It may be a while until we get new music from Christine And The Queens. Chris, as the artist is also known, suffered an injury during rehearsals for the tour in support of his upcoming album, Redcar Les Adorables Étoiles‘, and has thus postponed his upcoming tour dates.
For his upcoming album era, Chris has created the character Redcar, as whom he will perform on tour. Today, Chris issued a statement saying “Red injured himself while dancing” during rehearsals.
“The doctors have forbidden him to return to the stage for at least three weeks, the time to recover,” he continued. “We are therefore obliged to cancel the concert in Arles on 17 September and to postpone the concerts in Paris and London.”
As a result, the album, Redcar Les Adorables Étoiles, as well as the tour dates, were pushed back to November.
Last month, Chris revealed in a TikTok that he now uses he/him pronouns and has been living as a man “for a year.” He also called the Redcar character a “poetic and philosophical construction.”
While the United Kingdom is in the midst of a 17-day national period of mourning following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Netflix subscribers around the world — including those in England — are learning all they can about history’s second-longest reigning monarch (only Louis XIV of France trumped her) by watching/re-watching The Crown.
As Variety reports, Netflix has seen a seriously renewed interest in Peter Morgan’s award-winning series since it was announced that the Queen had passed away at the age of 96 on Thursday, September 8. Between Friday and Sunday alone, viewership in the UK increased by more than 800 percent when compared to the previous weekend, per data from Whip Media. Interest in the series, which charts the life of Elizabeth from a young princess to a 25-year-old mother and wife who unexpectedly has the royal crown thrust upon her head following the death of her father, King George VI, in early 1952, was most pronounced in England. However, U.S. viewership nearly quadrupled week over week and saw a threefold increase in France during the same weekend dates.
Worldwide, according to Variety, “viewership increased nearly four times over the past weekend versus the previous weekend, according to Whip Media.”
The long-awaited fifth season of The Crown, which should be its penultimate season, is rumored to be returning on November 5. The new season will mark the debut of Imelda Staunton in the role of Elizabeth — a part that has changed hands as time has passed, beginning with Claire Foy for the first two seasons, followed by Olivia Colman for seasons 3 and 4.
On Friday, The Crown’s producers announced that they were halting production on filming to pay tribute to the Queen, and that they would do the same again on the day of her funeral.
When Squid Gamedropped on Netflix a year ago, the whole world became enamored with watching a bunch of middle-aged people play bloody children’s games with deadly outcomes for entertainment because, well, that’s what TV is for! But when Netflix announced that there would be a reality competition series based on the show, people were understandably hesitant.
Obviously, Netflix would not kill its contestants (there are a lot of liability issues there) but the whole show is a commentary on what people are willing to do for money when they are desperate, which doesn’t really translate into a light-hearted reality competition. The show, which was ordered earlier this summer, will take 456 players on a journey to win $4.56 million in a violence-free competition.
Squid Game’s creator Hwang Dong-hyuk is well aware of how the competition series might feel a little disingenuous, but he thinks that it won’t make light of the dark drama show, and instead, bring awareness to other people’s financial hardships.
“What I hope is that they will be carrying on my vision and intention as much as possible for the show,” the now Emmy-winner explained while backstage at the ceremony. “I think that even though our show does carry quite a heavy message — and I know that there are some concerns on taking that message and creating it into a reality show with a cash prize. I feel like when you take things too seriously, that’s really not the best way to go for the entertainment industry. It doesn’t really set a great precedent.”
Hwang also said he met with the creators of the reality show to be sure that they would remain true to its core beliefs, while also having some entertaining moments. It is a TV show competition, after all, and it shouldn’t be taken that seriously. As long as nobody gets killed during an intense game of Red Light Green Light, it will be fine!
Pop-cultural historically speaking, Tulsa is not always a desired destination for TV characters. Granted, Doctor Manhattan wanted to be there in HBO’s Watchmen, and it is Bill Hader’s hometown, but it’s still a place where (some) characters feel banished. Gary from Justified ran from the Dixie Mafia and ended up there to give motivational speeches in hotels near the airport, and Friends‘ Chandler got sent to Tulsa for work (and Thanksgiving), which wasn’t a fun development for him. Then there’s Tulsa King, from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, who wrote this show for Stallone, who plays a mob boss that did decades in prison to save a bigger boss’ butt. And for his trouble, he gets shipped off to Oklahoma.
