Yes, you’ve seen the Movies in time for Awards Season, but what about the great songs featured in them? Up for Best Original Song at next months’ Academy Awards are these five finalists. Spanning from the institution of James Bond to a much-talked-about BDSM Romance to a gripping Documentary about College Rape, these songs are a cross-section of the diverse Films we saw in 2015.
WRITING’S ON THE WALL (SPECTRE) – SAM SMITH
TIL IT HAPPENS TO YOU (THE HUNTING GROUND) – LADY GAGA
EARNED IT (FIFTY SHADES OF GREY) – THE WEEKND
MANTA RAY (RACING EXTINCTION) – J. RALPH + ANTONY
SIMPLE SONG #3 (YOUTH) – SUMI JO
The 88th ACADEMY AWARDS air 7 PM Sunday, February 28, 2016 on ABC.
(Photo credit: Sony Music/Universal Music/Milan Records/Rumor Mill Records)
Not that we are surprised, but Sam Smith walked away the big winner at tonight’s 57th GRAMMYs. The British Singer-Songwriter went-on to win four Awards at the Ceremony honouring the Year’s best in Music, nabbing Record of the Year and Single of the Year for his Hit Single STAY WITH ME, which he performed alongside Mary J. Blige. His IN THE LONELY HOUR went-on to win Best Pop Vocal Album. The 22-year-old was forthcoming about his sexuality, thanking his former Lover on-stage, “I want to thank the Man who broke my heart, as it inspired me to win four GRAMMYs!”. Smith also won Best New Artist, defeating the likes of Iggy Azalea and HAIM.
See Smith and Blige perform STAY WITH ME:
Veteran Alternative Singer/Songwriter BECK has shown amazing longevity in a Career which has spanned over three decades now. His Disc MORNING PHASE went-on to win Album of the Year as well as Best Rock Album. On the Show, he performed HEART IS A DRUM alongside Coldplay‘s Chris Martin.
Highlights tonight included a huge choreographed Comeback performance from Madonna, who was flawless in delivering new Single LIVING FOR LOVE. See the performance below:
Australian Singer-Songwriter certainly has been at it for a number of years now and she had just about everybody talking about her performance of Hit, CHANDELIER tonight featuring former Saturday Night Live Alumni Kristen Wiig doing performance art!
BEYONCE also brought it home delivering a pure and powerful rendition of Take My Hand, Precious Lord. She with Husband Jay-Z won Best R&B Performance for their Single DRUNK IN LOVE.
RIHANNA too made a powerful statement delivering a vocally on-point performance of new Single FOURFIVESECONDS alongside The Beatles Icon Paul McCartney and Kanye West. See it below:
For a complete list of Winners, click here.
See Mr. Will and some of this year’s GRAMMYs Stars over the years below:
(Photo credit: Reuters)
Let’s be real. We can never have enough Celeb Selfies! 2014 was a year I’ll never forget and will forever go down as one of our most star-studded yet! Our travels brought us to L.A. and New York, but our most exciting adventures took place here in our Hometown of Toronto! Let’s take a walk down our star-studded memory lane to some of our fave Celeb moments of 2014!
Who were you most excited to see? The red-hot Benedict Cumberbatch? The private Usher? The iconic Tom Cruise? The adorable Anna Kendrick? “It Boy” Ansel Elgort? How about “It Girl” Shailene Woodley? The incredibly-tough Reese Witherspoon? The irresistible Tom Hardy?!
Also, we want to share with you some of our fave of the several thousand Celeb Snaps we took in 2014! Chances are if there was a major Star in-town this year, we at some point snapped them!
2014 will go down as one of the strongest years for Cinema in recent memory, but which Movies rocked our World? And which Singles ruled our iPod? You’re about to find out!
