Latest news with #Contenders
Cision Canada
30-07-2025
- Sport
- Cision Canada
México Quetzales - Armadillos FC Crowned Champion at Phygital Contenders: Abu Dhabi
In the span of 5 days, 21 clubs battled it out on both physical and digital stages to crown an overall winner Six clubs head to the Games of the Future 2025 this December taking place at ADNEC, Abu Dhabi ABU DHABI, UAE, July 30, 2025 /CNW/ -- The final whistle has blown on Phygital Contenders: Abu Dhabi – Football, and México Quetzales - Armadillos FC has emerged victorious, claiming the title after a thrilling finale. Held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), the conclusion of the five-day tournament sees six elite clubs officially qualifying for the Games of the Future 2025, which will take place in Abu Dhabi from 18–23 December 2025. Phygital Contenders: Abu Dhabi – Football took center stage as 21 elite clubs from around the world went head-to-head for six spots at the Games of the Future 2025. Held from 25–29 July at ADNEC, Abu Dhabi was the backdrop for some of the leading phygital football athletes ranging from 19–40 years old showing off their skills. Now, the best of them will return to Abu Dhabi in December to compete in the Games of the Future. In the final showdown, México Quetzales - Armadillos FC overcame CM Jardim in a hard-fought contest that brought together lightning-fast digital gameplay and high-impact physical skill. After a 3-3 draw in the first stage, the clubs clashed on the pitch with 3-1 to cap off an unforgettable final, with the total score of 6-4. "We have had a lot of pressure from day 1, and it would have been such a disappointment if we didn't get a spot. We brought our A-game, and we know we are a fan favorite team," said Rodrigo Ulibarri, player, México Quetzales - Armadillos FC. The battle for third place was anything but routine. Greni Smith dominated Zero Tenacity in the digital round with a 6–2 scoreline. But Zero Tenacity pushed back fiercely on the field, scoring four goals in an attempt to flip the match. However, Greni Smith held their ground and found the net once more to seal a dramatic win and third-place finish with a total score of 7-6. "The team is proud. We know we still have a lot of work to do before December. Everything we've gone through to get here has been worth it, and we'll be back stronger and aiming to win," said Nizam Omeragić, player, Greni Smith. The semifinal matchups delivered excitement and intensity, successfully setting the tone for the finale: México Quetzales - Armadillos FC defeated Zero Tenacity in a dramatic penalty shootout after both stages ended in a 4–4 tie. CM Jardim earned their place in the final by beating Greni Smith, securing a 3–1 digital round win and drawing 2–2 on the field, with a final score of 5-3. Nis Hatt, CEO of Phygital International said: "With the conclusion of Phygital Contenders: Abu Dhabi – Football, the stage is now set for the Games of the Future in Abu Dhabi in December. It is the culmination of year-long dedication from athletes from around the world and we celebrate with them in this moment and look forward to what they, and many other athletes, will achieve later in the year." The Phygital Contenders: Abu Dhabi – Football tournament, was brought to life by ASPIRE in collaboration with Ethara and global rights holder Phygital International. With Abu Dhabi continuing to assert itself as a global hub for innovation and next-gen sports, all eyes now turn to December when the Emirate hosts the world's best phygital athletes from diverse backgrounds and across multiple disciplines at the Games of the Future 2025. Nis Hatt continued: " Abu Dhabi is the perfect international platform. It's future-focused, tech-driven, and already deeply invested in both sports and cyber competitions. It has the appetite, ability and infrastructure to host entirely new sport formats and do it well." About Phygital International (PI): Phygital International is the promoter of phygital sports globally and is focused on innovating and redefining sports. It is the custodian and rights holder of the Games of the Future and oversees the bidding process for each host city. For further information please visit: https:// About the Games of the Future: The Games of the Future is an annual international event that fuses the worlds of physical and digital and is the pinnacle of phygital sport. The tournament brings together the next generation of phygital sporting heroes from all over the world to compete in a diverse range of phygital disciplines and challenges. The Games of the Future 2025 will be held in Abu Dhabi, UAE while the Games of the Future 2026, will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan. For more information please visit: About ASPIRE: ASPIRE drives the creation of future transformative technologies as the innovation accelerator arm of Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC). ATRC is responsible for defining