Category: Awards

Radiohead, Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks Lead Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2019 Class

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has officially announced next year’s inductees: Radiohead, Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Def Leppard, the Cure, Roxy Music and the Zombies will all join the class of 2019.

The induction ceremony will be held at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on March 29th. An edited version of the event will air later on HBO alongside a SiriusXM radio broadcast. Ticket details will be announced in January.

Artists are eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album or single. Kraftwerk, Todd Rundgren, Rage Against the Machine, Rufus & Chaka Khan, MC5, LL Cool J, John Prine and Devo were all nominated, but failed to make the cut. No newly eligible acts made it in this year, but this was the first time that Def Leppard and Nicks appeared on the ballot (though Nicks was inducted as a member of Fleetwood Mac in 1998). She will become the only woman to enter the Hall of Fame on two occasions.

“I have a lot to say about this,” Nicks said in a statement, “but I will save those words for later. For now I will just say, I have been in a band since 1968. To be recognized for my solo work makes me take a deep breath and smile. It’s a glorious feeling.”

Jackson also released a statement reacting to the honor. “Thank you, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” she says. “I am truly honored and I am happy to be in there with my brothers.”

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard is equally thrilled by the news. “Now we can stop holding our breath,” he tells Rolling Stone. “How wonderful to be in the same club as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles and the Who and Queen. . . . It’s a nice badge of honor.”

For Colin Blunstone of the Zombies — who have been eligible since 1989 and have appeared on three previous ballots — this was the result of incredible patience and persistence. “You do start to doubt that it could happen,” he tells Rolling Stone. “I’ve tried to be fairly philosophical about it and tell myself that if we don’t get inducted, it’s just a bit of fun. Don’t take it too seriously. But of course when you’re actually inducted, everything changes. You think, ‘This is a career-defining [and] life-defining moment.’ “

His longtime bandmate Rod Argent echoed Blunstone’s sentiment. “I know it’s fashionable in some circles to say, ‘I don’t mind whether I get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or not,’ ” he tells Rolling Stone. “But that is not how I’ve ever felt. When we were first nominated, that felt like a huge honor in its own right. And this time, to turn the corner and get inducted feels fantastic. . . . I’m just so delighted.”

In a statement, a cordial Radiohead said that “the band thanks the Hall of Fame voting body and extends congratulations to this year’s fellow inductees.” But when we spoke to them in 2017, they were a little skeptical about the institution. “I don’t want to be rude about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because for a lot of people it means something, but culturally I don’t understand it,” said guitarist Ed O’Brien. “I think it might be a quintessential American thing. Brits are not very good at slapping ourselves on the back. It seems very showbiz, and I’m not very showbiz.”

Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry had a different take. “We are delighted to accept this prestigious award on behalf of everyone who has been involved in the world of Roxy Music,” he wrote in a tweet, “musicians, engineers, producers, designers and numerous people behind the scenes . . . and of course our loyal fans.”

Many Hall of Fame inductions have wrapped up with an all-star jam where each inductee lets loose on a single song, but finding one that works for all seven inductees might be a challenge. “That’s a bit of a tricky one, isn’t it?” asks Blunstone. “If you were to ask me off the top of my head, I’d go with ‘I Saw Her Standing There,’ by the Beatles. Everyone knows that.”

Elliott has a different take. “I suppose older folk would be thinking [Chuck Berry’s] ‘Johnny B. Goode’ and younger folk would be thinking [David Bowie’s] ‘Heroes,’ ” he says. “It might one of those awkward moments where I’m saying, ‘I’m uncomfortable. I’m not doing it. Do they really want to play with us? Do we want to play with them?’ I don’t know. It depends on the kumbaya-ness of the evening.”

Golden Globes: Vice, Black Panther, Assassination of Gianni Versace nominated

Political biopic Vice leads a mixed slate of nominees heading into the 76th annual Golden Globe Awards, with this year’s contenders ranging from critics’ picks like The Favourite and Killing Eve to crowdpleasers such as Black Panther, A Star is Born and The Good Place.
Actors Danai Gurira, Terry Crews, Christian Slater and Leslie Mann gathered early Thursday to unveil the nominees for the upcoming awards, set for next month in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the annual honour celebrates achievements in film and television productions across 25 categories.
Vice, Adam McKay’s portrait of former U.S. vice-president Dick Cheney, led film nominees with six overall, including for best musical or comedy film, direction and performances by Christian Bale, Sam Rockwell and Amy Adams. Meanwhile, The Assassination of Gianni Versace led the TV field, with the limited series earning four nominations.

“I’m blown away by the diversity of the Golden Globe nominations. I think it’s amazing,” noted Marc Malkin, a senior editor for industry publication Variety, after the announcement.
“I think the HFPA stepped up and is really speaking to our time right now.”

Selected nominees include:

Motion Picture, Drama:

Black Panther.
BlacKkKlansman.
Bohemian Rhapsody.
If Beale Street Could Talk.
A Star is Born.
Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy:

Crazy Rich Asians.
The Favourite.
Green Book.
Mary Poppins Returns.
Vice.

Television Series, Drama:

The Americans.
Bodyguard.
Homecoming.
Killing Eve.
Pose.
Television Series, Musical or Comedy:

Barry.
The Good Place.
Kidding.
The Kominsky Method.
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:

The Alienist.
The Assassination of Gianni Versace.
Escape at Dannemora.
Sharp Objects.
A Very English Scandal.

