Category: Viral

Eurovision Song Contest isn’t just a recent movie starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams. It’s also a popular television competition series that has taken place for six decades and assisted in breaking out popular artists like Abba. Now, a version of the series is officially heading to the US, titled American Song Contest.

Premiering in 2021, American Song Contest will feature professional musicians and bands from across all 50 states as they perform original numbers and compete for the winning glass trophy. Following Eurovision‘s format, artists from each state will be competing against each other in a series of qualifier competitions. Representatives from each state can elect to feature either a well-known artist or up-and-coming talent.

According to Variety, the show’s producer Christer Björkman was a Eurovision contestant himself in 1992 but eventually pivoted behind the scenes. “Eurovision has been a dream project ever since I was a child,” Björkman said. “To have a chance to use everything you know about the format and redo it from the beginning and to bring it to an audience that has no history with it is such a privilege.”

Ben Silverman, the show’s executive producer, said American Song Contest has been long in the making. “I’ve spent 20 years trying to pursue this,” Silverman said. “When I was chairman of NBC, when I was an agent at William Morris and when I started at Reveille. I just love the format.”

Silverman added that the show will have the power to unify and “celebrate diversity” in the US: “When America is more fractionalized than ever and we are dealing with so many issues that divide us, the one [thing] that truly unites us is our culture. […] It can unite it by celebrating its diversity, its distinctions and in pulling everyone around its love of music and its love of song.”

Duckwrth‘s new single, “Quick” featuring Kian, isn’t just the latest addition to his growing discography. It’s also the precursor to his major label debut, Supergood, which he announced today along with the release of “Quick.” The Los Angeles underground rapper has been steadily growing his profile over the past few years and now, it looks like he’s ready to stretch beyond the boundaries of sunny Southern California to become an even bigger star later this month.

“Quick” finds Duckwrth utilizing a stop-and-start flow over a skipping, almost tribal rhythm, spitting flirtatious come-ons to the object of his affection, offering promises of getting her a house and a diamond ring. Republic Records labelmate Kian croons on the hook, reiterating the promises of extravagant gifts and asserting “you can get it too quick.”

While Duckwrth is still keeping Supergood‘s content under wraps, he has previously given glimpses under the tarp to build the buzz for the upcoming album. He teamed up with fellow LA rapper G.L.A.M. and singer Julia Romana to channel some disco vibes with “Coming Closer” and “Find A Way” with Alex Mali, Radio Ahlee, and Bayli. With each new single, he previews more of the stunning versatility we’ve come to expect over the past five years, with a newfound polish and panache becoming of his new major status.

Supergood is due 8/21 via Republic Records.

Listen to “Quick” above.

If Jeff Van Gundy hears it, the rumor must really be out there. It’s not as if the former coach and current ESPN/ABC analyst is making the rounds at the Wide World of Sports looking for big NBA scoops, but he has heard that Pacers coach Nate McMillan could be on the hot seat. In the latest episode of The Lowe Post, Van Gundy and host Zach Lowe both confirm the rumor, noting they’ve both heard it all season.

Van Gundy says multiple people have discussed McMillan’s job status with him since he arrived in Orlando to call nationally televised bubble games, and Lowe says it’s been in the NBA ether for quite some time.

“It’s been the hottest rumor all season,” Lowe agrees. “It’s been a rumor all season long.”

McMillan, who has led the Pacers out of the Paul George era with far more success than anyone imagined, is often criticized for integrating a style that would be more familiar in the 1990s NBA, but even McMillan has gone modern in the bubble, playing T.J. Warren at power forward and pulling Myles Turner out behind the three-point line.

Without Domantas Sabonis and with Victory Oladipo making the slow return from a ruptured quadriceps tendon, the Pacers were always going to face an uphill battle to make real noise in the bubble, but altogether, the past two seasons have seen the team exceed expectations.

In the podcast, Van Gundy indicates he doesn’t believe the Pacers could be much better with a different coach, while Lowe seems to believe the team could make a change purely to take advantage of an Eastern Conference without a proven superpower. Indiana faces the challenge of still not having chosen between Sabonis and Turner, two players whose presence on the same roster will always make it hard to craft a great offense, though coaches are often the first to go when a team wants to make a change.

If you enjoy trailers for shows starring New Girl alumni, it’s been a good week for you. The raunchy Hoops trailer, starring Jake “schlub king Nick Miller” Johnson as a high school basketball coach, came out yesterday, followed by a full-length look at Woke today.

Based on the work of artist Keith Knight, Woke stars Lamorne Morris (Winston) as “Keef, An African-American cartoonist finally on the verge of mainstream success when an unexpected incident changes everything. Keef must now navigate the new voices and ideas that confront and challenge him, all without setting aflame everything he’s already built,” according to Hulu.

The “unexpected incident” is an encounter with a white cop (or as he puts it in the trailer above, “I got my ass beat by the police”), which changes Keef’s perception of the world. Where once he wondered why his work had to stand for anything, Keef is now, well, woke. “We are a product of our environment, and if you grow up a certain way, you grow up a certain way,” Morris told EW about the series. “But then every once in a while you gotta just stop, and shift, and make it a point to see things differently.”

