The Idol, the HBO series from The Weeknd and Euphoria's Sam Levinson, brought its first season to an end last week. I thought it was quite bad, but found the internet pile-on was exaggerated, as they usually are.
17.06.2023 - 00:53 / variety.com
Jon Burlingame Three months from now, the Weeknd might just have an Emmy to place alongside his four Grammys and his Oscar nomination. That’s because he joins a dozen other music superstars — including Dolly Parton, Common, Ryan Tedder, “Weird Al” Yankovic and Meshell Ndegeocello — who have entered work in this year’s Emmy competition. Voting began yesterday in the seven music categories. Approximately 550 members of the Academy’s music branch (composers, songwriters, music directors, orchestrators or music supervisors) will cast ballots, although viewing the hundreds of entries before voting ends on June 26 is an impossible task, Academy officials privately concede.
The Weeknd, aka Abel Tesfaye, is among the 19 entries in the Music Direction category. He submitted “The Weeknd Live at Sofi Stadium,” an HBO special that aired in February. If nominated, he’s likely to be up against such past winners as Adam Blackstone (entered for the “Super Bowl LVII Half-time Show,” “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame” ceremony and Rihanna’s “Savage X Fenty Show”) and Rickey Minor (“The Oscars”).
Most of the big-name performers have entered the song category (officially Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics). Parton, who won an Emmy two years ago as a producer of her TV movie “Christmas on the Square,” submitted songs from NBC’s “Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas” and HBO’s “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.” Also entering songs are Kid Cudi from Netflix’s “Entergalactic,” David Byrne from Netflix’s “John Mulaney: Baby J,” Ryan Tedder from Peacock’s “Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin,” Donald Glover from Prime Video’s “Swarm,” Yankovic from Roku’s “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” Steve Martin from Hulu’s “Only Murders in the
The Idol, the HBO series from The Weeknd and Euphoria's Sam Levinson, brought its first season to an end last week. I thought it was quite bad, but found the internet pile-on was exaggerated, as they usually are.
“worst sex scenes in history.”“Continue to push the vision no matter how bumpy the journey,” Tesfaye, 33, told his fans in an Instagram post, seemingly referring to the show’s poor reception. Upon premiering at Cannes, “The Idol,” which Tesfaye created with Sam Levinson of “Euphoria” fame, was widely derided for its nudity, sex and directionless plot. “‘The Idol,’ or 50 SHADES OF TESFAYE: A Pornhub-homepage odyssey starring Lily-Rose Depp’s areolas and The Weeknd’s greasy rat tail,” a critic for the Gray Lady sneered after a viewing.“The show heavily exploits Lily … I hope she’s okay with it all because it comes off very exploitative,” another critic worried. The plot followed troubled pop princess Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp, 24, daughter of Johnny Depp) as she became involved in a weird and sex-filled relationship with self-help guru, club owner and cult leader Tedros (Tesfaye). The show regularly scandalized audiences, who cringed at its “nasty” sex scenes.Levinson doubled down after “The Idol” was criticized, defending his work as “revolutionary,” while others noted that the show is actually a lot tamer than earlier efforts, such as “True Blood.” “I think we live in a very sexualized world,” Levinson said.Depp also defended the show, telling Vogue Australia, “We know that we’re making something provocative and we are not shying away from that. That’s something I knew I was setting out to do from the beginning.
according to the Independent. “I have to decide how much of that high-tech stuff I want to be involved [with] because I don’t want to leave my soul here on this earth.“I think with some of this stuff I’ll be grounded here forever… I’ll be around, we’ll find ways to keep me here.”The singer-songwriter who was promoting her forthcoming album “Rockstar” also had some fun with the question of artificial intelligence.
wrapped up its controversial first season on Sunday night, and The Weeknd took to social media to celebrate the bow of the HBO drama, which he starred in, co-created and produced with creator Sam Levinson.«The finale. grateful to share this moment with you all as the season comes to an end,» The Weeknd, known by his real name, Abel Tesfaye, in his acting work, captioned the slideshow of behind-the-scenes pics from the series.
Dolly Parton has said she wouldn’t entertain the idea of having her own AI hologram because she doesn’t want to “leave my soul on Earth”.Parton was asked during a press conference whether she’d ever consider creating a show using a hologram of herself, in the style of ABBA’s current Voyage show.“I think I’ve left a great body of work behind,” she said. “I have to decide how much of that high-tech stuff I want to be involved [with] because I don’t want to leave my soul here on this earth.“I think with some of this stuff I’ll be grounded here for ever… I’ll be around, we’ll find ways to keep me here.” [via The Independent]She also joked that “everything” about her, including “any intelligence” was artificial anyway.Parton also went into more detail about her forthcoming rock album ‘Rockstar’, which is set for release on November 17.She explained that she wanted to get Mick Jagger to appear on the album “so bad” as her husband Carl Dean “loves” him.“I wanted him to sing on ‘Satisfaction’ but he wanted something new and different, which I don’t blame him for that, so I wound up singing that with Pink and Brandi Carlile.“We kept looking for the right song and he was doing an album in LA, and he did some stuff in Nashville, and I kept missing him everywhere.