Canadians at the Globes

Sandra Oh, who has been tapped to co-host the awards celebration with Andy Samberg, will be the first Canadian emcee as well as the award show’s first host of Asian heritage.
“[The pair] did a bit together on the Emmys this past year. They were so strong, it was a highlight of the show,” noted Barry Adelman, executive producer of Dick Clark Productions, the firm behind the Globes telecast.

Sandra Oh, Andy Samberg to co-host 2019 Golden Globes
A handful of Canadians are in contention in the TV categories, starting with Ottawa-born Oh, who earned an acting nod for her lead role in Killing Eve, with the spy series itself a nominee for best TV drama. Last fall, the series earned Oh an Emmy nomination, making her the first actor of Asian descent nominated for a best dramatic actress Emmy. She previously won a Golden Globe for the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy.

Newmarket, Ont.-born Jim Carrey picked up an acting nomination Thursday for the comedy series Kidding, in which he plays a children’s television host. Carrey’s also a past winner: he earned a Golden Globe for the Andy Kaufman dramedy Man on the Moon.
Stephan James, hailing from Scarborough, Ont., earned an acting nod for his turn opposite Julia Roberts in the series Homecoming, in which he plays a soldier seeking post-warfare treatment. He also appears in the movie-drama nominated If Beale Street Could Talk.

Montreal director Jean-Marc Vallée’s limited series Sharp Objects picked up a trio of nominations. It will vie for best limited TV series, and earned acting nominations for Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson. In January, his acclaimed series Big Little Lies dominated with four Golden Globe wins.

As part of the nominees announcement Thursday morning, HFPA president Meher Tatna also revealed that the press group has added a new life-achievement category equivalent to its existing Cecil B. DeMille Award, to honour an impactful career in and outstanding contributions to the medium of television. The first honouree will be announced, along with the latest DeMille Award recipient, in coming weeks.

Tatna called the diversity seen with some of this year’s nominations a “very hopeful sign” for the entertainment industry.
“We are a diverse group of voters. [The nominees] spoke to us in some way. They’re all good,” she declared.

Awards shows have increasingly suffered from waning audiences, but the Golden Globes have an edge on several fronts: the show is considered to have a less formal, more freewheeling spirit (since it’s staged as a banquet with an open bar), and it’s also typically the first out of the gate in the new year.

The 76th Golden Globes will air live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 6.

2019 Golden Globe Awards – Full nominees list:

Best Motion Picture – Drama
Black Panther.
BlacKkKlansman.
Bohemian Rhapsody.
If Beale Streat Could Talk.
A Star Is Born.

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Glenn Close, The Wife.
Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born.
Nicole Kidman, Destroyer.
Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Rosamund Pike, A Private War.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born.
Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate.
Lucas Hedges, Boy Erased.
Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody.
John David Washington, BlacKkKlansman.

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Crazy Rich Asians.
The Favourite.
Green Book.
Mary Poppins Returns.
Vice.

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Emily Blunt, Mary Poppins Returns.
Olivia Colman, The Favourite.
Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade.
Charlize Theron, Tully.
Constance Wu, Crazy Rich Asians.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Christian Bale, Vice.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Poppins Returns.
Viggo Mortensen, Green Book.
Robert Redford, The Old Man & the Gun.
John C. Reilly, Stan & Ollie.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture
Amy Adams, Vice.
Claire Foy, First Man.
Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk.
Emma Stone, The Favourite.
Rachel Weisz, The Favourite.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture
Mahershala Ali, Green Book.
Timothé​e Chalamet, Beautiful Boy.
Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman.
Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Sam Rockwell, Vice.

Best Motion Picture – Animated
Incredibles 2.
Isle of Dogs.
Mirai.
Ralph Breaks the Internet.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language
Capernaum.
Girl.
Never Look Away.
Roma.
Shoplifters.

Best Director – Motion Picture
Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born.
Alfonso Cuaron, Roma.
Peter Farrelly, Green Book.
Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman.
Adam McKay, Vice.

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Alfonso Cuaron, Roma.
Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, The Favourite.
Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk.
Adam McKay, Vice.
Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga and Brian Currie, Green Book.

Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Marco Beltrami, A Quiet Place.
Alexandre Desplat, Isle of Dogs.
Ludwig Göransson, Black Panther.
Justin Hurwitz, First Man.
Marc Shaiman, Mary Poppins Returns.

Best Original Song – Motion Picture
All the Stars from Black Panther.
Girl in the Movies from Dumplin’.
Requiem For a Private War from A Private War.
Revelation’ from Boy Erased.
Shallow from A Star Is Born.

Best Television Series – Drama
The Americans.
Bodyguard.
Homecoming.
Killing Eve.
Pose.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama
Caitriona Balfe, Outlander.
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale.
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve.
Julia Roberts, Homecoming.
Keri Russell, The Americans.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama
Jason Bateman, Ozark.
Stephan James, Homecoming.
Richard Madden, Bodyguard.
Billy Porter, Pose.
Matthew Rhys, The Americans.

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Barry.
The Good Place.
Kidding.
The Kominsky Method.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Kristen Bell, The Good Place.
Candice Bergen, Murphy Brown.
Alison Brie, Glow.
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Debra Messing, Will & Grace.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Sasha Baron Cohen, Who Is America?
Jim Carrey, Kidding.
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method.
Donald Glover, Atlanta.
Bill Hader, Barry.

Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
The Alienist.
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.
Escape at Dannemora.
Sharp Objects.
A Very English Scandal.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Amy Adams, Sharp Objects.
Patricia Arquette, Escape at Dannemora.
Connie Britton, Dirty John.
Laura Dern, The Tale.
Regina King, Seven Seconds.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Antonio Banderas, Genius: Picasso.
Daniel Bruhl, The Alienist.
Darren Criss, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.
Benedict Cumberbatch, Patrick Melrose.
Hugh Grant, A Very English Scandal.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Alex Bornstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Patricia Clarkson, Sharp Objects.
Penelope Cruz, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.
Thandie Newton, Westworld.
Yvonne Strahovski, The Handmaid’s Tale.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method.
Kieran Culkin, Succession.
Edgar Ramirez, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.
Ben Whishaw, A Very English Scandal.
Henry Winkler, Barry.

After Kevin Hart’s departure, finding new Oscars host won’t be easy

The “most thankless job in town” just got even more difficult.

The Oscars have a longstanding host problem, but Kevin Hart’s swift downfall over old anti-gay tweets has led to bigger questions about the gig and the liability of social media histories.

It’s just the latest controversy for the organization that puts on the Academy Awards, which is trying to combat declining ratings for its marquee event while weathering the pressure of being a focal point for the shortcomings of the entertainment industry as a whole.

“I think it’s embarrassing,” Matthew Belloni, the editorial director of The Hollywood Reporter, said about the academy’s decision to pick Hart. “It shows that they either didn’t vet this host properly, or they did vet him and didn’t think this would be an issue. And both are a little troubling.”

Hart seemed to fit the bill for what the academy was looking for.

“He checks all the boxes for a show like the Oscars,” Belloni said. “He’s a legitimate movie star. He’s a funny guy and can handle the stand-up element of the show. And he has a gigantic social following. And to the academy, that’s important. They want someone who can bring a new audience to the show.”

But Oscars hosts have always been subjected to a lot of scrutiny.

Poor or even mediocre performances can haunt people for years (Anne Hathaway and James Franco). Off-colour jokes have a way of festering in the cultural consciousness (think of Seth MacFarlane’s “we saw your boobs” song, or Chris Rock’s Asian jokes). And even when things go decently enough, everyone is handed the right envelope and nobody walks away offended, the hosts can still be blamed for poor ratings.

“Oscars host has become a not very desirable job in Hollywood. Very few people see an upside,” Belloni said. “You put a huge target on your back.”

People have stepped down from being the public face of the event amid controversy, as producer Brett Ratner did in 2011 for anti-gay slurs. But Hart’s case is a little different. Ratner’s offensive remarks came after he had secured the gig. Hart’s tweets were from almost a decade ago and were well known.

But in 2018, an unsavory social media past can cost someone their job. Just this past summer, the Walt Disney Co. fired director James Gunn from the third Guardians of the Galaxy movie for old tweets in which he joked about subjects including rape and pedophilia. As with Hart, the problematic tweets were amplified by social media outrage.

Immediately after Hart was confirmed as host on Tuesday night, some journalists began tweeting reminders of Hart’s past comments. By Thursday morning, a few publications had written articles about them. The outrage escalated, Hart commented but did not apologize, stoking even more outrage, which culminated with Hart’s announcement on Thursday night that he was stepping down as host of the 91st Academy Awards.

As the dust settles, the situation has proved vexing for some in the entertainment business. Actor D.L. Hughley commended Hart for his decision.

“A comedian says something that offends people and refuses to apologize?” Hughley tweeted. “(Expletive) `em if they can’t take a joke! Well done (hash)KevinHart.” Snoop Dogg posted an even more colourful Instagram video in support of Hart.

The advocacy organization GLAAD wishes Hart hadn’t stepped down, however.

“Hart’s apology to LGBTQ people is an important step forward, but he missed a real opportunity to use his platform and the Oscars stage to build unity and awareness,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis.

The film academy has yet to address Hart’s departure. Hart said the film academy told him he had to apologize or he’d lose the gig. He bowed out on his own, and with an apology.

Now everyone has an opinion about who should be named host. A woman? A comedian? Not a comedian? Someone in the LGBTQ community? All of the above?

Many keep coming back to Whoopi Goldberg, who has hosted the awards four times. Some have said Ellen DeGeneres, who hosted one of the Oscars’ highest-rated shows, or Tom Hanks, who has a longstanding academy relationship.

Others have said Keegan Michael-Key and Jordan Peele, Will Smith or Lin-Manuel Miranda. Busy Phillips threw her own name out there (“I AM AVAILABLE,” she tweeted). Philips also proposed Issa Rae, Sarah Silverman, Ali Wong, Samantha Bee, Robin Thede and Aisha Tyler, or “any other woman working in Hollywood right now who wants to.”

Stephen King suggested Patton Oswalt (He’s “funny, sharp-tongued, and he knows film,” King tweeted.) Some have even proposed Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty. Or no host at all, which has been done several times before, and as recently as 1989.

But the film academy will need to move quickly. The 91st Oscars are less than three months out.

Kendrick Lamar, Black Panther soundtrack leads Grammy nods as women make a comeback

The music of Black Panther, with Kendrick Lamar in its starring role, officially owns the 2019 Grammy Awards, with women heavily represented in the major four categories following a year when their presence was barely felt.

The Recording Academy announced Friday that Lamar is the top contender with eight nominations, including seven for his musical companion to the Marvel Studios juggernaut starring Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan. Black Panther: The Album, Music From and Inspired By is up for album of the year, a category in which women make up five of the eight nominees.

