All posts tagged: Pop

90s pop group behind ‘Barbie Girl’ announce split after 30 years together

90s pop group behind ‘Barbie Girl’ announce split after 30 years together

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the inside track from Roisin O’Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Aqua, the Danish-Norwegian band behind the hit song “Barbie Girl,” is breaking up after three decades together. “After many incredible years, we have decided to close the chapter of AQUA as a live band,” the 90s group said in a statement shared to their social media accounts Monday. “AQUA has been such a huge part of our lives, and together we’ve had the chance to experience more than we ever dared to dream of. We’ve traveled the world countless times, met so many wonderful people, sung together with millions of you, and shared memories that we will carry with us forever.” The group did not get into details about the reason for the split, saying: “When you’ve been together for this long, you also learn when it’s time to protect what you’ve created together. For us, this feels like the right moment to …

So, How Do You Actually Get an Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop?

So, How Do You Actually Get an Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop?

Published by Jenni Sidey

In the pantheon of impossible-to-get hype objects, the new Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop pocket watch has already entered rarefied territory. Over launch weekend, social media feeds filled with overnight campouts, mall-security interventions, store closures, and resale listings that ballooned to many multiples of retail before most people had even seen one in person. For GQ readers, the obvious question remains: How exactly are you supposed to get one? The good news is that if you survived Beanie Baby mania, sneaker drops in the 2010s, or the more recent MoonSwatch frenzy, this all looks very familiar. One might assume from the chaos of launch weekend that securing a Royal Pop allocation is essentially impossible. We’re fairly confident that’s not actually the case—or, at least, that it won’t be the case forever. History suggests that “impossible to get” and “difficult to get right now” are usually two very different things. Below, a practical FAQ for navigating the hottest watch release on the planet. First of all: What is the Royal Pop? The Royal Pop is …

Brawls, Pepper Spray, and Store Closures: Inside the Madness of Royal Pop Release Day

Brawls, Pepper Spray, and Store Closures: Inside the Madness of Royal Pop Release Day

Published by Jenni Sidey

Nasir then walked out of the store, past the barricades and assembled police officers, and headed into the crowd, where he sold his Royal Pop within minutes. Immediately afterward, he fanned out his bounty of $100 bills, 23 in all, from an eager collector. He hopes to use the money to continue trading up until he has enough to buy an actual Royal Oak with a skeleton dial, a model that starts at $86,800. During our chat, Nasir handed me his phone and asked me to film a video of him, in which he laid out his plan to acquire the AP before his birthday on August 15th. His next move, he said, is to buy a low-end Rolex to trade with—maybe a Datejust or Oyster Perpetual. Giovanni’s haul of three Royal Pops Nearly everyone I spoke with on launch day was planning to flip their Royal Pops. Giovanni, who owns a handbag brand, had accumulated three over the course of the morning. That was the most I saw one person have, but rumors quickly …

Who is Delta Goodrem, the pop star representing Australia in the Eurovision 2026 final?

Who is Delta Goodrem, the pop star representing Australia in the Eurovision 2026 final?

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Pop singer Delta Goodrem is hoping to bring Eurovision glory to Australia for the first time as she competes in Vienna, Austria, with her song “Eclipse”. After Australia failed to get a look-in last year, Goodrem is going into this year’s final as one of the favourites to win, receiving one of the biggest cheers of the night in Thursday’s semi-final. The singer and actor, 41, is already a household name in her native Australia and known to millions around the world thanks to a starring role in the soap opera Neighbours, not to mention her debut album, the piano-based pop record Innocent Eyes. Released in 2003, when Goodrem was just 18 years old, it remains one of the highest-selling Australian albums and spawned hit singles including “Born to Try” and “Lost Without You”. The album was also a major success …

Is the Royal Pop the Best or Worst Thing to Happen to Audemars Piguet?

Is the Royal Pop the Best or Worst Thing to Happen to Audemars Piguet?

Published by Jenni Sidey

Others have more straightforward concerns about the mass production of a theoretically disposable watch. “What was offensive about the project wasn’t the design or brand implications, it’s the disposability,” says Austin Rogers, the collector and content creator @Rehaut. “For me at least, watches are an island in a sea of manufactured obsolescence, so a plastic—sorry, Bioceramic—Royal Oak that can’t be serviced feels off.” Right before news of AP and Swatch’s collaboration broke, O’Dell just so happened to pick up a Royal Oak he intended to sell. It’s currently being serviced before hitting the market, but he’s already trying to figure out the effect the Royal Pop might have on its eventual sale. “I’m going to try to price it the same,” he says. “I mean, I’m definitely not going to price it higher, that’s for sure.” The Royal Pop Is the Best Thing to Happen to Audemars Piguet The folks who seem to be doing the least hand-wringing about the Royal Pop? Actual Royal Oak owners. Albert Coombs, the collector and cofounder of Official CP …

