Clio Awards Honor Jason Flom, Mary J. Blige, Sandy Hook/’Teenage Dream’ Spot and More in Nashville Ceremony

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticThe recipients of the Academy of Country Music’s annual “ACM Honors” for 2022 were announced Wednesday, with the honorees at the ACM’s industry-centric adjunct ceremony in August to include Morgan Wallen, Shania Twain, Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton, ASCAP exec Connie Bradley and the television series “Yellowstone.”The ceremony will take place August 14 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The show is not to be confused with the org’s competitive ACM Awards broadcast, which took place March 7 at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium and went out over Prime Video this year.

DJ D-Nice is taking the stage for the Unscripted awards show.The Unscripted awards showwill debut exclusive clips from the upcoming series “Selling the OC” (Netflix) and “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip Ex-Wives Club” (Bravo.)Here are the full lists of presenters:Awkwafina (presenting Comedic Genius Award to Jack Black)Billy Eichner (“Bros”)Chase Sui Wonders (“Bodies Bodies Bodies”)Chris Evans (“Lightyear”)Eduardo Franco (“Stranger Things”)Glen Powell (“Top Gun: Maverick”)Lana Condor (“Moonshot”)Jamie Campbell Bower (“Stranger Things”)Jay Ellis (“Top Gun: Maverick”)Jenna Ortega (“Scream 5”)Joe Keery (“Stranger Things”)Joseph Quinn (“Stranger Things”)Maria Bakalova (“Bodies Bodies Bodies”)Pablo Schreiber (“Halo”)Rachel Sennott (“Bodies Bodies Bodies”)Rebel Wilson (“Senior Year”)Riley Keough (“Daisy Jones & The Six”)Sarah Shahi (“Sex/Life”)Sydney Sweeney (“Euphoria”)Alex Hall (“Selling the OC”)Ariana Madix (“Vanderpump Rules”)Brandi Marshall (“Selling the OC”)Chris “CT” Tamburello (“The Challenge”)Chrishell Stause (“Selling Sunset”)Crystal Kung Minkoff (“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”)Dorinda Medley (“The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip Ex-Wives Club”)Dorit Kemsley (“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”)Emma Hernan (“Selling Sunset”)Erika Jayne (“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”)Garcelle Beauvais (“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”)James Kennedy (“Vanderpump Rules”)Jeremy Scott (“Making the Cut”)Kathy Hilton (“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”)Kevin Kreider (“Bling Empire”)Kim Lee (“Bling Empire”)Kristin Cavallari (“The Hills”)Kyle Richards (“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”)Lindsay Hubbard (“Summer House”)Lisa Rinna (“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”)Melissa Gorga (“The Real

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentVeteran Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio returned to Cannes this year with “Exterior Night,” a limited TV series about the 1978 kidnapping and assassination of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro by Red Brigades terrorists that, prior to playing on pubcaster RAI, is now on release in two installments via Lucky Red in Italian cinemas where it’s doing quite well.Bellocchio, who previously recounted Moro’s still-mysterious abduction in the 2005 film “Goodmorning, Night” from the viewpoint of one of his captors, is taking a different narrative approach in this series consisting  of six one-hour episodes that reconstruct the 55 days of Moro’s imprisonment from different points of view, including that of his family, his fellow high-echelon Christian Democrat politicians, and the ailing Pope Paul VI, played by Toni Servillo. He spoke to Variety about what drove him to revisit Italy’s deepest recent collective trauma and why he thinks the crucial issue of whether the Italian government should have negotiated with the Red Brigades to try and save Moro remains an open question.