Album of the year

Invasion of Privacy, Cardi B.
By the Way, I Forgive You, Brandi Carlile.
H.E.R., H.E.R.
Scorpion, Drake.
Beerbongs & Bentleys, Post Malone.
Dirty Computer, Janelle Monae.
Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves.
Black Panther: The Album, Kendrick Lamar.

For the upcoming Grammy Awards, the academy has extended its top four categories from five nominees to eight.

The Panther nomination would give Lamar a chance to win album of the year after losing three times. His most recent loss was in February when his critically acclaimed DAMN fell short to Bruno Mars’s 24K Magic, though Lamar’s project would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize for music two months later, making him the first non-classical or jazz artist to win the prestigious honour.

Lamar’s Top 10 hit, the SZA-assisted All the Stars, is nominated for both record and song of the year (a songwriter’s award). Five other songs scored nominations in both categories, including Lady Gaga’s and Bradley Cooper’s Shallow from A Star Is Born; Childish Gambino’s This Is America; Drake’s God’s Plan; Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey’s The Middle; and Carlile’s The Joke.

Record of the year

I Like It, Cardi B.
The Joke, Brandi Carlile.
This is America, Childish Gambino.
God’s Plan, Drake.
Shallow, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
All the Stars, Kendrick Lamar and SZA.
RockStar, Post Malone and 21 Savage.
The Middle, Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey.
Song of the year

All the Stars, Kendrick Lamar and SZA.
Boo’d Up, Ella Mai.
God’s Plan, Drake.
In My Blood, Shawn Mendes.
The Joke, Brandi Carlile.
The Middle, Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey.
Shallow, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
This is America, Childish Gambino.

Canadian pop star Shawn Mendes was on hand on CBS This Morning to help unveil the nominees alongside reigning best new artist Grammy winner Alessia Cara, also a Canadian, fellow nominee Janelle Monae and Apple Music host Zane Lowe.

Ella Mai’s Boo’d Up and Mendes’s In My Blood earned a nod for song of the year, while Post Malone’s Rockstar and Cardi B’s I Like It, featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin, round out the nominees for record of the year.

Following Lamar, Drake — the year’s most successful artist — earned seven nominations. Though nominated for album of the year, he was surprisingly shut out of best rap album, but his rival Pusha T earned a nomination.

Drake’s frequent collaborator, producer Boi-1Da, earned six nods, as did Carlile, who also scored nominations in the American Roots category.

Cardi B, Gaga, H.E.R., Morris, Gambino, producer Sounwave and engineer Mike Bozzi scored five nominations each.

The nominees for the 2019 Grammys mark a departure from this year’s show, when women were underrepresented in the top four categories. Of the eight best new artist nominees, six are women.

Best new artist

Chloe x Halle.
Luke Combs.
Greta Van Fleet.
H.E.R.
Dua Lipa.
Margo Price.
Bebe Rexha.
Jorja Smith.
Recording Academy CEO Neil Portnow was criticized earlier this year at the Grammys after saying women need to “step up” when asked about the lack of women in the top categories, which he later acknowledged was a “poor choice of words.”

It forced the academy to launch a task force focused on inclusion and diversity; Portnow also announced he would be leaving the academy in 2019.

“In any given year, there could be more folks from one area or one gender or one genre or one ethnicity that are making recordings and being successful with them than in another year. So, in many ways we’re just a reflection of that,” Portnow said in an interview with The Associated Press.

“This year clearly there were many women not only making music, but making great music and making music that resonates with our peer voters in terms of excellence, and so that certainly is at the forefront.”

Another milestone for women is in the non-classical producer of the year category, where songwriting extraordinaire Linda Perry earned a nomination. She’s just the seventh woman ever nominated for prize and first since 2004.

“Linda represents what we hope becomes the norm, which is the elimination of gender bias in producing and engineering in our industry,” Portnow said.

Perry will compete with Pharrell Williams, Boi-1Da, Larry Klein and Kanye West, the only nomination he earned.

Taylor Swift, a two-time album of the year winner, also only earned one nomination — her reputation album is up best pop vocal album. Justin Timberlake, whose Man of the Woods albums flopped earlier this year, picked up a nod for Say Something, his collaboration with Chris Stapleton.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z, billed as the Carters, as well Ariana Grande didn’t earn any of the big nominations. The Carters earned two nods in the R&B category along with best music video, while Grande picked up two nods in pop.

Artists who were completely snubbed include Carrie Underwood, Sam Smith, Migos, Kane Brown, Nicki Minaj, XXXTentacion and Juice WRLD, whose Lucid Dreams was one of the year’s biggest hits.

Some acts scored their first nominations ever, including Florida Georgia Line, whose megahit Meant to Be with Rexha is up best country duo/group performance. Camila Cabello, Malone, Mendes, Dan + Shay and DJ Mustard are also first-time nominees.

Gaga, who earned acting and music Golden Globe nominations Thursday, picked up four Grammy nominations for Shallow, while Joanne is up for best pop solo performance. The soundtrack for A Star Is Born was released after Grammy eligibility, though Shallow was released in time and also earned Cooper two nominations.

Other famous faces outside music to earn nominations include Tiffany Haddish and former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, both up for best spoken word album. Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Fred Armisen, Jim Gaffigan and Patton Oswalt are up for best comedy album.

Mac Miller, who died in September, earned a nomination for best rap album with Swimming. Chris Cornell, who died last year, is up for best rock performance with When Bad Does Good.

Demi Lovato, who relapsed after six years of sobriety and was hospitalized for an overdose in July, earned a nomination for best pop duo/group performance for Fall In Line, her duet with Christina Aguilera.

