From a Grammy Award upgrade to the long wait for new Disney flicks, here's what's happening in entertainment.
McCartney Embraces AI
Paul McCartney, who is a 12-time Grammy award winner, raised a bunch of eyebrows by announcing he'll embrace artificial intelligence and plans to use the tech to create a new music for what he called "the final Beatles record."
He told the BBC that the late John Lennon would be part of the new song after AI was able to extract and recreate his voice from an old demo tape.
"We were able to take John's voice and get it pure through this AI so then we could mix the record as you would. It gives you some sort of leeway," McCartney said.
This isn't the singer's first project with AI. Last year at the Glastonbury Festival in England, McCartney performed a duet with an AI-rendered voice of Lennon titled I've Got A Feeling.
Grammy Changes
The Grammy Awards are expanding and are set to dole out even more trophies at future ceremonies.
The Recording Academy approved the addition of three new categories, including Best African Music Performance, Best Pop Dance Recording and Best Alternative Jazz Album.
"These changes reflect our commitment to actively listen and respond to the feedback from our music community, accurately represent a diverse range of relevant musical genres, and stay aligned with the ever-evolving musical landscape," Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement.
Other changes could have implications on your favorite songwriters and producers. The Producer of the Year and Songwriter of the Year awards have been shifted to the general field, which allows all Grammy voters to decide on a winner rather than just members who practice the same crafts. The implications come in when those not familiar with specific genres cast votes contrary to what has already been deemed "best" by the general public: i.e. Macklemore's 2014 win for 'Best Rap Album.'
Pat Sajak's Exit
After 41 seasons as the host of Wheel of Fortune, 76-year-old Pat Sajak is calling it quits.
The iconic game-show host took to Twitter to break the news and said that the upcoming season would be his last.
"It's been a wonderful ride, and I'll have more to say in the coming months. Many thanks to you all. (If nothing else, it'll keep the clickbait sites busy!)," he wrote. The announcement comes just a few years after Sajak snatched the record of longest stand game-show host from the late Bob Barker, who hosted the iconic Price is Right for a staggering 35 years.
The rumor mill has already begun swirling as fans talk about who will replace Sajak. Ryan Seacrest, who has hosted American Idol since 2002, quickly emerged as a contender. Bloomberg reporter Lucas Shaw, who broke the news about Sajak's exit, reported that Seacrest "has been talking to the producers of Wheel of Fortune," and shared speculation that he could be the frontrunner replacement option.
Seacrest does have some time on his hands as he recently departed LIVE with Kelly and Ryan.
Disney Delays
We're beginning to see some of the first major implications of the ongoing Hollywood writers strike.
Disney has reworked the release dates for a slew of highly-anticipated projects as writers take to the picket lines, according to Deadline.
Perhaps the biggest shakeup are the changed release dates for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Captain America: Brave New World, starring Anthony Mackie as Cap't, has been pushed back two months to July 2024, Fantastic Four is scheduled for release in May 2025, Avengers: Kang Dynasty is being held off for an additional year and will hit theaters in May 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars will be released in May 2027.
Other Disney properties impacted by the strikes and delays include Star Wars, Moana, three Avatar films, and Alien.
The American Red Cross has declared its first-ever "national blood crisis" in the United States. Since COVID hit the U.S. in March 2020, blood donations have declined by 10 percent. American Red Cross Medical Director, Dr. Baia Lasky joined Cheddar News to discuss the country facing the worst blood shortage in over a decade. Dr. Lasky noted that as much as 40 percent of Americans are eligible to donate blood but only about 4 percent do so. "This is going to be ongoing," she said. "This is not an acute shortage. We really do need the commitment of people to come out and donate and donate again." Appointments to donate can be made by using the Red Cross Donor App, at RedCrossBlood.org, or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
On this episode of ChedHER: Co-Founder of VC firm CaJE breaks down how she's creating a new era of venture capital and empowering Black women with 'soil' funding to start and grow their businesses; AYO Foods Co-Founder discusses how the brand is bringing West African cuisine to the frozen food industry and building a grocery aisle her daughters can be proud of; Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer at Chase Auto talks her experience being a woman of color in the auto industry, and why transportation is so important to financial freedom.
Renée Horne, chief marketing and customer experience officer at Chase Auto, joins ChedHER to discuss her experience being a woman of color in the auto industry and why transportation is so important to financial freedom.
Perteet Spencer, Co-Founder of AYO Foods, joins ChedHER to discuss how the brand is bringing West African cuisine to the frozen food industry and building a grocery aisle her daughters can be proud of.
Crystal Etienne, Founder and CEO of period apparel company Ruby Love and Co-Founder of VC firm CaJE, joins ChedHER to discuss her experience bootstrapping her company to $10 million, and how she's creating a new era of venture capital and empowering Black women with 'soil' funding to start and grow their businesses.
E-commerce platform for construction and building materials RenoRun has raised $142 million in a Series B round, which the company says is the fourth largest Series B round in Canadian history. RenoRun’s platform offers same-day delivery of construction materials to job sites in Canada and the United States. The company aims to revolutionize the construction industry by maximizing productivity and efficiency. RenoRun co-founder and CEO Eamonn O’Rourke joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Like so many other cities, Miami experienced a tourism boom over the summer after vaccines were distributed. But, the Omicron variant has thrown the travel industry for a loop. David Whitaker, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, joined Cheddar to discuss the city as a tourist destination, and how it has handled headwinds from the pandemic.
Rockstar Energy, a subsidiary of Pepsico, unveiled its new beverage brand, Rockstar Unplugged, changing up the energy drink formula with hemp seed oil as an ingredient. PepsiCo Energy CMO Fabiola Torres joined Cheddar News to talk about how the product promotes “good vibes” and allows consumers to unwind and discuss partnering with "MTV Unplugged" for a concert series. "We couldn't find a better partnership that MTV," she said. "MTV Unplugged has been such an iconic proposition … and we believe that we're the right partners because the insight of our proposition for Rockstar Unplugged comes from music.
Eight months after the National Football League announced $1 million in research into cannabinoids, the NFL-NFLPA Joint Pain Management Committee has awarded the funding to two teams of medical researchers at the University of California San Diego and the University of Regina. The NFL says the studies will investigate the effects of cannabinoids on pain management and neuroprotection from concussion in elite football players, respectively. Cheddar correspondent Chloe Ailello spoke with Jeff Miller, the executive vice president of communications, public affairs, and policy for the NFL, about the studies, as well as the recent lawsuit filed against the NFL by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. "Maybe we can learn things from other alternative pain approaches that are going to benefit our player population and then sports medicine as a whole," Miller said.
