Like most other sports leagues on the planet, the English Premier League is on an extended hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the fact that the league has all but decided who will be its champion, and despite two major footballing leagues in Europe ending its seasons altogether, the Premier League is motivated to pick up where it left off, giving teams the opportunity to play the final nine or 10 games on everyone’s schedules.

Premier League Shareholders held a meeting on Friday, one which which they mapped out how the rest of this season could potentially look. In a statement, it was announced that while the top priority is making sure those involved in the league are healthy, everyone is in agreement that the goal is to conclude this campaign.

No decisions were taken at today’s Shareholders’ meeting and clubs exchanged views on the information provided regarding “Project Restart”.

It was agreed that the PFA, LMA, players and managers are key to this process and will be further consulted.

The clubs reconfirmed their commitment to finishing the 2019/20 season, maintaining integrity of the competition and welcomed the Government’s support.

The news comes days after France’s Ligue 1 called its season and crowned Paris Saint-Germain champions and a week following the Dutch Eredivisie opting to cancel this year and not name a champion. England is in a spot where it could afford to do the former — currently, Liverpool sit in first place on 82 points, while Manchester City are in second on 57 points. The Reds are two wins away from securing a title, and seeing as how an unparalleled catastrophe is assuredly not going to happen, it would be hard to fault the Premier League for opting to just name them champions if they go that route.

Things are a little more complex with spots in Europe — the top-4 automatically qualify for Champions League, Nos. 5 and 6 automatically make Europa League, and No. 7 goes to Europa League qualifying. The clubs in 18th, 19th, and 20th are also relegated to the Championship, another gigantic can of worms that would need to be dealt with.

There’s no set date for when the league would start back up, but reports out of England indicate the target date is June 8.

What does a music festival during a global pandemic look like? Turns out, it looks a whole lot like your kitchen, or living room, or bathroom — whichever room you decide to place your laptop in while you tune into a livestream of your favorite performers. During the first weekend of April, independent electronic music brands Proximity and Brownies & Lemonade invited people to do exactly that, as they linked up for a charity stream that managed to raise $300,000 to benefit the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, a 501 c nonprofit supporting out of work musicians. In the process, they created Digital Mirage, one of the world’s first post-COVID-19 online-only multi-day music festivals.

Digital Mirage was a three-day electronic music festival live-streamed on Proximity’s YouTube channel that brought together some of the genre’s best producers and performers like TOKiMONSTA, Kaskade, Alison Wonderland, Louis The Child, and A-Trak. All proceeds from the stream went towards providing financial support for musicians who make their incomes through performing and other industry professionals who are now experiencing hardships in the face of COVID-19. Though it was designed to generate funds, via sponsorships and other revenue-generating opportunities, the festival was completely free to stream for the at-home audience, a decision that was baked into the concept from the outset.

“I think it’s really important that we try to do as much as we can in this current situation to help not only people that are displaced in our community, but also to help people that are just trapped in their homes, and to keep them in their homes, ” Kush Fernando, co-founder of Brownies & Lemonade explained over the phone, last week. He was joined by creative director Chad Kenney and Proximity head Blake Coppelson.

“It just goes back to our genre of electronic music and what our community really embodies,” Coppelson added. “When we threw this event we knew that wherever people were enjoying it, they were making the best of it.”

So can a livestream ever live up to the tangible experience of a real festival? In truth, probably not. But the reality is that this is the new normal for all of us and we’re just going to have to make the best of it. Digital Mirage passed that test with flying colors, and the interface of streaming brought about some of its own unique connective benefits,

“One of the things that made it feel like a communal experience was that a lot of the artists were engaging with the fans on an eye-to-eye level through Discord and YouTube chat and other areas where there wasn’t an even playing field before,” Kenney said. “It created a level for fans, members of the community, the people producing the event, and the artists themselves to all connect.”

Some “festival-goers” even took it upon themselves to rock their favorite festival fashions to the digital event.

Contrary to common assumptions, putting on a festival experience online isn’t as easy as throwing some performers in front of a webcam and pushing play. Right now, the scene is a Wild West of best guesses and experimentation.

“One of the biggest challenges of throwing an online music festival is the fact that this is really our first time doing it,” said Kenney. “The biggest hurdle that we’re running into is being able to plug-in artists from all different time zones and places around the world live and for them to stream into this central hub. The technology isn’t really at that point yet where it ideally could be to make this stuff efficient and pretty seamless.”

Those growing pains gave Digital Mirage a distinctly charming lo-fi aesthetic that matched well with the DIY moment that we’re all collectively experiencing. For the festival organizers, it harkened back to their upstart roots, throwing small scale shows in the LA area.