Those who earned four nominations are Musgraves, Malone, PJ Morton, Dave Cobb, Ludwig Goransson, Drake producer Noah Shebib and SZA, who earned a Golden Globe nomination alongside Lamar for All the Stars on Thursday.

Lamar has won 12 Grammys throughout his career. Though seven of his eight nominations come from Black Panther, he also earned a nod for co-writing Jay Rock’s Win, up for best rap song.

Another Canadian face in the mix is Nanaimo, B.C.-born Diana Krall, who shared a pair of nominations with Tony Bennett: pop duo/group performance for ‘S Wonderful and traditional pop vocal album Love is Here to Stay.

The 2019 Grammys will be handed out in 84 categories live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 10.

2019 Grammy Awards: Selected nominees

Best pop solo performance: Colors, Beck; Havana (Live), Camila Cabello; God Is A Woman, Ariana Grande; Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?), Lady Gaga; Better Now, Post Malone.

Best pop duo/group performance: Fall In Line, Christina Aguilera and Demi Lovato; Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, Backstreet Boys; `S Wonderful, Tony Bennett and Diana Krall; Shallow, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper; Girls Like You, Maroon 5 and Cardi B; Say Something, Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton; The Middle, Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey.

Best pop vocal album: Camila, Camila Cabello; Meaning of Life, Kelly Clarkson; Sweetener, Ariana Grande; Shawn Mendes, Shawn Mendes; Beautiful Trauma, Pink; Reputation, Taylor Swift.

Best traditional pop vocal album: Love Is Here to Stay, Tony Bennett and Diana Krall; My Way, Willie Nelson; Nat King Cole & Me, Gregory Porter; Standards (Deluxe), Seal; The Music…The Mem’ries…The Magic!, Barbra Streisand.

Best dance/electronic album: Singularity, Jon Hopkins; Woman Worldwide, Justice; Treehouse, Sofi Tukker; Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides, SOPHIE; Lune Rouge, TOKiMONSTA.

Best rock album: Rainier Fog, Alice In Chains; Mania, Fall Out Boy; Prequelle, Ghost; From the Fires, Greta Van Fleet; Pacific Daydream, Weezer.

Best alternative music album: Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino, Arctic Monkeys; Colors, Beck; Utopia, Bjork; American Utopia, David Byrne; Masseduction, St. Vincent.

Best urban contemporary album: Everything Is Love, The Carters (Beyoncé and Jay-Z); The Kids Are Alright, Chloe x Halle; Chris Dave and the Drumhedz, Chris Dave And The Drumhedz; War & Leisure, Miguel; Ventriloquism, Meshell Ndegeocello.

Best R&B album: Sex & Cigarettes, Toni Braxton; Good Thing, Leon Bridges; Honestly, Lalah Hathaway; H.E.R., H.E.R.; Gumbo Unplugged (Live), PJ Morton.

Best rap album: Invasion of Privacy, Cardi B; Swimming, Mac Miller; Victory Lap, Nipsey Hussle; Daytona, Pusha T; Astroworld, Travis Scott.

Best country album: Unapologetically, Kelsea Ballerini; Port Saint Joe, Brothers Osborne; Girl Going Nowhere, Ashley McBryde; Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves; From A Room: Volume 2, Chris Stapleton.

Best jazz vocal album: My Mood Is You, Freddy Cole; The Questions, Kurt Elling; The Subject Tonight Is Love, Kate McGarry With Keith Ganz and Gary Versace; If You Really Want, Raul Midon With The Metropole Orkest Conducted By Vince Mendoza; The Window, Cecile McLorin Salvant.

Best jazz instrumental album: Diamond Cut, Tia Fuller; Live In Europe, Fred Hersch Trio; Seymour Reads The Constitution!, Brad Mehldau Trio; Still Dreaming, Joshua Redman, Ron Miles, Scott Colley & Brian Blade; Emanon, The Wayne Shorter Quartet.

Best compilation soundtrack for visual media: Call Me By Your Name; Deadpool 2; The Greatest Showman; Lady Bird; Stranger Things.

Producer of the year, non-classical: Boi-1da; Larry Klein; Linda Perry; Kanye West; Pharrell Williams.

Best music video: Apes–t, The Carters; This Is America, Childish Gambino; I’m Not Racist, Joyner Lucas; PYNK, Janelle Monae; MUMBO JUMBO, Tierra Whack.

Best music film: Life In 12 Bars, Eric Clapton; Whitney, (Whitney Houston); Quincy, Quincy Jones; Itzhak, Itzhak Perlman; The King, (Elvis Presley).

Top movie and acting contenders for the 2019 Oscars

The 91st Academy Awards is still a few months away, but there are already a number of films and performances receiving Oscar buzz.

From star turns by Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born and Timothée Chalamet in Beautiful Boy, to larger studio films like Black Panther and The Hate U Give, there are some clear frontrunners for the upcoming awards season. Naturally, EW has compiled a list of the films that will most likely be competing for the coveted gold statue.

Both Barry Jenkins and Damien Chazelle are back in the awards conversation after the Best Picture debacle at the 2017 Oscars that launched a thousand jokes, with If Beale Street Could Talk and First Man, respectively.

If Beale Street Could Talk, an adaptation of James Baldwin’s 1974 novel of the same name, could be in the running for Best Picture and Best Director, while Regina King’s portrayal of matriarch Sharon Rivers in the film could find the actress in the race for Best Supporting Actress.

Chazelle’s ambitious First Man could result in nominations for two-time collaborator Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy, as well as a nomination for Adapted Screenplay.

