Month: December 2022

On Saturday, season 10 of So You Think You Can Dance star Makenzie shared acarousel of pictures and videos from her nuptials to fellow alum Phillip whoappeared on season 5 of the show, in a ceremony that took place at LakeArrowhead, California earlier this week.

“12.12.22. The world stopped for a moment… & life began again…,” she wrote inthe Instagram caption. “Introducing to you, officially, the Chbeeb’s🥹🫀🫁✨🫂❄️.”

RELATED: So You Think You Can Dance Alum Valerie Rockey Marries BoyfriendAce Thor: ‘We Did It’

One clip from the post shows the newlyweds standing opposite each other at thealtar, wearing all-white ensembles during the ceremony. Accompanied bysnowflakes falling from the sky, in the clip, Makenzie can be seen holding abouquet of flowers while she and Phillip were listening to the weddingofficiant.

A snapshot features a selfie of the couple flashing their smiles to the cameraduring their big day. Another slide includes a clip of the pair sharing a kissand embracing each other after they both professed their vows.

Fellow professional dancers from SYTYCD and Dancing with the Stars flockedinto the comment section to congratulate the couple including Hayley Erbert,Fik-Shun Stegall, Tabitha, and Napoleon D’umo as well as Hailee Payne, amongothers.

Credit: Makenzie Chbeeb/Instagram.https://www.instagram.com/p/CmRe70cLLq4/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D.

Makenzie Chbeeb/Instagram

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“Pure magic! Love you both so much! 🤍,” Erbert wrote, while Stegall commented,”Congratulations 🎊.” Payne added, “So beyond happy for y’all!!! 💜💜.”

Two days prior to the wedding, Makenzie said she and Phillip “married oneanother in a Melkite Catholic Church 10 mins from our house,” according to acaption she wrote about an image from the ceremony on her Instagram Story.

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“Phillip’s papa bear was raised Melkite in Lebanon, and he and his parents andso on, were all married under this same religion, through the sameintentional, sacred ceremony” she explained. “For us to be able to follow inhis footsteps, was the most powerful, emotional thing. Our parents and twobest friends were by our sides as we did it.”

RELATED: DWTS and SYTYCD Star Brittany Cherry Marries Bryan Agnew inSmall Ceremony

Credit: Makenzie Chbeeb/Instagram.https://www.instagram.com/p/CmRe70cLLq4/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D.

Makenzie Chbeeb/Instagram

As for the ceremony on Monday, Makenzie shared on her Instagram Story, “wewanted to be in the snow, hibernating in the mountains with our families allin the same place.”

“We had a 2nd ceremony, in our own unique style, with immediate family $siblings & my papa bear officiating it…we are VERY married!!!” she added.

The event also saw some other SYTYCD stars in attendance including HokutoKonishi, Malice Miller, Paul Karmiryan and Jasmine Mason. Following thespecial day, Makenzie changed her last name to Phillip’s on Instagram.

RELATED VIDEO: Disney Channel Star Mollee Gray Weds Jeka Jane at South LakeTahoe Ceremony

In light or SYTYCD alum Stephen “tWitch” Boss’s tragic death this week atthe of 40, Phillip posted a lengthy tribute on his Instagram on Thursday.

“I got married a day before Twitch died. I felt myself take a step towardsbecoming the man I always wanted to be, and then that man took his own life,”he penned in the note. “Twitch transformed me into a better man, a man moreworthy of the woman I’m now married to. He was the embodiment of ‘good.'”

Offering his support to Boss’s family, he wrote in the caption, “We areholding you in our minds. The magnitude of this loss can’t be grasped…you haveall of us behind you, supporting and loving you in any and every way you

JoJo Siwa and girlfriend Avery Cyrus have called it quits.

The Nickelodeon mogul, 19, and her TikTok creator partner, 22, who firstannounced they were officially dating back in September, are no longertogether, Cyrus revealed in a comment on a TikTok post Saturday.

Sharing a video from a tropical getaway, Siwa can be seen in the video tellingCyrus, “This is my sorry for breaking up with you present.”