“Everything that we do has always kind of felt DIY,” Fernando said. “We’re an independent event producer, so everything that we do is very much based on our relationships, our connections to the industry, and that people we’ve come up with.”

While states nationwide are gearing up to reopen by mid-May, life isn’t going to go back to normal for some time — a widespread COVID-19 vaccine likely won’t be commercially available until Spring 2021, at the earliest — which is why festival organizers across the country are scrambling to figure out how to foster a digital iteration of their events for an audience hungry for quality content and connective experiences. Burning Man is taking the leap to digital, though they’ve been openly vague about what that will look like, but other big festivals are having less success transitioning, like California’s Lightning In A Bottle, which is canceling this year and asking ticket holders to consider donating the money for their ticket refunds to ensure the festival can bounce back in 2021.

How long COVID-19 will prevent us from experiencing music festivals is anyone’s best guess, which puts the idea of a physical Coachella in October in question. In the event that we still can’t gather in large groups by October of 2020, will the technology and online infrastructure be there to deliver an experience that ticket holders will feel adequately meets their expectations?

“I think that the model is ever-changing,” Kenney said. “It’s obviously a time of global crisis but also a time for certain models and schools of thought within our industry to be tested, revised, and changed. It’s not really clear cut whether it’s sustainable per se, but I definitely see that given the projections of where the world is going to be in the next six months to a year, this is definitely going to be a very very regular thing, no doubt.”

COVID-19 may indeed put a permanent end to some of our favorite festivals that are unable to adapt to a rapidly changing landscape, but while we may not always have a Coachella or a Lightning In A Bottle or... any one of our favorite annual festivals, the idea of gathering together in some form to share the experience of live music is never going to die.

“I do think that the future is going to really reshape for us what we think of as a ‘live’ festival experience,” Kenney said, near the end of our call. “There will be more interactivity that people are unaware of yet that will really make some of these experiences for some people just as real or transformative as live experiences were. It’s obvious everything is going to be different, but the world itself is different.”

Sometimes good R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm and blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the hottest R&B jams that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.

After being liberated from her former label and signing to Warner Records, JoJo has made her triumphant return with her fourth studio album Good To Know. Trey Songz also emerged after a long hiatus with his latest release “Back Home” featuring Summer Walker, who also happens to be on Khalid’s remix to “Eleven,” with the music video dropping today.

JoJo — Good To Know

JoJo had a huge moment when her 2004 hit “Leave (Get Out)” was released at the age of 13-years-old. Due to label complications, the then budding singer kind of disappeared into an abyss until recently. Now, her fourth album Good To Know is here nine songs deep and it is where JoJo relentlessly flexes her gracious vocals, like she usually does, as a soul-simmering diary of love and heartbreak with songs such as “Lonely Hearts” and “Comeback” featuring Tory Lanez.

Trey Songz — “Back Home” Feat. Summer Walker

Like Trey Songz says, “It’s been a long time.” Trigga has arrived with his first single of the year, “Back Home,” featuring Summer Walker and it borrows Cam’ron’s “Oh Boy” vibe with a New Edition melody. Summer shows up and equally does her part as she sonically answers Trey with her luxurious brand of vocalization. This week, the Grammy Award-nominated R&B singer recently pleased all of his longtime fans with two of his most popular mixtapes, Anticipation I and Anticipation II.

Khalid — “Eleven (Remix)” Feat. Summer Walker

Khalid tapped Summer Walker for the remix to his track “Eleven” and today the music video for the celebrated single has been released. Exactly how Khalid and Summer are cruising around the city in luxury whips, “Eleven (Remix)” is the epitome of romantic car music and was made to be heard while riding through the streets at night, with the windows down and the volume turned all the way up.

Joyce Wrice — “That’s On You”

Los Angeles-based R&B singer Joyce Wrice came through this week with the oh-so smooth “That’s On You,” as the first release off her upcoming album. Brimming with the robust bliss of string and brass instruments fusing together with the love and care of her sweet voice, “That’s On You,” is an expressive spiritual experience. Joyce was recently featured on Westside Gunn’s “French Toast” featuring Wale, off his critically-acclaimed album Pray For Paris.

HER — “Wrong Places”

After appearing as a guest on NBC’s songwriting competition series Songland, HER issued the release of her slow jam “Wrong Places.” Intertwined between the sounds of an acoustic guitar and sharp snares settled in the heart of a healthy bassline, HER sings what she means while improvising flowy ad-libs infused with passion.

