Latest news with #BeautifulThings'
GMA Network
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
Jessica Sanchez grateful for 'overwhelming love' after 'America's Got Talent' audition
Jessica Sanchez is over the moon from all the love and support she received after her 'America's Got Talent' Season 20 audition. In her Instagram Stories, the Filipino-American singer shared a message to her fans. "I can't put into words how grateful I am for all of the overwhelming love you guys have shown me tonight," Jessica said. 'I just hope to make you all proud! Love you guys so much! Season 20 here we come.' Jessica auditioned on 'AGT' with a strong rendition of 'Beautiful Things' by Benson Boone. She was given the Golden Buzzer by Sofia Vergara, which will allow her to advance to the live shows. Jessica rose to fame as the runner-up in 'American Idol' Season 11. Since then, she has acted in 'Glee,' performed at concerts and various events. In 2023, she was in the Philippines to perform at the Miss Universe Philippines coronation night. —Nika Roque/JCB, GMA Integrated News
Filipino Times
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Filipino Times
Jessica Sanchez Earns Golden Buzzer in Powerful AGT Comeback
Filipino-American singer Jessica Sanchez made a triumphant return to America's Got Talent (AGT), earning the golden buzzer from judge Sofia Vergara after an emotional and powerhouse performance of 'Beautiful Things' by Benson Boone. Now 29, Sanchez revealed two life-changing updates during her appearance: she is married and expecting her first child — a moment that moved both the audience and the judges. 'This is a full-circle moment for me,' Sanchez shared. 'I was on the first season of AGT. I was young and unsure of myself. Now, I know exactly who I am and what I want.' Her return, exactly 20 years after her first AGT audition, brought the crowd to their feet. All four judges — Sofia Vergara, Simon Cowell, Mel B, and Howie Mandel — gave her a standing ovation. 'You've got the voice of an angel,' said Mel B, while Mandel called the moment 'worth the wait.' Cowell praised the emotional connection she created: 'The audience loved you. You came back at the perfect time.' Before pressing the golden buzzer, Vergara honored Sanchez's journey: 'It's beautiful — the 20th season, and you're here after 20 years. You're glowing, you're pregnant, and you're ready. This was your moment.' Sanchez rose to fame in 2012 as the runner-up on Season 11 of American Idol, where she impressed audiences with her powerful vocals at just 16.
GMA Network
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
Jessica Sanchez gets Golden Buzzer on 'America's Got Talent'
Jessica Sanchez is back and is already making waves! The Filipino-American singer returned to audition for 'America's Got Talent.' She first went on the show when she was 10 years old and made it to the semifinals, and returned this season to pursue her dreams after 20 years. 'I did get eliminated, it was devastating. But it really did help me realize, like I wanna sing. 'AGT' was the beginning of that fire sparked inside of me,' Jessica told the judges before her performance. She added that she fell out of love with music through the years. 'I was really young and I was so swayed by what everybody wanted me to be, who they wanted me to be. Maybe it took me 20 years but I know exactly who I am, I know exactly what I want. I'm excited to be back.' Jessica also revealed on the show that she is married and recently found out that she is pregnant with her first child. Her performance was a rendition of Benson Boone's 'Beautiful Things' with a live band. She made fans and the judges cheer with her strong and high voice, and was later given a standing ovation. Judge Simon Cowell said the audience loved Jessica. Howie Mandel said that 20 years was 'worth the wait.' 'I love that song and you made this song your own and you blew the roof off the place. You are so wonderful,' he told Jessica. Mel B said, 'Jessica, I'm speechless. You've got the voice of a bloody angel. Beautiful. I'm lost for words.' Sofia Vergara said that 'something very special happened on the stage with you.' She added that the 20-year wait was meant to bring her back to the 'AGT' stage. 'This was a special moment and I think that you deserve this,' Sofia said, then stood up to give Jessica the Golden Buzzer. The two then shared a hug onstage as Jessica cried. The Golden Buzzer means the contestant advances to the live shows and no longer has to go through any audition rounds. 'She sang the way she did and you deserve it,' Sofia said backstage. Simon said, 'To succeed, you gotta have grit, determination, and talent. All those years of really wanting something and just going for it, it was like, powerful right.' 'You're an absolute star,' he added. Jessica rose to fame as the runner-up in 'American Idol' Season 11. Since then, she has acted in 'Glee,' performed at concerts and various events. In 2023, she went viral for her cover of Beyonce's 'Drunk in Love.' That same year, she was in the Philippines to perform at the Miss Universe Philippines coronation night. —Nika Roque/JCB, GMA Integrated News
