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CNA
11 hours ago
- CNA
Every major update from Taylor Swift's first appearance on the Kelces' New Heights podcast
Taylor Swift's latest era is almost upon us. The superstar isn't just releasing her 12th album in October – she also appeared Wednesday (Aug 13) on New Heights for the first time to discuss it at length. Part of the rollout for the announcement of The Life Of A Showgirl involved the popular, typically football-focused podcast hosted by Travis Kelce – Swift's boyfriend and Kansas City Chiefs tight end – and his brother, Jason Kelce, the former Philadelphia Eagles center. Her episode, which ran just over two hours on audio streaming and an hour and 45 minutes via YouTube, was particularly revealing. Here's everything you need to know about Swift's episode. THE BIG TAYLOR SWIFT TAKEAWAYS ARRIVED ... SWIFTLY 1. Swift partially announced her new album The Life Of A Showgirl on the podcast, originally shared Tuesday in a preview clip. Swift told the Kelce brothers she wanted to show them something, revealing a mint-green briefcase that featured her initials in orange. Jason Kelce asked what's in it, prompting her to pull out a vinyl record. 'This is my brand new album, The Life Of A Showgirl,' she said. 2. In the full episode, Swift revealed she worked on the album in Europe while she was on the 'Eras Tour" – flying between dates to record, truly embodying the album's title, The Life Of A Showgirl. Then she read the track list. The entire album was completed in Sweden with producers Max Martin and Shellback. 3. Why orange? The colour embodies 'what was going on in my inner life during this tour', she said, before referring to Martin as her 'mentor'. 'These guys, they're just geniuses,' she said of Martin and Shellback. 4. 'Bangers', is how she describes the album. She also said, 'There aren't other ones coming,' referring to a surprising double album like in the case of 2024's The Tortured Poets Department. The release is 12 tracks – that's it. And it arrives Oct 3. 'I care about this record more than I can even overstate,' she said. 'It's a lot more upbeat,' Travis Kelce said, describing it as a '180 from Tortured Poets'. Swift agreed, adding, "Life is more upbeat.' 5. The album's theme? 'Everything that was going on behind the curtain," she said. 6. The album's goal? Infectious melodies and vivid lyrics, she explained. 7. The album's cover? Themed after 'the end of my day', she said. 'My day ends with me in a bathtub." 8. She also shared personal information on New Heights, arguably in a way she hasn't in years. For example: Her mum 'got a new knee', she said. And her dad had quintuple bypass surgery this summer. He had 'five blockages in his heart' discovered through a stress test. 'This was the summer of my parental upgrades,' she said. 9. She spent considerable time in Florida with Travis Kelce. She also said 'our jobs are very similar', it is 'to entertain people for three hours in NFL stadiums'. 10. Jason Kelce asked his brother and Swift how they handle online chatter about their relationship. 'We don't, really. I don't see a lot of things,' she said. 'My name can be in the actual headline, and it's none of my business.' 11. She shared her favourite segments from New Heights, her self-described 'favourite podcast'. That is 'new news'. She credited the podcast as getting her 'a boyfriend", and discussed how the pair started dating via friendship bracelet exchange. 'If this guy isn't crazy," she joked, he's the kind of guy she's 'been writing songs about'. 12. Swift also discussed the 'Eras Tour', which Travis Kelce described as a catalyst for his interest in Swift. She mentioned exiting through an orange door at the last date of the tour, a 'subliminal hint that I may be leaving the 'Eras Tour' era', she said. It was an Easter egg for The Life Of A Showgirl. 13. Swift is known for teasing her fans with Easter eggs. Her favourite use? Getting an honorary degree from NYU in 2022 and littering her speech with references to her then yet-to-be-announced Midnights album. 'Fans were like, 'the whole speech was an easter egg!'' she said. 14. Swift listed her hobbies, which still include baking. Her current obsession? Making sourdough bread, specifically blueberry lemon, cinnamon swirl and Funfetti variations. She offered a few bread-related puns referencing her discography: 'Are you bread-y for it?' 'It's a loaf story, baby just say yeast', and 'Loafing him was bread', among them. 15. Swift discussed regaining control over her entire body of work. In May, it was announced that the popstar purchased her catalogue of recordings – originally released through Big Machine Records – from their most recent owner, the private equity firm Shamrock Capital. She did not disclose the amount. 16. Swift said she loves all the rerecorded albums, but Red (Taylor's Version) is particularly special – for the fan-favorite All Too Well vault track, which spans 10 minutes. HOW TO WATCH – OR LISTEN TO – TAYLOR SWIFT ON THE NEW HEIGHTS PODCAST Swift's episode of the New Heights podcast is available to stream on YouTube. Fans who prefer to listen to the show instead can do so via most podcast-streaming platforms: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible, Spotify and Wondery, which produces the show. The audio recording of the podcast is about 20 minutes longer in duration than YouTube and includes a rapid-fire question section, where the Kelce brothers and Swift discuss cats, pop tarts, Bad Bunny in Happy Gilmore 2, hiding in a cleaning cart at the 'Eras Tour" and more. THE ROAD TO TAYLOR SWIFT'S EPISODE Little was known about Swift's episode ahead of its airing. On Tuesday and Wednesday morning, the podcast shared clips teasing the forthcoming episode. 'As we all know, you know, you guys have a lot of male sports fans that listen to your podcast," Swift joked in one cut. 'I think we all know that if there's one thing that male sports fans want to see in their spaces and on their screens it's more of me.' Chiefs coach Andy Reid was supportive, though, saying Wednesday that he was happy for the pair. 'Both of them like each other, and what a plus that is. They care about each other, and I think that's the most important thing,' he said. 'The older you get, you want these guys to have somebody they can settle down with and that whole deal. And so I think it's a neat deal for them – both of them.'
