Ismael Cruz Córdova: How the ‘Rings of Power’ star sacrificed it all to make his dreams come true

Sam Smith is gearing up for a whole new chapter in life.The singer walked the red carpet at the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation's 2022 Pioneer Dinner — which honored Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson and celebrated 60 years of James Bond -- at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills on Wednesday, and they spoke with ET's Matt Cohen about their upcoming single, «Unholy,» a part of which has already been used countless TikTok posts in recent weeks.«It's amazing. Its so exciting… [and] It's just the chorus that's out there, so I can't wait for you to hear the song. It's a wild song,» Smith shared.

Lisa Rinna was shocked after watching Kathy Hilton have an 'absolute meltdown' in Aspen on Wednesday's episode of The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills.The 59-year-old reality star afterward couldn't stand to be in the same room with Kathy, 63, and fled a birthday party to avoid her during the season 12 episode titled We Need To Talk About Kathy. 'I've never seen anything like this in my life,' Lisa said. 'I am not saying a lot because I am still in shock.' Meltdown witness: Lisa Rinna was shocked after watching Kathy Hilton have an 'absolute meltdown' in Aspen on Wednesday's episode of The Real Housewives Of Beverly HillsThe episode opened with Lisa packing up her bags after taking Kathy home from the Aspen club.'My head is definitely in a fog after what happened last night,' Lisa said.

The man who previously spoke up for the controversial FN Meka project – Anthony Martini – has announced that he is no longer involved with the ‘virtual’ rapper or the company behind it, Factory New.Following the accusations of racism that were made against the project – which resulted in the rapper being dropped by Universal Music’s Capitol label earlier this week – he says that he “should have done more diligence before joining” the venture, and also admits that there was much less AI involved in the creation of the virtual rapper and it’s musical output than previously claimed.Although previously named as a co-founder, Martini says that he joined Factory New in 2020, after the release of the first two FN Meka singles, ‘Moonwalkin’ and ‘Internet’.He also claims that he only learned this week that Kyle The Hooligan, the rapper who voiced those tracks and seemingly wrote their lyrics, had been cut out of the project, insisting that “while I was involved, artists on the project were always compensated fairly and participated in the revenue from their work”.Capitol announced that it had signed FN Meka earlier this month, releasing the single ‘Florida Water’, featuring Gunna.

Jack Quaid is in the unique position of starring in a number of iconic franchises - Star Trek and Supeman - along with his role in Amazon's The Boys.He returns as Ensign Brad Boimler in the third season of the Paramount Plus animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks, which debuts on Thursday, and he recently signed on to voice Superman in My Adventures With Superman, which landed a two-season pick-up on both HBO Max and Cartoon Network in May.The 30-year-old son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan opened up about his highly-anticipated Lower Decks live-action crossover, voicing Superman, his desire to star in a Star Wars project and much more in a wide-ranging interview with THR. Franchise: Jack Quaid is in the unique position of starring in a number of iconic franchises - Star Trek and Supeman - along with his role in Amazon's The BoysIt was announced during San Diego Comic-Con in July that there will be a major live-action crossover where animated characters from Star Trek: Lower Decks will enter the live-action universe of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.It was revealed that Quaid's Boimler and Ensign Beckett Mariner, voiced by Tawny Newsome, will be featured in the episode that will include both live-action and animated scenes.

Jonathan Cohen The prospect of a new version of Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” with vocals from Britney Spears has sent the music world into a tizzy for weeks, particularly since Spears has not released fresh music in six years amid the knockdown, drag-out battle over her conservatorship. Luckily, “Hold Me Closer,” produced by Andrew Watt and Cirkut and finally due out at midnight ET, is an unabashed dance-floor celebration of good vibes much in the vein of John’s surprise smash 2021 collaboration with Dua Lipa, “Cold Heart,” which was built on elements of his past hits such as “Rocket Man.” John first worked with former Grammy producer of the year Watt while making a guest appearance on the 2020 Watt-produced Ozzy Osbourne album “Ordinary Man,” which led to Watt producing John’s “Cold Heart”-featuring “The Lockdown Sessions” album last year. “The song is still in the 20s on the global top 50, and it has been over a year,” Watt (pictured above) tells Variety of “Cold Heart.” “It really resonated with people, because the world is so serious right now. It was a way to scream an Elton John song while you’re out at a nightclub and also feel Dua’s energy. Elton wanted to do a follow-up to that song. Why wouldn’t he? We thought we’d try something with ‘Tiny Dancer,’ so they sent me the original stems.”

