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CTV News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Chappell Roan promises to perform in Saskatchewan after release of latest single
Chappell Roan departs The Carlyle Hotel prior to attending The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" on Monday, May 5, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP) More than two weeks after American pop star Chappell Roan released a song with the lyrics 'I'm moving to Saskatchewan,' the province — and the singer— are still buzzing. In an interview with Apple Music's Zane Lowe this week, the singer revealed why she chose to include the Prairie province in her latest single, The Subway. 'It rhymed,' she laughed, going on to say that it is about time Saskatchewan gets global recognition. 'I've never been there, but I promise I will perform there one day.' Since Roan released the song July 31, there has been a spike in the number of Google searches that include the word 'Saskatchewan.' The pop culture moment isn't lost on the province's tourism industry. Leanne Schinkel, Discover Saskatoon's director of marketing, said they've noticed an uptick in social media interactions and DMs since the song came out. 'We definitely can't get this kind of attention on our own,' Schinkel said. 'You'd have to spend millions of dollars to be able to create this kind of awareness.' On Thursday, the attention caught the eye of late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon. 'Chappell Roan's new song, The Subway, has sparked a tourism boom in Saskatchewan,' Fallon said before jumping into a bit where he inserted the word 'Saskatchewan' into several well-known songs. Schinkel said this kind of international attention would be considered the awareness stage of a campaign. Discover Saskatoon is batting around ideas to leverage the spotlight in possible tourism ads, something the group Tourism Saskatchewan is already doing. 'It's an opportunity to be playful and just have a good time and not take ourselves too seriously,' Schinkel said. It's too soon to say if the boost in attention will translate into more visitors, but travel marketing experts say it is not uncommon for pop culture to influence tourist destinations. Visitors flocked to Croatia and Northern Ireland where Game of Thrones was filmed, and Wyoming and Montana saw a surge in tourists thanks to the TV series Yellowstone. 'It's a similar thing for music,' said Amir Eylon, president and CEO of marketing research group Longwoods International. 'The performing arts have an emotional connect with us and travel is a very emotional thing. When you think about the reasons why … you pick certain destinations over others, it's because you have some type of connection that you feel.' Roan's connection to Saskatchewan might be a clever rhyme, but fans of the Pink Pony Club singer say it means more than that. 'It's really cool to have that queer joy in the political climate that we're in,' said Saskatoon Pride Co-Chair and Chappell Roan fan Blake Tait. Saskatchewan's government passed a controversial bill in 2023 that requires parental consent for students under the age of 16 to change their preferred name and pronouns at school. 'It's important that we're so much louder about our queerness,' Tait said. 'I think having a lesbian anthem that mentions the province is a great way to do that.'
CTV News
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Lena Dunham says being sober is ‘the right thing for me'
Actor Lena Dunham attends Tribeca Talks to discuss the television mini-series "Too Much" at Spring Studios during the Tribeca Festival on Saturday, June 14, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
San Francisco Chronicle
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Anne Burrell, TV chef who coached the 'Worst Cooks in America,' dies at 55
FILE - Anne Burrell arrives at the James Beard Foundation Awards Gala on May 6, 2013, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File) Andy Kropa/Andy Kropa/Invision/AP FILE - Chef Anne Burrell attends City Harvest Presents The 2025 Gala: Carnaval on April 22, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File) Andy Kropa/Andy Kropa/Invision/AP FILE - Chef Anne Burrell attends the premiere of the ShowTime limited series "The Loudest Voice" on June 24, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP FILE - Chef Anne Burrell attends the premiere of the ShowTime limited series "The Loudest Voice" on June 24, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP FILE - Chef Anne Burrell attends City Harvest Presents The 2025 Gala: Carnaval, on April 22, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File) Andy Kropa/Andy Kropa/Invision/AP NEW YORK (AP) — TV chef Anne Burrell, who coached culinary fumblers through hundreds of episodes of 'Worst Cooks in America,' died Tuesday at her New York home. She was 55. The Food Network, where Burrell began her two-decade television career on 'Iron Chef America' and went on to other shows, confirmed her death. The cause was not immediately clear, and medical examiners were set to conduct an autopsy. Police were called to her address before 8 a.m. Tuesday and found an unresponsive woman who was soon pronounced dead. The police department did not release the woman's name, but records show it was Burell's address. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Burrell was on TV screens as recently as April, making chicken Milanese cutlets topped with escarole salad in one of her many appearances on NBC's 'Today' show. She faced off against other top chefs on the Food Network's 'House of Knives' earlier in the spring. 