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‘The Masked Dancer’ Discloses Identity of the Exotic Bird: Here’s the Star Behind the Mask

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“The Masked Dancer” arranged an “American Idol” reunion on Wednesday night, as “Symbol” Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks was the following VIP to be uncovered on the show. Furthermore, accurately speculating her? Previous “Symbol” judge and current “Masked Dancer” panelist Paula Abdul.

Sparks was uncovered to be the individual under the Exotic Bird costume on Wednesday’s version of the hit arrangement. This is what may have parted with it: She was exposed in the wake of moving to Abdul’s “Opposites Attract.”

“When they told me that [Abdul] was judging, the first thing that popped into my head was I can’t believe that all this time later I’m now going to be on another competition show stage with her sitting at the judging panel,” Sparks told Variety. “That blew my mind. And I was like, she’s gonna know. When she guessed me, I was floored but I was actually very happy that it was her guessing. It was a really cool moment.”

Sparkles noticed that during Season 4 of “The Masked Singer,” numerous fans thought the Seahorse was her (eventually, it ended up being Tori Kelly). “I can’t tell you how many times my friends thought I was the Seahorse,” Sparks said. “Every week, I was bombarded with texts like ‘we know that it’s you.’ And because I love the show I didn’t tell them, I never confirmed or denied it. And it was interesting, because Tori Kelly is one of our good friends, too. So we had a good laugh.”

At the point when “The Masked Dancer” opportunity came up, Sparks said she delayed since she’s not known for dance.

“It’s not my bread and butter,” she said. “Give me a microphone and I’m good to go. But with dancing, it was a little bit nerve racking. Everybody was encouraging me to do it and then I realized that I was the person telling me that I couldn’t. And so, I wanted to do the show and I said yes because I want to do this and prove to myself that I can take on challenges and take on things, even if they scare me a little bit.”

Sparks said she additionally was propelled by her child, who’s going to turn 3, to do it: “I wanted to show him that I can do things even if they scare me. He was very instrumental in inspiring me to go, and my husband as well.”

She additionally saw “Masked Dancer” as a chance to perform once more, subsequent to having gone through the greater part of the year at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It was so nice to be able to get out of the four walls of my house and just see a different space,” she said. “And it was really nice to be around people to be honest, like, even though we couldn’t talk. It was nice to be around the buzz and the hubbub of being in a workspace again.”

Past her child and spouse, Sparks kept her “Masked Dancer” spell a mystery. “I’ve been waiting so long to talk about this. I didn’t really tell anybody else so I’m excited because tonight I’m sure I’m going to get a barrage of texts from my family because I didn’t even tell them that I was doing it.”

Sparkles desires to exploit the “Masked Dancer” openness to advance her new single, “You Still Think of Me,” which she composed with Lisa Goe, Savvy Giersch and Marc David Schneider.

“It’s the first of many songs that are going to be coming out this year,” Sparks said.

Among the panelists, while Abdul sorted out that it was Sparks, Ashley Tisdale joined her in speculating Sparks also. Ken Jeong thought it was another “Idol” candidate, Jennifer Hudson; Brian Austin Green speculated model Ashley Graham; and visitor specialist Mayim Bialik thought it was Eve.

Sparkles had recently moved to “Rush,” by Lewis Capaldi accomplishment. Jessie Reyez, “Con Calma,” by Daddy Yankee and Katy Perry accomplishment. Day off; “Latch,” by Disclosure accomplishment. Sam Smith. The specialists’ past conjectures included Kat Von D, Dita Von Teese, Ashley Graham, Kate Upton, Hope Solo, Jennifer Hudson, Venus Williams, Janet JacksonKate Hudson, Megan Thee Stallion and Sparks herself.

“The Masked Dancer” incorporates the element “Word Up,” in which every hopeful says a single word piece of information to their character. Sparkles’ first “Word Up” was “”Scored” and second “Word Up” was ” Number One.” On Wednesday, her most recent “Word Up” was “Circus.”

This present season’s ensembles incorporate Zebra, Tulip, Sloth, Exotic Bird, Cotton Candy, Cricket, Disco Ball, Moth, Ice Cube and Hammerhead. Recently exposed were Vinny Guadagnino as the Hammerhead, Brian McKnight as the Cricket, Elizabeth Smart as the Moth, Bill Nye the Science Guy as the Ice Cube, and Ice-T as the Disco Ball.