19 students and two adults were killed when a gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday. Abbott said the shooter is also dead, and is believed to have been killed by responding law enforcement officers. Abbott's comments came after the district reported an active shooter at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, which is approximately an hour and a half west of San Antonio. Abbott said the shooter was an 18-year-old male who resided in Uvalde.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticFor music fans in Music City, it’s a weekend of sad and possibly promising news. Developers have announced a plan to build a $40 million amphitheater and adjacent entertainment complex in Murfreesboro, a city within easy driving range of Nashville.That may or may not assuage any of the letdown that Nashvillians are feeling over the closure this week a venue complex that has been an integral part of the city’s music scene for 19 years, with the Mercy Lounge, Cannery Ballroom and High Watt all going dark after the operator and landlord couldn’t come to terms.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticSinger-songwriter Allison Russell, who is on a streak of awards-show nominations and wins with her “Outside Child” album, won two top awards, artist of the year and song of the year, at Wednesday night’s International Folk Music Awards.The program was held as the kickoff to the Folk Alliance International Conference in Kansas City, MO.Song of the year went to Crys Matthews for “Changemakers.” Matthews performed at the two-hour show, as did the group Isaac Cates & Ordained and nominees Diana Jones and John Smith.Russell has kept up a busy awards calendar. Over the weekend, she had been in her native Canada to pick up a Juno Award for best contemporary roots album. Monday, she was announced as being tied for a leading number of nominations — three — for the Americana Honors, where Russell will be up for artist, album and song of the year at a ceremony to be held in Nashville in September.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticBob Neuwirth, a recording artist and mainstay of the New York City folk scene in the 1960s, and a collaborator with Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, John Cale and Peter Case, among others, died in Santa Monica Wednesday night at age 82. The cause of death was heart failure.“On Wednesday evening in Santa Monica, Bob Neuwirth’s big heart gave out,” said his longtime partner, entertainment executive Paula Batson, in a statement. “He was 82 years old and would have been 83 in June.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic“Naomi Judd: A River of Time Celebration” was broadcast live on CMT Sunday night two weeks and one day after the country music legend died. But it hadn’t been half that long in the planning. The show’s gestation really came just a week prior to air date, on — appropriately enough — Mother’s Day.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticBrandi Carlile, Yola and Allison Russell lead the nominations for the 2022 Americana Honors & Awards with three nods each, the Americana Music Association announced during a live unveiling Monday afternoon at Nashville’s National Museum of African American Music.Adia Victoria and the duo of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss also fared well in the voting, each drawing two nominations, in a small crop of categories where it’s generally not possible for any artist to get more than three noms in a single year.The Americana Honors & Awards show takes place Sept. 14 at the Ryman Auditorium, and is the flagship event during the AmericanaFest conference, which will take place for a 22nd year at venues around Nashville on Sept.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Daria” spinoff “Jodie” is taking shape, but will now be an animated film rather than a series as originally announced. In addition, Variety has learned exclusively that the spinoff has set its main cast.It was previously announced that Tracee Ellis Ross will voice the title role of Jodie, Daria’s friend from high school.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticOne of pop culture’s most famous mother figures got a sendoff from her community at the Mother Church of country music Sunday, as Wynonna and Ashley Judd welcomed country stars and other celebrities to Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium for “Naomi Judd: A River of Time Celebration,” a tribute that was broadcast live on CMT.A frequently heaven-looking Wynonna, who with her late mother was half of the country duo the Judds, sang “River of Time” early in the ceremony, then closed it joined by her local Christ Church choir for what was the pair’s final hit, “Love Will Build a Bridge.” She also participated in a recreation of the mother/daughter harmonies by pairing up with Brandi Carlile for a duet of “The Rose,” preceded by a video testimonial by Bette Midler. Pure magic on stage tonight ✨ @Wynonna @brandicarlile pic.twitter.com/5XmUe8EdGA— CMT (@CMT) May 16, 2022“It’s so strange to be here, but natural at the same time,” said Wynonna.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticMusic publishing, a part of the industry that rarely raises its hand to be its hottest or most controversial subject, has recently been an uncharacteristic source of news headlines again and again, due to a seeming gold rush that has major artist-songwriters selling off their catalogs for huge figures. As the chairman-CEO of Sony Music Publishing, Jon Platt naturally has a few thoughts about this crest of cashing in. And they’re mixed, even if he’s not about to wax gloomy about writers getting their due.“There’s no one particular answer to this —  no one-size-fits-all answer, to be honest with you,” Platt said during a keynote Q&A at the annual Music Biz conference in Nashville Wednesday.

Shirley Ju On Tuesday, May 10th, the 70th annual BMI Pop Awards took over the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.Hosted by BMI president and CEO Mike O’Neill and vice president, worldwide creative Barbara Cade, Carole Bayer Sager and Mike Stoller were honored as BMI Icons for their contributions as songwriters — their many credits include such classics as “Don’t Cry Out Loud” and “Hound Dog,” respectively. Both are members of Songwriters Hall of Fame and have enjoyed profitable careers in their craft for decades, as was noted in their BMI presentations.

Olivia Rodrigo has brought a new cover into the setlist of her ongoing North American ‘Sour’ tour: No Doubt‘s 1995 hit ‘Just A Girl’.The cover was added to the set in Philadelphia, where she performed at the Metropolitan Opera House last Friday (May 6) and Saturday (May 7). Per setlist.fm, the cover followed a performance of the song ‘All I Want’ from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, on which Rodrigo stars as Nini.Have a look at fan-shot footage of Rodrigo’s performance below:‘Just A Girl’ joins a growing list of pop-rock classics that Rodrigo has covered on the ‘Sour’ tour, with her takes on ‘Complicated’ by Avril Lavigne and ‘Seether’ by Veruca Salt becoming staples of her set.

Wilson Chapman editorJudith Light and Wilson Cruz were among the many honorees of the New York City GLAAD Media Awards on Friday.Now in its 33rd year, the annual GLAAD Media Awards celebrates television, film, music, comic books and journalism that have represented breakthroughs and advancements in LGBTQ+ representation. The New York ceremony announced the rest of the 30 recipients, after the April 2 ceremony in Los Angeles announced the initial group of honorees.

Best buds! Renée Zellweger is getting close to Ant Anstead‘s son Hudson, an insider exclusively reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly.