows Michaela Coel, left, and Ian McKellen in a scene from

Music Review: Make way for Ella Langley’s ‘Dandelion,’ a new era of old-soul country

Maria Sherman, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Music Review: Make way for Ella Langley’s ‘Dandelion,’ a new era of old-soul country

Maria Sherman, The Associated Press 3 minute read Wednesday, Apr. 8, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — A few years ago, Ella Langley emerged a saving grace for modern country music because she dared to look backward. “You Look Like You Love Me,” her award-winning, inescapable 2024 hit with Riley Green, pulled from another era — all pedal steel and spoken-word choruses, the same night out told from different perspectives. It put her on the map six years after the release of her debut single.

A song that big can be a curse — or at the very least, an obstacle — for a new performer, because they become tasked with eclipsing their own success, bypassing the curse of a one-hit wonder. But the Alabama singer-songwriter has done so with ease. And her sophomore album, “Dandelion” out Friday, co-produced by Langley, Miranda Lambert and Ben West, only further proves her chops.

Lead single “Choosin' Texas” may be her “You Look Like You Love Me” of the current moment, a rare No. 1 hit on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 for a female country artist and a radio mainstay that challenges the country industry's reputation for failing to support its women artists. (If that's not enough to sway the non-believers, maybe this is: As of this writing, “Choosin' Texas” has spent five weeks at the top, the longest run from a song by a female artist that also hit No. 1 on the country charts. Whose record did she best? Taylor Swift, of course.) Langley and her earworms, it seems, are too big to fail.

It's not just “Choosin' Texas,” though it is a standout. “Dandelion” plays to Langley's old soul strengths. The album opens with “Froggy Went A Courtin',” the centuries-old folk song and nursery rhyme, before leading to a few tracks worthy of their own myth-making: The homesick title track “Dandelion,” the credits-closing cinema of “Low Lights,” the sweet dual harmonies with ERNEST on “Loving Life Again,” and so on.

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Wednesday, Apr. 8, 2026

This cover image released by SAWGOD/Columbia shows"Dandelion" by Ella Langley. (SAWGOD/Columbia via AP)

This cover image released by SAWGOD/Columbia shows

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