Abu Dhabi's research and development strategy, consolidating funds for efficient investment, and driving policy and regulation. ASPIRE works in consultation with cross-sector industry stakeholders, universities, and research institutes to frame problem statements. It also launches grand challenges and international competitions to solve some of the world's most pressing issues. ASPIRE brings together exceptional people, ideas, resources, and technologies to solve complex challenges. For more information, visit About Ethara: Ethara is shaping the future of entertainment, sport, culture, event services, and asset management regionally and internationally. With offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Riyadh, the company employs over 300 professionals who offer an unrivalled wealth of expertise, experience, knowledge and skills. Ethara, meaning 'thrill' in Arabic, operates an impressive portfolio of assets, including Yas Marina Circuit, Etihad Park, Etihad Arena, Yas Conference Centre, Zayed Sports City, and the House of Sustainability. The company works with leading events companies, IP owners, and entertainment partners locally and internationally to deliver world-class, first-to-market events and experiences.
New York Times
22-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Canucks playoff roadmap: How does Vancouver get back to the postseason?
It's the bleakest three-word description for any team in North American professional sports: Playoff bubble team. Generally, when we talk about sports, and the evergreen offseason topic that surrounds projected team quality ('Can this team make the playoffs?' or 'Can this team win a championship?'), we usually sort the teams in question into one of several tiers. Advertisement There are contenders, who demand our attention. There are young teams on the rise, who might not be ready to win big just yet, but they're ascending and kinetic Then there are the *sad trombone* rebuilding teams, who are going through a process, one that keeps free agents away and the bean counters back-of-house up at night. Now you might think that it's worse to be a rebuilding team than a playoff bubble team, but that's a failure to understand the dynamic of this cycle. The playoff bubble team exists outside of the cycle entirely. The young team on the rise doesn't become a playoff bubble team on its way to becoming a contender. It's not a middle rung on the ladder. It is, instead, a bottleneck or a waste basket that teams unintentionally fall into. A dismissive tier that we sort teams into when their stock appears to be stuck. When contenders get long in the tooth or have their depth hollowed out by cap or financial constraints, that's when they fall into the tier of a playoff bubble team. A young team on the rise, meanwhile, becomes a playoff bubble team when it repeatedly fails to launch. There's a sense of fragility in the very description of a playoff bubble team. To be on the bubble, after all, means that at any moment, you're liable to pop. The Vancouver Canucks have lived on the playoff bubble for much of the past 15 years, and that's where they find themselves once again this summer. The club's prosaic projected perch in the NHL hierarchy is reflected in the betting markets, where the Canucks are currently listed at +116 to qualify for the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs, an implied probability of 46.3 percent. Nine Western Conference teams have shorter odds of qualifying for the postseason than Vancouver does at this point in the offseason, including the eight teams in the West that made the playoffs in 2025 and the ascending Utah Mammoth. Advertisement It wasn't supposed to be this way, not after the Canucks' Pacific Division-winning 2023-24 campaign. This is a team, after all, that boasts one of the most impactful individual skaters in the sport. Going into last season, Vancouver looked like it had escaped the cursed, liminal space of the playoff bubble team. Everything, however, broke against the Canucks last season — from unprecedented injuries to a preseason cancer diagnosis, from family tragedy to a personality clash that both transfixed the hockey world and caused the club to jettison its top forward. Even with all of the injuries and challenges and all of that noise engulfing the club, the Canucks were still able to amass 90 points and finished the campaign seven points out of a playoff spot (six points out plus the tiebreaker). If Vancouver needed everything to go right to be a playoff team in 2023-24, as president Jim Rutherford so memorably put it, it took just about everything going wrong for Vancouver to miss this past campaign. Such is life on the playoff bubble. In thinking about where this team stands in the dog days of summer, and what sort of run out the club will require to get back on track this upcoming season, I wanted to build a roadmap of what specifically the Canucks need to have occur or accomplish to