Category: Worldwide

What do you get when you combine an infectious beat, an empowering message and a bunch of energetic tweens with delightfully thick Irish accents?

You get “The Spark,” this summer’s bangin’ anthem that people around the world can’t stop playing.

The young rappers from Cork and Lisdoonvarna—cities on opposite coasts of Ireland—came together to create this absolute banger for Cruinniú na nÓg, a national day of celebrating youth creativity in Ireland, which takes place on June 15.

The song and video were released as part of the Rhyme Island youth rap initiative created for the event, with kids ages 9 to 12 participating. It almost immediately began to spread on social media, with people raving over how catchy and fun it is. (People have been clamoring for a month for the song to be released on streaming, and we’re thrilled to share that as of June 14, you can officially find “The Spark” on Spotify.)

Watch:

The comments on on TikTok pretty much sum it up:

“I’m about to be screaming I SEARCHED FOR MY SPARK AND I FOUND IT all summer.”

“AI SHERCHED FOR ME ShPARK AN A FEUND EHT!!!!”

“If the clubs aren’t playing this song this summer then I’m leavinggggg.”

“This has no right to go this hard.”

“The Cork accent has found its calling.”

Even the Duracell battery account weighed in with “This is the kind of energy we live for.”

Many people shared that they love that the kids look like kids and not little adults. And with lyrics like this, how can you not walk away with a little extra spring in your step?

I searched for my spark and I found it

Everybody in the crowd start bouncin!

If we see a dream you know we’re gonna chase it

So get over any fear you have just face it!

You can do it like we do it, don’t doubt it

Any obstacle we find a way around it

If you’re proud of who you are and what you do, shout it!

The kids worked with local producer GMCBeats and The Kabin Studio, a music and creativity-focused nonprofit in Knocknaheeny, a suburb of Cork, to create the song.

“The response has been amazing,” said Garry McCarthy (GMCBeats), the creative director of the Kabin Studio and co-producer of “The Spark.” “The kids’ energy and positivity have inspired people worldwide. It’s been all over TikTok especially. It’s bonkers, we’ve never seen something like this!”

Dancers on TikTok have been coming up with dances to go along with it, so here’s one to try if you get the urge to get up and dance with the kids:

@stasii777

pov: youre running away from those irish kids DC: us!!!! #fyp #sparksong #irishkids #viral #dance @Stephanie

The Kabin Studio shared the hope that the song’s popularity will result in more people supporting young artists:

“‘The Spark’ is more than just a tune; it’s a celebration of creativity, resilience, and the unbreakable spirit of youth. As it continues to inspire listeners worldwide, The Kabin Studio hopes to channel its success into furthering their mission of supporting young artists locally and in direct provision.”

On the occasion of Taylor Swift playing the 100th show of her record-breaking The Eras Tour in Liverpool, England on Thursday, Swifties were expecting a big announcement. Well, they got one — and it has nothing to do with Reputation (Taylor’s Version).

When Is Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour Ending?

The “Fortnite” singer confirmed that The Eras Tour is ending in December.

“This is the very first time I’ve ever acknowledged to myself and admitted that this tour is going to end in December,” she told the crowd. “That feels like so far away from now, but then again, it feels like we just played our first show on this tour, because you have made this so much fun for us, that we wanted to do a hundred shows, 150-something shows that we have on the whole tour, and you know, I think that this tour has really become my entire life.”

This means Swift’s final dates on The Eras Tour will be on December 6, 7, and 8 in Vancouver, Canada.

Before then, however, she will continue to travel throughout Europe before heading back to the United States for stops in Miami, Florida (October 18 to 20); New Orleans, Louisiana (October 25 to 27); and Indianapolis, Indiana (November 1 to 3). All told, she’ll have played 152 shows during the economy-boosting tour, becoming a billionaire in the process.

On a relatively regular basis, there are talks of a Spice Girls reunion. David Beckham — who is of course married to Victoria Beckham, also known as Posh Spice — is here to put an end to that.

In a new interview with Variety, Beckham offered his perspective on a potential reunion. To preserve the specific and ever-important context, the piece says immediately before introducing the relevant quote, “But don’t expect to see Posh, Baby, Sporty, Scary and Ginger Spice back in an arena.” Beckham is then quoted as saying:

“Unfortunately, that’s not happening. Victoria was so pleased to see the girls, and it was a massive part of her life, the girls, but obviously, all the girls have got their own things going on. They will do certain things together at certain times. But Victoria’s full on with her beauty and fashion businesses. If anyone’s busier than me, it’s her.”