In the comments section, one fan wrote, “Now I just want to know why,” towhich Cyrus responded: “We decided that we are better off as friends! We areboth so young and still just trying to figure our stuff out. “

A representative for Siwa did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request forcomment.

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Jojo Siwa and Avery Cyrus at Disney’s Elton John Live: Farewell from DodgerStadium Yellow Brick Road event held at Dodger Stadium on November 20, 2022 inLos Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)

Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

RELATED: JoJo Siwa Surprises Girlfriend Avery Cyrus with Romantic Beach Datefor 1 Month Anniversary

The former couple first sparked romance rumors after they filmed a TikTokvideo alongside each other on Aug. 5. The duo was seen mouthing the words to avoiceover by Scott Disick and Kourtney Kardashian.

“We’re friends,” lip synced Siwa. “Purely platonic,” Cyrus mouthed — promptingSiwa to laugh.

Cyrus and Siwa continued to appear in each other’s social media posts in theweeks that followed, while also leaving flirty messages in each other’scomment sections.

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On Sept. 13, Cyrus and Siwa made their relationship official with a TikTokvideo that showed the two kissing in a Chuck E. Cheese photo booth. Two dayslater, the couple made their red carpet debut.

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Then, in October, Siwa revealed that she was officially off the market,posting an Instagram photo dump that included one of a “JoJo Be My GF?” signmade by Cyrus. She then gave proper confirmation in a YouTube vlog.

“We’re girlfriends now. I’m so happy you said yes. I knew you weren’t gonnasay no, I was just nervous,” Cyrus said, to which Siwa replied: “I’d be insaneif I said no , you’re the best girlfriend in the world.”

RELATED VIDEO: JoJo Siwa Celebrates 1 Year Since Coming Out as LGBTQ: ‘I’veFelt More Love Than Ever’

For their one-month anniversary in November, the _So You Think You Can Dance_judge surprised Cyrus with a romantic beach-side picnic — tent, balloons,umbrellas, pillows, flowers and treats all included.

As Jojo explained in an Instagram Reel at the time, her then-girlfriendthought they were going on a “normal beach date,” but a “surprise” waswaiting.

“Celebrating our 1 month in the most special way,” she captioned the clip.”Happy 1 month to the happiest girl who makes me more happy than ever :)”

jojo siwa

Momodu Mansaray/Getty JoJo Siwa

RELATED: DaBaby Says He Asked JoJo Siwa to Perform with Him at the 2021Grammys: ‘We Love Her’

The pair’s breakup comes months after Siwa announced her split from on-and-offex Kylie Prew in August. They first went public with their relationshipfollowing Siwa’s revelation that she was part of the LGBTQ community.

In January of 2021, Siwa came out as LGBTQ after she lipsynched Lady Gaga’s”Born This Way” following a day with TikTok collective Pride House LA. Hert-shirt at the time — reading “BEST GAY COUSIN EVER” — confirmed it.

“But like, I don’t know, bisexual, pansexual, queer, lesbian, gay, straight. Ialways just say gay because it just kind of covers it or queer because I thinkthe keyword is cool,” the star told PEOPLE last year, adding that she doesn’twant to put a “label” on herself.

“I like queer,” she continued. “Technically I would say that I am pansexualbecause that’s how I have always been my whole life is just like, my human ismy human.”

Jojo added that she “never wanted” her coming out to be a “big deal,” but thatshe’s “known” since she was young. “My thing is, I don’t want people to watchmy videos or buy my merchandise if they aren’t going to support not only me,but the LGBTQ community,” she said.

Así, en las calles de Qatar se pasea la vanguardia de este movimiento –ymillonarios y lobbistas y periodistas y políticos– pero las calles argentinasse inundan de alegría: tú hablabas, ayer mismo, de la Abuela transformada enamuleto. Porque más allá de ese nuevo orgullo nacional, –el hinchismo ohinchamiento o hinchería superiores– hay algo más central, que es purahipótesis berreta y espero me perdones: se diría que hace mucho que losargentinos querían alegrarse por algo, sentirse unidos, querer a alguien todosjuntos sin reparos, querer algo que se puede conseguir. Se podrían pensar,quizá, metas más influyentes, objetivos que mejoren las vidas; si no losencontramos nos queda el fulbo –que no las cambia pero las endulza.