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The backflipping, monster voicing, V-neck wearing male pop star that America loves to hate
A mustachioed man sitting at a table meekly pulls a microphone out of his suit pocket and begins to sing, looking around as if he's surprised it's all happening. He stands, meandering among celebrities seated around him, like Jennifer Lopez and Jim Gaffigan, before pausing in front of Heidi Klum and Nikki Glaser. They grab him, ripping the top of his suit off to reveal a glittering blue jumpsuit with the deepest V-neck imaginable. He rips his own pants off, gaining energy as he struts toward the stage. As his song approaches its climax, he jumps onto a piano, doing a flip off of it before launching into the song's chorus. This is Benson Boone. The 23-year-old is performing at the 2025 Grammys, where he's nominated for Best New Artist. At a star-studded ceremony, his 'Beautiful Things' rendition emerged as the talk of the town. Who was this guy, singing a vaguely familiar song, dressed like Freddie Mercury as he repeatedly does flips? 'Beautiful Things' was Boone's breakout song, first hitting the Billboard Hot 100 in February 2024. Now, 75 weeks later, it's still near the top of the chart. It's a ubiquitous radio song, inoffensive and catchy with an explosive chorus, also used frequently in TikTok posts and Instagram Reels. He's not a one-hit wonder, either — his songs 'Mystical Magical' and 'Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else' are also lingering on the charts now. His latest album, American Heart, came out in June 20 and remains on the Billboard 200. Despite his fame, each time Boone performs on a big stage, be it the Grammys, the VMAs, Coachella or Saturday Night Live, swaths of social media commenters respond with outrage as if it's the first time they've seen him. Maybe it is, somehow, but why is that so worth remarking about? "Benson Boone threatens to release more music," one TikTok user wrote in the comments of one of Boone's videos. "No real presence just flipping," an X user wrote. Others have said his songs are "giving nothing," sound like "grocery store" music and "lack authenticity." They poke fun at his name and his Mormon upbringing. Making fun of him is a trend unto itself, though none of these perceived offenses are cancellable. Why does he inspire such rage? '[Boone] kind of walks a knife-edge a little bit in his relationship to authenticity, which is a crucial way that people relate to popular music,' Mark Laver, an associate professor of music at Grinnell College, tells Yahoo. 'On the one hand, his lyrics are pretty intimate, about his dad, best friend or an unnamed woman … he invites people into his personal orbit — Taylor Swift does [this, too] and the Beatles did the same thing,' Laver explains. 'On the other hand, he's wearing these really glam suits … and he switches into this 'monster voice' on 'Beautiful Things' … at the emotional climax of the song. There's a gulf between the emotional sincerity of the lyrics and the fact that he's backflipping at the peak of emotional sincerity.' The drama of Boone's performance could also be what is aiding his breakout success in the social media age. After all, it's been a while since a new male pop star emerged — singing, dancing and developing an identifiable style as their female counterparts do — and he has successfully done so. There aren't even that many male pop stars in general. Charlie Lewis, the founder of Lewis Line Public Relations, specializes in helping emerging artists break out. He tells Yahoo that there's 'a pattern in pop culture where male artists are expected to earn public approval slowly, often through years of visible effort, reinvention or struggle.' 'When someone like Boone breaks through quickly and confidently, especially without a rebellious or ironic edge, it can spark resistance. The reaction isn't really about the music or the backflips, it's about how fast he's become impossible to ignore,' he says. 'We haven't seen a new male pop star achieve this level of visibility in a while, and the culture isn't quite sure what to do with him. That ambiguity becomes the controversy. Boone's not polarizing because he's trying too hard. He's polarizing because his rise disrupts expectations.' The performances and hooky choruses that lead to his bursts of virality also make him the butt of constant jokes on social media. People mock his backflips and his expressive singing voice. On TikTok, people are making fun of the funny way he sings 'moonbeam ice cream' — a made-up term — in his song 'Mystical Magical.' In response, he named the cookie he launched with the brand Crumbl, which frequently collaborates with celebrities on themed limited edition treats, 'moonbeam ice cream.' When people jokingly posted videos of themselves flipping after tasting the cookie, he responded with his own version. He sees your jokes. He's making them too. 'It's my birthday!' Boone playfully says in a June 25 TikTok. 