Innholdsfortegnelse for 4/2/2016 i Billboard Magazine

ITHINK I’M IN LOVE,” SAYS Conrad Sewell as he cruises along Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles. But he’s not talking about a crush or a song. He’s talking about the deepred Ferrari California T, a $273,240, carbon fiber-inlaid, leather-laden, four-seat, hard-top convertible that was introduced at the end of 2015 and is available now. “You just feel cool driving it. It’s not even that you feel like people are looking at you. You feel like a boss. I can get used to this feeling.” The drop-top, which has a base price of $198,000, may be Ferrari’s “entry level” model (it doesn’t include pricey extras like forged painted trims and aluminum footrests), but the 27-year-old pop-soul crooner — who has toured with Maroon 5 and Ed Sheeran, sung on Kygo’s hit…

There’s nothing that grabs — and holds — millennials’ attention quite like seeing their favorite artists on tour, and increasingly, fashion brands want in on the action. In the last month alone, Burberry announced it would exclusively wardrobe Adele for her tour in support of 25, Gucci signed on to dress Florence Welch for her How Big How Blue How Beautiful Tour and Calvin Klein stepped up as the apparel partner for the North American and European legs of Justin Bieber’s Purpose Tour. The lattermost will involve a level of integration not commonly seen: The singer and his backup performers will don the brand’s logoed skivvies nightly, while videos from Bieber’s next underwear campaign will run before the show and between sets; pop-up shops featuring Calvin Klein merchandise also will…

Technically speaking, the end of American Idol will come on April 7, when the groundbreaking musical reality show crowns its 15th and final champion, confetti drops from the rafters of Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre and a verklempt Ryan Seacrest bids America good night and Godspeed. Historians, though, might trace the show’s demise to an earlier date. According to some Idol watchers, the program began to loosen its grip on the national consciousness and its stranglehold on the primetime ratings in season nine, its first without the original triumvirate of judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson. Others maintain that Idol first wobbled — got a little pitchy, as Jackson would have it — earlier in its run: circa 2005, after its fourth season, won by Carrie Underwood, the last, and…

2009 He came in second in season eight, but Adam Lambert, 34, scored a radio hit on his first try. “Whataya Want From Me,” from his 2009 RCA debut, For Your Entertainment, peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. No surprise here: He got a little help from Sweden. CAST A WIDE NET “[A&R executive] Ashley Newton was my hero at the label. He helped me put together a list of people that I wanted to work with, and we got songs from Lady Gaga, Matt Bellamy of Muse, Rivers Cuomo and Linda Perry.end change Now that I look back, it’s like, ‘Damn! They really showed up for me.’ ” HIRE MAX MARTIN “Max knew exactly what he wanted in the studio. He was so chill, I immediately…

Turning an Idol winner into a recording artist is the responsibility of 53-year-old Big Machine Label Group CEO Scott Borchetta (the show’s in-house mentor since season 13) and 19 Entertainment executive vp/worldwide head of music (and Miley Cyrus’ former manager) Jason Morey, 43. The two break down their process. FIND AN IDENTITY MOREY “When the finalists are going through such an exhaustive and intense six months, they’re not thinking about ‘Who am I as an artist?’ They’re thinking, ‘How will I pull together this performance for next week? How am I going to win the show?’ We try to steer them in the direction of who they should be later on.” BORCHETTA “In the last five or six weeks of the competition, we try to give them the kind of…

2016 During Simon Cowell’s nine years on the show, the Brit made cutting down a contestant in the harshest manner imaginable into appointment TV. The judges who came after, however, took a more congenial, but still critical, approach. “Simon is not a trained musician, so his is a very different skill set,” says Harry Connick Jr., 48, who is on his third season on the panel. “The [music] teachers I had growing up were extremely tough. It was not warm and fuzzy. So this is very easy. But I still have to tell [the contestants] what I think. And hopefully they’ll take it to heart. They know I’m not screwing with them.” BE PREPARED “Honesty, preparation and spontaneity are the keys” to being an effective judge, says Connick. “For preparation,…