Porque su arma secreta es su capacidad de convertirte, por un rato, en un sera quien lo único que le importa es eso que les pasa a esos muchachos sobre esepasto bien cuidado. Es lo que alguna vez llamé “mi espacio de la salvajeríafeliz”, el momento en que suspendo el juicio y mis formas habituales de mirarel mundo y me concentro como casi nunca en eso que, a fin de cuentas, no mecambia nada. Lo hago, como tantos, pero reconozco mi incapacidad paraprolongar ese momento: al rato se me pasa y mi vida vuelve a ser mi vida. Laclave del hincha verdadero es que consigue que esos 90 minutos configuren suvida.

Y el problema, también, es definir al “hincha verdadero”. Muchas veces los queocupan ese lugar en la escenografía y la liturgia son los “barrabravas”, esosseñores que trabajan de hinchas, que forman grupos mafiosos que recibendineros y prebendas de los dirigentes de los clubes para mantener el orden–que ellos mismos amenazan – y que controlan en la cancha los robos, drogas,entradas falsas, estacionamientos y viven de todo eso –tan bien que pueden,por ejemplo, trasladar sus negocios a Qatar para la temporada. Por desgraciasuelen ser el corazón de las hinchadas, los que crean los cantitos, los quemarcan el ritmo con el bombo, los que producen la mitología. Yo fui muchosaños a la cancha de Boca y lamentaba los poderes de su barra, la Doce, la máspotente del país. Pero tuve que reconcer que, un par de tardes en que losexcluyeron, la cancha –¡de Boca!– fue un murmullo chato. Sin las “barrasbravas” las canchas argentinas son mucho menos calientes, menos argentinas.Eso, también, es lo que estamos exportando.

Pero bueno, ya es hora de callarse: llega el fútbol, ​​la final del mundo.Ahora todo depende de una duda rara: si Francia tiene un autocontrolespeluznante –que le permitió reservarse en los partidos anteriores y hacersolo lo necesario y parecer un equipo masomenos– o eso es lo que es. Parecetontería, pero yo prefiero no confiarme: l’esprit français nos engañó contantas cosas tantos siglos que una más no sería una sorpresa. Mira si no, porejemplo, nuestras madres alguna vez prendadas de Lacan, nuestros padres deAlthusser o de Sartre, tantos amigos de Emmanuel Carrère. Con ellos nunca hayque confiarse: en cuanto te das vuelta te convencen de algo.

Billie Eilish might sing about “when the party’s over,” but this weekend theparty was just getting started!

The music superstar was joined by her family and boyfriend Jesse Rutherford onstage at Inglewood, California’s Kia Forum Friday — when they surprised herwith a cake at her final of three “Hometown Encore” shows ahead of her 21stbirthday on Sunday.

With her family by her side, and fans singing along, Eilish blew out hercandles to the applause of the crowd, before giving her folks a hug.

“Want to take shots? Give me two days,” Eilish joked with concert attendeesafter her family, including brother Finneas, left the stage. “I am 21 in twodays, it’s f— unbelievable.”

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Billie Eilish attends the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jonesat Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 27, 2022 inBeverly Hills, California

Lionel Hahn/Getty

RELATED: Billie Eilish Says She Was Surprised When People InitiallyCalled Her Music ‘Depressing’ and ‘Sad’

The show later saw Eilish joined on stage by Donald Glover — aka ChildishGambino — and her longtime collaborator, Khalid. With Glover, 39, Eilish letthe artist take center stage for a full performance of his 2016 hit “Redbone,”before he asked the crowd to wish her a happy birthday.

During a 2019 interview, Eilish revealed that Gambino “created” her. “That’s aGod,” she said at the time. “You can’t even put him on a list with otherpeople.”

