It was Lainey Wilson’s night in a variety of ways. At the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards, she won Female Artist of the Year as well as Entertainer of the Year.

Wilson began her address with, “I’ve been in Nashville for 13 years doing this.” “Everybody in this category has loved on me and believed on me,” she said. “And I love y’all for that.”

Miranda Lambert, awarded Entertainer of the Year in 2022, is one of only a few women to have won the top prize. Carrie Underwood and Thomas Rhett tied for the title in 2020, marking the first tie in history and the first time a woman had won the category since Taylor Swift in 2012.

Lainey Wilson Wins Big At The 2024 Academy Of Country Music Awards, Including The Top Honor

Wilson also opened the 59th annual ACM Awards with a cover of Little Texas’ “God Blessed Texas,” seamlessly transitioning into her new hit, “Hang Tight Honey.” Clay Walker and Randy Travis then presented Jordan Davis the song of the year for his popular country radio smash “Next Thing You Know.”

In his victory speech, he remarked, “First and foremost, I want to thank the fans for their love of this song.” “I love songwriting because of songs that won song of the year, so to be holding this right now is crazy.”

Wilson won the year’s music event, as did Jelly Roll for his hit “Save Me.”

“No pun intended, but seriously, this song saved me,” Jelly Roll stated during his address. “I thought I would die and go to jail,” he added, getting upset — but instead, he celebrated winning an ACM award

Reba McEntire hosted the American Country Music Awards, which were held at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas.

In one of the show’s most anticipated performances, Jason Aldean lit up the stage with a touching homage to the late Toby Keith.

He offered the audience a moving, acoustic version of Keith’s famous “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” They sang along, and Keith’s family watched from the audience.

Keith has won 14 ACM Awards in his career, including the title of Entertainer of the Year twice. He died in February at the age of 62 after being diagnosed with stomach cancer.

Chris Stapleton won both Album and Male Artist of the Year. “There’s so many great guys in that category, and I’m just happy to be included in this company,” he stated in his acceptance speech.

And Dua Lipa joined him as a special guest when it was time to perform his brand-new single, “Think I’m in Love with You.”

Lainey Wilson Wins Big At The 2024 Academy Of Country Music Awards, Including The Top Honor

It wasn’t the only surprise: Post Malone dropped a brand-new song, “Never Love You Again,” which bled into his massive new single with Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help.” Wallen didn’t perform.

Instead, McEntire later joined Post Malone to perform a brief duet of the Allman Brothers Band’s “Ramblin’ Man” in honor of Dickey Betts, who died last month. He was eighty.

Earlier in the evening, Luke Combs, the night’s most nominated artist with eight, won single of the year for his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” Last year, Chapman’s 1988 ballad won Song of the Year at the Country Music Awards for Combs’ cover, becoming her the first Black songwriter to do so.

Dan Shay and Old Dominion won awards for duo and group of the year, respectively.

Performances came fast and furious: Jelly Roll Morton started with a thumping rendition of his new song “Liar,” followed closely by Kelsea Ballerini and Noah Kahan, who turned her song “Mountain with a View” into his viral hit “Stick Season.”

Tigirlily Gold sang “I Tried A Ring On,” Texas-born Cody Johnson performed “Dirt Cheap,” and Miranda Lambert introduced her new track “Wranglers.”

Kane Brown sang a beautiful cover of “Georgia on My Mind.” Thomas Rhett sang “Beautiful As You,” and Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani performed “Purple Irises” on the ACM stage.

Lainey Wilson Wins Big At The 2024 Academy Of Country Music Awards, Including The Top Honor

Park McCollum played his smash “Burn It Down,” new male artist of the year Nate Smith and pop-punk superstar Avril Lavigne performed their new song “Bulletproof,” and presenter McEntire finished out the program with her new track “I Can’t.”

The ACM Awards were broadcast live on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch Live.

SOURCE – (AP)

Darlington said police pulled Scheffler out of the car, pushed him up against the car and immediately placed him in handcuffs.

“Scheffler was then walked over to the police car, placed in the back, in handcuffs, very stunned about what was happening, looked toward me as he was in those handcuffs and said, ‘Please help me,’” Darlington said. “He very clearly did not know what was happening in the situation. It moved very quickly, very rapidly, very aggressively.”

Scheffler was released by police and returned to the course at 9:12 a.m. Around 9:30 a.m., he arrived at the practice area to the cheers of fans; one yelled “Free Scottie!” and more followed later wearing “Free Scottie” T-shirts.

Scheffler seemed normal, relaxed, sharing a few laughs on the driving range.

“I was never angry. I was just in shock,” Scheffler said. “I was shaking the whole time. I was shaking for like an hour. It was definitely a new feeling for me.”

Scottie Scheffler Arrested Outside PGA Championship, Then Returns And Climbs Leaderboard

He could see from a TV in the jail that tee times were pushed back 1 hour, 20 minutes because of the traffic situation, and realized when an officer knocked on the door and said, “Let’s go,” that he had a chance to play.

He made birdie on his first hole of the day after sticking his approach shot to 3 feet.

Darlington, the ESPN reporter, said police were initially unsure who Scheffler was. He said an officer asked him to leave, and when he identified himself as being with the media, he was told, “There’s nothing you can do. He’s going to jail.”

Darlington said another police officer later approached with a notepad and asked if he knew the name of the person they put in handcuffs.

Scheffler said he never told police who he was except to say, “I’m sorry, I’m just trying to get to my tee time.”