JOEY & RORY’S HYMNS RISES TO NO. 1 IN ITS fifth week on Top Album Sales under tragic circumstances: On March 4, not long after the set’s Feb. 12 release, Joey Feek, 40, half of the husband-and-wife Christian-country duo, died of cervical cancer. With help from mourning fans, the album rose 3-1, selling 44,000 copies in the week ending March 17 (according to Nielsen Music) and beating out Adele’s 25, which holds at No. 2. Hymns, which features classics like “Jesus Loves Me,” was recorded in summer 2015 as Joey underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment for a recurrence of her cancer, first diagnosed in 2014. In October 2015, after tests indicated that the cancer was still spreading, the couple — who married in 2002 and notched their first chart hit…

For 28 years, Troy Tomlinson has been the gatekeeper of Hank Williams’ 200-plus-song catalog, first at Acuff-Rose Music and now as president/CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville. And for just as long he said no to everyone asking to license the country music pioneer’s songs for a biopic. But when film producer Marc Abraham (Children of Men, Robocop) came calling, Tomlinson changed his tune. Unlike the other filmmakers, Abraham — who wrote and directed the new biopic, I Saw the Light (out March 25) — brought along the script. “Someone leading with ‘Let’s secure the rights and we’ll come up with a script later’ was never really attractive to me,” says Tomlinson. But also, he adds, “I remember saying to my wife, ‘He wants to tell the story right.’” That…

THE PULSE OF MUSIC RIGHT NOW FILLED WITH SHOOTOUTS and high-speed chases, Miles Ahead, the new film starring and directed by Oscar nominee Don Cheadle, isn’t your average music biopic — but Miles Davis wasn’t your average musician. “I thought, ‘If I was going to do something with this person, who’s probably one of the most creative human beings ever to walk on the planet,’ ” says Cheadle, a first-time director, “ ‘that it would have to feel impressionistic, improvisational, wild, over-the-top. It would have to feel how I feel when I think about Miles Davis.’ ” Instead of a linear retelling of the late trumpeter’s life and career, the film (set to be released in theaters April 1 through Sony Pictures Classics) centers on the prolific legend’s unlikely late-’70s…

Stallone’s Knockout Selfie Sylvester Stallone wanted the light to be just right for his selfies at Bruce Springsteen’s March 15 show at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. The actor, rolling with his brother Frank Stallone, roamed around the venue, snapping pics of himself and the show, until he finally found the right spot by one of the exits. Some fans chanted “Rocky”; Stallone responded by raising his fist like a prize fighter. R.I.P. Young Thug? The most memorable sight at South by Southwest wasn’t a show — it was a faux funeral. Marching down Sixth Street with a brass band, pallbearers carried a casket reading “Slime Season 3.25.16.” What did it mean? That Young Thug’s mixtape Slime Season 3 was on its way. The MC’s reps told Overheard the procession…

“Well, not psychotic. I’m a bit of an exaggerator.” —IGGY AZALEA The Aussie MC clarifying her claim in British mag Schön! that she suffered a “psychotic breakdown,” during a radio interview with Carson Daly. “Where’s the drop?” —TAYLOR SWIFT The pop star screaming into the camera during a much-longer-thanexpected song buildup in boyfriend Calvin Harris’ set at Las Vegas megaclub Omnia, as documented on her Instagram. (The beat dropped moments later, natch.) “He would always say, ‘You remind me of my mother, and I like that because you’re like a dude.’ ” —NICKI MINAJ The rapper on what first drew boyfriend Meek Mill to her, in an interview with Nylon. “When I met Celine she told me, ‘When I saw you, I peed!’ ” —ARIANA GRANDE The singer explaining to…