Eilish also shared a performance with Khalid, 24, of their collab “Lovely”during his stint on stage, before he ran through his solo smash “Location.”

The star later got into the holiday spirit and performed a rendition of “HaveYourself A Merry Little Christmas” — which she did earlier in the week aswell.

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During Thursday’s show at the Forum just a day before, Eilish surprised herfans with guest appearances by Dave Grohl and Phoebe Bridgers. With Grohl, 53,she sang a cover of the Foo Fighters’ 1998 hit “My Hero.”

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“You know, I have to say, earlier this year, all of Foo Fighters’ familiesgathered together at my house to watch the Grammys, and when Billie came outfor her performance in the Taylor Hawkins T-shirt, the room was filled withreal tears of love and gratitude,” Grohl said at the show.

He added: “So from our families, who are here tonight, the Hawkins family, andeveryone, we’d like to thank you very much for that. So let’s sing it forTaylor. This song’s called ‘My Hero.’ “

With Bridgers, 28, Eilish duetted on her 2017 track “Motion Sickness,” whereEilish handled harmonies along with the second verse.

RELATED: Finneas Reacts to Sister Billie Eilish ‘s Relationship withBoyfriend Jesse Rutherford: ‘I’m Happy’

Billie Eilish talks BF Jesse Rutherford for first time

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

And while Eilish was joined on stage by her new boyfriend Rutherford, 31, itwasn’t the first time the pair appeared with each other publicly.

The couple previously made their red carpet debut in a Gucci blanket back inNovember during the LACMA Art + Film Gala 2022.

As part of her latest Vanity Fair interview, titled “Same Interview, SixthYear,” the pop star opened up about dating The Neighborhood vocalist. “It’sreally cool and I’m really excited and I’m really happy about it,” Eilish saidof her relationship.

“I managed to get … to a point in my life … where I not only was known by aperson that I thought was the hottest f—ing f—er alive, but pulled his ass!Are you kidding me? Can we just [get a] round of applause for me?” she added.”Thank you, Jesse Rutherford, everyone.”

You can tell by the way he uses his walk that he’s got no time to talk. Fortyfive years ago, John Travolta strutted down a Brooklyn sidewalk — and intomovie history — in the iconic opening sequence of Saturday Night Fever.Premiering in theaters on Dec. 16, 1977, the disco blockbuster opened byblasting the Bee Gees anthem, “Stayin’ Alive,” and the combination of theband’s music and Travolta’s swagger catapulted the movie into the box officestratosphere.

Believe it or not, though, not everyone was onboard with that choice of song.Saturday Night Fever producer, Robert Stigwood, originally intended to save”Stayin’ Alive” for a dance sequence that comes later in the movie. “He wantedme to dance my big solo dance to ‘Stayin’ Alive,'” Travolta revealed to YahooEntertainment during a 2019 Role Recall interview.

Watch our full role recall ** with Travolta below or needle drop to2:42 for the Saturday Night Fever ** portion:

But Travolta knew it would be a mistake to bury the song later in the movie.> He just had to find a diplomatic way to help the producer see the error of> his ways. “I said, ‘Robert, it doesn’t have a fast enough rhythm [to dance> to],” he remembered telling Stigwood. “But I could walk down the street to> ‘Stayin’ Alive.'”

That argument persuaded the producer, and Travolta hit the pavement incharacter as Brooklyn disco king, Tony Manero, strutting in time to the music.”They played the song on a boombox underneath the camera,” he said, addingthat it was the happiest ending possible for the beginning of the SaturdayNight Fever phenomenon. “Switching ‘Stayin’ Alive’ to the front of the moviewas the best thing that could have been done.”

Speaking with Yahoo Entertainment on the movie’s 40th anniversary in 2017,Fever director John Badham — whose younger sister, Mary, starred in the 1962classic, To Kill a Mockingbird — agreed that the opening sequence would beDOA with any other song. “The Bee Gees gave me their demo songs, and when Ilistened to their five demos, I just knew that ‘Stayin’ Alive’ had to open thefilm,” he explained.