He also added, “There’s nothing more that I’d like to see than the girls on stage again, so I’ll still work at it, don’t worry!”

This comes after the Beckhams had a viral moment last year: In the Netflix documentary series Beckham, David told Victoria to “be honest” as he caught her apparently embellishing elements of her childhood.

Read the full David Beckham interview here.

I thought we already settled this, but apparently, here we go again. South African hitmaker Tyla recently appeared on The Breakfast Club radio show, where a line of questioning undoubtedly designed to generate a viral moment regardless of the consequences for the 22-year-old star was shut down by her protective publicists.

As Charlamagne The God — who’s never been known for his tact and sense of nuance regarding fraught topics — asked her what it means to be “coloured” in South Africa (again, here’s a refresher for those who need it), a voice can be heard from off-camera asking, “Can we not, por favor?”

Tyla, who was already a star in her home country before “Water” broke in America, has had a stellar year to date, releasing a well-received debut album fueled by the Gunna-featuring remix of her breakout hit and cross-cultural collaborations with stars like Becky G and Skillibeng.

Although she was forced to cancel her highly anticipated headlining tour for health reasons, her star continues to rise. And with her previously addressing the differences in how America and South Africa do systemic racism, it’s clear she has no time for the Breakfast Club crew’s usual shenanigans.

You can watch Tyla’s interview with The Breakfast Club above.

Peaky Blinders first premiered in 2013 and ran for six seasons before wrapping up in 2022. Since then, a lot has gone down: Cillian Murphy has won an Oscar, Paul Anderson was arrested for cocaine possession, and Tom Hardy has been zooming around aimlessly on a bike. So why not bring the crew back for another go around!

A Peaky Blinders movie was announced at the end of last year, and Murphy is on board to return. It seems like his costar Tom Hardy, who played the Alfie Solomons, leader of the Jewish gang, could appear as well.

While promoting The Bike Riders, Hardy revealed that Alfie will “100%’ be back with the Blinders crew.

Hardy told SkyNews, “100% Alfie will definitely make an appearance, but I don’t know when”, he said, adding “and I don’t even know if he will, that’s just me punting,” Hardy joked. Even if it isn’t official, the fact that Hardy is interested is a good sign.

Not much else about the movie has been revealed, but it’s expected to begin filming this fall. “It’s gonna happen. It’s gonna happen this September,” creator and writer Steven Knight told NME in April. “I’m just doing the final polishes, which will continue up until the day before we start shooting. But we’re there. We’ve got everything sorted, we’ve got all the commitments we need, we are ready to go,” he added. It’s nice that Hardy has finally proven Sir Patrick Stewart wrong.

(Via Comic Book)

Chappell Roan formally launched her career with the 2017 EP School Nights, but things have especially accelerated over the past year or so. Her 2023 debut album The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess peaked just outside of the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart and it spawned the hit song “Red Wine Supernova,” which is currently closing in on 100 million streams on Spotify. She followed that with the April single “Good Luck, Babe!,” which, as her first top-40 song, is her biggest success to date. The demand is clear: Bonnaroo just moved Roan to a larger stage for this weekend’s festival.

Roan is going through a significant career transition right now, and it turns out the process isn’t always easy.

As Billboard notes, between songs at the Raleigh, North Carolina stop of her Midwest Princess Tour on June 12, Roan got emotional and explained to her audience, “I just want to be honest with the crowd: I just feel a little off today because I think that my career is just kind of going really fast and it’s really hard to keep up. And so I’m just being honest that… I’m just having a hard time today.”

After a pause, she continued, “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to give you, like, a lesser show, it’s just like, there’s a lot going on. So, just thank you for understanding. This is all I’ve ever wanted, it’s just so… it’s just heavy sometimes.”

Check out the clip below.

Imagine deciding to take up a hobby that usually requires many years to perfect at age 35, and three years later ending up in the top 30 in the world at the highest international competition for it.

That’s what happened to a 38-year-old math and physics teacher from Diepenbeek, Belgium. According to Netherlands News Live, Mieke Gorissen has jogged 10km (a little over six miles) a few times a week for exercise for many years. But in 2018, she decided to hire a running trainer to improve her technique. As it turned out, she was a bit of a natural at distance running.

Three years later, Gorissen found herself running her third marathon. But not just any old marathon (as if there were such a thing)—the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics. And not only did she compete with the world’s most elite group of runners, she came in 28th out of the 88 competing in the race.