Nick Mason 1963 Ferrari 250GTO With only 39 produced, Ferrari’s first supercar recently sold for $38 million. Pink Floyd’s Mason bought his in 1977. John Lennon 1965 Ferrari 330GT Lennon purchased this sea-blue grand tourer after getting his driver’s license in 1965. Keith Richards 1972 Ferrari Dino 246GT He bought it in California and a few years later shipped it to England, where he kept it until selling it to a collector in 1986. Rod Stewart 1990 Ferrari F40 At 471 hp, the lightweight and low-nose F40 was the first production car to top 200 mph. Jay Kay 2014 LaFerrari The Jamiroquai singer bought the brand’s first hybrid model, of which only 499 were built, at a cost of $1 million.…

AS SOON AS SIMON COWELL enters the judges’ holding room at the Pasadena Convention Center, he’s being filmed. Two TV cameras, a still camera and three booms follow him to a corner, where a Dunkin’ Donuts banner hangs over a table of coffee and doughnuts. It’s not clear whether Cowell, who’s wearing sunglasses indoors, genuinely wants caffeine or is smartly giving some TV airtime to a sponsor of America’s Got Talent. Cowell, 56, knows this building well — in 2002, during the first season of American Idol, the show he helped create and, let’s face it, dominated in its prime, the first round of auditions was held here. But America’s Got Talent, he says, “is more fun than Idol. After you’ve heard 10,000 singers, you think, ‘Bring on a dancing…

2002 When singer-choreographer Paula Abdul first joined the American Idol judges panel in season one, she had no idea what to expect, least of all that the show would be a ratings juggernaut (averaging 35 million viewers during its season-five height, according to Nielsen) and that the program, along with her snippy tablemate Simon Cowell and the jovial Randy Jackson, would become instant pop culture phenomena. “Simon and I had a very authentic, interesting, eclectic relationship that played out on TV very well,” says the 53-year-old, who now fills a similar role on Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance. “It’s an acquired experience,” she says, in looking back on eight years spent in the hot seat. GIVE IT BACK “Simon had been doing the show in the U.K., but…

With American Idol’s demanding weekly schedule, illness is inevitable, and the tender throats of the emotionally fragile contestants are particularly vulnerable. That’s where the show’s vocal coaches come in. Associate musical director Michael Orland (seasons 1-15) and Idol alum Debra Byrd (seasons 1-11), who now works on The Voice, detail how they nurse their charges through a singer’s worst nightmare. ASSESS THE MALADY ORLAND “At some point, everyone loses their voice on American Idol. [Common ailments include] the flu and dehydration.” DON’T SPREAD IT While Byrd and Orland turn to Dr. Shawn Nasseri to treat the contestants’ ailments, they have remedies to suggest. “They can take a decongestant or combat dryness,” says BYRD. “I recommend immune system builders so infections don’t spread.” TRY THE SILENT TREATMENT ORLAND “Someone can go…

2005 When the season-four finalist first crafted his performance of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” he was told “to look into that camera and all of those girls at home.” The now 40-year-old singer-actor details the secret to the seduction. FIND A FOCUS POINT “An auditioning technique I learned at the Boston Conservatory was to find a point above people’s heads, so you’re not staring at a clock. But essentially you are staring at a clock — and that’s who you’re going to tell your story to.” CLOSE YOUR EYES (BUT NOT FOR TOO LONG!) “You have to know when to close your eyes during a song — you can’t do it for 16 bars, which a lot of people do. And if I was sitting down, I’d get up and walk…

With its 5-3 ascent on the Billboard Hot 100, “7 Years,” the wistful debut hit from Danish pop band Lukas Graham (fronted by Lukas Graham Forchhammer) looks like it soon may be a contender for the chart’s top spot. 125 k “7 Years,” after scoring global success, is the top-selling song in the United States for a second week. It holds atop the Digital Songs chart with a 3 percent gain to 125,000 sold in the week ending March 17, according to Nielsen Music. 13.9 M The single’s streaming numbers are also strong, as the track zooms 7-3 on Streaming Songs, up by 7 percent to 13.9 million domestic clicks. Of its total, 85 percent is from a roughly even split of Spotify and YouTube streams. 59 M Radio continues…