return to the postseason. Whether it was the knee injury, offseason preparation, the overwhelming drama that surrounded the team last season or some combination of all of the above, Canucks centre Elias Pettersson lacked juice last season. This is a player who can dominate shifts, and entire games when he's on. A ruthlessly efficient finisher who regularly drives play for his team and has both a 100-point and multiple 30-goal seasons under his belt. Advertisement For whatever reason, that it factor that Pettersson has usually brought to the rink was almost entirely absent last season. Really, it's been absent for about a year and a half now, dating back to the 2024 All-Star break. And it's not just qualitative observations, either. His shot velocity has been down, and so has his skating speed. He's won fewer battles, and has regularly looked indecisive and non-threatening in attacking situations. It's not that Pettersson has been outright poor. His effort level has mostly been there, especially in the defensive zone. He's still managed to drive play reasonably effectively at five-on-five, albeit against a reduced level of competition. He's still found ways inside the opposition's defensive structure, and he's continued to draw a ton of penalties in the process. All of that is well and good, for a solid second-line centre. Pettersson, however, needs to be much more than a player of that calibre if the Canucks are going to get back to the postseason. He needs to be a difference-maker up front, and play with the sort of swagger that's required to break open games and inspire teammates. We've seen play at this level before. In fact, he's more often been a star-level game-breaker throughout his career than not. We've also seen him work through extended periods of baffling form before, too. If the Canucks are going to reach their ceiling, they'll need Pettersson to find his way back to stardom once again. NHL players hate to discuss the impact that injuries play in shaping outcomes in public. In the 'next man up' culture typical of an NHL locker room, injuries are viewed as an inevitable fact of life and a factor that can never, ever be used as an excuse. That's both understandable and commendable, but injuries and injury luck are often a significant factor that explain what we see throughout the season and into the playoffs. During the 2023-24 campaign, when Vancouver won the division, almost all of its top players were available and relatively healthy for the entirety of the regular season. Last year, however, it was a very different story. Advertisement Thatcher Demko missed the first six weeks of the season with a lower-body injury and sustained two additional injuries that kept him out for an extended period of time. He played fewer than 30 games. Quinn Hughes sustained an oblique injury about 50 games into the year, and then sustained some compensation injuries while working his way back, prolonging his absence. Hughes gutted it out toward the end of the season, but wasn't quite at his previous level of transcendent dominance down the stretch. Filip Hronek missed six weeks with a shoulder injury. Dakota Joshua missed time as a result of a testicular cancer diagnosis and the surgery required to address it, then sustained another lower-body injury just as he was rounding back into form. J.T. Miller took a 10-game personal absence. Pettersson got hurt late in the year, as the club's fate as a non-playoff team was sealed. Filip Chytil sustained a head injury late in the season and didn't appear in a game thereafter. By the end of the season, Vancouver ranked in the top 10 in the NHL in man games lost. The impact of those injuries, however, was even more severe given the stature and weight of those Canucks players who were impacted. Some better injury luck would go a long way in helping Vancouver bounce back next season. Adam Foote has big shoes to fill given how Rick Tocchet impacted Vancouver's five-on-five game across the past two and a half seasons. The Tocchet effect was sharp in-season when he took over from Bruce Boudreau, and that impact was largely sustained throughout his tenure. Even with some of the patchwork lineups Vancouver was icing down the stretch last season, Tocchet's Canucks regularly found ways to control play and defend at an extraordinarily high level. His teams almost always seemed disciplined and well prepared, even if the negative style they played grated on fans when the wins stopped coming. Advertisement With Tocchet opting to depart Vancouver and join the Philadelphia Flyers this summer, the Canucks elected to promote Foote, his assistant coach and close friend, to serve as the 22nd head coach in franchise history. It's a significant roll of the dice, both because Tocchet's work in Vancouver was mostly excellent and because this is Foote's first professional assignment as a head coach. In fact, Foote only has one season of head coaching experience at even the major junior