'Anne was a remarkable person and culinary talent — teaching, competing and always sharing the importance of food in her life and the joy that a delicious meal can bring,' the network said in a statement. Known for her bold and flavorful but not overly fancy dishes, and for her spiky platinum-blonde hairdo, Burrell and various co-hosts on 'Worst Cooks in America' led teams of kitchen-challenged people through a crash course in savory self-improvement. On the first show in 2010, contestants presented such unlikely personal specialties as cayenne pepper and peanut butter on cod, and penne pasta with sauce, cheese, olives and pineapple. The accomplished chefs had to taste the dishes to evaluate them, and it was torturous, Burrell confessed in an interview with The Tampa Tribune at the time. Still, Burrell persisted through 27 seasons, making her last appearance in 2024. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 'If people want to learn, I absolutely love to teach them,' she said on ABC's 'Good Morning America' in 2020. 'It's just them breaking bad habits and getting out of their own way.' Burrell was born Sept. 21, 1969, in the central New York town of Cazenovia, where her parents ran a flower store. She earned an English and communications degree from Canisius University and went on to a job as a headhunter but hated it, she said in a 2008 interview with The Post-Standard of Syracuse. Having always loved cooking, she soon enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America, for which she later taught. She graduated in 1996, spent a year at an Italian culinary school and then worked in upscale New York City restaurants for a time. 'Anytime Anne Burrell gets near hot oil, I want to be around,' Frank Bruni, then-food critic at the New York Times, enthused in a 2007 review. By the next year, Burrell was hosting her own Food Network show, 'Secrets of a Restaurant Chef,' and her TV work became a focus. Over the years she also wrote two cookbooks, 'Cook Like a Rock Star' and 'Own Your Kitchen: Recipes to Inspire and Empower,' and was involved with food pantries, juvenile diabetes awareness campaigns and other charities. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Burrell's own tastes, she said, ran simple. She told The Post-Standard her favorite food was bacon and her favorite meal was her mother's tuna fish sandwich. 'Cooking is fun,' she said. 'It doesn't have to be scary. It's creating something nurturing.' Survivors include her husband, Stuart Claxton, whom she married in 2021, and his son, her mother and her two siblings. 'Anne's light radiated far beyond those she knew, touching millions across the world,' the family said in a statement released by the Food Network.
Toronto Sun
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
Jill Sobule, the singer-songwriter known for 'I Kissed a Girl,' has died in a fire
Published May 02, 2025 • 3 minute read Jill Sobule poses for a portrait on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, in New York. Photo by Andy Kropa / Andy Kropa/Invision/AP Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Jill Sobule, the award-winning singer-songwriter whose witty and poignant writing first attracted widespread attention with the gay-themed song 'I Kissed a Girl,' died in a house fire Thursday. She was 66. Her death was confirmed by her publicist, David Elkin, in an email Thursday afternoon. It was not immediately clear how the fire in Woodbury, Minnesota, started. 'Jill Sobule was a force of nature and human rights advocate whose music is woven into our culture,' John Porter, her manager, said in a statement. 'I was having so much fun working with her. I lost a client & a friend today. I hope her music, memory, & legacy continue to live on and inspire others.' During her more than three decades of recording, Sobule released 12 albums that addressed such complex topics as the death penalty, anorexia nervosa, reproduction and LGBTQ+ issues. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Her first album, 'Things Here Are Different,' was released in 1990. Five years later, she received widespread attention for her hit singles, 'Supermodel,' from the movie 'Clueless,' and 'I Kissed A Girl,' which, despite being banned on several southern radio stations, made it into the Billboard Top 20. She also starred in an autobiographical off-Broadway musical that initially premiered at the Wild Project in New York in 2022 and includes songs and stories about her life. Sobule was known for taking control of her career by fundraising so she could make her next album. In 2008, after two major record companies dumped her and two indie labels went bankrupt beneath her, she raised tens of thousands of dollars from fans so she could make a new album. 'The old kind of paradigm, where you've always waited for other people to do things, you'd have your manager and your agent,' she said at the time. 'You'd wait for the big record company to give you money to do things and they tell you what to do. This is so great. I want to do everything like this.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Sobule was scheduled to perform in Denver on Friday night. Instead, there will be an informal gathering hosted by her friend Ron Bostwick from 105.5 The Colorado Sound at the performance space where attendees can 'share a story or song,' according to her publicist. A formal memorial to celebrate her life and legacy will be held later this summer. 'No one made me laugh more. Her spirit and energy shall be greatly missed within the music community and beyond,' Craig Grossman, her booking agent, said in a statement. Born in Denver, Colorado, on Jan. 16, 1959, she has described herself as a shy child who preferred observing over participating. Sobule was known for playing dozens of shows a year and has described her live performances as vulnerable experiences. She said she often doesn't have a set list and wings it. She's performed with such icons as Neil Young, Billy Bragg and Cyndi Lauper, and also inducted Neil Diamond into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, according to her website. She also sang a song as herself on an episode of 'The Simpsons' in 2019. 'In a good way, I feel like I'm still a rookie,' she told The Associated Press in 2023 in an interview about her musical. 'There's so much more to do and I haven't done my best yet.' She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, James and Mary Ellen Sobule, along with her nephews and cousins.