It’s a-me, Mario! That’s right, the world’s most famous plumber is returning to the silver screen for the first time since the 1993 live-action movie Super Mario Bros.

Loose Women host Brenda Edward’s was left stunned on the latest episode of the chat show as former X Factor star Ray Quinn showed off his new look.The 34-year-old star was seen sported a man bun and snappy suit to promote his latest tour as the four ladies gushed over his unrecognisable appearance.But it was Brenda who was unable to contain herself as she began to stroke the star’s bushy beard.READ MORE: Loose Women fans sure of 'feud' between Coleen Nolan and Denise Welch after awkward snub“Can I say how soft your beard is Ray?” said Brenda.“You can, it’s moisturised, it’s conditioned,” replied Ray, seemingly thrilled with the attention.Co-host Kayre stepped in the put the reigns on a doting Brenda, telling her: “No you can’t Brenda, it’s inappropriate.”Fans may remember Ray finishing in second place behind Leona Lewis on the third series of The X Factor in 2006.He later joined Hollyoaks as part of a far right extremist storyline where he played racist thug Jonny Baxter.Ray quit the soap in 2019 after fans were left stunned when his character groomed Ste into hating muslims.

AI star FN Meka and in turn has accused Capitol Records of ghosting him after he was promised equity in the label.Kyle The Hooligan has posted notes and videos in which he claims that the Universal-owned label have left him “high and dry” and shared information that purports to prove that he is the formerly unknown voice behind the viral robot rapper.FN Meka, made in collaboration with Factory New, was dropped by Capitol less than a fortnight after launching after its critics highlighted the way the project trivialised elements of Black culture and used them for shock value. The label alluded to this in a formal apology shared online earlier this week by The New York Times’ Joe Coscarelli.Meka was marketed as the “world’s first” AI rapper to sign to a major label, with Ryan Ruden, Capitol Music Group’s executive vice president of experiential marketing and business development, saying that the project “meets at the intersection of music, technology and gaming culture” and “is just a preview of what’s to come”.Capitol released its first FN Meka single, ‘Florida Water’, on August 12, which featured guest vocals from real life rapper Gunna and ancillary involvement from gaming streamer Clix.But controversy followed when Meka, who’d garnered more than 10million TikTok followers, was seen to use the N word and appeared to make light of police brutality.

The artist who voiced controversial ‘virtual’ rapper FN Meka has denied claims that he has been leading the project, adding that he has been cut out of the financial gains the company behind the venture, Factory Now, has made.Previously anonymous, rapper Kyle The Hooligan came forward as the voice of FN Meka yesterday, after Universal’s Capitol label severed ties with the project following accusations of racism.“They came to me with this AI shit and was like would I want to be the voice of it, and I thought it was going to be some collaboration”, he said in a video on Instagram. “They promised me equity in the company, percentages, all this stuff, so I’m thinking, ‘OK, this about to be some collab, something different for me, so I can do my music and do some AI stuff with this FN Meka character”.Capitol announced that it had signed FN Meka earlier this month, releasing a single, ‘Florida Water’, featuring Gunna.

K.J. Yossman Ewan McGregor is set to star in “A Gentleman in Moscow,” the adaptation of Amor Towles’ novel, for Paramount+ and Showtime. McGregor, who has previously starred in the Star Wars franchise and “Halston,” will play Count Alexander Rostov who finds himself going from riches to rags following the Russian revolution. A Soviet tribunal banishes him to the attic room of an opulent hotel, where, oblivious to the world outside, he “discovers the true value of friendship, family and love.” “It’s an amazing, wonderful story and I am very excited to get to play such a fabulous role,” said McGregor, who will also produce the series,

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Presented in its worst possible light, the FN Meka controversy — in which Capitol signed, and then quickly dropped, a virtual rapper that used the N-word in its songs and was depicted in racially stereotypical scenarios in videos — seems like an inconceivable blunder. But a closer look at the details, along with conversations with sources close to the situation, suggests that, while inexcusable and loaded with oversights, Capitol’s role in the FN Meka fiasco may not have been as insensitive as it might seem. However, above all, it is yet another glaring result of the lack of diversity throughout the music industry — not just at Capitol, not just at major companies, but everywhere.

