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    • 150 Shares179 Views

      in Music

      Tate McRae, Dua Lipa and the Fight to Be ‘Main Pop Girl’

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicOver the past few years, one question has been hovering over the careers of some of the most well-known pop singers in the world: Have they reached the tier of Main Pop Girl?It is elite company — think Rihanna, Taylor, Ariana. But what about Dua Lipa, who has loads of hits but maybe no metanarrative? Or Tate McRae, a young up-and-comer who understands the contours of pop stardom but is still filling in the outline? Or even Charli XCX, who plays with the idea of pop stardom in a self-aware way?On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about the history of the Main Pop Girl idea, its roots in stan communities and whether it’s a title conferred upon you, or one you can earn.Guests:Jason P. Frank, news writer at VultureLarisha Paul, staff writer at Rolling StoneConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. More

    • 88 Shares109 Views

      in Music

      Meet George Collier, YouTube’s Star Music Transcriber

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      George Collier started his YouTube channel as a way to stay engaged with music during the pandemic. Now nearly a million followers tune in for his notations.For some budding musicians (and even old pros), the very sight of sheet music can elicit a fight-or-flight response, bringing up painful memories of strict piano teachers and high-pressure recitals. George Collier, a 20-year-old music transcriber, is doing his part to change that.Collier, a student at Warwick University in the United Kingdom, takes snippets of videos from live performances by well-known artists like Wynton Marsalis and Celine Dion, or bedroom musicians who’ve posted clips online, and adds detailed directions for what’s being played. Juggling harmony, melody and rhythm, he turns sounds into wildly detailed notations and shares the results with an audience of over 882,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, where his most popular videos have between 5 million and 18 million views.“Music can be a bit uptight, particularly in the whole music theory land,” Collier said during a break between lectures, as he video chatted from a light-filled campus building where the sounds of bustling university life swirled around him. In his videos, made with the help of a team of transcribers, he deciphers mesmerizing cadenzas, barbershop quartet arrangements, funk jams and jazz solos in an entertaining way that softens sheet music’s reputation as something academic and unforgiving.His video “When You Make the Trombone SING” takes on a soaring trombone solo by Frank Lacy from a performance in 1988 with the Art Blakey Big Band. Another clip, titled “She Practiced 40 Hours a Day for This,” captures a virtuosic Mozart piano cadenza by Mitsuko Uchida. While Collier specializes in jazz, he also showcases performances from the classical world, as well as everyday people with impressive talents. A clip titled “When Your Family Is Musically Competent” features a version of “Happy Birthday” that turns into improvised gospel-laden riffing. His video “Pro Musician Jams With Street Performer on Subway” notates a saxophonist on the London Underground as he spontaneously engages a guitarist in a version of Big Joe Turner’s “Shake, Rattle and Roll.”“The transcriptions are to understand the musical decisions made by performers,” Collier said. “It doesn’t really matter how famous you are. If you make good stuff, then people are going to want to listen.”Because he’s navigating full-time university student life, Collier works with transcribers from the United States, Germany and beyond to keep his channel uploading consistently.Alice Zoo for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 113 Shares149 Views

      in Movies

      Al Pacino Explains Awkward Oscars Moment Presenting Best Picture

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      The star, whose abrupt announcement that “Oppenheimer” had won best picture took some viewers by surprise, said the show’s producers had asked him not to name the other nominees.The actor Al Pacino sought to explain his awkward and abrupt announcement of “Oppenheimer” as the best picture winner at the Academy Awards, saying in a statement on Monday that the producers had decided he would not read the full list of nominees.“I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit them, rather a choice by the producers not to have them said again since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony,” Pacino said in the statement. “I was honored to be a part of the evening and chose to follow the way they wished for this award to be presented.”Instead of the typical lead-up to the most important announcement of the night, Pacino omitted the customary “And the Oscar goes to” followed by a dramatic pause, instead opening the envelope and proclaiming: “And my eyes see ‘Oppenheimer.’ ” That prompted what appeared be a moment of uncertainty that soon ebbed as the cast and crew of the film, including its director, Christopher Nolan, realized that they had won and began to make their way to the stage.The anticlimactic end to the show became fodder for online chatter and memes on social media as viewers tried to figure out if something had gone awry. (Comparisons to the “Moonlight”/“La La Land” best picture mix-up of 2017 were perhaps inevitable, but the temporary confusion at Sunday’s ceremony was not close to reaching those levels.)In an interview with Variety, one of the show’s producers, Molly McNearney, said Pacino’s presentation was “always supposed to be fast” because the show had included video packages for each of the 10 nominees through the night, and that there had been fears that the telecast would go over its allotted time.McNearney acknowledged in the interview that the unconventional delivery had “made it a little confusing” but said that “that’s the excitement of live television.”After the ceremony on Sunday night, Bill Kramer, the chief executive of the academy, said in an interview that he had been pleased with Pacino’s performance. “Everything went beautifully,” Kramer said. “He was just having fun up there.”Pacino, who won a best actor Oscar for his role in the 1992 movie “Scent of a Woman” and has been nominated eight other times, said that he had felt it necessary to make a statement on the reaction to his delivery because he “profoundly relates” to filmmakers, actors and producers who might feel slighted.“I realize being nominated is a huge milestone in one’s life and to not be fully recognized is offensive and hurtful,” he said in the statement.Nicole Sperling More

