Image courtesy of Keith Urban from Instagram

Entertainment

SCREENSHOT weekly roundup: Keith Urban makes Phoebe Bridgers’ hit list and the Irish win big

By SCREENSHOT

May 19, 2023

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Keith Urban, aka country music star and the world’s biggest fan of hair straighteners, recently hard launched secret couple Phoebe Bridgers and Bo Burnham at a Taylor Swift concert. On 16 May 2023, Urban and wife Nicole Kidman took a video of themselves dancing and singing along at the Swift ‘Eras’ concert in Philadelphia.

What might’ve appeared to be a seemingly sweet clip of the loved-up pair enjoying themselves quickly shifted into an internet sensation—one that gen Zers will be likely obsessing over for at least three to five working days. In the background of the video, eagle-eyed netizens spotted none other than Bridgers and Burnham engaged in what can only be described as a passionate make-out sesh.

While the pair had been previously romantically linked, nothing had been confirmed. That was until Urban decided to share their love with the entire world… Oops.

According to the BBC, Facebook parent company Meta has begun rolling out a paid verification service in the UK. Similar to Elon Musk’s Twitter Blue, the service gives Facebook and Instagram users a blue tick for ‘only’ £9.99 a month.

Anyone who applies for the verification service must be 18 years old or over and must have a government ID. I don’t know about you, but the idea of being ‘Meta verified’ doesn’t sound all too appealing to me.

The decision for these platforms to introduce more tiered payment options reiterates the financial struggles which have faced the tech industry over the past few years. Google layed off 12,000 employees at the beginning of 2023, and was followed by similar companies such as Spotify, Amazon and Microsoft.

During the 2023 BAFTAs, one thing became abundantly clear, recognition of Irish talent (both off-screen and on) has skyrocketed recently. At this year’s awards, six Irish stars were nominated within the acting categories, and blockbuster The Banshees of Inisherin was also up for Best Film.

In fact, all award season, including during the Golden Globes and the Oscars, Irish films and acting talent have been at the forefront. Derry Girls star and Northern Irish actor Jamie-Lee O’Donnell spoke on the red carpet at the BAFTAs about the recent uptake in recognition: “I think it’s always had the talent, it’s just getting the recognition now. I think Ireland in general, you’re seeing it all over the world now where there’s a lot of Irish talent both in front of the camera and behind. I think it’d be hard to find an Irish family that doesn’t have somebody who is a good singer or a good dancer or has good craic.”

On Monday 15 May, Home Secretary Suella Braverman attended the National Conservatism conference in London and delivered an overtly offensive speech regarding immigration in the UK. Within her address, Braverman insisted that it is “not racist” to want border controls, told the audience that we “must not forget how to do things for ourselves,” and that white people should feel no guilt for the crimes committed by other white people in the past.

In effect, the politician is practically implying that in no way, shape, or form should present day white individuals take any responsibility, or even acknowledge, the extensive history the UK has in regard to upholding and sustaining institutionalised racism and societal racism. The idea of acknowledging white privilege has always been a problem for those on the right, so is anyone truly surprised by these statements?

It’s also unsurprising that Braverman went on to note that those on the left “are ashamed of our history and embarrassed by the sentiments and desires expressed by the British public,” as reported by The Guardian.

The only small piece of pleasure any of us can take from this speech was the fact that Braverman was disrupted and heckled by a group of protestors from activist group Extinction Rebellion.

While I would love to simply drop the infamous Urban hard launch TikTok in here for viral social media post of the week, that would technically be cheating. So, instead, here’s a stunning video of Halle Berry at the The Little Mermaid premiere in London.

Images courtesy of @MileyCyrus from Instagram

Internet culture

TikTokers found a secret unreleased Miley Cyrus album of break-up songs under Spotify pseudonym

By Alma Fabiani

May 14, 2023

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When Miley Cyrus blessed us with her latest album Endless Summer Vacation on 10 March 2023, fans and music critics alike were surprised to receive self-love bangers and catchy diss tracks instead of the gruelling heartbreak songs that were expected following her divorce from Australian actor Liam Hemsworth.

But what we didn’t know at the time, was that perhaps Cyrus had kept all the grief and sadness for Down With Me, a 12-track album of songs featuring the singer’s highly recognisable vocals which was released on the same day, under the pseudonym Clara Pierce.

Although it should be noted that since the mysterious artist was first discovered by eagle-eyed fans, the album along with any trace of Pierce has been scrapped from Spotify, we managed to have a sneaky listen beforehand just to make sure we could bring you all the juicy details.

As seen in the TikTok video above, the album cover features the title scribbled across a mountain landscape in what can only be described as an OG Pinterest font. Meanwhile, the Spotify profile’s photo featured an image of a woman who looks nothing like Cyrus.

That being said, once fans stumbled across the account, there was no question about whose voice it was. And, unlike countless artists who have recently had music released under their likeness that they had nothing to do with, no AI algorithm “could have nailed down both Cyrus’ vocal patterns and songwriting style this efficiently,” Rolling Stone noted.

One song is titled ‘Sagittarius’, probably after the singer’s star sign, while a number of songs on the album seem to draw direct parallels to her career. On ‘Sagittarius’ for example, the artist references a single from SHE IS COMING, singing: “I told you once before, I’m my Mother’s Daughter.”

SHE IS COMING was meant to be followed by SHE IS MILEY CYRUS, an album the singer never released. “Just when I thought the body of work was finished… it was all erased. Including most of the music’s relevance. Because everything had changed,” she said in an Instagram post before releasing Plastic Hearts, referring to the loss of the material in a 2018 house fire. “Nature did what I now see as a favour and destroyed what I couldn’t let go of for myself. I lost my house in a fire but found myself in its ashes.”

The other possibility behind this puzzling project is that the songs are high-quality leaks from Cyrus’ past albums, including Bangerz, Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, and SHE IS COMING. Either way, even though Down With Me isn’t available on Spotify anymore, it can still be found on YouTube. So, if you’re dying of curiosity, head on over and make up your own mind.