Month: May 2023

Dua Lipa announced she has teamed up with Donatella Versace to create a women’s collection for Versace. The line will make its debut in Cannes, France later this month. Donatella wrote in an announcement post on Instagram: “The news is out! We are excited to announce the Versace “La Vacanza” women’s collection, which we have co-designed. We will be showing the collection on Tuesday 23rd May in Cannes, France. We cannot wait to show you what we have created!​”

Dua said in a statement shared by Versace: “I am absolutely thrilled to have co-designed the women’s “La Vacanza” collection for Versace with Donatella. She and I have formed such a strong bond over the years, and I’m so grateful for the support I’ve received from her and the whole team since the very beginning of my career. For her to give me the honor of co-designing this collection and letting all my summer inspirations go wild has been a dream. I am so very proud of this collection and cannot wait to debut it in Cannes.”

Said the legendary Italian fashion designer: “I have always been inspired by a collaborative design process. Working with Dua on this collection has been very exciting and I love the dynamic between us. Dua is strong, fearless, and free and her creative vision is exceptional. Summer is a magical time. We will capture this feeling and the colors of that time of the year with a truly special and intimate fashion show in Cannes.”

Dua and Donatella’s co-designed styles will be available in-store and online at Versace.com immediately following the show in Cannes, taking place on May 23rd.

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NBC’s Today Show is once again launching their Citi Concert Series at Rockefeller Plaza in NYC this summer.

The Jonas Brothers will kick off the 2023 Citi Concert Series on Friday, May 12th, with the summer’s roster featuring performances by Niall Horan, Big Time Rush, Chance the Rapper, Kim Petras, Karol G, TWICE, Dan + Shay, Reneé Rapp, Darius Rucker, Kelsea Ballerini, Kelly Clarkson, Jon Batiste and more. Additional performances to be announced in the coming weeks.

To attend the concerts, viewers can register for Fan Passes at TODAY.com/Concerts. Fan Passes give fans priority access to the show, ahead of general admission. If you do not receive a Fan Pass, you can still join the general admission line (located at 48th Street and Rockefeller Plaza in New York City) on the morning of the concert, and those fans will be admitted if space permits.

See the full 2023 Citi Concert Series lineup – here.

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Taylor Swift announced on social media she will release Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) on July 7th. The newly recorded edition will include 22 songs with six previously unreleased ‘Songs From the Vault,’ as well as a collectible lyric booklet with never-before-seen photos on CD, 3 LP, double cassette and digital. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) follows Red (Taylor’s Version), and Fearless (Taylor’s Version) — which broke records upon its release.

Swift tweeted: “It fills me with such pride and joy to announce that my version of Speak Now will be out July 7 (just in time for July 9th, iykyk )). I first made Speak Now, completely self-written, between the ages of 18 and 20. The songs that came from this time in my life were marked by their brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions and wild wistfulness. I love this album because it tells a tale of growing up, flailing, flying and crashing… and living to speak about it. With six extra songs I’ve sprung loose from the vault, I absolutely cannot wait to celebrate Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) with you on July 7th.”

The collectible CD will feature unique front and back cover art with disc art. The LP set will feature a collectible album jacket with unique front and back cover art across three unique violet marbled color vinyl discs. The cassette will feature two purple cassette shells.

To pre-order Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), head here.

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Pop star Bebe Rexha, 33, has teamed up with country legend Dolly Parton, 77, for the song ‘Seasons,’ off Bebe’s third studio self-titled album, Bebe.  Said Rexha on social media: “IT’S TIME!!!! Seasons music video with @dollyparton and my album #BEBE is OUT EVERYWHERE!! love u allll ”

Bebe told Rolling Stone that she drew inspiration from Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” while writing songs for Bebe. For Seasons, co-written with Ido Zmishlany and Sarah Solovay, Rexha said: “I was like, ‘Guys, I want to write a song about knowing that you need to change, but you’re not changing. And I just started singing: ‘The seasons change right under my feet. I’m still the same, same, same, same old me.’ That’s how it all started.”  Rexha also felt the song would be better as a duet, and knew she wanted to enlist Parton. Said Bebe: “My grandmother used to play Dolly all the time. Nothing really excites my grandmother, to be honest, and when I told her about Dolly, she was like, ‘Oh, my gosh.” I mean, Dolly Parton is an icon. She is not only one of my favorite artists, but one of my favorite songwriters. She wrote ‘I Will Always Love You’ by Whitney Houston, and she has her version as well “So, I always looked up to Dolly Parton like, wow, not only is she a bad b***h, she looks good, she can sing like crazy, but she’s writing all these incredible records, and she’s also a boss… I just even, to this moment, the fact that I have a song with Dolly is just like, I can’t grasp it.”

Along with the track, Rexha debuted a black-and-white music video, which features her and Parton singing the song together, side by side. Rexha said of Parton: “I was shaking, but she made me feel so comfortable and said that she was going to adopt me. I’m waiting for those papers!”  Take a look at the official music video for “Seasons” – here.

To stream Bebe, head here.

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Rihanna will star in the forthcoming animated The Smurfs movie, set to premiere in 2025. Rihanna is set to voice “Smurfette” for the new, live-action feature from the animated franchise. Per Variety, Rihanna will also write and record original songs, and produce the soundtrack for the film.

Riri made a surprise appearance at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, where she took the stage to announce her role. Rihanna joked:  “I tried to get the Papa Smurf role but It didn’t work out. Getting to do animation is a fun journey for me. I’m usually front and center with everything with my likeness…but this was fun, I got to imagine, I got to show up in my pajamas in my third trimester, and be a blue badass.”  She also hoped that her role in the film would make her children look at her in a different light: “I hope this gives me a little bit of cool points with my kids one day.”

Rihanna previously starred in DreamWorks’ animated feature Home as the voice of Gratuity. That film grossed over $380 million worldwide at the box office.  ‘The Smurfs’ film is set to premiere in theaters on Valentines Day 2025.

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