The show promotes a cast of 10 big names that have “amassed more than 38 million albums sold worldwide, 20 Emmy Award wins, 20 Grammy Award nominations, 10 World Dancing titles, five New York Times Best-Selling Author titles, four Olympic gold medals and three Broadway show appearances.”

Here were different contestants and their performances on episode six, “Top Five — Mask the Night Away!”:

Tulip

Dance: “My Boyfriend’s Back,” by The Chiffons
Word Up: “Lifetime Achievements”
Bonus clue: “I’m no stranger to the stage, I’ve been performing my whole life.”
Panel guesses: Liza Koshy, Haylie Duff, Jamie Lyn Spears
Previous dances: “Fergalicious,” by Fergie; “Fields of Gold,” by Eva Cassidy; “Thank U, Next,” by Ariana Grande
Previous Word Ups: “Triple”; “Princess”
Previous panel guesses: Charli D’Amelio, Ariana Grande, Heather Morris, Sarah Hyland, Hayden Panettiere, Kristen Bell, Charli D’Amelio, Simone Biles, Julianne Hough

Zebra

Dance: “Take You Dancing,” by Jason Derulo
Bonus clue: “He has two countries rooting for him.”
Word Up: “Author”
Panel guesses: Oscar de la Hoya, Conor McGregor, Barry Bonds
Previous dances: “Magalehna,” by Sergio Mendes; “All My Life,” by K-Ci and Jojo; “Mi Gente,” by J Balvin and Willy William
Previous Word Ups: “Comeback”; “Champion”
Previous panel guesses: Ricky Martin, Kevin Richardson, Pitbull, Floyd Mayweather, Mario Lopez, Tito Ortiz, Tony Robbins, LL Cool J, Oscar de la Hoya.

Sloth

Dance: “Twist Remix,” by Neeraj Shridhar
Bonus clue: “I’m all drama.”
Word Up: “Rose”
Panel guesses: Harry Shum Jr., Hugh Jackman, Jack Black
Previous dances: “What I Like About You,” by the Romantics; “Up Where We Belong,” by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes; “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head,” by Dean Martin
Previous Word Ups: “Broadway”; “Leading man”
Previous panel guesses: Matthew Morrison, Kevin Federline, Jason Derulo, Jonathan Groff, Keegan-Michael Key, Will Ferrell, Bradley Cooper, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen

Cotton Candy

Dance: “Swan Lake Opus 20, Act 1 Finale,” by Tchaikovsky
Bonus clue: “You have seen me perform for many years, and hopefully many more to come.”
Word Up: “Prayer”
Panel guesses: Julianne Hough, Kristi Yamaguchi, Simone Biles, Hayden Panettiere
Previous dances: “Glitter in the Air,” by Pink; “Sour Candy,” by Lady Gaga feat. Blackpink; “Great Balls of Fire,” by Jerry Lee Lewis
Previous Word Ups: “Primetime”; “Team Player”
Previous panel guesses: Jenna Dewan, Pink, Julianne Hough, Tara Lipinski, Kristi Yamaguchi, Gabby Butler, Simone Biles

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Wicked Box Office Hits Global Milestone, Poised to Surpass Kung Fu Panda 4 and Godzilla x Kong

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The box office for Wicked hits a significant milestone worldwide as it gets ready to surpass Godzilla x Kong and Kung Fu Panda 4.

Wicked is still doing well despite recent box office releases that have caused significant disappointment. The most recent Wizard of Oz musical was too good for the Spider-Man villain and the Tolkien adaption to compete with Kraven the Hunter and The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim in the same week. Wicked has already exceeded its $145 million budget following a record-breaking first weekend that raked in over $160 million globally.

It has achieved even more success this past weekend. Variety said that after making $359 million domestically, the musical adaption made over $524 million internationally. It is currently on track to surpass Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and Kung Fu Panda 4, which brought in $547.6 million and $571.1 million, respectively. Having significantly outperformed Grease’s $188.62 million total, it is also officially the highest-grossing Broadway adaption in domestic box office history.