The man who portrayed Rocky Balboa recently declared that working in Tulsa (and Oklahoma City) for this show was a good crash-course for Hell (due to the blazing heat) and that he had never worked harder, so one can assume that his character felt the pain, too. In the above trailer, we see how not-thrilled he is to be exiled in Tulsa, where everyone can instantly guess that he’s not a local. From the synopsis:
TULSA KING follows New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi, just after he is released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Okla. Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a “crew” from a group of unlikely characters, to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet.
Tulsa King also star Vincent Piazza, Andrea Savage, Martin Starr, Max Casella, and Garrett Hedlund. The show streams on Paramount+ beginning on November 13.
Funko, that toy company best-known for its line of cartoony, big-headed vinyl figurines, has become truly ubiquitous in recent years, thanks to its uncanny ability to license basically every likeness known to pop culture.
And while the bulk of the attention those Funko Pop! statues get focuses on the ones for sci-fi and geek culture mainstays like Rick And Morty, Squid Games, Star Wars, and Marvel, Funko appears to be doing some tidy business in branching out to hip-hop icons as well. In the past, such familiar faces as Lil Wayne and Tupac Shakur have been turned into Pops, and now, they’ll be joined by a rapper who is every bit as omnipresent as Pops are: Snoop Dogg.
As with all things Snoop, Funko is really blowing it out, releasing a full collection of Snoop Dogg looks. There’s Snoop dressed as a pimp and in his guise as a friendly neighborhood rapper, complete with afro and checkered shirt. There’s one with Snoop in his beloved Lakers jersey and another in a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey that I have to believe wouldn’t possibly have been approved if Funko management knew what it really represented (there’s a “20” on it, for crying out loud). There’s even a normal-proportioned Vinyl GOLD figurine if the Pops are too cutesy for the fanbase.
But the best one is the Pop! Album figure for Doggystyle. The Pendleton. Those braids. That’s classic Snoop and is almost certainly the one going on the desk at work. You can check them all out here.
The 1975 leader Matty Healy shared some surprising news recently: In a New Yorker interview published a few days ago, he revealed that Ed Sheeran asked The 1975 to open for him on tour but he declined the opportunity, saying, “I tend to say no to stuff for money. I don’t know how you can write this up without it being rude or inappropriate, but I just got offered a four-month tour next year of stadiums with the biggest singer-songwriter in the world that would’ve made me money that I’ve never even seen or heard of in my life.”
He continued, “The thing that’s stopped me just doing that is because — I don’t care. It’s not worth it. Not because I don’t like Ed Sheeran. I think he’s, in a lot of ways, a genius, and he does what he does better than anybody else. But opening up for somebody and not just being real, that’s the kind of stuff I think about.”
Now, he has clarified his comments, noting that nothing he said had to do with having any sort of disrespect for Sheeran. Yesterday (September 12), he tweeted, “just to be clear I have mad respect for Ed Sheeran and I didn’t decline sharing a stage with him I just wanted to do our own shows instead and he’s always been so nice to me personally and publicaly so don’t start a twitter thing for fun.”
just to be clear I have mad respect for Ed Sheeran and I didn’t decline sharing a stage with him I just wanted to do our own shows instead and he’s always been so nice to me personally and publicaly so don’t start a twitter thing for fun
Meanwhile, The 1975 is in the midst of promoting their recently announced album, Being Funny In A Foreign Language, which is set to drop on October 14.
As Ken Jennings gets ready to start the new season of Jeopardy! as a permanent co-host alongside Mayim Bialik, the long line of contestants he left in the dust have some mixed emotions about his new position. Known as the KJL, or Ken Jennings Losers, these group of contestants are still smarting from Jennings’ legendary run in the mid-2000s when he plowed through records and mauled everyone in his path after Jeopardy! lifted a cap on winning streaks. Now, he’s the host, and those old wounds still sting.