'Stop the hate for a day and let me relax. We can continue tomorrow.' One of the reasons people have said they don't like Boone is because his sudden rise makes him seem like an industry plant, or an artist who is presented as an independent newcomer when they secretly have backing from a record label. Boone's record deal isn't in any way secret, and his story is far more complicated than that. He shared music on TikTok before auditioning for American Idol in 2021. As his online popularity grew, he dropped out of the show to focus on breaking into the industry that way instead. Nikki Camilleri, a music industry executive, tells Yahoo that the way Boone promotes his content on social media and punctuates all his performances with showy backflips is what gets people talking about him, though not all the talk is positive. 'For some, this feels inauthentic, and you'll see many comments questioning his perceived lack of identity,' she says. 'Some artists really lean into narrative, world-building and direct fan engagement … [but Boone] seems to have focused more on pushing his hooky tracks as much as possible.' Though Boone's voice is everywhere, he still feels unknowable. We know certain things about him for sure — he's going to belt a chorus, he's going to do a flip and he's going to pose topless with a mop of curly hair on his album covers — but he's still somewhat mysterious. We know the tone of his posts and the style of his performances, but little about him, or even his persona. He's constantly courting virality, but he hasn't found the same committed fanbase as other stars. That makes him feel more like a corporate experiment than an organic pop sensation. Lyric Mandell, the co-founder of the artist media management company Tutti Agency, tells Yahoo that Boone does so much self-promotion, it sometimes makes 'people feel like they are being sold a product rather than hearing the product of someone's creativity.' But here's the thing — he is selling us a product. As long as we're streaming his music, we're buying that product. 'That old saying, 'all press is good press,' feels relevant here, meaning a little backlash might not just be collateral damage, but part of the branding strategy,' Mandell explains. ' If that's the case, it would explain why he hasn't shifted course. The hate, ironically, might be what keeps us hitting play.'
NBC News
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Benson Boone's Crumbl Cookies collaboration is getting an encore
Benson Boone and Crumbl are clearly flipping for one another. On June 29, Crumbl announced that its partnership with the 'Beautiful Things' singer — the Moonbeam Ice Cream Cookie — is making an encore appearance on Crumbl's rotating menu, marking the first time in Crumbl's history that a limited-edition treat has made back-to-back appearances on its weekly lineup. The otherworldly dessert (first offered from June 23 until June 28) is inspired by a lyric from his April single ' Mystical Magical ' and will again be at all Crumbl locations from Monday, June 30 until Saturday, July 5. 'Moonbeam ice cream, taking off your blue jeans,' he sings on the Billboard Hot 100 hit off his sophomore album, 'American Heart' which dropped June 20. (In case you're wondering about the lyric's meaning — it doesn't have one.) Crumbl says Boone's chilled chocolate cookie channels the same 'mood and magic as its musical muse' and features cookies and cream pieces, a psychedelically colored lemon, berry and marshmallow topping, a drizzle of white icing, and cookies and cream sprinkle. 'Turns out one week just wasn't enough for the cookie that had fans seeing stars,' Crumbl writes in a press release, and Crumbl CEO and co-founder Jason McGowan adds that fans asked for the cookie to come back, so the company decided to be 'here for it — with backflips!' 'We've never done an encore before, but when a cookie creates this kind of buzz, we knew we had to bring it back,' McGowan says. Fans on social media are indeed excited for the cookie's return, with one writing, 'So happy moonbeam ice cream cookie is back.' Sawyer Hemsley, Crumbl's chief brand officer, co-founder and noted backflipper himself, says Boone was very hands-on in crafting the cookie flavor, noting his 'creativity, passion, and musical energy' made for a fun collaboration. 'We took the way his song makes you feel and turned it into something you can taste,' said Hemsley in a press release. Boone has crafted a reputation for his falsetto voice, jumpsuits with deep V-necks, backflips and what some find to be annoying behavior. And that's not an insult — just a fact — as there are think pieces and Reddit threads exploring why he seems to push people's buttons. The singer is fully aware of this facet of his career, noting in a TikTok earlier this year that if people are going to 'hate me or my music at least have a good reason for it.' He even poked fun at the haters in his most recent music video for the track ' Mr. Electric Blue.' In it, he repeatedly backflips on a trampoline, wears a T-shirt that reads 'one hit wonder,' sells discount jumpsuits and says being the 'most overplayed artist in the world' is 'all (he's) ever wanted.' A little girl also tells him his 'music is terrible' as he serves her ice cream, so you have to at least give him points for self-deprecation.