World Cup 2026 halftime show confirms two queens of pop, boybands and Muppets

World Cup 2026 halftime show confirms two queens of pop, boybands and Muppets

Published by Daniella Wilson

The star-studded line-up for the World Cup 2026 halftime show has been confirmed – with pop queens Madonna and Shakira among those set to join Coldplay on the stage. This summer’s tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada will be the biggest ever after the expansion to 48 teams and 104 matches. In true American style, the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, on Sunday 19 July, will be the first to feature a halftime show – and the line-up has now been confirmed. Coldplay were announced as one of the acts last year but the rest of the performers have been revealed in a social video featuring frontman Chris Martin and Elmo from Sesame Street. Shakira is part of the World Cup 2026 final halftime show line-up. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images) (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images) Pop queens Shakira, who is releasing another World Cup song after the success of her release for the 2010 tournament, and Madonna are part of the line-up, as is K-pop group BTS. Not only …

Meet the People Waiting 5 Days in Line for the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop

Meet the People Waiting 5 Days in Line for the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop

Published by Jenni Sidey

Everything is for sale outside of the Times Square Swatch store right now, where dozens of people are camped out in anticipation of Swatch x Audemars Piguet Royal Pop’s drop. The queue began to take shape on Sunday, six days ahead of the watch’s official release. Though lines are hardly unusual in New York City—you can expect an extended wait before gaining entry to everything from the Kith store to the cutesy new matcha spot—something about the coterie of exhausted Supreme-clad, line-waiters bordering the Swatch store feels markedly different. As I weave through the grimiest, most cacophonous stretch of Seventh Avenue, dodging Naked Cowboy and Broadway ticket scalpers, the neighborhood’s bazaar-like quality only seems to increase once I arrive at the Swatch store. Even the line itself is for sale, with spots going for anywhere from $200 to $600. (The price unfortunately doesn’t include the seating itself, which ranges from collapsible lawn chairs to someone’s actual upholstered dining chair.) Some of the career queuers claim they’ve received offers upwards of $1,000. A hefty price tag …

Here’s Your First Look at the Swatch x Audemars Piguet Royal Pop

Here’s Your First Look at the Swatch x Audemars Piguet Royal Pop

Published by Jenni Sidey

The making of the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop Resta’s first-ever watch was a Swatch at 13 years old, a reward she got after doing well in her exams. Today, two and a half years after taking over at AP, Resta’s vision for an AP x Swatch has been realized. “Compared to a lot of people from the traditional watch industry, Ilaria’s mind is open. She’s not blocked by ‘you cannot do this’. That was really cool,” says Hayek on working together. “And I give her credit for the pocket watch—that came from her. Immediately, I said, ‘You’re right. Swatch has the Pop watch, this is perfect.’ So the name Royal Pop was easy. We were both in agreement that there would be no wristwatch.” For the history fans out there, Swatch’s Pop has been around since the ’80s, and AP’s Royal Oak debuted in 1972, so now feels like as good a time as ever to pool together the genes of these icons. “The way we worked with Nick has been very informal …

From ‘pop’ to ‘soda’, language may obey the law of physics

From ‘pop’ to ‘soda’, language may obey the law of physics

Published by Jenni Sidey

Words do not spread at random. They cluster, hold their ground, and sometimes surge across a country with surprising speed. That is the idea behind a new model from the University of Portsmouth. Statistical physicist James Burridge has built a system that tries to predict how language changes over time. His work treats speech a bit like a physical system. In fact, he borrows tools used to study magnets, fluids, and other large collections of interacting parts. Instead of particles, the moving pieces are people. The things shifting across space are words, pronunciations, and dialect forms. “Just as meteorologists use mathematical models to forecast tomorrow’s weather, the same kind of thinking can be applied to language,” Burridge said. The comparison is not perfect. In his telling, language behaves less like the atmosphere and more like matter organizing itself into patterns. “Where you are affects how you speak and if you map how people use certain words, you see clear geographic patterns, just like a weather map. However, the physics of language is closer to crystals …

Irish pop group Westlife performing in Singapore in January 2027

Irish pop group Westlife performing in Singapore in January 2027

Published by Sam Flores

Pop group Westlife will be back in Singapore on Jan 16, 2027, in a show to celebrate their 25th anniversary.  Details, including ticket sales and venue, will be announced at a later date. Singapore is among the six new stops announced as part of The 25th Anniversary World Tour’s Southeast Asian leg. Westlife will also perform in Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Jakarta, Bangkok and Hong Kong. Source link