The federal government recommends no one attend gatherings of more than 10 people, but some churches are still encouraging big congregations to attend Easter Sunday services.

View Entire Post ›

I *knew* I recognized that voice.

View Entire Post ›

The Weeknd‘s After Hours has become the first album to sit atop the Billboard albums charts for three consecutive weeks since Post Malone’s 2019 album Hollywood’s Bleeding. In its first week, the record sold a total of 444,000 equivalent album units sold, while the second week added 138,000 more.

As his latest entered its third week, The Weeknd faced a bit of controversy after he said he was “angry” that Usher created a “Weeknd song” for his 2012 hit, namely the Diplo-produced “Climax.” Usher delivered an indirect response to the comments while fans voiced their anger with The Weeknd. Nonetheless, After Hours came in at No. 1 for a third week thanks to 90,000 equivalent album units sold. Of that number, 64,000 were streaming equivalent album units and 23,000 were in album sales.

Looking at the rest of the field, Rod Wave and his sophomore album, Pray 4 Love debuted at No. 2 with 72,000 equivalent album units, while Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake holds onto the third position for another week, with 69,000 equivalent album units. Rounding out the top five, Lil Baby’s My Turn jumped two positions to come in at No. 4 and Sam Hunt’s Southside grabbed the No. 5 position.

Other notable albums in the top 10 include Roddy Ricch’s Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial at No. 7, Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia at No. 8, and Jhené Aiko’s Chilombo at No. 10.

Read our review of After Hours here.

[via Billboard]

The NBA, like every other sports league in the United States, is currently playing the waiting game, hoping that they can return at some point this summer if the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic can be slowed sufficiently.

In the meantime, all the league can do is plan for various contingencies depending on how things go over the coming months. One such plan is a “bubble league” of sorts, in which teams are effectively quarantined together in one location to play out the remainder of the season and/or playoffs, with no fans in attendance.

One of the questions facing the league is how long would they need to give players and teams before restarting games, given that the vast majority of players will have gone months without playing basketball or even being able to shoot for months. Some have suggested they would need as few as two weeks or as much as one month, and according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the league has crafted a 25-day “return to basketball” plan that includes 11 days of individual workouts practicing social distancing and then a 14-day training camp once the league is cleared to do so.

The issue with this plan — like all the others — is that there is no timeline for the virus to go away and without massive testing improvements and the availability of rapid testing for the NBA, there’s no way to be confident in clearing players to go ahead with 5-on-5 activities. Given what we know about the way the virus can spread from asymptomatic people — and that the league has had numerous asymptomatic cases — there would have to be a testing protocol in place in such a plan.

For now, all the league can do is try to figure all of these things out and, at the least, it seems like there is a plan in place. The question now is whether they get to enact it.

View Entire Post ›

The most recent SNL was arguably their oddest episode since the one in 1979 where a cranky Milton Berle hosted alongside free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman, with the quarantined cast doing sketches in isolation, from the privacy of their own homes. With its low-res webcam images and spotty sound, it had the feel of public access television, only starring famous people (and their even more famous guests) in a timeslot that’s been held for nearly half a century. But there was one sketch that didn’t involve peering into some performer’s living room or home office: a cartoon that offered a dark and sad look at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles if they got older.

Granted, “Middle-Aged Ninja Turtles” doesn’t have the same ring to it. (Nor does it have the same number of consonants to get highlighted on this excellent Twitter account.) But failure was the general vibe of the sketch, which finds Michelangelo fighting his estranged wife for custody of the kids, Raphael frowning while checking his weight, and Donatello getting a call from his PCP about a suspicious lump on his spine.

“They came from mutagens in secret ooze/Now they do their own shopping at Whole Foods,” goes the opening credits song, which adds that “They used to be so cool/Now they drive their spoiled kids to school.” It’s a grim look at the boredom and melancholy of middle age, when bodies start failing, dreams recede into the past, and life becomes powerfully mundane. Even Shredder has died, albeit not from any of their hands; he simply got too old. The worst bit was saved for the song’s final line: “All of them are sober now/Turtle Power!”

Anyway, as the Stones said, what a drag it is getting old. In fact, since the Turtles first appeared in 1984, that means they’re probably in their 50s now. Of course, so are Keanu Reeves and Brad Pitt, so maybe age really is only a number. And at least they’re still young and teenaged on their fifth and latest animated show.