level. And his one year with the Kelowna Rockets didn't go especially well; he was relieved of his duties midseason in a year in which the Rockets were hosting the Memorial Cup. Obviously, Foote's work managing the defence for Vancouver across the past two and a half seasons speaks for itself. Under Foote's watch, Hughes levelled up to become a Norris Trophy winner, Hronek established himself as a high-end top-pair defender, Tyler Myers has played some of the best hockey of his career and any number of depth defenders have performed ably for Foote when called upon. Rutherford and company also hit on an inexperienced AHL head coach in Manny Malhotra last summer. It was a hire that seemed like a big dice roll at the time and was clearly a home run, as the Abbotsford Canucks won the Calder Cup in Malhotra's first season behind the bench. The Canucks will need Foote to hit the ground running, and be the right man for the job. Certainly, there's a lot of reason to believe that Tocchet was able to extract an awful lot from this team, and a playoff bubble team can't afford to have that edge blunted if they're pursuing a playoff spot. Over the course of the past few seasons, the Canucks turned an Achilles' heel — their four-on-five play — into a significant strength. It's been a phenomenal turnaround, one that peaked last season when the Canucks finished with the third-best penalty kill rate in the NHL (although their goal differential performance short-handed — which is the most important metric, even if it's not the one most commonly cited — was more top 10 than it was elite). Advertisement Down the stretch, in particular, the Canucks penalty kill became a significant asset. One that helped them hang around in the playoff race, despite the significant injuries and distractions that besieged them. If Vancouver is going to be able to hit a good run out this upcoming season, it'll need to maintain the gains made on the penalty kill with a new coaching staff and in the absence of a pair of key penalty killers — Pius Suter and Joshua — who departed via trade or free agency this summer. Replacing Suter, in particular, in short-handed situations could prove to be a tall task. His defensive intelligence and partnership with Teddy Blueger as a first unit were critical in Vancouver's penalty killing success last season. The club has other stout defensive forwards — Conor Garland, Pettersson and Kiefer Sherwood are all candidates to fill in for Suter's short-handed role to begin next season — but Suter's defensive play was special. Finding a way to continue to succeed short-handed with diminished options is going to be crucial for the Canucks. This is the big one, as it so often is in hockey. Over the past several seasons, the Canucks have yo-yoed between being a top-10 NHL team by save percentage and being a team toward the absolute bottom of the league by team save percentage. Those peaks and valleys, understandably, have tended to coincide with seasons in which Demko is able to play in 50 games or more. The Canucks have invested heavily in net across the past six months, signing Kevin Lankinen to a five-year extension ($4.5 million cap hit) and Demko to an extension that will make him one of the highest-paid netminders in the league despite his struggles — with both consistency and injury — last season. In Lankinen, the club is hoping that it's added some floor to shore up the year-over-year volatility that the club has dealt with in net. In extending Demko, the club is hoping that it's a bet on a leader capable of being one of the most dominant puck stoppers on the planet when he's healthy and available. Advertisement Based on what I'm hearing about the club's plans for a split in net, we should expect Demko to play in the neighbourhood of 50 games this upcoming season with Lankinen appearing in the other 32 or so. Of course, the best laid plans can change rapidly. Behind the Demko and Lankinen tandem, the club will have Nikita Tolopilo and Ty Young — neither of whom has played an NHL game — as its AHL battery, but may lean on veteran puck stopper Jiri Patera — who has NHL experience — as the first-choice third goaltender at the NHL level in the event of injury. The Canucks are still working through exactly where Patera will play this upcoming season and how they'll manage their surplus of depth goaltending options. Can your third goaltender really jump into NHL action if they're staying in rhythm playing for ECHL Kalamazoo? In any event, if the Canucks get saves next season, they'll have a chance to punch above their weight. Vancouver is betting heavily that it'll be able to rely on quality goaltending. Now, it's on the Demko and Lankinen partnership to help carry this team to the postseason. (Photo of Thatcher Demko and Elias Pettersson: Jeff Vinnick / NHLI via Getty Images)
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Will Lorde Battle With ‘KPop Demon Hunters' on the Billboard 200 Next Week?