The Weeknd has shared two new songs from The Idol ahead of this Sunday's season one finale. "Like A God" and Lil Baby collaboration "False Idols" are streaming below.
Daily Mail.The “9 to 5” crooner revealed she wanted the Rolling Stones frontman to sing his 1965 tune “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”However, she explained that Jagger “wanted something new and different, which I don’t blame him for.”“We kept looking for the right song. He was doing an album in L.A., and I was doing stuff in Nashville, and I kept missing him, but he wanted to do it,” Parton said.The Grammy winner also described to the outlet how touring is beginning to take its toll on her.Parton added that she doesn’t “want to be far away from home” with concert touring.She admitted: “It’s always been taxing.
Dolly Parton fully embraces the rocker fantasy while attending a press conference for her upcoming album Rockstar at the Four Seasons Hotel in London, England on Thursday (June 29).
The Weeknd has shared a cover of John Lennon’s ‘Jealous Guy’ that’s been used in HBO’s new show The Idol.Ahead of the show’s fourth episode, The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, shared a version of Lennon’s classic song that appears in the show. The Idol is made by Euphoria-creator Sam Levinson and follows the plot of a pop star (Lily-Rose Depp) who develops a controversial relationship with self-help guru and cult leader Tedros (Abel Tesfaye).The cover was first teased back in April and the musician performed it in Norway earlier this week.You can check out the song here:Last week, The Weeknd and BLACKPINK‘s Jennie shared a new song that appears in The Idol – listen to ‘One Of The Girls’ below.Depp also appeared on two new The Weeknd songs ‘World Class Sinner/I’m A Freak’ and ‘The Lure’ from the show’s soundtrack, which were released earlier this month.The first single taken from the HBO drama was titled ‘Double Fantasy’, and hears The Weeknd (now going by his birth name Abel Tesfaye) team up with Future.
The Weeknd and BLACKPINK‘s Jennie have shared a new song that appears in The Idol – listen to ‘One Of The Girls’ below.The Idol is made by Euphoria-creator Sam Levinson and follows the plot of a pop star (Lily-Rose Depp) who develops a controversial relationship with self-help guru and cult leader Tedros (Abel Tesfaye).Depp also appeared on two new The Weeknd songs ‘World Class Sinner/I’m A Freak’ and ‘The Lure’ from the show’s soundtrack, which were released earlier this month.Now, Tesfaye has teamed up with Jennie, who also appears in The Idol as one of Depp’s backup dancers, Dyanne, for a new track.Listen to ‘One Of The Girls’ below.The first single taken from the HBO drama was titled ‘Double Fantasy’, and hears The Weeknd (now going by his birth name Abel Tesfaye) team up with Future. Like ‘The Lure’, the collaborative single featured production from The Weeknd and Mike Dean, and arrived accompanied by a music video that featured clips from the show.More recently the singer-songwriter and actor released the single ‘Popular’, which saw him join forces with Playboy Carti and queen of pop, Madonna.
Everyone has something to say about “The Idol.” Since even before it premiered, the Max series — the “sick and twisted” brainchild of Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson — has been slammed for “too graphic” sex scenes and excessive displays of “breast and ass,” as well as a particularly “nasty” steamy segment that Tesfaye was forced to defend.The “torture porn” drama, which premiered with 900,000 viewers, follows Jocelyn, portrayed by Lily-Rose Depp, a troubled pop star who becomes increasingly enraptured with the mysterious, rat-tail-donning Tedros (Tesfaye). Now, even a famed snack brand is trying to crumble the show’s cookies.After it was prematurely reported that the show would be canceled after only one season, the official Oreo account replied with more fire than one might expect from milk’s favorite cookie.
Abel «The Weeknd» Tesfaye said this week he «very much» expected a negative reaction to Controversy surrounding the show and its production first surfaced several months before the first episode's premiere, when sources told that the project had gone «wildly, disgustingly off the rails.» Most recently, referred to the third episode as «bizarrely edited» and «hackily written.» Tesfaye said he expected all of this criticism, but was not fazed by it. «It's almost educational, that this is what comes with being incredibly famous,» Tesfaye told of his show's treatment of fame. «You're surrounded by people who you're not sure what their true intentions are, even if it seems like they're good.
William Earl After the third episode of “The Idol,” series co-creator Sam Levinson described how he developed the creepy, awkward and ambitious cult leader Tedros played by Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye. “We’re in Abel’s house, we’re talking it through, imagining the character Tedros,” Levinson said, in the series’ “Crafting the Family” featurette on Max. “And I would say, ‘Imagine you have all of the dreams that you have of what you want to do in life, in terms of music, and your career, all of the aspirations — but imagine you have none of the talent. That’s who this character is.'” Tesfaye described the character similarly in a recent interview.