Female-focused films are also at the forefront, with The Favourite, Destroyer, and Widows all featuring stellar performances by the likes of Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicole Kidman, and Viola Davis.

Stompin’ Tom’s classic The Hockey Song to be inducted into Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame

Stompin’ Tom’s iconic sports anthem The Hockey Song is being immortalized in the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The catchy ditty celebrating “the good ol’ hockey game” will be honoured on Saturday as the Toronto Maple Leafs play the Winnipeg Jets at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

The beloved song is celebrating its 45th anniversary as an anthem played throughout North American hockey arenas.

During the ceremony, the late singer’s son, Tom Connors Jr., will be presented with a hall of fame plaque, while country singer Tim Hicks will perform the song.

The induction marks the latest achievement for a novelty track which spent decades as a cult favourite before it graduated into the Canadian pop culture canon.

Released in 1973, The Hockey Song was a favourite among the Saint John singer’s fans during a period of unmatched success for Connors.

At the time, he was on a streak that saw him win the male country singer Juno Award for five years straight, from 1971 to 1975, propelled by hits like Bud the Spud and Sudbury Saturday Night.

But it wasn’t until the Ottawa Senators began playing The Hockey Song in the early 1990s that it caught the attention of Leafs coach Pat Burns. He called for the song to be played at his team’s games as well.

The Hockey Song quickly spread to other professional hockey rinks across the country where fans enthusiastically sang the chorus from the stands.

Fellow musicians have shown their adoration for the song too, with artists like Great Big Sea and Corb Lund performing their own versions.

After Connors died in 2013, the single shot up the charts, eventually peaking at No. 29 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100.

TIFF People’s Choice Award launches Green Book into the Oscar race

Peter Farrelly’s 1960s-set biographical drama Green Book has cleared a major hurdle in this year’s awards race, emerging from the Toronto International Film Festival with the prestigious People’s Choice Award — an accolade that often precedes placement among the Academy Awards’ Best Picture nominees.

The film, which follows classical pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) and his New York City-born driver Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen) as they tour the American South, beat out competition for the otherwise non-competitive festival’s attendee-driven prize from critically lauded titles including Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born, and Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk.

2018 marks the first year in TIFF history that voting for the the People’s Choice Award took place entirely online, with the festival also opening the contest to everyone with access to its website — including non-patrons. This could have skewed voting totals in favor of celebrity-driven projects like the Lady Gaga-starring A Star Is Born (which is also seen as a major Oscar contender thanks to enthusiastic reception on the festival circuit thus far), though Green Book’s victory speaks to its crowd-pleasing potential ahead of what’s shaping up to be a contentious awards battle.

With the People’s Choice Award in hand, Green Book now occupies pole position as the three-pronged, Oscar-priming arm of the fall festival circuit — Telluride, Venice, and Toronto — concludes. Since 2008, nine of the last 10 People’s Choice Award winners, including 12 Years a Slave and Slumdog Millionaire, have gone on to win or be nominated for the Academy’s Best Picture statuette, the only exception being Nadine Labaki’s 2011’s drama Where Do We Go Now?

Last year, Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri began its Oscar bid with a TIFF People’s Choice Award victory before scoring seven total Academy Award nominations. It would go on to win two: for lead actress Frances McDormand and supporting actor Sam Rockwell. Reigning Best Picture The Shape of Water did not place among the top three finalists for the People’s Choice Award.

For now, Green Book will have to translate its support out of Toronto into further precursor affection as it faces the next round of nationwide critics in anticipation of its Nov. 21 theatrical bow. With near-universal acclaim from festival press, it’s likely that year-end critics’ groups and guilds already have their eyes on the project for their upcoming awards ceremonies. Mortensen and Ali received particular praise from film journalists following Green Book’s Sept. 11 world premiere at TIFF, meaning acting nominations could be on the horizon for the onscreen pair.

In addition to Green Book, A Star Is Born, Beale Street, and Roma, titles that made significant strides on the Oscar circuit at TIFF include the gay conversion drama Boy Erased, Melissa McCarthy’s Marielle Heller-directed Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Viola Davis’ Widows, Timothée Chalamet’s drug addiction drama Beautiful Boy, Nicole Kidman’s transformative slow-burn crime story Destroyer, and Ryan Gosling’s Neil Armstrong biopic First Man.

Check out the full list of winners from the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival Awards below.

People’s Choice Awards

TIFF People’s Choice Award: Peter Farrelly – Green Book
First runner-up: Barry Jenkins – If Beale Street Could Talk
Second runner-up: Alfonso Cuarón – Roma
Midnight Madness People’s Choice: Vasan Bala – The Man Who Feels No Pain
Midnight Madness first runner-up: David Gordon Green – Halloween
Midnight Madness second runner-up: Sam Levinson – Assassination Nation
Documentary People’s Choice: E. Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin – Free Solo
Documentary first runner-up: Tom Donahue – This Changes Everything
Documentary second runner-up: John chester: John Chester – The Biggest Little Farm
Best International Short Film: Sandhya Suri – The Field

Best Canadian Short Film: Meryam Joobeur – Brotherhood

Best Canadian First Feature: Katherine Jerkovic – Roads in February

Best Canadian Feature Film: Sébastien Pilote – The Fireflies Are Gone

Fipresci Prizes of the International Federation of Film Critics:

Discovery: Carmel Winters – Float Like a Butterfly
Special Presentations: Guy Nattiv – Skin
Network for the Promotion of Asian and Pacific Cinema Award: Ash Mayfair – The Third Wife

Eurimage Audentia Award for Best Female Director: Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian – Fig Tree

Toronto Platform Prize: Ho Wi Ding – Cities of Last Things

Drake Just Broke Another Streaming Record That Doesn’t Matter

Congratulations are in order for Drake, who on Thursday became the first artist to ever reach 10 billion streams on Apple Music. The milestone is – per the proud, multi-platform announcement from the music-streaming service as well as coverage of it on various news outlets – a Big Deal.