Scottie Scheffler Arrested Outside PGA Championship, Then Returns And Climbs Leaderboard

Louisville police have attracted negative national attention in recent years after the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor in 2020 and a federal investigation into its policing practices.

A Department of Justice report released last year said Louisville officers use excessive force and conduct searches based on invalid warrants. The report said Black motorists in Louisville were more likely to be searched during traffic stops, and officers used neck restraints, police dogs and Tasers against people who posed no imminent threat.

Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was shot by officers who had come to her apartment with a warrant that federal officials later said was falsified.

PGA of America, which runs the PGA Championship, offered sympathies for Mills’ family and said, “As it relates to the incident involving Scottie Scheffler, we are fully cooperating as local authorities review what took place.”

Scottie Scheffler Arrested Outside PGA Championship, Then Returns And Climbs Leaderboard

Scheffler has won four of his last five tournaments, including his second Masters title. He has been home in Dallas the last three weeks, waiting for the birth of his first child, a son born May 8.

Scheffler is trying to become only the fifth player since 1960 to win the first two majors of the year.

SOURCE – (AP)

CANNES, France — The Cannes Film Festival began Tuesday with the announcement of Greta Gerwig’s jury and the giving of an honorary Palme d’Or to Meryl Streep, as the French Riviera spectacle started its possibly tumultuous 77th edition.

The opening night picture, “The Second Act,” a French comedy starring Lea Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Louis Garrel, and Raphaël Quenard, will usher in a 10-day parade of stars down Cannes’ iconic red carpet. During the opening ceremony, Streep will get her honorary Palme.

Cannes Kicks Off With Greta Gerwig’s Jury And A Palme D’Or For Meryl Streep

In the coming days, Cannes will debut George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” Francis Ford Coppola’s self-financed “Megalopolis,” and anticipated new films from Paolo Sorrentino, Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrea Arnold, and Kevin Costner.

However, much of this year’s Cannes controversy has occurred off-screen.

French actor Judith Godrèche accused two film directors of rape and sexual assault when she was a teenager earlier this year, and the French film industry has been grappling with probably its defining #MeToo moment since. Godrèche’s short film “Moi Aussi” will premiere on Wednesday.

When asked about #MeToo’s expansion in France, Gerwig told reporters in Cannes on Tuesday that it is progressing.

“I think people in the community of movies telling us stories and trying to change things for the better is only good,” Gerwig stated. “I’ve witnessed significant shift in the American cinema scene, and I believe it’s critical that we continue to broaden that conversation. So I believe it’s only advancing things in the right direction. Keep the lines of communication open.”

Gerwig, fresh off the success of “Barbie,” is president of the jury that will decide Cannes’ top prize, the Palme d’Or. Thierry Fremaux commended her on Monday as “the ideal director” for Cannes, citing her ability to work in both arthouse and studio films and her passion for movie history. And, “We very much liked ‘Barbie.'”

Gerwig is joined on the jury by Lily Gladstone, star of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” French actor Eva Green, Spanish filmmaker J.A. Bayona, French actor Omar Sy, Lebanese actor and director Nadine Labaki, Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, Turkish screenwriter Ebru Ceylan, and Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino.

Cannes Kicks Off With Greta Gerwig’s Jury And A Palme D’Or For Meryl Streep

“I thought I just got over my imposter syndrome last year,” admitted the Oscar-nominated Gladstone. “But I’ll start all over again.”

The jurors were asked how the numerous real-world concerns outside the festival would influence their decision-making. One film in competition, Ali Abbasi’s “The Apprentice,” portrays Sebastian Stan as a youthful Donald Trump. And Labaki was asked if she was thinking about the war in Gaza.

“I truly believe that one of the tools to really change something in the situation we all live in right now, which is a situation I think is not that great, is really through art and through cinema,” Labaki stated. “It may propose a more tolerant way of seeing things and seeing each other as human beings.”

According to Favino, filmmakers have a vital role in reminding the world of where beauty can be found.

“This is why I decided that I could be here without feeling guilty as a human being,” stated Favino. “Because if we look for beauty, then we might look for peace.”

Other fears are circulating this year’s Cannes. Festival workers, frustrated with short-term contracts that make them ineligible for unemployment benefits between events, have threatened to strike.

On Monday, Iranian filmmaker Mohammed Rasoulof, whose film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” will be shown in competition at Cannes next week, said that he had escaped Iran after being sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging. The film is described as a scathing depiction of the Iranian regime.

Cannes Kicks Off With Greta Gerwig’s Jury And A Palme D’Or For Meryl Streep

As Cannes continues, many will be fixated on the celebs who walk the festival’s iconic red carpet. Emma Stone, Anya Taylor-Joy, Demi Moore, Selena Gomez, Nicolas Cage, and Barry Keoghan will be among the cast. George Lucas will be presented with an honorary Palme d’Or during the closing ceremony on May 25.

Regardless, the 77th Cannes Film Festival will have many expectations to meet. Last year’s festival, which was universally praised for its impressive roster, yielded three Oscar best picture nominees: “Anatomy of a Fall,” “The Zone of Interest,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.” To help reignite last year’s spirit, Messi, the canine hero of “Anatomy of a Fall,” has returned to Cannes for a series of quick French TV advertisements.

A successful Cannes will help France maintain the global spotlight throughout the summer. The French Open, Tour de France, and Summer Olympics in Paris will all take place after the festival. On May 21, the Olympic flame will be carried to the Palais des Festivals, the festival’s focal point.

SOURCE – (AP)