Dolly Parton has shared a new song with Judas Priest‘s Rob Halford and Mötley Crüe‘s Nikki Sixx – listen to ‘Bygones’ below.The track is the latest preview of the country legend’s forthcoming rock album ‘Rockstar’, which is set for release later this year.The album will feature nine original songs and 21 covers of rock classics such as Heart‘s ‘Magic Man’, Prince‘s ‘Purple Rain’, The Rolling Stones‘ ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ and many more. The tracklist is a rock lover’s dream as the majority of the songs feature many of the greats including Sting, Stevie Nicks, Debbie Harry, Steve Perry, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and others.‘Magic Man’ has also been shared this week alongside the release of ‘Bygones’. It’s a duet between Parton and Heart singer Ann Wilson and is dedicated to Parton’s husband Carl.You can listen to both songs below.Parton said of the songs: “‘Bygones’ is an original song of mine featuring Rob Halford from Judas Priest with Nikki Sixx and John 5.
New Music Friday! The weekend is here, which means more streaming, new playlists and the best that music has to offer. ET has you covered for everything in between.Doja Cat leads this week's releases with her new single, «Attention,» offering fans a first glimpse at the singer's next album. Read on to check out all of ET's recommendations for new songs and albums to listen to this weekend! «Attention» – Doja CatStream it: Apple / Spotify«Magic Man (Carl Version)» – Dolly Parton feat Ann Wilson Stream it: Apple / Spotify«Angel Pt. 2» – JVKE, JIMIN of BTS, Charlie Puth, Muni LongStream it: Apple / Spotify«Something Real» – Dierks BentleyStream it: Apple / SpotifySee Ya – Wiz KhalifaStream it: Apple / Spotify«We Don't Fight Anymore» – Carly Pearce feat Chris StapletonStream it: Apple / Spotify«JOY (Unspeakable)» –Voices Of Fire feat Pharrell WilliamsStream it: Apple / Spotify«Run It Up» – Coi LerayStream it: Apple / Spotify«Whole Family» – Saucy Santana feat Flo MilliStream it: Apple / Spotify«Vida Cotidiana» – JUANESStream it: Apple / SpotifyGood Riddance Deluxe – Gracie AbramsStream it: Apple / SpotifyTable For Two – Nat & Alex WolffStream it: Apple / Spotify«Tell Her» – Bruno MajorStream it: Apple / Spotify«The Hardest Part» – Olivia Dean feat Leon BridgesStream it: Apple / Spotify«Invítame A Un Café» — Steve Aoki & Ángela Aguilar Stream it: Apple / Spotify«Westside Story» – DJ SnakeStream it: Apple / Spotify«Don't Say Love» – Leigh-AnneStream it: Apple / Spotify«I'm Geekin» Remix – DDG feat NLE Choppa & BIAStream it: Apple / Spotify«Love U For Fun» – NERIAHStream it: Apple / SpotifyThe Outlaw Side of Me – Chris JansonStream it: Apple / Spotifywho's loving you? – AmbréStream it: Apple / Spotify«Dark Side Of The Moon» –
Zack Sharf Digital News Director SPOILER ALERT: This story contains minor spoilers from “The Flash,” now playing in theaters nationwide. Reviews for Warner Bros.’ long-in-the-works “The Flash” movie have been largely favorable to mixed, but most critics agree the film is the latest comic book tentpole to suffer from unappealing visual effects. Leaked scenes on social media have also led to fan bafflement over the film’s VFX, especially an opening sequence in which Ezra Miller’s superhero speeds to Gotham City to save a bunch of falling babies from a collapsing hospital. To say the VFX babies in “The Flash” opening scene are rendered in a hugely un-human way would be an understatement. The same goes for all of the human characters who appear during the movie’s many time travel sequences. Suffice to say, none of them look human at all.
The Weeknd is responding to backlash surrounding his sex scenes in the latest episode of .The singer, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, opened up about the controversial moment in the second episode of the series in a new interview with . While the scene sees his character, Tedros and Lily-Rose Depp's Jocelyn get intimate on screen, Tesfaye said there's nothing «sexy» about it.«There's nothing sexy about it. When we use as a reference, we're using Verhoeven.
Save your criticism for another day. The Weeknd has claimed that his “nasty” sex scene with Lily-Rose Depp in the second episode of HBO’s “The Idol” is more pathetic than sensual. “There’s nothing sexy about it,” the “Blinding Lights” megastar, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, told GQ in an interview published Tuesday.
creepin‘” out several viewers during the already controversial show’s second episode on Sunday.Fans of musician The Weeknd — born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye — claimed they will never be able to look at the superstar again after a “nasty” sex scene featuring the pop singer aired on the new HBO drama.The eye-popping scene saw the singer, who plays club owner and cult leader Tedros, and Jocelyn (played by Lily-Rose Depp) getting intimate with each other — in a way that rubbed viewers wrong.One Twitter user, who recorded and posted the scene online, claimed that she would “never see The Weeknd the same after this.” At one point during the steamy scene, a deadpanned Tesfaye, 33, says that he wants to “f–kin stretch that tiny, little p—y” while 24-year-old Depp’s character pleasures herself. Several other social media users also agreed with the sentiment.
The much-hyped The Idol premiered on HBO this week, revealing a curious mixture of music industry satire and less successful eoritc thriller homage. The show is centered around Lily-Rose Depp's Jocelyn, a pop star whose lack of control in life drives her into the arms of a mysterious club owner Tedros (played by The Weeknd a.k.a.