All posts tagged: Talent

America’s Got Talent star opens up about mental health struggles as she cancels tour appearances

America’s Got Talent star opens up about mental health struggles as she cancels tour appearances

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 A former winner of America’s Got Talent has announced that she will be stepping back from planned tour appearances while she addresses her mental health. Grace VanderWaal was crowned the winner of the competition show’s 11th season, becoming known for her distinct singing voice and ukulele skills when she was 12 years old. Now 22, WanderWaal returned to social media Monday after an extended break to let her fans know that she would no longer be joining singer-songwriter Natalie Jane on tour. “Hi everyone, it’s been a bit,” her statement read. “Im happy to be back and talk to yall. I unfortunately will not be going on the Natalie Jane tour due to mental health.” “I’ve been struggling for a while and am choosing myself in this moment. I love you Natalie and know you’re going to kill it, and I’m sorry to …

Liverpool’s old guard and academy talent help right wrongs at Wolves

Liverpool’s old guard and academy talent help right wrongs at Wolves

Liverpool spent more than £450m last summer to rebuild their team, but this was an evening for the elder statesmen and home-grown talent of the club. Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah, with their Premier League titles and Champions League winners’ medals, booked a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals. Curtis Jones, from the club’s academy, also scored. All three have attracted interest from other clubs, and their position as regular starters was not guaranteed after the signings made before the campaign. Salah turned on Arne Slot and the club after losing his place, Tottenham made a bid for Robertson in January and Jones has been on the wanted list of several clubs. With none of the summer signings starting, those three shone at Molineux along with 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha, also from the academy. Despite a crisis at Anfield in their title defence this season, they are now just one win away from a trip to Wembley. How Liverpool fans would love another two trips to the national stadium and to win a trophy in such …

Meet the Mexican American talent behind ‘KPop Demon Hunters’

Meet the Mexican American talent behind ‘KPop Demon Hunters’

The House of Pies, a Los Feliz institution, is bustling on a chilly January morning. It wouldn’t be shocking if some of the patrons here for breakfast were casually chit-chatting about the cultural behemoth that “KPop Demon Hunters” has become. After all, the 2025 animated saga about three music stars fighting otherworldly foes is now the most-watched movie ever on Netflix; “Golden,” its showstopping track, has since become the first Korean pop song to ever win a Grammy. But for Danya Jimenez, 29, who sits across from me sipping coffee, the reception to the movie she began writing on back in 2020 isn’t entirely surprising, but certainly delayed. “When we first started working on it, I was like, ‘People are going to be obsessed with this. It’s going to be the best thing ever,’” she recalls. But as several years passed, and she and her writing partner and best friend Hannah McMechan, 30, moved on to other projects. They weren’t sure if “KPop” would ever see the light of day. Production for animation takes time. …

KSI is the best thing to happen to Britain’s Got Talent since Susan Boyle

KSI is the best thing to happen to Britain’s Got Talent since Susan Boyle

Britain’s Got Talent sinks to a surreal new low on its return: a parkour dog receiving rapturous applause from the studio audience and three of its four judges. Simon Cowell is thrilled – he can’t believe his luck. His eyes light up as if he’s discovered the next Ashleigh and Pudsey, the Britain’s Got Talent-winning dog-and-owner duo who bizarrely went on to have their own film that absolutely no one asked for. Thankfully, there’s a new face on the judging panel to give Simon, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon a much-needed reality check: KSI. Despite the deafening cheers from the crowd, KSI isn’t exactly impressed, and he’s right! I’ve long believed nothing gives me “the ick” more than parkour – until I saw it performed by a dog… badly. I was fully prepared to loathe KSI on Britain’s Got Talent; I can’t say I’ve followed his career with much interest. I know he was one of the first household names to emerge from YouTube and that he used his fortune to launch a rap career …

Britain’s Got Talent dancer Kerri-Anne Donaldson found dead at home had been accused of ‘child sex offence’, inquest hears | UK News

Britain’s Got Talent dancer Kerri-Anne Donaldson found dead at home had been accused of ‘child sex offence’, inquest hears | UK News

A Britain’s Got Talent dancer found dead at home had been arrested over a child sex offence just days earlier, an inquest has heard. Warning: This story contains descriptions some readers may find distressing, including references to suicide. Kerri-Anne Donaldson’s body was discovered in Farnborough, Hampshire, on 7 June 2023 – the day after she was discharged from hospital. The 38-year-old had been taken into custody and questioned at a police station on suspicion of “child sex offending” three days before her death, the hearing was told. Ms Donaldson, who reached the semi-final of the TV talent show in 2014 as part of dance group Kings and Queens, was arrested on 4 June 2023 about the alleged sex offence, which she denied. After going missing and being found at a hotel in Woking, Surrey, she was taken to nearby St Peter’s Hospital, having taken an overdose. But she was discharged on 6 June, then Ms Donaldson was found dead at her home the following morning, Winchester coroner’s court heard. At an inquest into her death, …

Casey Wasserman puts his talent agency up for sale

Casey Wasserman puts his talent agency up for sale

Casey Wasserman, CEO of the Wasserman Media Group, interviews during the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., on July 9, 2025. David A. Grogan | CNBC The Los Angeles 2028 Olympics chief, Casey Wasserman, is putting his talent and marketing agency up for sale, The ⁠Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, following criticism for flirtatious email exchanges with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell more than 20 years ago. Wasserman has been criticized and called on to resign as the LA28 chief after the release ⁠of ‌messages. His firm has lost pop star Chappell Roan as a client, with Roan saying earlier this week she was no longer represented by his company. Wasserman has denied having a personal or ‌business relationship with late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He has previously apologized for his association ​with Maxwell, saying their relationship came before her or Epstein’s crimes were revealed. Wasserman’s talent agency did not respond to a request for comment outside regular …

Adam Sandler Praises Daughters’ Musical Talent During ASCAP Ceremony

Adam Sandler Praises Daughters’ Musical Talent During ASCAP Ceremony

Adam Sandler was a guest of honor at the 2026 ASCAP Experience on Thursday, where the star admitted that music, even more than comedy, has been his top passion throughout his career. Sandler accepted the ASCAP Founders Award to recognize his contributions as a songwriter and performer, following in the footsteps of such previous recipients as Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Carly Simon, Dr. Dre and Tom Petty. ASCAP president and chair Paul Williams and chief executive officer Elizabeth Matthews introduced Sandler, who came to the podium following a video highlighting his musical performances from Saturday Night Live, his comedy specials and such features as The Wedding Singer and Billy Madison. “Comedy wasn’t first,” he told the crowd about his early creative pursuits. He shared memories of starting a band at age 12 and then learning to play Beatles songs on guitar. “I always used music. It’s always made me the happiest.” The honoree went on to note that his daughters — Sadie Sandler, 19, and Sunny Sandler, 17 — have carried on his passion for …

Why top talent is walking away from OpenAI and xAI

Why top talent is walking away from OpenAI and xAI

AI companies have been hemorrhaging talent the past few weeks. Half of xAI’s founding team has left the company — some on their own, others through “restructuring” — while OpenAI is facing its own shakeups, from the disbanding of its mission alignment team to the firing of a policy exec who opposed its “adult mode” feature.  Watch as TechCrunch’s Equity podcast hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane dig into the week’s biggest deals and departures, from billion-dollar bets on fusion and robotics to the tech exodus reshaping AI companies.  Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.  Source link