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard 200 dated July 12, we look at a loaded week of new and surging releases, headlined by returning alt-pop star Lorde and what's quickly becoming the summer's hottest movie soundtrack. Lorde, (Republic): One of the most anticipated pop releases of the summer has certainly been Lorde's fourth album Virgin, her first full-length since 2021's polarizing Solar Power. The album came with an extensive rollout, led by first single 'What Was That' — which was debuted at a stop-start live event in New York's Washington Square Park (filmed for the song's official video, released later that week) and which became her first Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hit of the 2020s, bowing at No. 36. More from Billboard Debbie Harry on Image Expectations in Music: 'I Wanted to Work' Wallows Recall Morrissey Walking Out of Their Show: 'That's the Perfect Morrissey Story' Bob Vylan Axed From Radar, Kave Fest After Glastonbury Backlash That song fell off the Hot 100 after just a few weeks, and none of the other tracks released in advance of Virgin followed it onto the chart — and the set has only 11 tracks and no feature appearances — so it's unlikely to be a streaming blockbuster, though it should still perform respectably on DSPs. It's also expected to sell well, helped by its availability for purchase in eight vinyl variants, including two signed editions — as well as being available on CD and for digital download. (The early critical response for Virgin has also been much stronger than the relatively mixed reception for Solar Power.) It should be enough to continue Lorde's streak of each of her studio albums making the Billboard 200's top five, and may better the No. 5 debut of Solar Power. It's unlikely to give her a second No. 1 album on the chart, however — following the No. 1 bow of Melodrama in 2017 — as Morgan Wallen's I'm the Problem continues to be an absolute streaming juggernaut, set to score a seventh consecutive week of six-digit units on the chart. Soundtrack (Republic): The greatest potential obstacle to Lorde's path to a No. 2 debut on the Billboard 200 may come from another Republic release, and one far fewer would have tabbed as such a charts contender. KPop Demon Hunters, the animated Netflix musical set in the Korean pop world, has become such a sensation since its release two Fridays ago (June 20) that its soundtrack — featuring the songs of its two primary fictional groups, HUNTR/X and Saja Boys, as well as a couple contributions from real-life K-pop stars TWICE — appears on its way to being one of the summer's biggest hits. The rising soundtrack already debuted on the Billboard 200 dated July 5 at No. 8, making it the first soundtrack to reach the chart's top 10 since Ariana Grande & Cynthia Erivo's Wicked accompanying set in January. And the set is still growing, up 220% in streams over the first four days of this tracking week (June 27-30), as its songs continue to scale the DSPs' daily charts — with the soundtrack now occupying five of the top 15 spots on Spotify's Daily Top Songs USA listing, and seven of the top 25. If the set continues to grow on streaming, it could not only crash the Billboard 200's top five next week, it could challenge Virgin for the chart's runner-up spot. And the album doesn't even have a physical release yet — it's only available for streaming and digital purchase at the moment — so if Republic could get a physical soundtrack together to tap into K-pop fans' investment in tangible products, the sky is the limit for KPop Demon Hunters' commercial potential. KATSEYE, (Hybe UMG/Geffen): Speaking of K-pop — one of the biggest stories in the genre this year is of the global outfit KATSEYE, which encompasses members from not just Korea but the Philippines, Switzerland and the U.S., and sings in multiple languages, despite largely working within a K-pop framework. The group's approach has generated much discussion within various pop communities, and also a couple crossover hits: The group's singles 'Gabriela' (No. 94) and 'Gnarly' (No. 98) can both be found on this week's Hot 100. Both those singles can also be found on the sextet's second EP, Beautiful Chaos. The five-track set contains contributions from behind-the-scenes stateside pop fixtures like Andrew