Or is it? The other shining records that Drake has broken since the release of Scorpion include: highest number of single-day streams on Apple Music, highest number of single-day streams on Spotify and most streams per hour on Spotify. That’s not to mention dethroning himself from Number One on Billboard‘s charts (twice), scoring the highest number of total Number Ones of any rapper, becoming the male artist with the most-ever Number Ones in digital song sales and pushing an unprecedented seven songs into the Hot 100’s top 10 simultaneously. Again, that’s only with Scorpion. (Take a breath.)

All of these virtual trophies speak to Drake’s musical prowess, to be sure. But the accomplishments belong less to the rapper himself and much more to streaming services his album is listened to on, which have exploded in popularity at unparalleled speed and thrown all the traditional metrics of “success” in the music industry into unfettered chaos. Billboard‘s decades-old charts, for instance, now have to factor in streams against CD sales and digital downloads at a somewhat arbitrary rate; as of this summer, those charts weigh the success of songs differently depending on whether they were streamed for free or via a paid streaming subscription.

As for the millions and billions in streaming counts that are constantly being announced as new records: Under streaming’s business model, listeners don’t pay to hear individual songs or albums, so there’s no cost – as there would have been in the era of CD sales and digital downloads – to pick up an additional record after listening to something else. It’s a “yeah I’ll give this a listen, why not?” model that Spotify in particular capitalized on when it partnered with Drake for a platform-wide takeover a few weeks ago, pushing Scorpion to almost every single one of its 170 million users. The album, which boasts an outsized 25 tracks, was an album tailor-made for the era of streaming, which rewards sheer quantity over quality.

Streaming services are a very young distribution format in the broader scheme of music consumption, making it easy for “records” to constantly be set and broken and re-broken. While Spotify has been around for a decade now, the service didn’t rise into the heart of the mainstream until a few years ago, and Apple Music launched in the summer of 2015; as a format, streaming only started surpassing digital music sales in the U.S. as the music industry’s revenue-driver in 2016, per Nielsen’s yearly reports. In sum: Drake may be the biggest artist of modern times, but streaming’s continued growth means it won’t take long before his records are broken once more.

Page: Permanent reunion with BNL won’t happen

Earlier this year, Steven Page received a series of texts from Ed Robertson.

They included pictures of old set lists from the Barenaked Ladies, the band the two singer-songwriters formed as a duo in the suburbs of Scarborough, Ont., back in the 1980s and co-fronted for more than 20 years before Page left the fold in 2009.

“It was funny, I look at these set lists from 1990 or something and I can still rhyme off what the order of the first seven songs in the set were,” says Page, in an interview with Postmedia earlier this week from his home in New York City. “Because we did it so much in those days. The idea of calling out a set list and writing it out was so rote for the most part. So to see that, in my own handwriting, 25 to 30 later, was fun.”

Fun always seemed to be ingrained into the DNA of the Barenaked Ladies, one of Canada’s most successful acts that amassed a giant following here and abroad thanks to cheerfully goofy songs such as If I Had $1,000,000 and One Week. Which may be why Page’s departure from the band nearly a decade ago seemed such a shock. The split was, at least by Canadian showbiz standards, mildly scandalous and more than a little acrimonious. The decision to part ways was officially made by “mutual agreement,” but occurred not long after Page’s highly publicized drug bust in New York.

Until recently, he had not been in the same room with the other four members in nine years. On Wednesday, Page will join former bandmates Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Tyler Stewart and Robertson at Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre, for a formal plaque ceremony as part of BNL’s induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. It also marked the launch of Milestones: Barenaked Ladies at the National Music Centre, an exhibition that opens to the public on Thursday and features a treasure trove of artifacts from BNL’s history. Presumably, some of those old set lists will be on hand, as is the acoustic guitar Robertson used in the video for Falling for the First Time and early cassette demos Page made of songs that appeared on 1994’s Maybe You Should Drive and 1996’s Born on a Pirate Ship. For his part, Page enlisted his parents, who were apparently unofficial archivists for the band’s early history, for help unearthing memorabilia for the exhibition.

“I wish I could find perfect books of lyrics, where it’s like: ‘Hey, here’s all the lyrics from the Gordon album,’ ” says Page, referring to the band’s 1992 major label debut. “But it ended up being books that have shopping lists, diary entries, love letters or whatever, and in the middle of it are the lyrics to Old Apartment.”

BNL have continued to tour and release albums since 2009. But Page and his former bandmates have had plenty of opportunities to look back at their colourful history and early days as of late. In March, the five reunited to perform One Week and If I Had $1,000,000 at the Juno Awards in Vancouver to mark their induction into the Hall of Fame. Page said the night was a “blast,” went by very quickly and was “not nearly as weird” as he feared it would be.

“We’re guys who knew each other for a long time,” he says. “There’s baggage and there’s lots of water under the bridge but there’s lots of great shared history and friendship. The biggest thing for me, at Juno time, was meeting everybody’s kids 10 years later. Some of these kids weren’t even born yet when I left and I had never met them. Others are adults now. Having those guys meet my kids as young adults, that was exciting and new and that’s out of the way. And now we’ll go and have some good memories to share and be off on our merry ways after that.”