Re-live some of our Fave Celeb Selfies of 2014 (click HD for better quality):
TOP PHOTOS:
Tinashe, Tattoo Rock Parlour
Rachel McAdams at Canada’s Walk of Fame
Ryan Reynolds + Peter Fonda at Canada’s Walk of Fame
Tove Lo, The Phoenix
Robert Pattinson at the NKPR IT Lounge, TIFF ’14
Channing Tatum, TIFF ’14
Steve Carell, TIFF ’14
Denzel Washington, TIFF ’14
Felicity Jones, TIFF ’14
Kevin Costner, TIFF ’14
Adam Sandler, TIFF ’14
Robert Downey Jr., TIFF ’14
Tom Hardy, TIFF ’14
Ian Somerhalder, Fan Expo 2014
Elijah Wood, Fan Expo 2014
Norman Reedus, Fan Expo 2014
Shawn Mendes, Universal Music Canada
One Direction, Where We Are Tour
5 Seconds of Summer, Summer 2014
Daniel Radcliffe + Zoe Kazan, The F Word Toronto Premiere
Katy Perry, Prismatic World Tour
Lady Gaga, Artrave Tour
Charlie Sheen, Joe Carter Classic Afterparty
Gordon Lightfoot, SOCAN Awards
Missy Peregrym + Charlotte Sullivan, Shaw Media Upfronts
Charlie Barnett + Jesse Lee Soffer, Shaw Media Upfronts
Stephen Amell, Bell Media Upfronts
Kirsten Vangsness, Bell Media Upfronts
Elizabeth Henstridge, Bell Media Upfronts
Katie Holmes, Met Gala, NYC
Blake + Ryan, Met Gala, NYC
Hugh Jackman, Met Gala, NYC
Lily Aldridge + Kate Upton, Met Gala, NYC
Dakota Johnson (50 Shades of Grey), Met Gala, NYC
Marion Cotillard, Met Gala, NYC
Joshua Jackson + Diane Kruger, Met Gala, NYC
Zac Efron, NYC
Iggy Azalea, The New Classic Tour
Cher, D2K Tour
Miley Cyrus, Bangerz Tour
Katheryn Winnick, Canadian Screen Awards
Martin Short, Canadian Screen Awards
Shay Mitchell, Canadian Screen Awards
Maria Bello, David Cronenberg + Viggo Mortensen, Canadian Screen Awards
Laura Vandervoort + Olivier Trevena, Canada’s Stars of the Awards Season Gala, L.A.
Ellen Wong, Canada’s Stars of the Awards Season Gala, L.A.
TOP FILMS:
1. WHIPLASH
2. GONE GIRL
3. NIGHTCRAWLER
4. WILD
5. BIRDMAN
6. THE IMITATION GAME
7. FOXCATCHER
8. THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
9. THE FAULT IN OUR STARS
10. THE LEGO MOVIE
Perhaps under-seen, WHIPLASH is the one Film you absolutely must see this year. J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller will shatter your World with their performances! You’ll leave shaken and sobered.
TOP SINGLES
1. ALL ABOUT THAT BASS – Meghan Trainor
2. BLANK SPACE – Taylor Swift
3. WEST COAST – Lana Del Rey
4. BOOM CLAP – Charli XCX
5. POMPEII – Bastille
6. STAY WITH ME – Sam Smith
7. SHE LOOKS SO PERFECT – 5 Seconds of Summer
8. COUNTING STARS – OneRepublic
9. SHAKE IT OFF – Taylor Swift
10. SAY SOMETHING – A Great Big World ft. Christina Aguilera
2014 was all about that bass for us. Meghan Trainor blew our mind with her positive message about body image. We’re sold and extremely excited for her 2015 full-length Debut.
Won’t you join us as we embark on more exciting adventures in Entertainment 2015? Also stay tuned for an upcoming Post where our Contributors Jonathan Godfrey, Justin Waldman, David Baldwin and George Kozera share their fave Films of 2014 too!
Happy Holidays, Willionaire$!
Photos Post-TIFF ’14 taken on Nikon D3300. Photos pre-TIFF ’14 taken on Olympus E-PL5/Samsung S4.
(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)
ONE WORD: MAGICAL.
Just watch:
We’ve long been touting the brilliance of Sam Smith. And if this Cover of Whitney Houston‘s How Will I Know doesn’t win you over, we don’t know what will. The fact also that this Song still sounds fresh is a true testament to its timelessness!
We were one of the few lucky enough to meet Smith in his Toronto visit earlier this year. More on that here.
(Photo/video credit: Sirius XM)
21-year-old Singing Sensation Sam Smith already has taken much of the World by storm. Up next though is the tricky North American market. If the buzz surrounding him stateside of late is any indication, Smith could well be on his way to being the biggest Act to come out of the U.K. since Adele. The parallels are there certainly, both being crowned with the distinction of the BRIT Awards Critics’ Choice and also the BBC Sound of 2014 Awards (Adele won in 2008).
The soulful Crooner quickly sold-out his The Mod Club in Toronto debut after originally having been scheduled for March but postponed due to illness. His brief, intimate Set previewing material from his forthcoming Disc, In The Darkest Hour, was met with thunderous applause, saving for last his most powerful piece – latest Single, Stay with Me. There literally were Fans in tears leaving the Venue so touched by his performance.
I was one of the couple lucky enough to get to meet Smith during his all-too-brief Toronto stay. Dressed extremely dapper from head- to-toe, he greeted me graciously with a handshake, telling me it was a pleasure to meet me!
The Singer had an early night, retiring back to his Hotel for an early morning New York Flight as he is scheduled to appear on Late Show with David Letterman tomorrow night. In his little time here however, he did manage to take in some of the Sushi of Little Italy!
Check-out the soulful Stay with Me below:
See our Snap:
Universal Music Canada release In the Darkest Hour on Tuesday, June 17, 2014. More details here.
(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong/Universal Music Canada)
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