Watt and Justin Tranter, and comes with a surfeit of physical options for purchase — including four vinyl variants and nine CD variants. It might not be enough to compete with the streaming power of KPop Demon Hunters on next week's Billboard 200, but it should be enough to further cement KATSEYE as a burgeoning force on the charts. IN THE MIX Russ, (Diemon): Billboard's 2025 Indie Trailblazer returned on Friday (June 27) with new set W!LD, follow-up to 2023's No. 12-debuting Santiago. The album should also be ticketed for a top 20 debut, as the 19-track collection has yet to produce any obvious breakout hits, but Russ' selling power remains considerable for an independent rapper — and W!LD is available for purchase in multiple vinyl, CD and cassette variants, some of which are signed. Barbra Streisand, : (Columbia): Barbra Streisand is one of the legends of the Billboard 200, having topped the chart a staggering 11 times in her career, ranging from 1964's People to 2016's Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway. Streisand's latest Partners duets set is unlikely to make it an even dozen, but should attract interest with its star-studded guest list — including modern-day chart-toppers Ariana Grande, Sam Smith and Hozier, as well as all-time legends like Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Mariah Carey — and is available for sale in a pair of vinyl variants, as well as on CD. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Four Decades of 'Madonna': A Look Back at the Queen of Pop's Debut Album on the Charts Chart Rewind: In 1990, Madonna Was in 'Vogue' Atop the Hot 100
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How High Will Taylor Swift's ‘Reputation' Land on Next Week's Billboard 200 Following Her Masters Purchase?
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard 200 dated June 14, we look at a handful of albums likely to impact the top tier of the chart – a couple brand new, and a couple recently revitalized, led by a likely rebound from the biggest pop star in the world. Taylor Swift, (Big Machine): On a day of big new releases, last Friday (May 30) was still dominated by the news that Taylor Swift had officially acquired her own masters. Billboard reported from sources that she paid around $360 million for the acquisition from private equity firm Shamrock Capital, which had acquired the catalog in late 2020 from Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings, after Braun had bought Swift's old label Big Machine the year before. Braun's initial purchase, and Swift's negative reaction to her professional adversary having such a big stake in her history, had of course inspired the entire Taylor's Version project — which led to Swift re-recording four of her first six albums over the course of 2021-2023, along with a number of period-appropriate rarities. That endeavor not only proved wildly successful for Swift, but played a major part in her 2020s ascension to a level of solo superstardom not seen before this century. More from Billboard Watch SEVENTEEN Bring the 'Thunder' to 'Kelly Clarkson Show' Performance 'This Is What You Asked For': Watch Linkin Park Star in Ice-Shattering Stanley Cup Final Promo Sylvia Rhone, Ciara & More Honored at Inaugural Black Women in Music Dinner One of the two Big Machine-era albums she had yet to get to with her Taylor's Version series was Reputation, the divisive 2017 album that followed both her ultimate pop breakthrough with 2014's 1989 and the backlash that ensued, particularly after her back-and-forth feuding with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. Along with the announcement of the acquisition of her masters, Swift also revealed that Reputation (Taylor's Version) had been the most challenging of the series for her to put together, as she found it difficult to get back into the headspace of that album era — and thus had not even finished re-recording a quarter of it. Fans could infer from her letter that now that Swift's back catalog was once again her own, she would be unlikely to finish re-recording the rest of it anytime soon. But while some fans may have been disappointed that they would not get the full Reputation (Taylor's Version) package anytime soon — which was so long-anticipated that the original album got a consumption