Creeggan, Hearn, Stewart and Robertson were indeed off on their merry ways after the plaque ceremony, but Page is sticking around. As part of the National Music Centre’s RBC Master in Residence program, he will be spending the next couple of days mentoring a handful of emerging artists that he helped pick. The three-day program will end with a Songwriter’s Circle on May 19.

“I think the focus will be on writing,” says Page. “But, really, whatever anybody wants to pick my brain about or discuss is up for grabs, too.”

As for sharing his own tricks of the trade, he admits he is not the most disciplined of songwriters, which is ironic since his upcoming sixth solo record is called Heal Thyself Pt. 2: Discipline.

“I’m a horrific procrastinator,” Page says. “I basically get ideas when I’m not in a position to be writing, like when I’m driving or travelling or somewhere where I don’t want to be singing into my phone in front of strangers. I get home and think ‘I should be working from 9 until 4 every day, writing.’ Unless I’m co-writing with somebody else, I’m terrible at that. I’ll go downstairs and pull a guitar out and play or I’ll tell myself I’m researching by watching Netflix. It just kind of gestates for quite a long time.”

Still, like BNL, Page has soldiered on and has been productive since 2009. Discipline, due out this summer, is the followup to 2016’s Heal Thyself Pt. 1: Instinct, a collection of candid songs that addressed, among other things, the songwriter’s experiences with mental illness. In 2011, Page went on CBC’s The Current to discuss publicly for the first time his struggles with depression and anxiety. Since then, he has regularly given talks about living with mental illness.

“I think one of the things that people feel when they are struggling is ‘why me?’ or ‘This can’t be real, because my life is good. What do I have to be anxious about or depressed about?’ ” Page says. “Which is not really the way it works. It’s not really about something. I had a lot of those same feelings and thought ‘I got it pretty good here.’ But it didn’t make me immune to depression and anxiety. I’m not all fixed either. It’s a work in progress and I’ve learned to work hard at it and hopefully can give people some inspiration to do that as well.”

As for BNL’s induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Page says he is proud of the honour and what the band has accomplished. Still, he says a permanent reunion with the other members is not in the cards, although he doesn’t rule out singing with them again at some point.

“It was pleasant enough when we did it last time that my knee-jerk reaction wouldn’t be no,” he says. “But I know that both parties have tons of other stuff on the go. I can’t speak for those guys, I don’t know if they would have any interest in doing anything together. I don’t think anybody wants me to be back in the band full time, myself included. But to do something together, a one-off or whatever, it’s nice to see we’re all grown-ups and could probably do it, especially if the occasion was the right one.”

Milestones: Barenaked Ladies opens May 17 and runs until February 2019 at Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre.

Mean Girls, SpongeBob lead Tony Award nominations with 12 nods each

NEW YORK—Tina Fey’s musical Mean Girls, which she adapted from her much-beloved and oft-quoted 2004 high school comedy movie, and the goofy undersea adaptation from the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical lead the Tony Award nominations with dozen nods each.

A British revival of Angels in America, Tony Kushner’s monumental, two-part drama about AIDS, life and love during the 1980s, grabbed 11 nominations — the most for any play — 25 years after it first appeared on Broadway. The shimmering, grown-up musical The Band’s Visit also earned 11 nods.

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise extended its magical touch to Broadway, with a two-part stage play featuring the bespectacled wizard earning 10 nominations, as did a revival of My Fair Lady.

Best new musical category is filled by The Band’s Visit, Frozen, Mean Girls and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical. Those musicals that failed to make the cut were the Hal Prince revue Prince of Broadway, the Jimmy Buffet musical Escape to Margaritaville and Summer, about disco diva Donna Summer.

The two-part Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which picks up 19 years from where Rowling’s last novel left off and portrays Potter and his friends as grown-ups, won nine Olivier Awards in London before coming to America and bewitching critics and audiences alike. It now will face The Children, Farinelli and The King, Junk and Latin History for Morons for best new play.

Best male acting nominations for a play include Denzel Washington, starring in a revival of Eugene O’Neill’s epic The Iceman Cometh. The 2010 Tony winner for Fences will have to face-off against Andrew Garfield in Angels in America, Tom Hollander of Travesties, Jamie Parker of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Mark Rylance in Farinelli and The King.

Michael Cera of Brampton, Ont., received a nomination for best featured actor in a play for his role in Lobby Hero.

Amy Schumer, who made her Broadway debut in Steve Martin’s comedy Meteor Shower, won a nomination for best actress in a play. Others in the category include Glenda Jackson from Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women, Condola Rashad in Saint Joan and Lauren Ridloff in Children of a Lesser God.

Carousel, My Fair Lady and Once on This Island make up the best musical revival category, mostly because they’re only eligible nominees.

The best play revival category is filled by Angels in America, Three Tall Women, Lobby Hero, Travesties and The Iceman Cometh.

Bruce Springsteen, whose solo show mixes songs and stories from his bestselling memoir Born to Run and has been banking over $2 million (U.S.) each week he’s onstage, will be granted a special, non-competitive Tony, along with John Leguizamo for Latin History for Morons.

Plenty of nominations don’t necessarily lead to actual wins on Tony night. While Hamilton was nominated for 16 awards in 2016 and went on to win 11, just last year Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 earned a leading 12 nominations but got just two technical awards on the big night.