    • 138 Shares199 Views

      in Music

      Popcast (Deluxe): Is TikTok Done? 4 Crises Holding the App Back

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTubeThis week’s episode of Popcast (Deluxe), the weekly culture roundup show on YouTube hosted by Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, includes segments on:What made TikTok so addictive and effective in the pastThe introduction of TikTok Shop and the commercialization of the For You PageTikTok’s golden era: Charli D’Amelio, Addison Rae, the Hype HouseRecent TikTok bright spots: Pookie & JettInnovations in TikTok narrative formatsDurational content on TikTokTikTok’s decreasing reliance on the music industry and its cold war with Universal Music GroupThrowback TikTok songs of the week from ppcocaine feat. NextYoungin and Gucci ManeSnack of the weekConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. More

    • 75 Shares179 Views

      in Music

      A K-Pop Star’s Lonely Downward Spiral

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      Goo Hara’s life was a struggle from the start. She ended it at 28, isolated and harassed online.The K-pop star looked utterly drained. Her face scrubbed of makeup, Goo Hara, one of South Korea’s most popular musical artists, gazed into the camera during an Instagram livestream from a hotel room in Japan. In a fading voice, she read questions from fans watching from around the world.“You going to work, fighting?” one asked.In halting English, she gave a plaintive answer: “My life is always so fighting.”By the time she climbed into bed at the end of the livestream in November 2019, she had reached a low point after a lifetime of struggle. As a child, she was abandoned by her parents. Her father at one point attempted suicide. After grueling training, she debuted in a K-pop group at 17, early even by the standards of the Korean hit-making machine.With the group, Kara, she found international fame, and Ms. Goo became a regular on Korean television, eventually anchoring her own reality series. But with celebrity came ravenous attacks on social media from a Korean public that is as quick to criticize stars as it is to fawn over them. Following a sordid legal fight with an ex-boyfriend, the harassment only intensified, as commenters criticized her looks, her personality and her sex life.Ms. Goo in 2018, the year before she died by suicide.Choi Soo-Young/Imazins, via Getty ImagesOn Nov. 23, 2019, less than a week after her Instagram appearance, she posted a photo of herself tucked in bed, with the caption “Good night.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 125 Shares169 Views

      in Movies

      ‘Saltburn’ Mansion Has Film’s Fans Flocking to the English Countryside

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      A popular video on TikTok takes viewers to the site of Drayton House, where much of the movie was filmed.Drayton House, a privately owned mansion with more than a hundred rooms, has stood in Northamptonshire, England, for close to 700 years.For most of those seven centuries, the manor was a silent countryside presence, known mostly to locals or experts with a penchant for viewing beautiful homes owned by England’s upper classes.But that peace and quiet has changed since the release of “Saltburn” in November. Though the film largely didn’t impress critics, it has generated a flood of memes, jokes and commentary on the internet.And a pilgrimage to this once-quiet estate was made even easier after Rhian Williams, who lives nearby, posted detailed directions to the house in a TikTok video on New Year’s Day. Her clip ended up attracting more than 5.5 million views. She has since followed up with more videos, including another visit to the house as well as a visit to the local pub.“I haven’t got very many followers on TikTok,” Ms. Williams said in a phone interview. “I didn’t predict it,” she said.Drayton House, a Grade I building that is protected because of its historical nature, has been privately held for hundreds of years.Amazon StudiosWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 125 Shares179 Views