bump a couple weeks ago merely based on rumors that she might reveal something about it on the AMAs — most were ready to revisit the original album anyway. With no re-recording imminent, and Swift once again the owner of her back catalog, fans flocked to the original Reputation, resulting in it leaping to the top of the iTunes albums chart, and launching five of its tracks back onto the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA chart for Saturday (May 31). The major bump in sales and streams, for an album that was still ranking at No. 78 on the Billboard 200 in its 349th week on the chart, could see the album make a major rebound next week. It's unlikely to supplant Morgan Wallen's I'm the Problem — but no album is, as Problem posted 286,000 units this week (according to Luminate) in its second week atop the chart, and is likely to still be comfortably in the six figures in its third week, thanks to the 37-track set's gargantuan streaming numbers. But it could get as high as the top five, maybe even to the runner-up spot, if fan enthusiasm maintains the further we get away from Swift's Friday announcement. (Swift could also perhaps give sales a boost if she made the album available for sale on her webstore — as of publishing, it was still not listed there.) Miley Cyrus, (Columbia): Perhaps Swift's main competition for the biggest chart-crasher this week is her old Hannah Montana: The Movie co-star Miley Cyrus. The veteran pop superstar returned on Friday with her new LP Something Beautiful, the audio part of a visual album project whose film accompaniment is set to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this Friday (June 6). Something Beautiful follows 2023's Endless Summer Vacation, and its galactically successful lead single 'Flowers,' which became the biggest chart hit of Cyrus' career and won her her first two Grammys. So far, none of the advance releases from Something Beautiful appear to be on anywhere near a 'Flowers' trajectory, however — the only one of them to even reach the Billboard Hot 100 so far was official lead single 'End of the World,' which debuted at No. 52 and fell off the chart after just four weeks. While Something Beautiful is unlikely to be an immediate streaming blockbuster — as of midweek, none of its tracks appear on either the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA or the Apple Music real-time charts — it should sell relatively well. To help with that, the album is available in six different vinyl variants (including an artist webstore-exclusive signed version), as well as standard and signed CDs and two deluxe branded boxed sets with the CD and branded merch. At the very least, the set should extend Miley's streak of top five albums on the Billboard 200 — which encompasses every one of her official studio releases dating back to 2007's Meet Miley Cyrus, excepting 2015's Miley Cyrus & Dead Petz, which was not initially given a commercial release. SEVENTEEN, (Pledis/YG Plus): Also aiming for the top five next week is an act with less stateside household-name recognition as Swift and Cyrus, but nearly as much of a presence on the albums chart. SEVENTEEN has reached the Billboard 200's top 10 six times already in the 2020s, and even gotten as high as No. 2 with two 2023 releases, the EP FML and the mini-album Seventeenth Heaven. The 13-member group is likely to return to the top 10 next week with its fifth full-length album, Happy Burstday — a 16-track effort that includes contributions from two of the biggest U.S. hitmakers of the early 21st-century in Pharrell and Timbaland. While SEVENTEEN has never been a major force on streaming in the U.S., the group are reliable high-sellers, and Burstday is available for purchase in a whopping 14 CD variants — all of which contain collectible branded paper ephemera, some of which is randomized. It should be enough for Burstday to be a real contender for the Billboard 200's runner-up spot, along with the Swift and Cyrus sets. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Four Decades of 'Madonna': A Look Back at the Queen of Pop's Debut Album on the Charts Chart Rewind: In 1990, Madonna Was in 'Vogue' Atop the Hot 100
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Will Morgan Wallen & Tate McRae Be Able to Hold at No. 1 on the Hot 100?