View Entire Post ›

Twitch streams across the world are seeing additional viewers thanks to social distancing keeping everyone inside with not much to do, but not every stream is the most entertaining. In the “At Home” version of Saturday Night Live, that notion is taken to the extreme with a streamer who is absolutely terrible at Call of Duty‘s battle royale mode, Warzone.

In the sketch, Day plays Cam Playz Dat, who has decided to make the switch from Fortnite to Warzone. And it immediately goes poorly. Day dies almost instantly, and his respawn gets sniped as well. The comment section starts lighting him up, and Cam actually pleads with those watching to stop camping out near the respawn points so he can actually play.

Even when he manages to get going, though, he doesn’t last long. The point of the sketch is perhaps to say that not every streamer is great at games, and that when you’re not very good it doesn’t make for a very entertaining show.

In this case, however, SNL did do its research. Warzone has seen more than 50 million people give the free-to-play mode a shot in the last few weeks of self-quarantine, which is a pretty strong showing for a mode that’s barely a month old. Maybe with some practice Cam can get a bit better at it and his stream will improve. But then again, he can always just go back to Fortnite.

The coronavirus continues to affect all corners of the world, with no end in sight. As the country continues to fight shortages of masks and other PPE (personal protective equipment) for healthcare workers, a number of celebrities have gone out of their way to help out by way of donations. For example, Future, Meek Mill and Jay-Z and more have all donated masks to a number of hospitals throughout the country. Now Diddy has announced a dance-a-thon fundraiser in support of the healthcare workers.

Accompanied by his three sons, Justin Dior Combs, Christian Combs, and Quincy Taylor Brown, Diddy took to his Instagram page to host “the world’s biggest dance-a-thon.” He said, “Me and my family are having a dance-a-thon — the whole world is invited…. We on lockdown, but we want to dance.”

The dance-a-thon fundraiser is a partnership between Diddy’s Team Love and the non-profit organization Direct Relief. It will live-streaming to fans and supporters all around the world, with guest appearances from Drake, Megan Thee Stallion, Justin Bieber, Snoop Dogg, Shaquille O’Neal, DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz, Kelly Rowland, and more.

Visit Diddy’s Instagram page to watch the dance-a-thon. Donations to healthcare workers can also be made through the Direct Relief page here.

This Sunday was supposed to be a fairly big one in the world of sports. It should have been the final round of The Masters amid the closing stretch of the NBA regular season, but with the COVID-19 outbreak, things changed dramatically.

Instead of live Masters final round coverage, CBS aired last year’s final round that saw Tiger Woods come back to claim yet another green jacket, and instead of seeing teams jockeying for playoff position, the NBA launched its remote HORSE tournament on ESPN in the evening. The tournament features current and former NBA stars, as well as WNBA stars who will take part in the competition from the comfort of their homes.

The betting favorite at the offshore sportsbooks that placed odds on the competition is Trae Young, the second-year All-Star known for hitting deep threes and taking some wild shots in games. Ahead of his debut game against Chauncey Billups, the league posted some HORSE hype videos to YouTube, showing off why the competitors were in the competition by cutting up some of their best shots from their careers. Young’s unsurprisingly, focuses heavily on the deep pull-up threes he’s become known for.

They later added one for Zach LaVine, who was listed initially as a slight underdog against Paul Pierce in his opening round matchup, with what are basically some deep buzzer-beaters and acrobatic layups in traffic.

What’s funny is that none of these would be all that impressive when replicated in the driveway or empty gym, because what makes these look cool is the stakes and that he’s doing them against and over defenders. LaVine, of course, is best known for his dunks and is the reason the no dunks rule exists in this competition, but he surely wants to prove he’s a shot-maker too. HORSE is about creativity and showmanship and it’ll be interesting to see how that translates via remote games, but the problem with trying to compile a HORSE highlight tape from game film is none of the shots really ever come close.

It’ll be really interesting to see how they measure shots if they’re not all able to get into actual gyms and are in driveways. I want to see folks pacing off shots and debating whether the other person shot from the appropriate spot. Hopefully it’s fun to watch, because we all could use some real, live basketball from elite pros.