Ethan Shanfeld When “Stranger Things” first aired on Netflix in 2016, its main cast ranged from around 12 to 14 years old, matching the age of their seventh grade characters. But as it progressed, the series’ timeline moved slower than real life, and soon enough, the young actors were hitting puberty before their characters, creating a challenge for the show’s directors and producers. According to Noah Schnapp, who plays Will Byers on the hit sci-fi show, a producer approached him during an earlier season and asked if he could raise the pitch of his voice and change his posture to better emulate Will’s age. While Will is either 14 or 15 in Season 4 of “Stranger Things,” Schnapp is nearing 18.

Less than two weeks after signing ‘virtual’ rapper FN Meka, Universal’s Capitol Records has announced that it is ending its partnership with the project due to accusations of racism.“[Capitol] has severed ties with the FN Meka project, effective immediately”, the company said in a statement. “We offer our deepest apologies to the black community for our insensitivity in signing this project without asking enough questions about equity and the creative process behind it.

The woman who voiced Pocahontas in the eponymous animated film classic was arrested late last week in Ohio on disorderly conduct charges.

The actress who voiced the title character in Disney's animated Pocahontas from 1995 was arrested for disorderly conduct in Ohio nearly two years after being arrested twice in three days.Irene Bedard, 55, was taken into custody by law enforcement in Green County, Ohio on Friday for disorderly conduct.According to a police report obtained by TMZ on Tuesday, officers were doing a welfare check after receiving a report that a woman had passed out in the bushes on a residential street.Police stated that when they had arrived they found the actress in a parking lot nearby as she displayed a range of emotions including talking calmly to being upset and crying. Tough times: Irene Bedard - seen in March 2016 - was taken into custody by law enforcement in Green County, Ohio on Friday for disorderly conduct according to a police report obtained by TMZ on Tuesday Iconic: She voiced the title character in Disney's animated Pocahontas from 1995The law enforcement officials say that Irene was with another woman named Sheila who told them the name of someone they could contact for the actress which caused Irene to scream about not wanting said person to be involved.Police say that Irene went on to try to run away from them and even almost knocked over a table on the sidewalk.

A ‘much needed’ new retirement village is to be built on the site of a former garden centre. Planners had previously raised concerns over disabled visitor access at the ‘independent living’ complex proposed for the old Ladybridge Garden Centre, in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport.

Vanessa Bryant is taking the stand in her civil suit filed against Los Angeles County after the helicopter crash that killed her husband Kobe Bryant and her 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant back in January of 2020.

Maren Morris and Zedd have released their second collab together!

Jon Burlingame editorAs Emmy voters mark their ballots in final-round voting this weekend, Variety breaks down the widely varied competitors in this complete guide to all seven categories including original scores, songs, music direction and music supervision.“The Flight Attendant” (HBO Max) Blake Neely One win, three other nominations Episode: “The Reykjavik Ice Sculpture Festival Is Lovely This Time of Year” Fun, energetic all-percussion score for Cassie in Iceland“Loki” (Disney+) Natalie Holt One prior nomination (two this year) Episode: “Glorious Purpose” Theremin, sampled clocks, orchestra for Loki encountering TVA“Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu) Siddhartha Khosla Three previous nominations and three this year Episode: “The Boy From 6B” Music, not dialogue, tells story from deaf boy’s POV “Schmigadoon!” (Apple TV+) Christopher Willis One previous nomination Episode: “Schmigadoon!” Underscores romance, magic in unreal musical-inspired town“Severance” (Apple TV+) Theodore Shapiro One previous nomination (two this year) Episode: “The We We Are” Dramatic variations on piano-and-strings theme in season finale“Succession” (HBO) Nicholas Britell One win, three previous nominations Episode: “Chiantishire” Classical piano, string sounds pervade Tuscany wedding locale“1883” (Paramount+) Brian Tyler, Breton Vivian Two nominations for Tyler, first for Vivian Episode: “1883” Powerful, tragedy-laden symphonic score with folk elements“Moon Knight” (Disney+) Hesham Nazih First nomination Episode: “Asylum” Orchestral and choral score rooted in Egyptian music“Station Eleven” (HBO Max) Dan Romer First nomination Episode: “Unbroken Circle” Strings, organ, wordless voices for uplifting finale“A Very British Scandal” (Prime Video)