Month: February 2022

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News Daypop

Queen Elizabeth ‘experiencing mild symptoms’ after testing positive for COVID-19

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Buckingham Palace announced Sunday that Queen Elizabeth II, 95, has tested positive for coronavirus and is experiencing “mild cold-like symptoms.” A palace statement read: “Buckingham Palace confirm that the queen has today tested positive for Covid. Her Majesty is experiencing mild cold-like symptoms but expects to continue light duties at Windsor over the coming week. She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all the appropriate guidelines.”

Queen Elizabeth II is Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. On Feb. 6, she reached her Platinum Jubilee at her country estate, Sandringham. The day earlier, she carried out her first major public engagement for more than three months, meeting with charity workers at Sandringham House. The Queen received her first vaccine in January 2021, and while it had not been officially released whether she received a second dose and a booster, the BBC reported it is believed she has received all follow-up vaccinations.

Nearly two weeks ago, Prince Charles, the 73-year-old heir to the British throne, tested positive for coronavirus for a second time, and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, confirmed Monday she had the virus. Queen Elizabeth had been in contact with her eldest son and heir.

According to Bloomberg tracking, Britain has vaccinated 78.3% of its total population with at least one dose. Currently in England, you are not legally required to self-isolate after testing positive for the virus. The prime minister will confirm all of England’s pandemic regulations will end when he lays out his “living with Covid” plan on Monday.

Queen Elizabeth II Tests Positive for COVID-19, Receiving Medical Attention

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Sports Daypop

Phoenix Suns’ Chris Paul awarded inaugural Kobe & Gigi Bryant WNBA Advocacy Award

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Chris Paul, 12-time All-Star for the Phoenix Suns, was the inaugural recipient of the Kobe & Gigi Bryant WNBA Advocacy Award for his “significant contributions to the advancement of girls’ and women’s basketball, and advocacy for the WNBA.”  The WNBA and Vanessa Bryant presented Paul the award at Sunday’s NBA All-Star at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert in a news release:  “I have seen first-hand Chris’ appreciation of the WNBA and the game at every level for women and girls, especially in Phoenix and North Carolina, and his ardent support of our game strongly reflects the legacy of Kobe and Gigi. The league is proud to name Chris as the inaugural recipient of the Kobe & Gigi Bryant WNBA Advocacy Award, as he serves as a leader and role model for other professional athletes around growing the future of the game for young girls and all fans.”

Said Paul:  “I’m excited about seeing the growth in the women’s game. I’m a big fan of the W. It’s probably been the funniest year, and last year having the WNBA team right there in our home city. I tell people, I don’t know if I tell people all the time, but the day I got traded to Phoenix, I got to Phoenix, and I worked out on one side of the court, and on the other court (Phoenix Mercury’s) Diana Taurasi was working out. I’ll never forget that image in my head. We don’t really get to do that in the league.”

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

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Sports Daypop

Rookie Austin Cindric wins the 2022 Daytona 500 for his first Cup win

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Rookie Austin Cindric won his first Daytona 500 on Sunday, successfully defeating Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace to win the race and delivering Team Penske the win in just his eighth start. Cindric is in his first full year driving for Team Penske on the NASCAR Cup Series after spending the last five years predominantly on the Xfinity Series.

Cindric, 23, was able to block Blaney and hold off Wallace near the start/finish line for the win. He also successfully avoided a pair of late-race crashes including one involving Ricky Stenhouse, who was leading the race with eight laps to go but ended his day after spinning out into the wall.  Wallace, Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski were also involved in the crash but were able to keep driving. Two laps earlier Kyle Larsen crashed into Kevin Harvick, sending him spinning out and causing a six-car crash.  And an eight-car crash on lap 64 saw favorite Denny Hamlin eliminated from the race.

Cindric won the Xfinity championship in 2020, and narrowly lost the title in 2021. At 23 years (and 212 days) old, Cindric becomes the second-youngest driver to win the Daytona 500; Trevor Bayne is the youngest, having won the race at 20 years old in 2011.

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Categories
Country Daypop

Garth Brooks announces concert date at Notre Dame Stadium

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Garth Brooks has announced another concert date as part of his ongoing Stadium Tour at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Ind., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. The Notre Dame show will mark Brooks’ first Notre Dame Stadium concert in three-and-a-half years. The Stadium Tour is currently schedule to wrap up with five dates at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, which are slated for Sep. 9-11 and Sep. 16-17.

Tickets for the newly announced show are slated to go on sale on Friday, Feb. 25, at 10AM ET, with a limit of eight tickets per purchase.  All seats to Brooks’ Notre Dame University performance will cost $98.95, which includes all applicable taxes and fees. As with other shows on the Garth Brooks Stadium Tour, the performance at Notre Dame will feature in-the-round seating. All COVID-19 restrictions apply, and the purchaser assumes all risk of COVID-19.

Tickets will be available by visiting ticketmaster.com/garthbrooks or via the Garth Brooks line at Ticketmaster, 1-877-654-2784, as well as through the Ticketmaster mobile phone app . There will be no ticket sales at the venue box office on Feb. 25.

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Categories
Country Daypop

Jimmie Allen and Bebe Rexha to serve as celebrity mentors on Season 20 of “American Idol”

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Jimmie Allen and Bebe Rexha will serve as celebrity mentors on the upcoming Season 20 of American Idol. Allen shared the news from Disney’s Aulani Resort & Spa in Hawaii in a video clip, saying “Cannot wait for you guys to see the talent they have in store for you.” And on Twitter, American Idol also also shared the news.