Cheap Trick Reawakens Revered band Cheap Trick reaches the Mainstream Rock Songs chart for the first time in nearly two decades as “When I Wake Up Tomorrow” debuts at No. 34. The group last made the list in 1997 with the No. 39-peaking “Say Goodbye” and has now tallied 13 entries, led by its classic love song, 1988’s No. 3 smash “The Flame.” Further milestones lie ahead for the Robin Zander-fronted quartet: Its 17th studio album, and Big Machine debut, Bang, Zoom, Crazy... Hello, arrives April 1, and a week later, Cheap Trick will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 41% THIS WEEK YEARS & YEARS’ “DESIRE” STREAMS 688,000 20% THIS WEEK HAILEE STEINFIELD’S “ROCK BOTTOM” STREAMS 1 .7 MILLION 24% THIS WEEK…

SINCE THE DOCU-SERIES LOVE & Hip Hop debuted on VH1 in 2011, it has been described as both ratchet and riveting. Laced with profanity and ultra-revealing outfits, the show centers on women who are the wives or girlfriends of rappers and producers — or are artists and business entrepreneurs themselves — intent on finding their own identities and respect in hip-hop’s male-dominated culture. For its creator, Monami Entertainment CEO Mona Scott-Young, and her partners, the aim was simple: to tell compelling stories. Mission accomplished. The New York mothership — averaging 2.7 million viewers (according to Nielsen) in its sixth season ending March 28 — has had four equally popular spinoffs: Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta (its fifth season premieres April 4), Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood, K. Michelle: My Life…

Miami Vice (1985) The classic cop show featured Davis in an episode as Ivory Jones, a brothel owner arrested by Crockett and Tubbs. Scrooged (1988) Davis cameos as a street musician in the Christmas comedy classic. Dingo (1992) Released shortly after Davis’ death, Dingo found Davis co-starring as (what else?) a jazz trumpeter named Billy Cross.…

Suitors used to court would-be lovers with romantic letters and flower bouquets; in 2016, it’s all about direct messages on social media. Just ask Memphis rapper Yo Gotti, whose “Down in the DM” peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March, boosted by a Nicki Minaj remix and lyrics about explicit Instagram and Snapchat selfies. The 34-year-old explains how to get your mack on online. Keep It Real “Do whatever you would do in person,” says Yo Gotti. “If you’re a straightforward person and walk up to somebody in the club, take the same exact approach online. If you play safe in person, play safe in the DM. Don’t turn down or turn up just because it’s the DM.” Pictures Aren’t Everything “I like…

A nominee, performer and firsttime co-host alongside Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley will be a triple threat at the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards, airing on CBS on April 3 live from Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. The “Somewhere on a Beach” singer, 40, shares his thoughts on taking over the show. What is your biggest fear about hosting? My nightmare is I’m standing at the podium and everyone’s laughing at me — then I look down and I’m naked. That’s how I wake up every morning! Bryan co-hosted with Blake Shelton for three years — did you get any advice from him? I haven’t heard from Blake. I think he’s pretty busy out in L.A. He’s got his hands full, literally and figuratively, with work and his girlfriend…

THERE HAVE been no exotic fur coats, no contentious slogans scrawled across his T-shirts, yet somehow Justin Bieber has been at the center of polemic debates about style. When the 22-year-old arrived at the American Music Awards last November, for example, the Nirvana T-shirt he sported by Los Angeles brand Fear of God drew scathing criticism. The prince of pop dares to be associated with the storied grunge band? Longtime stylist Karla Welch, 41, who first signed on to work with Bieber for his 2012 Believe Tour, has an explanation for all the hoopla: It’s a testament to the singer’s growing style influence. “He has been pushing men’s fashion for the last five years,” she says. “At the beginning of Believe, he was getting heat for the drop-crotch pants and…