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With the heat and humidity in Tokyo, even completing the race was a major accomplishment. (Fifteen women competing did not finish the marathon.) But to come in in the top 30 when you just started focusing on distance running three years ago? Unbelievable.

In fact, Gorissen could hardly believe it herself. A video of her reaction upon hearing her results has gone viral for its purity and genuine humility. “No,” she said when a reporter told her she came in 28th in the race. “That’s not possible.”

Then she burst into tears.

Her emotional disbelief is so moving. “I was already happy to finish the race,” she said through sobs. “I do think I have reached my goal and that I can be happy.”

“I also think I lost a toenail,” she added, laughing.

Even after the English translation ends in the video, it’s clear how much this finish meant to her. A remarkable accomplishment for a 38-year-old who knits and reads for fun and who has only run two marathons prior to competing in the Olympics.

See on Instagram

According to her Olympic profile, she’s glad she got started with distance running later in life. “If I started running in my teens, it wouldn’t have been good for me,” she said. “I wasn’t really happy then, I would have been too hard on myself and I would have lost myself in it in a way that wasn’t healthy. It came at exactly the right time.”

Congratulations, Mieke. You’ve given us all the inspiration to set new goals and dream bigger than we ever thought possible.

This article originally appeared on 08.12.21

Everyone who’s anyone is going to Casa Bonita (assuming you can get a reservation). The “Disneyland of Mexican restaurants,” which was prominently featured in a classic 2003 episode of South Park, is the topic of a new documentary, ¡CASA BONITA MI AMOR!. Following the film’s premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this month, co-owners and South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone discussed all things Casa Bonita, including one of the renovated establishment’s famous attendees: The Cure.

Denver-based publication Westword reports that “Parker invited the band to Casa Bonita when The Cure was in Denver on tour last June.” Singer and former South Park guest star Robert Smith told Parker “wow, this is mental” when he first saw the restaurant. He thought they were “just having tacos,” so the cliff divers were a surprise. Another surprise: one of Casa Bonita’s attractions (legally) uses The Cure song, “The Blood” from 1985’s The Head on the Door, which Smith called, “That’s the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.”

This is the first time Robert Smith and Eric Cartman have been equally excited about the same thing (burritos and mariachi bands).

¡CASA BONITA MI AMOR! is expected to stream later this year. Meanwhile, South Park season 27 does not currently have a premiere date.

(Via Westword)

Chloe Bailey, Uproxx’s August 2022 cover star, said she had a confession to make, and it could have gone in various directions. The artist known mononymously as Chlöe announced Trouble In Paradise, her sophomore solo album, while performing at Coachella 2024, so that couldn’t be it. But what about a new single? Nope. Bailey had some personal news to get off of her chest.

“I’m about to spill some tea,” Bailey said in a recent Live session captured by The Shade Room. “You wanna know my confession? My confession is that, recently, I have begun consuming chicken.”

She added, “The first time I ate it, my stomach cramped maybe a little bit. After that, I was fine. I just can’t eat fried chicken with egg wash because I’m allergic to eggs, but what I have noticed is that my body has been getting more tone.”

This is notable because Bailey had been vegan for years. Last August, TMZ dedicated an entire video segment to Bailey accidentally eating a beef burger after ordering a Beyond Burger while sharing a hotel room with her sister, Halle Bailey, which was an issue because, as Bailey said in her video at the time, “I’m crying. Halle’s just laughing so hard at me because I’m freaking out. I have been vegan for ten years. I have not consumed any red meat for ten years.”

Netflix’s embrace of the sports world and, particularly, sports docuseries continues this summer as their followup to the popular Quarterback series, Receiver will release on July 10.

After following Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota in last year’s edition, the streaming giant will track a season with five star pass-catchers in the NFL. Justin Jefferson of the Vikings, Davante Adams of the Raiders, Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Lions, and the 49ers duo of Deebo Samuel and George Kittle will be featured in the series, as we will get to go behind the scenes on and off the field.

For the Niners pairing of Kittle and Samuel, their chase of an elusive Super Bowl championship takes center stage, while St. Brown’s arc will follow his effort to help the Lions to their first divisional title and playoff win in decades. The other two are two of the best receivers in the league who had to navigate tough years, with Jefferson dealing with the first real injury of his career, while Adams had to go through quarterback and coaching changes in Las Vegas.

Receivers are, famously, among the most unique personalities on a football team, as it takes a special kind of confidence to play wide receiver — or in Kittle’s case, tight end — and getting to know five of those personalities better on and off the field should be pretty fascinating to watch.