“When he was starting as host, my mother about lost her mind,” Merritt Hamilton Allen, KJL 122, told The Ringer. “My mother never got over her rage.”
It also didn’t help that Jennings’ epic winning run was facilitated by a significant change in how Jeopardy! handled competitors who were repeatedly dominating episodes:
Jennings’s streak was not without controversy. In its early seasons, Jeopardy! capped champions at five straight wins, at which point they were sent home with their cash total and a car. The five-day limit was lifted just a year before Jennings arrived, and some contestants—including more than a few five-day champs who were certain they could have gone on longer—cried foul. The New York Times declared Jennings “the most annoying man in game show history” and insisted he was holding poor Jeopardy! hostage, but it made no difference: On he went.
However, not every KJL is mad about Jennings’ rise to the podium. In fact, former opponent Jeff Suchard thinks the situation is a great opportunity for Jennings to make a solid gesture to the players he defeated.
“What I’m really hoping for is Ken to host a ‘Ken Jennings Losers [KJL] Tournament’ on Jeopardy!” Suchard told The Ringer. “Where they invite back the one or two dozen of his defeated opponents who really looked like they might have had a chance against him.”
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are teaming up with Netflix for a documentary on one of the greatest basketball teams ever assembled. Last month, it was announced that the pair would executive produce a doc called The Redeem Team, which tells the story of the 2008 United States men’s basketball team.
You almost certainly know the story by now, but if not, a quick refresher: The U.S. won bronze at the 2004 Olympics, marking the first time since 1988 that the Americans failed to win gold. In response, the United States put together an incredible collection of talent for the 2008 Games in Beijing, with James and Wade being joined by guys like Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Bosh. With head coach Mike Krzyzewski at the helm, the team won every game by double-digit points en route to a gold.
Now, we have an idea of what we can come to expect when the film hits streaming services next month, as Netflix dropped the trailer for the project on Tuesday. Unsurprisingly, The Redeem Team features behind-the-scenes footage of the squad and a number of interviews with the people involved with the team, including archival footage of interviews performed with Bryant prior to his passing in 2020.
Only a few days away until Blackpink‘s highly anticipated album Born Pink sees the light of day. But what’s a K-pop release without a string of teasers leading up to release day?
Once the clock struck midnight in Korean Standard Time (KST) — 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT our time today — Blackpink unveiled the first music video teaser to their lead single “Shut Down.” The 24-second clip kicks off with a classic symphony reminiscent of luxury brand and jewelry commercials, except viewers are welcomed to scenes with Blackpink-branded caution tape placed on top of signs and graffiti, featuring song titles and sayings from the four-piece ensemble.
It’s not until the 14-second mark where we get to hear Rosé sing a taunting line from the song (“Keep watching me shut you down”) followed by quick cuts of her, Jennie, Jisoo and Lisa in their respective characters. The three-second glimpse of the members ends off with masked-up Lisa shooting a finger gun at the camera.
“Shut Down” was written and produced by YG Entertainment’s in-house producer TEDDY, co-written by Danny Chung, R&B singer Vince, and arranged and co-produced by 24. Blackpink’s second studio album Born Pink is set to release on Friday, September 16 at midnight with eight tracks. The group will follow up their album promotions with a world tour of the same name that will kick off in Seoul, South Korea next month, North America and Europe in November, and Asia, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand in 2023.
Japanese whisky intrinsically feels more elite. It comes from far away and tends to be pricy, before it even gets to these shores. Japanese whisky also possesses a singular level of refinement, elevating the juice, and the price, to rare heights. And while Japanese whisky is inherently tied to Scotch whisky traditions, the terroir, water, grains, yeast, and process (fermenting, distilling, and aging) are purely Japanese.
The best way to experience the beauty of Japanese whisky? Try some of the good stuff, of course.
Luckily, there’s a new set of Japanese whiskies from Suntory that allows you to sample four incredible bottles from Japan’s oldest (commercial) whisky stills at the Yamazaki Distillery. The 2022 Limited Edition Yamazaki Tsukuriwake Selection includes four bottles of the really good stuff, including a bottle of Yamazaki Puncheon, Yamazaki Peated Malt, Yamazaki Spanish Oak, and the fleeting Yamazaki Mizunara.