What the Box Office Success of Wicked Means

Musicals and animated blockbusters are regaining their position at the box office after ten years of action film supremacy. Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 have taken first and third place for the entire year, while Moana 2 and Wicked are the top films this weekend. With a $1.3 billion box office total, Deadpool & Wolverine is still in second place, but it’s probably the only action film to stay in the top five globally. Dune: Part Two may lose its position when Mufasa: The Lion King is released the following week:

TitleDomesticWorldwide
Inside Out 2
$653 million$1.7 billion
Deadpool & Wolverine
$637 million$1.3 billion
Despicable Me 4
$360 million
$970 million
Moana 2
$338 million$717 million
Dune: Part Two
$282 million
$714 million

This pattern is probably due to the fact that, other from Deadpool & Wolverine, neither DC nor Marvel have released any successful films this year. With Joker: Folie à Deux, DC tried to duplicate its $1 billion triumph, but it only made $200 million globally. With the exception of Wicked, every film in the top 10 global releases for 2024 has been a sequel, creating a distinct market. Based on a Broadway musical and The Wizard of Oz, Wicked is not a completely original film, but its box office performance does demonstrate that non-sequels may be successful in theaters in today IP-driven landscape.

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Danny Ramirez on Joaquin Phoenix Leaving the Gay Romance Film Directed by Todd Haynes

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Todd Haynes was planning to cast Danny Ramirez and Joaquin Phoenix in a gay romance movie. However, Phoenix left the untitled production five days before Guadalajara, Mexico, filming got underway.

At the Academy Museum Gala on Saturday night in Los Angeles, Ramirez told Variety’s Marc Malkin, “It’s definitely disappointing.” “If anything,” he continued, “If anything, it just gave me more inspiration to keep driving, keep pushing, and knowing that I’m on the right path and approaching the work the right way. So that’s what I’m excited about.”

The movie, which depended on Phoenix’s casting, was in danger after it was revealed in August that he had quit the production, according to sources. Two guys in love in the 1930s who escape Los Angeles and travel to Mexico were the main subject of the NC-17-rated movie.

“It’s definitely a very complicated situation,” Ramirez stated. “The audition process was extensive, and so what I walked away with that was just the artistic validation of throwing down opposite of [Phoenix] in this chemistry read… There was a moment that I was like, ‘Oh, I’ve arrived as a performer.’”

“The most recent update is ‘hopefully.’” Ramirez said in response to a question about whether the movie is still in development with filmmaker Haynes.

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David Schwimmer Remembers Rejecting “Men in Black”: ‘That Would Have Made Me a Hollywood Star’

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Although David Schwimmer admits his “career would have taken a very different trajectory” if he had been the lead in the 1997 movie, he doesn’t regret declining Men in Black.

The actor said, “That’s not why I turned it down,” in response to a question on a recent episode of the podcast Origins With Cush Jumbo regarding whether he rejected down the successful franchise because it conflicted with his Friends filming schedule. Rather, he decided to become a feature film director.

Schwimmer said, “[It] was a brutal decision.” the actor chuckles. “I had just finished filming The Pallbearer, my first film with Gwyneth Paltrow, and there were high expectations of that, which didn’t come true (Laughs). It was kind of a bomb, but there were high expectations, and the studio, which was Miramax, wanted to lock me into a three-picture deal at a fixed price, and I said I would do that if I got to direct my first movie.”

After months of talks, the intelligence actor said that they had come to an agreement whereby he “would act in three more movies for them” in exchange for allowing him to “direct my entire theater company in the first film,” Since You’ve Been Gone from 1998. The film was told through the perspective of a doctor who was severely beaten up by a fellow graduate on graduation day, humiliating him and setting the stage for a ten-year class reunion.

“All these unknown actors but I was going to put them on the map, basically. I was going to let everyone discover the talent of this amazing company,” Schwimmer said, “We found this amazing script, and we were developing it. We started pre-production. All my best friends in the world in my theater company quit their jobs so they could be in this film over the summer, which was going to be a six-week shoot in Chicago.”

However, Schwimmer had to make a tough decision about his career because the production for his directing debut happened to coincide with the filming of Men in Black.

The Six Days Seven Nights actor recalls, “We’re in pre-production, hired the whole crew, everything’s going and that’s when I was offered Men in Black.” “It was a direct conflict with this. My summer window from Friends was four months. I had a four-month hiatus and Men in Black was going to shoot exactly when I was going to direct this film with my company. And of course, it was an amazing opportunity. However, my theater company and that relationship with all those people would probably have ended. I don’t think it would have recovered.”

Schwimmer stated that he is unsure if “he made the right choice,” but he firmly feels that in these kinds of circumstances “you have to follow your gut, you have to follow your heart.”

“Look, I’m really aware, whatever 20 years later maybe more, [Men in Black] would have made me a movie star,” he continued. “If you look at the success of that film and that franchise, my career would have taken a very different trajectory.”

In the end, Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith played the key parts in the Men in Black franchise.

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