CNA
13 hours ago
- CNA
Paramount's new owners to increase film production, hang on to cable networks
LOS ANGELES :Paramount Global unveiled plans on Wednesday to retain and develop its stalwart entertainment brands Nickelodeon, MTV, and BET, while sharply increasing feature film production following its $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media. "We're thinking about ... the cable networks, not as declining linear assets that we need to spin off or deal with somehow," said President Jeff Shell. "We're thinking of those brands that we have to redefine." Shell joined Chairman and CEO David Ellison and the rest of the executive team at a media gathering on Wednesday on the Paramount Pictures lot, where they discussed strategy for their film, television, and streaming businesses - as well as emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. The press event was held a week after Paramount completed its merger with Skydance Media, installing new leadership at the media company. Television Media Chair George Cheeks acknowledged the decline of cable television - "there's no question it's a super challenging business" - but added that the company's cable networks have created iconic franchises that may well thrive in the world of streaming video. Shell singled out BET, a network focused on Black culture that Paramount previously explored selling, as an important building block of the company's streaming strategy. Paramount's plans to develop its legacy cable networks come at a time when other media companies are shedding fading cable networks. Warner Bros Discovery and Comcast have announced plans to separate their cable businesses from their studios and streaming operations. Josh Greenstein, co-chair of Paramount Pictures, said the studio plans to raise annual output, from eight this year to 15 movies "very quickly," with the ultimate goal of releasing 20 films a year. The coming slate will include new installments of familiar franchises, such as "Star Trek" or "Transformers," as well as original movies, like the newly acquired James Mangold film project, "High Side," starring Timothée Chalamet. The studio also will seek out family fare, in the vein of "A Night at the Museum" or "The Goonies." "We love these movies. We all grew up on these movies, and we don't feel like many people are making them," said Dana Goldberg, co-chair of Paramount Pictures. Ellison said his goal is to transform Paramount into a haven for the most talented filmmakers and sees emerging technologies like artificial intelligence providing a tool to enhance storytelling. "I also think we have to acknowledge that this is a technology that is evolving, I think, faster than everyone in Hollywood really thinks it is," said Ellison, who is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. "When you start putting that in a filmmaker's hands, I think you're seeing another moment that'll be as transformative as when John Lasseter and Steve Jobs built Pixar."
CNA
2 days ago
- CNA
Travis Kelce opens up about early stages of Taylor Swift romance
Travis Kelce says he and Taylor Swift are 'just two people in love'. The 35-year-old NFL star opened up about the beginning of his relationship with pop superstar Swift, 35, insisting that 'it happened very organically'. Kelce told America's GQ magazine: 'Whenever I'm with her, it feels like we're just regular people. When there is not a camera on us, we're just two people that are in love. It can be perceived as something else because of how much it is talked about and how much we are tracked whenever we do go out, but I would say that it's as normal of…. It happened very organically even though from a media standpoint it was being tracked. It still happened very organically. 'When I say it was so organic, we fell in love just based off the people we were sitting in a room together with. We are two fun-loving people who have the morals to appreciate everyone for who they are. We share all those values. It kind of just took the f*** off. 'Nowadays, I just want to be respected and loved by the people that I'm surrounded by in my work. I want to leave it better than where it was when I started. And I see her having those same values.' Kelce also compared Swift to his mother Donna, admitting they share a lot of similarities. He said: 'Their kindness, their genuineness, their ability to say hello to everyone in the room. Their ability to show love and support no matter what. And on top of that, their work ethic. I saw my mother reach goals that she had set for herself, go from being a teller to working all the way up in the KeyBank building. 'I've seen Taylor do the exact same thing of setting goals for herself and exceeding the expectations and really captivating the world in that regard.' And Kelce revealed he is looking ahead to NFL retirement and while he has no concrete plans, he wants to try and find a balance between work and being 'present at home'. He said: 'I think there is a happy medium. I do want to have free time. I do want to have the ability to be around my family. I don't want to get too busy to where I'm travelling all over the world and I'm not present at home. 'When you see me hanging out at the US Open with Taylor, it may look like the two of us are partying. But I'm just enjoying the fun of being at this really cool event that I always wanted to go to with the person that I love. I've become way more strategic in understanding what I am portraying to people. I have a good understanding of how I want to be portrayed.'