Naturally, you’ll pay a premium for the experience, as each bottle in the set costs $450, plus $620 to add the Mizunara bottle. And that still might be a steal, considering it totals up to $1,970, for a set of whiskies that easily cost three to five times that much each on the secondary market. What sets this set of whiskies apart is that it’s actually available in the United States this year (along with only 11 other countries worldwide).
While whiskies at this price are largely collectible bottles that end up in vaults for trades, flips, and profits, these whiskies are also incredibly drinkable. Which is why I’m cracking open each bottle and telling you what’s inside. Let’s dive in!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Scotch Whisky Posts of The Last Six Months
This is classic Yamazaki whisky. The juice is made from malt whisky that is aged in large puncheon barrels (480 liters, compared to around 200 liters for a standard barrel). The barrels were made by Suntory from American oak specifically to age this whisky.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a softness on the nose that leads toward floral honey with dried apple chips, pear skins, acacia bark, and a smidge of vanilla beans dipped in toffee with this slight hint of sour butter under it all. The palate is lush and leans into the toffee with a flake of salt in the mix as the pear stews toward a line of saffron with a buttery underbelly and more of that honey tied to a hint of dry bark. The end layers the honey and bark together with soft vanilla and pear in the background.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the easiest drinking whiskies out there. It’s so soft and supple with a clear sense of orchard fruits and honey that it’s sort of iconic. That all makes this the perfect easy sipper.
This “hidden” gem is made from heavily peated malted barley. Once barreled, those whiskies are left to mature until they hit a stellar flavor profile (not a year number). Those casks are then masterfully blended and just touched with local spring water.
Tasting Notes:
The smoke comes through like a thin line slowly inching into the sky from a cabin chimney on a rainy day next to dried fennel and caraway with a sense of whole grain toast, salted butter, and maybe some orchard bark ash. The palate starts off sweet, with grilled pineapple and salted papaya that gives way to an earthy burnt dirt vibe next to burnt orange rinds and lime leaves. The end circles back to that thin line of fireplace smoke while singed cedar and pine turn to coal and the citrus darkens towards a hint of leather and vanilla.
Bottom Line:
This is a subtle yet complex peated malt. It’s very peated but leans into so much more than that. Overall, this is a stunningly easy drinking whisky that challenges your palate into actually liking smoky whiskies if you don’t already.
This single malt is all about marrying Japanese whisky with Spanish oak. The malts are aged exclusively in oak from Northern Spain. After the flavor profile hits the exact right depth, the barrels are vatted and proofed with a dash of water for bottling.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a medley of sultanas, dates, prunes, dried cranberries, and maybe some candied grape before veering toward a big umami note that’s halfway between a sun-dried tomato and a dash of powdered mushroom. The palate opens with a rich sticky toffee pudding with plenty of winter spices, black tea-soaked dates, and almost creamy toffee next to orange oils and a hint of dark roasted espresso beans. The end takes on a buttery vibe as creamy dark chocolate attaches to those espresso beans and a final hint of orange sneaks in late.
Bottom Line:
This is one of my favorite pours on this list. It’s complex and comforting. It also really blooms with more creaminess, citrus, and cacao with a little water.
This is one of the most sought-after whiskies from Yamazaki. The juice spends over 12 years maturing in Mizunara casks only — this isn’t some whisky that’s “finished” in old Mizurana casks for a few months. After over a decade of mellowing, the casks are hand-picked for their excellence, vatted, and just proofed before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a sense of winter spice that meanders from woody cinnamon bark toward cloves, allspice, anise, cardamon, and even some soft nutmeg before light yet. creamy vanilla custard leads to a thin whisper of sandalwood and lavender. The palate hints at agarwood with a dash of old potpourri next to sweet cinnamon and allspice in a slightly sour mulled wine with a bit of brown sugar lurking in the background. The end leans into the woodiness of the spices with a bit more floral incense burning beneath it all.
Bottom Line:
This is so complex and well-made. I’m not in love with this whiskey — it’s too floral for me — but I can see why people adore it. It’s just a perfectly made whisky with a really unique vibe.
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