The role of ‘celebrity mentor’ has previously been filled by country radio DJ Bobby Bones for the past four seasons, but Bones revealed in January that he won’t return to Idol this season because of a conflict with another show that he’s involved in.

Season 20 of American Idol will premiere on Sunday, Feb. 27 at 8PM ET on ABC, its network home for the past four seasons. Ryan Seacrest will return as host, and the show’s celebrity judges will remain Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.

‘American Idol’ Announces Bebe Rexha, Jimmie Allen As Celebrity Mentors

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Entertainment Daypop

‘Uncharted’ tops the weekend box office with $51M North American opening

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‘Uncharted’ is the No. 1 movie in North America, earning $51 million in its debut over the 3-day Presidents Day weekend, and making it the biggest opening weekend since “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, the Ruben Fleischer-directed film, based on a PlayStation game, opened on 4,275 screens.

Uncharted’s global total has already surpassed $100 million, and unlike “Spider-Man” the film will also get the benefit of a release in China, beginning March 14.

Coming in at No. 2 at the box office is Dog with $15.1 million, followed by Spider-Man: Now Way Home at No. 3 with $7.7 million, Death on the Nile at No. 4 with $6.3 million and Jackass Forever at No. 5 with $5.2 million.

Rounding out the top tier are Marry Me at No. 6 with $3.7 million, Sing 2 at No. 7 with $2.8 million, Scream at No. 8 with $2 million, Blacklight at No. 9 with $1.8 million and The Cursed at No. 10 with $1.7 million.

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Categories
Entertainment Daypop

Netflix shares ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 premiere date; confirms series will end after Season 5

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Netflix revealed that Stranger Things will end with the newly-announced fifth season, and also detailed the fourth season, plus hinted that an all-new Stranger Things series could be in the works.

Netflix announced the premiere date for the 1980s-set sci-fi drama’s fourth season, which is being split into two parts. Volume 1 of season four will debut May 27. The second half of the fourth season, Volume 2, will debut July 1.

Creators Matt and Ross Duffer wrote in an open letter:  “Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things. At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four but — as you’ll see for yourselves — we are now hurtling toward our finale.”

“It’s been a little while,” they added. “With nine scripts, over eight-hundred pages, almost two years of filming, thousands of visual effects shots and a runtime nearly twice the length of any previous season, Stranger Things 4 was the most challenging season yet, but also the most rewarding one. Everyone involved is incredibly proud of the results, and we can’t wait to share it with you. Given the unprecedented length, and to get it to you as soon as possible, Season 4 will be released in two volumes.”

The duo also strongly hinted that Stranger Things might get a sequel or spinoff series beyond the show’s current story and cast: “There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things: new mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes. But first, we hope that you stay with us as we finish this tale of a powerful girl named Eleven and her brave friends, of a broken police chief and a ferocious mom, of a small town called Hawkins and an alternate dimension known only as the Upside Down.”

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Categories
Rock Daypop

Journey announce upcoming album ‘Freedom’ and share track listing

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Journey guitarist Neal Schon has revealed the title and track listing of the band’s new album, Freedom, sharing an Instagram post containing the band’s logo along with the Freedom title and the 15-song track listing with the caption, “Teaser … it’s coming and it’s loaded.”

Journey have not announced a release date for Freedom, but it will mark their first studio album since 2011’s Eclipse. The album includes “The Way We Used to Be,” which the band released last June along with an animated music video.

Freedom is also the name of Journey’s upcoming North American tour, which launches on Feb. 22 in Pittsburgh, with Toto providing support for the entire trek.

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Categories
Rock Daypop

Def Leppard & Mötley Crüe announce rescheduled summer stadium tour

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Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe will embark on their long-delayed North American tour this summer, originally scheduled for 2020. Dubbed the Stadium Tour, the trek kicks-off in Atlanta on June 16 before wrapping-up in Las Vegas on Sept. 9 and will include previously announced stops, alongside five new dates. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts and Poison will open all shows. Tickets for the new dates go on sale to the general public Friday, Feb. 25 at 10 a.m. local time via LIVENATION.COM.

Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott said in a statement:  “On behalf of the band, we’re beyond thrilled that the stadium tour is finally happening this summer. It’s been a while coming and we can’t wait to get back on stage again and we can’t wait to see you in one of the many stadiums soon!”

Mötley Crüe added, “It’s on! We don’t think we’ve ever looked forward more to kicking off a tour than this one. We can’t wait to finally see all the fans across North America again. Get ready for a wild ride this summer!”

Head to: http://DefLeppard.com or https://www.motley.com/ for further info.

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Categories
Pop Daypop

Lizzo’s dance competition series releases trailer and premiere date on Amazon Prime Video

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Lizzo’s dance competition series, titled “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” is premiering on Amazon Prime Video next month. The eight-episode unscripted show, which is Lizzo’s first project as part of her first-look deal with Amazon Studios, will premiere on the streaming service March 25.

According to an official description, the show “follows “global superstar and icon Lizzo, who is on the hunt for confident, bad-ass women to join the elite ranks of the Big Grrrls and join her world tour. With 10 hopeful women moving into the Big Grrrls House, they must prove they have what it takes to make it to the end and join Lizzo in front of a global audience on the center stage.”

Choreographer Tanisha Scott joins Lizzo to help with her search for the next Big Grrrls, as well as original tour dancers Chawnta’ Marie Van, Shirlene Quigley and Grace Holden. The show will also feature several special guests, including SZA, choreographer Charm La’Donna and body movement expert Rashida KhanBey Miller.

Watch the full trailer for “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” – here.

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