Bryce Hase — “Language” Feat. Tory Lanez

Up and coming Dallas, Texas native Bryce Hase really delivers with his latest release “Language” featuring Tory Lanez. While Bryce provides a majority of the song’s cozy infrastructure, Tory furiously drops a fire verse that adds something special to the entire essence of the track. Though he’s new the scene, his recently released songs, “I Know U Been Stressed <3” and “Wonderland,” have accumulated over two million streams overall.

Brandy — “Baby Mama” Feat. Chance The Rapper

Brandy‘s new song “Baby Mama” is right on time for Mother’s Day and it includes a feature from Chance The Rapper. In a recent interview with SiriusXM, the Grammy Award-winning singer said, “It’s celebrating mothers out there who are out there doing their best for their children and striving in their independence, in their strength, in their power. I just wanted to come out with a powerful message like that.”

Rome Flynn — “Keep Me In Mind”

How to Get Away With Murder‘s Rome Flynn not only acts but he sings too, and he happens to be really good at it. Assembled by Grammy Award-winning producer Bizness Boi, the R&B crooner’s latest release “Keep Me In Mind” is a provocative love ballad emanating in close intimacy.

24kGoldn — “Unbelievable” Feat. Kaash Paige

Rising singers 24kGoldn and Kaash Paige connect for the (un)official dreamy live-action visual made to their collab single “Unbelievable.” The song’s infectious melody borrows from Drake’s 2011 fan-favorite “Marvins Room,” turning it into an ethereal vortex that’s hard to escape.

Check out this week’s R&B picks, plus more on Uproxx’s Spotify playlist below.

We knew coming into the Parks and Recreation reunion special that the main cast — Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, Aziz Ansari, Chris Pratt, etc. — would be involved, but the guest stars were a fun unknown. Would Jeremy Jamm show up? Or Dennis Feinstein? Or Tammy II? Or Bobby Newport? Yes, yes, yes, and yes, although Bobby, the lovable dumb-dumb played by Paul Rudd, was a close call.

The episode originally began with Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman, as themselves, explaining the fundraiser. But, as creator Michael Schur explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, “the problem was that it was kind of a bummer to see, ‘Hi, I’m Amy Poehler.’ ‘Hi, I’m Nick Offerman.’ And then you dip to black and you come up and they’re there again, but they’re playing characters instead of themselves.” It wouldn’t have been confusing — although Offerman and Ron Swanson are essentially the same person — but it would have been jarring. So the writers came up with a new opening:

“So we were like, ‘Well, who else could we get that would be really fun to see?,’ and very quickly thought of Paul — and very quickly shot him the joke that he just has no idea what’s going on. We texted him and said like, ‘Hey, would you be up for this?’ And he said, ‘Sure!’ But he’s on the East Coast, he’s not here. So we were like, ‘Okay, we only have a day to do this, so we can FedEx you this rig and then you would get it tomorrow.’ And he’s like, ‘I have an iPhone! I have a little microphone. Let me just do it and see if it’s okay.’ I wrote a script for him, I emailed it to him, and then an hour later, he was like, ‘Here!’ He had just done it.

Is it possible to not like Paul Rudd? (That’s a hypothetical question. It’s not.)

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

A week after NBA G League players began the process of unionizing, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported one of the preliminary agreements between the league and its players. The minor league’s players will now be guaranteed individual hotel rooms on the road as well as a $15 increase in their per diem.

In recent years, the league has taken dramatic steps forward toward legitimacy as a true minor league for the NBA. That includes adding two-way contracts to NBA rosters, the addition of several new teams, the growth of the G League showcase every December, and the use of affiliates for rehabilitation by teams like the Warriors.

Unionization is the latest and biggest step for the G League. While no reports regarding the official formation of a union have come out yet, this agreement is likely an intermediate step in negotiations that will continue. It is expected that issues such as player salary and even pre- and post-game meals will be part of the negotiations between the two parties.

The G League also has the details of its Select Team to sort out in southern California after nabbing talented high-school seniors Jalen Green, Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix. That team still does not have a coach or a firm schedule, but is expected to play about 20 games this fall and winter as a new part of the G League.

The NBA continues to invest in the G League, and it doesn’t appear the players’ motion toward unionizing has halted progress at all.

After releasing her debut album Immunity back in August, Clairo was booked to open for Tame Impala’s tour this summer. But, along with the rest of live music events, the tour was postponed. While in quarantine, Clairo has been using her newfound free time to work on new music. On Friday, the singer shared a soulful cover of Johnny Flynn’s 2008 track “Brown Trout Blues.”