Woke, which also stars Sasheer Zamata, T. Murph, Lara Goldie, and Blake Anderson, premieres on Hulu on September 9.

Before professional sports leagues started back up this summer, there was plenty of concern about whether the safety precautions put into place would be enough to protect the players amid the global pandemic that continues to spread and has taken more than 150,000 lives in the United States.

For the most part, it’s been working. The NBA announced earlier this week that there have been no positive tests among its 343 players since they arrived in Orlando, giving credence to the stringent protocols that have been put into place, as well as the players’ taking up the mantle to hold one another responsible.

The WNBA, which started its new season last month in a similar bubble scenario in Bradenton, Florida, is now reporting similar success. According to an official league announcement, there have been no positive tests among its 139 players since they arrived at the IMG Academy.

The WNBA is playing an abbreviated 22-game slate in Florida, which will be followed by a normal postseason format. Several players had previously opted against participating in the season, for both safety reasons and to devote their efforts toward ongoing social reform.

Many other leagues, like the NWSL, NHL, MLS, and TBT, have found success with their own bubble formats, while leagues like Major League Baseball, which opted against bubbles, have experienced outbreaks.

Rocksteady Studios were behind the outstanding Batman Arkham series, which consisted of four games (Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, Arkham Knight, and the virtual reality release Arkham VR) that let users control Bruce Wayne as he battles some of his most notable enemies. It’s been four years since they’ve last released a game, and on Friday morning, the studio announced it’s diving back into the Batman universe for its latest release.

In a tweet posted to the official Rocksteady Twitter account, the studio announced that a Suicide Squad game is on the way.

As the folks over at Kotaku pointed out, this does not necessarily mean that we’re getting a full Suicide Squad game on Aug. 22, although it would be quite something if they’d managed to keep the development of an entire video game under wraps for years until two weeks before it is slated to hit consoles. Last month, Warner Bros. announced that a fan event called DC FanDome will occur on that day at 1 p.m. EST, and it was mentioned that we’d get news from WB Games in addition to all the other things we might expect from this sort of event.

Members of the Suicide Squad have appeared prominently in the Batman Arkham games in the past. Unsurprisingly, due to the lack of info about the game right now, it’s unclear which Squad members will appear in this game, which is also the case for Batman and The Joker, but the teaser does appear to indicate that Superman will be involved somehow.

With DC FanDome only two weeks away, the hype machine is in full effect. In a brand new video posted to Twitter on Friday, the virtual event teased a massive guest list of over 300 attendees, which includes almost every major star with a DC Comics movie coming down the line. To make things easier on you, we’ll break it down by project, and let you know who’s coming from each one.

The Batman

Matt Reeves‘ highly anticipated take on The Dark Knight will be front and center at DC FanDome. Not only will the director be attending the virtual event, but Robert Pattinson is confirmed to make an appearance that, hopefully, won’t involve setting any more microwaves on fire.

Wonder Woman 1984

After seeing its release date pushed back twice during the ongoing pandemic, Wonder Woman 1984 is currently gunning for an October 2020 release date, so it’s the closest DC Comics movie on the horizon. (For now.) With that in mind, it only makes sense that Warner Bros. has a strong showing for the Wonder Woman sequel at DC FanDome. Viewers can expect to see director Patty Jenkins along with stars Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Robin Wright, and Pedro Pascal.

The original Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter, will also be in attendance, Although it’s unknown at this time if she’ll be a part of the WW84 panel.

The Suicide Squad

James Gunn fans already know that a look at his version of the Suicide Squad will be blasting into DC FanDome. The director hyped the film’s presence at the fan event earlier in the week, but now we know which members of the massive cast will also be dropping by. Except to see Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, Pete Davidson, Alfre Woodard, Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker, Steve Agee, and Terry Crews.

The Flash

It’s no secret that Warner Bros. has struggled getting an Ezra Miller Flash movie up and running especially after the lackluster reception to Justice League. But in a surprising show of confidence for the solo film, Miller and current Flash director Andy Muschietti will host a panel for DC FanDome that will shed some light on their new direction for the speedster. It will also be curious to see if they confirm reports that Michael Keaton will reprise his iconic version of Batman for the multiverse-focused film.

Black Adam

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has a reputation for being “franchise Viagra,” and it looks like that might also apply to fan events. Johnson is officially confirmed for DC FanDome to hype up Black Adam, which will hopefully began production in early 2021. That film will focus on the classic Shazam villain who will reportedly be more of an anti-hero when The Rock dons his classic black tights. And speaking of Shazam…

Shazam! 2

Both director David F. Sandberg and star Zachary Levi will be swinging by to discuss the upcoming Shazam! sequel and possibly shed some light on when we can see Levi’s Billy Batson go lightning bolt to lightning bolt with The Rock’s Black Adam.

You can see the official DC FanDome guest list below, which also includes Aquaman director James Wan, who’ll presumably have an update on the sequel, Zack Snyder continuing to pump up the Snyder Cut of Justice League being released on HBO Max, and stars from DC Comics shows like The Flash and Titans. Sadly, Jason Momoa is not on the current list of attendees, but you never know what surprises might be in store.

Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s new collaboration “WAP” has sparked a wide range of reactions on social media as fans come to grips with the catchy new song. While there are plenty of straightforward opinions about the song itself, both the song and its music video have prompting a surprising variety of discussions ranging from facetious to timely as it becomes clear that the track is more than just a celebration of its artists… ahem… anatomies.

The first, most obvious thread to emerge stemmed from the cameo appearances in the video. While fellow female rappers and stars like Mulatto, Normani, Rosalía, Rubi Rose, and Sukihana made appearances, one cameo generated puzzlement and some outrage among fans. Midway through the video, reality star Kylie Jenner makes an appearance to wander the halls of the topsy-turvy mansion setting.

Some appeared miffed by her appearance, especially after some early coverage seemingly focused on her cameo over the importance of the collaboration between the two top female rappers. Jenner’s name trended on Twitter, along with those of other women fans would have preferred replace her, such Bay Area rapper Saweetie and even iconic actress Betty White.

Meanwhile, another set of names to trend on Twitter included those of Lil Kim and Trina, the pioneers of the raunchy rap tradition to which “WAP” proudly subscribes. While some fans also posited Kim as a replacement for Kylie Jenner, other simply used the opportunity to proclaim her continued importance to the rap game, decades after she made her debut on Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s Conspiracy.

Another tweet that went viral was a tongue-in-cheek satire courtesy of The Daily Show‘s Jaboukie White, who sarcastically questioned whether there is “space for more than one male rapper in the game,” a sly reference to the discussion that had dogged women in rap for nearly a decade, right up until Megan Thee Stallion first appeared and fans questioned whether she would end up beefing with Nicki Minaj and Cardi, two women who’d been pit against each other almost as soon as Cardi began to achieve notoriety for “Bodak Yellow.” Instead, Megan wound up collaborating with both — albeit on separate tracks a year apart — proving that unity is stronger than beef. The replies to Jaboukie’s tweet are hilarious though.

However, in all the celebration of female solidarity and praise for the exposure for upcoming talents like Sukihana and Mulatto, there was one group who just couldn’t find it in themselves to bypass the bitterness: The Barbz, who dragged their favorite into another round of pointless Cardi B slander as if the whole point of the “WAP” video wasn’t to show that there’s room for everyone.

Of course, there are also lower-profile discussions taking place within all this, about women’s sexual freedom — “WAP” is a truly FILTHY song and men should understand why that’s a good thing, yet… — about the doors of the music industry opening for multiple women for the first time in forever, about media’s never-ending quest for clicks, and more, but for now, let’s all just continue to enjoy the song for what it is: An iconic musical moment that brought together two of rap’s biggest female powerhouses to basically break the internet.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Foo Fighters, like every other musician who had planned a 2020 tour, has been forced to rethink tour dates. The band was slated to celebrate their 25th anniversary by embarking on a series shows which replicated Foo Fighters’ first-ever tour in 1995. But after postponing the event due to the coronavirus, the band has now decided to cancel their tour entirely.

Foo Fighters announced the decision on social media Friday, sharing a succinct and informative post which detailed each show affected. “We look forward to seeing you all as soon as it is safe for everyone to do so,” they wrote.

Canceling the tour seemed to be a particularly difficult decision for Dave Grohl. After announcing the original tour postponement, Grohl had written: “Hi, this is Dave. Remember me? The guy who wouldn’t even postpone a show when my g*ddamn leg was falling off? Well… playing a gig with a sock full of broken bones is one thing, but playing a show when YOUR health and safety is in jeopardy is another… We f*ckin’ love you guys. So let’s do this right and rain check sh*t. The album is done, and it’s f*ckin’ killer. The lights and stage are in the trucks, ready to go. The SECOND we are given the go ahead, we’ll come tear sh*t up like we always do. Promise.”

Check out their announcement above and keep an eye on Foo Fighters’ website for updates here.

At just 23, Lamar Jackson has already achieved more than anyone could have expected: A Heisman Trophy, an NFL MVP award, two trips to the playoffs in his first two seasons, and now, an appearance on the cover of Madden NFL 21. While Jackson has been able to keep control of his emotions through all the award ceremonies and big wins, he admitted to former Ravens receiver Steve Smith in a video on the team’s YouTube channel that he “shed tears” when he finally saw the cover of the video game earlier this year, as he’d achieved something “that’s been a dream of mine all of my life.”

“They revealed to me the cover early,” Jackson said. “I don’t cry about stuff. I didn’t cry when I won the Heisman, I didn’t cry when I won all the other accolades. But when I seen the cover, I actually shed tears, like, ‘What the? It’s unreal.’”

Jackson explained that it was something that felt like a more tangible accumulation of his whole life, having seen everyone from Patriots quarterback Tom Brady — whom Jackson said beating was the highlight of his 2019 — to Ravens great Ray Lewis appear on the cover. When Jackson saw himself join their ranks in the latest edition of the game, he was overcome with emotion.

Beyond his reaction to the cover, Jackson told Smith about what he has in store down the road, saying “I want everything to be perfect” in listing out his goals for the upcoming season and the rest of his career.