      in Television

      Amy Schumer Says She Has Cushing’s Syndrome, a Hormonal Disorder

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      The comedian’s announcement came after she was targeted on social media for a change in her physical appearance during on-camera interviews this month.The comedian Amy Schumer has announced that she has been diagnosed with a rare hormonal disorder called Cushing’s syndrome, after she was swarmed with comments on social media about a change in her physical appearance.Schumer, 42, revealed her diagnosis in an interview for the News Not Noise newsletter on Friday. People commented on her “puffier” face after she appeared this month on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” She said that the condition did not pose any serious threats to her health.The online buzz around her appearance, a mix of concern and negativity, was how she “realized something was wrong,” Schumer told the newsletter.Cushing’s syndrome is caused by excessive levels of cortisol, known as the stress hormone, and can cause a range of symptoms including a round face, weight gain and weak muscles, according to the National Institutes of Health.“Over time, the excess cortisol causing these symptoms can lead to progressive deleterious health effects like high blood pressure, diabetes, bone loss,” said Dr. Lilah Morris-Wiseman, the chief of Johns Hopkins Medicine’s division of endocrine surgery.In the newsletter interview, Schumer said she had been undergoing medical tests while also doing a round of interviews to promote the new season of her Hulu show, “Life and Beth.”She told the newsletter that she was “in M.R.I. machines four hours at a time, having my veins shut down from the amount of blood drawn and thinking I may not be around to see my son grow up.”“So finding out I have the kind of Cushing that will just work itself out and I’m healthy was the greatest news imaginable,” she added.Cushing’s syndrome is sometimes the result of a tumor in the adrenal gland or elsewhere in the brain, requiring surgery.But in Schumer’s case, the excess cortisol that led to her diagnosis was brought on by “getting steroid injections in high doses,” according to the newsletter.The comic has been open about having endometriosis, a disease that affects the uterus and can be treated with steroids, though it was unclear if that was why Schumer was getting injections.When steroids are the cause of Cushing’s syndrome, reducing their use can help reverse the symptoms of the disorder, Dr. Morris-Wiseman said.Schumer highlighted the shaming that women face when their bodies change. Many comments on social media after her appearance on “The Tonight Show” were derisive and misogynistic.After that appearance, Schumer wrote in an Instagram post that a woman “doesn’t need any excuse for her physical appearance and owes no explanation,” but that she wanted to “take the opportunity to advocate for self love and acceptance of the skin you’re in.”She is the latest celebrity to disclose a medical diagnosis after facing public scrutiny over her health.Last week, representatives for Wendy Williams, the former talk show host, announced that she had been diagnosed with “frontotemporal dementia and aphasia.” More

    • 150 Shares119 Views

      in Movies

      The Internet Is Obsessed With ‘Madame Web.’ The Box Office? Well …

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      The new addition to the Spider-Man franchise has been panned by critics and mocked on social media. But if all press is good press, why are its ticket sales so dismal?Ricky Valero walked into a mostly empty showing of “Madame Web” with a bucket of popcorn and an open mind.He had some idea of what he was getting into. The movie, which stars Dakota Johnson as a clairvoyant character from the Spider-Man comics, has been gleefully panned in the week since its release.The reviews were lousy, with critics calling the movie “a genuine Chernobyl-level disaster” that is “full of bad dialogue delivered badly.” The box office numbers were somehow worse, landing “Madame Web” among the lowest ticket sales ever for a superhero movie.The movie has been jeered on social media, where Mr. Valero, 37, had been seeing negative posts about it for weeks. But when he attended a showing on Thursday at a theater in Nashville, he was pleasantly surprised.“There’s a level of terrible that can be enjoyable,” he said, adding that he would rate the movie three out of five stars despite some cheesy dialogue. When he voiced mild appreciation for the movie on X, the responses were so vicious that he ended up muting them.“You feel like you’re standing alone on an island,” he said.Sony’s latest addition to the Spider-Man franchise has been inspiring memes for months. But after a dismal first week in theaters, it has come to occupy an odd perch in popular culture: It’s dominating online conversation, but not drawing all that many viewers to theaters.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More