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard Hot 100 dated June 7, we look at the chances of Morgan Wallen and Tate McRae's star-powered duet to continue its reign on the chart. Morgan Wallen feat. Tate McRae, 'What I Want' (Mercury/Big Loud/Republic): The combined star power of country superpower Morgan Wallen and rising pop phenom Tate McRae helped boost 'What I Want' to being not just the highest-ranking of Wallen's record-breaking 37 tracks on the Hot 100 last week, but the No. 1 song period – Wallen's fourth and McRae's first. The debut came on the back of 31.2 million official streams, according to Luminate, allowing it to bow atop the Streaming Songs chart and making up for its relative lack of radio presence as a new song. More from Billboard The Amity Affliction Cover Turnstile's 'Holiday' for 'Like a Version' Mariah Carey Celebrates 20 Years of 'The Emancipation of Mimi': Stream It Now Miley Cyrus' New Album 'Something Beautiful' This Way Comes: Stream It Now That streaming presence should still be very pronounced in its second week, as the song continues to reign on the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA chart and the Apple Music real-time chart. And the song is already starting to make a radio impact: After debuting at Nos. 32 and 38 on Adult Pop Airplay and Pop Airplay, respectively, on this week's charts (dated May 31), it's pushing toward the top 25 on both. (On Country Airplay, it debuted at No. 55 this week but looks likely to fall off next week – granted it's being promoted so far only to pop and adult formats.) If the song can hold for a second week, it will become the first multi-week Hot 100 No. 1 from I'm the Problem, pulling past the one-week No. 1 'Love Somebody,' which topped the chart last November. (It would still have another 14 weeks to go to tie the longest-reigning single from prior album One Thing at a Time, the 16-week No. 1 'Last Night' in 2023.) Alex Warren, 'Ordinary' (Atlantic): If not for Morgan Wallen's I'm the Problem album debut, we might be talking about Alex Warren celebrating his first Hot 100 No. 1 single this week. After multiple frames of being at stuck at No. 2 behind Kendrick Lamar and SZA's 'Luther,' 'Ordinary' finally moves ahead of that 13-week No. 1 – but still only ranks at No. 4 on this week's chart, after falling behind three tracks from I'm the Problem. Nevertheless, 'Ordinary' should remain a strong contender for the top spot. It still ranks towards the top of the major streaming charts, and after reaching the Radio Songs top 10 this week, the song is now aiming for the top five; it's up 16% in audience May 23-26 over the previous building week. It's also challenging for No. 1 next week on Adult Pop Airplay, and could come for the crown on Pop Airplay not long after. Meanwhile, Warren has a new song out in the Jelly Roll collab 'Bloodline,' which should also be headed for a strong Hot 100 debut. But as shown with the success of recent artists like Teddy Swims and Benson Boone, having simultaneous follow-up hits can be more helpful than harmful to the original hits these days, so 'Bloodline' doing well might boost 'Ordinary' in its pursuit of the top spot. Morgan Wallen, 'Just in Case' and 'I'm the Problem' (Mercury/Big Loud/Republic): Morgan Wallen will still be seeing an awful lot of himself in the rearview mirror, as his solo songs that rank at No. 2 and 3 on the Hot 100 this week — 'Just in Case' and 'I'm the Problem,' respectively – should remain big factors on the chart next week as well. Though the two songs rank behind 'What I Want' on DSPs, they still have the head start on radio: 'Just in Case' continues climbing Country Airplay, though it could be still outside the top 10 next week, after rising to a new No. 13 high this week. Meanwhile, 'I'm the Problem' has ruled Country Airplay for six weeks already, and could be on pace for a seventh week at No. 1. If one of these other I'm the Problem tracks is able to pass 'What I Want' on next week's Hot 100, Wallen would replace himself on top for the first time in his career – becoming the first artist to do so since… Kendrick Lamar just a couple months ago, after a Super Bowl-rebounded 'Not Like Us' gave way to 'Luther' and its months-long reign. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Four Decades of 'Madonna': A Look Back at the Queen of Pop's Debut Album on the Charts Chart Rewind: In 1990, Madonna Was in 'Vogue' Atop the Hot 100