With just an acoustic guitar and her room-filling vocals, Clairo gives her stripped-down rendition of Flynn’s decade-old brassy track. Sharing the cover to YouTube, Clairo wrote that the song is one of her favorites.

Ahead of the cover, Clairo discussed the prospects of a new album in a recent interview with Apple Music’s Beats 1: “It’s a lot. It’s like over thirty right now. Obviously that’s not going to happen. Thirty-track album like no, but I think I’m just trying to make a lot of stuff. So that I’m able to kind of handpick what I still care about in six months because it becomes obvious much later whether or not it’s like a song. I have a major problem of like thinking that the last thing I made is like my best work.”

Staying true to her word, Clairo has recently been working on recording music. Ahead of her Johnny Flynn cover, the singer has released a handful of demos. Her latest, “Everything I Know,” provides a nostalgic escape from reality with toned-down vocals and fuzzy guitars.

Listen to Clairo cover Johnny Flynn’s “Brown Trout Blues” above.

Earlier this month, Fox 13 meteorologist Paul Dellegatto was presenting the weather forecast from home when his Golden Retriever, Brody, kept accidentally bumping the computer. So Dellegatto let Brody sit on his lap during his broadcast and cuteness ensued.

But the Golden Retriever couldn’t sit still for long. Body then jumped off Delgatto’s lap and walked towards the window where his cameraman, Craig, was filing the weather segment from his porch. This confused poor Brody who probably doesn’t understand social distancing.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Paul, but this is amazing,” the show’s anchor told the embarrassed weatherman.

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‘Brody’ the dog interrupts Paul Dellegatto’s weathercast

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When Charli XCX released her “Forever” video last month, it was the fruit of a collaborative effort with her fans. The video featured tons of follower-submitted clips, and while her just-released “Claws” video is quite different in nature, there’s still a lot going on.

Charli previously teased the premise of the video in a Zoom call with fans, saying a couple weeks ago, “I’ve got two ideas. One involves me in a bikini on a scooter, and one involves me making out with Huck, my boyfriend, on a green screen for the whole video, kind of inspired by Shawn Mendes and Camila [Cabello] when they made out on Instagram, because that was really hot and fun. So those are the reference points, but we’ll see which one happens.” It turns out both of those ideas found their way into the final visual.

Meanwhile, Charli recently teased the tracklist of the upcoming album yesterday, writing on Twitter, “update: these are the song titles in the mix for the album: forever, claws, party4u, detonate, enemy, 7 years, anthem, pictures in my mind, pink diamond, i finally understand. there’s also other tracks i still love that I haven’t written over just yet….”

Watch the “Claws” video above.

How I’m Feeling Now is out 5/15.

Charli XCX is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

While promoting his latest film, Free Guy, Ryan Reynolds shared an update on Deadpool 3 and how things are going with making the Merc With the Mouth play nice with his new Disney pals. Unfortunately, it sounds like there are still concerns around letting Deadpool run wild in the MCU, and Reynolds also seems to be implying that there is still a scenario where a third film doesn’t happen.

While talking to Total Film (via GamesRadar), Reynolds admitted that the situation with Marvel is still “all so new,” and they’re still trying to figure out the “ins and outs.” It also doesn’t help that current events have thrown Hollywood into a state of uncertainty across the board where nobody knows when projects are going to make it in front of a camera.

“I think once I’m more intimate with it – if we get to make a Deadpool 3… if or when we get to make a Deadpool 3, I’ll probably have a better perspective on that. But I’m a huge fan of Marvel, and how they make movies. So when Disney bought Fox, I only saw that as a good thing. Deadpool hopefully being allowed to play in that sandbox, I think is just a win for everyone involved. But we’ll certainly see.”

Again, Hollywood is in a state of flux, so it’s understandable that Reynolds would be uncertain about the timeline for filming Deadpool 3. That said, his answer seems to suggest that unleashing Deadpool on the MCU isn’t a done deal. Obviously, it would be a win-win for fans, but apparently Disney still has concerns about mixing the R-Rated property with its more family-friendly PG-13 Marvel universe.

Granted, Reynolds and Marvel Studios made their relationship official back in December when he announced Deadpool 3 on Live! With Kelly Ryan, but that’s honestly not a lot of time to devise a plan given both Reynolds’ and Marvel’s full plates. Toss in a global pandemic, and Deadpool fans might be waiting a very long time until they see their favorite katana-wielding sex toy on the big screen again.

(Via GamesRadar)