The 55-year-old Svengali behind the Spice Girls created American Idol’s British predecessor, Pop Idol, in 2001, then sold the idea to Fox and FremantleMedia. Some 60 international editions later, the founder/CEO of XIX Entertainment had a billion-dollar brand on his hands. BRING THE DRAMA “A soap opera; sport; drama; dreams; engagement ... That’s how I began, by piecing together all of these thoughts. It was about empowering the viewer and making winning mean something.” ROCK THE VOTE “I wanted to bypass the gatekeepers in radio and the media and go directly to the consumer, then have them tell me which [artists] they like the most.” PLANET IDOL “How do you create a franchise like Idol? Think big. I always thought it could connect worldwide. In music, assets are global.”…

2014 Since first being cast as host of American Idol back in 2002 (sharing the gig with Brian Dunkleman during season one), Ryan Seacrest has introduced major pop stars, crowned 14 champions — and ended the dreams of more than 350 singing hopefuls (on live TV, no less). Fortunately for the rejected, the 41-year-old has made an art form of delivering the grim news with a gentle touch. “I’m always impressed by how poised these young contestants have been over the years,” says Seacrest. LOOK THE HOPEFUL IN THE EYE “During the commercial break, before the results are handed down, I make a point of looking each [finalist] in the eye and saying, ‘Good luck.’ Then, ‘Take a deep breath, and here we go!’ ” READ THE BODY LANGUAGE “If…

Leonard Cohen’s classic “Hallelujah” is as much a perennial on Idol as Etta James’ “At Last.” What’s the secret to a standout performance? Season nine winner Lee DeWyze, 29, who was assigned the song by Simon Cowell as part of a “judges’ pick” showdown, explains why it’s “a great choice” — when done right. KNOW THE HISTORY Cohen recorded the song in 1984, while Jeff Buckley’s cover gave it new life a decade after. DeWyze, a “fan of the original,” says, “The last thing I wanted to do was do it like someone else sang it on Idol. I didn’t reference any other version.” ADD A CHOIR Looking to take things up a notch? Get the show to spring for a gospel choir, says DeWyze. “I had a hand in…

‘UBER’ -SUCCESSFUL Atlanta rapper MadeInTYO rides onto Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at No. 41 with “Uber Everywhere” (Private Club/Commission). Remixes by Travis Scott, Tory Lanez and Tiara Thomas boosted the track’s reach after its original version was released in summer 2015. The song bows primarily from 2.7 million U.S. streams (up 28 percent). At South by Southwest, the MC announced the forthcoming release of his MadeInBoomin project. ‘GIRLS’ POWER French synth-pop band Christine & The Queens rides a synch on HBO’s Girls to a sales spike: “It” (Because/Atlantic) leaps to 4,000 downloads in the week ending March 17, according to Nielsen Music, after it closed the show’s March 13 episode. The hypnotic track is on both the Girls Vol. 3 soundtrack and the act’s selftitled set, which reached No. 7 on…

Fallon Steps Out Solo Brian Fallon, frontman of New Jersey rock band The Gaslight Anthem, debuts at No. 76 on the Billboard Artist 100. Sparking his start is his debut studio album, Painkiller, which opens at No. 13 on Top Album Sales with 14,000 first-week copies sold (according to Nielsen Music) and No. 30 on the Billboard 200. The Gaslight Anthem has tallied six Billboard 200 entries since 2008, including the top 10s Handwritten (No. 3, 2012) and Get Hurt (No. 4, 2014). Painkiller also launches at No. 2 on both Alternative Albums and Vinyl Albums. Meanwhile, Lauren Daigle re-enters the Artist 100 at No. 99 powered by the success of her single “Trust in You,” her first No. 1 on Hot Christian Songs. The track leads the latter list…