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Travolta and Karen Lynn Gorney in full disco fashion Saturday Night Fever.(Photo: CBS via Getty Images)

“I also knew that the first thing we should see were Tony’s feet in those veryspecial purple shoes,” Badham continued. “You can tell that his mind is not onhis work; it’s on dancing, looking cool, and being a stud out on the street.It puts the focus right away on who the main character is and what’s on hismind. It just happened to come together beautifully like that.”

Saturday Night Fever ‘s boisterous opening scene — and the groovy dancenumbers — often make people forget that the film itself is actually quite darkand dramatic as it charts Tony’s attempts to flee his working classneighborhood in search of a better future. “The core of it is very dark,”Badham confirmed in his 2017 interview, who added that he approached it as a”documentary of Brooklyn” in the late ’70s, capturing all the violence,economic woes and prejudices of the era.

In the movie’s most notorious scene, Tony’s first dancing partner, Annette(played by Donna Pescow), is raped in the back of his car by his friends, andhe doesn’t intervene. “I was kind of reluctant to shoot very much of thatscene at all, and kept trying to look for ways to more hint at it,” Badhamsaid. “But Robert Stigwood was very resistant that we do it relativelystrongly.”

Tony (Travolta) looks to escape a difficult life in Brooklyn Saturday NightFever. (Photo: Paramount Pictures/Getty Images)

“What you see is me trying to hint at it without showing too much,” thedirector explained. “And by playing it a lot off of Annette’s grief andTravolta’s disgust at the whole thing. He doesn’t participate in it, and he’slooking down on those guys who are participating in it, and he’s looking downon her, too. It’s still unpleasant, there’s no getting around that, but it’simportant that he sees it all. It’s one other thing that eventually drives himto leave Brooklyn — that and the death of his friend, Bobby, who falls off theVerrazano bridge.”

Badham said that he “did his research” before making Saturday Night Fever ,visiting discos all over New York City to create the one seen in the movie.Meanwhile, Travolta took charge of Tony’s look, originally preferring a blacksuit-and-white shirt combination as opposed to the world-famous whitepolyester suit everyone remembers. (That suit was later purchased by the latefilm critic, Gene Siskel, for $2,000. Years later, he sold it for $145,000 ata Christie’s auction.)

But Travolta said that his first choice in fashion was overruled by themovie’s legendary costume designer, Patricia Field. “She insisted that it be awhite suit, because you could see it better in the dark,” he recalled. “Iactually had to agree — it made a lot of sense. So I acquiesced and thus theiconic illusion that we’re all familiar with was born.” And to this day, it’sstill staying alive.

Saturday Night Fever is currently streaming on Paramount+.

Como todos los argentinos, espera ansiosa el domingo, cuando la Albiceleste sejuega la Copa del Mundo frente a Francia, la vigente campeona. “Desde ayertengo una angustia y unos nervios…. Encima jugamos más temprano. Viene mifamilia y no sé dónde me voy a poner para no verlo”, anticipa.

Barbara Quee, the woman who Traceless affair, has yet found her biologicalmother. She joined last night On 1 to tell about this, together with herfriend and partner Fiona Teggatz.

Quee got in after the search Traceless suspicion, because things weresettled somewhat abruptly. She later went to investigate herself and a lotturned out to be wrong. Together with Teggatz, she set up a research firm anddiscovered another mismatch. In October, Kees brought van der Spek into hisprogram Scammers Busted the dubious practices surrounding the program __ tolight. The two stories have one thing in common: they were set in motion byfixer Edwin Vela in Colombia. Traceless presenter Derk Bolt suspects thatthere was no intention in the game, a reaction that Quee called a “creepy” inanother program. KRO-NCRV decided to investigate several matches in responseto Van der Spek’s broadcasts. This revealed a third mismatch.

Teggatz had right after the Traceless episode of Quee, the feeling thatsomething was wrong. “I have been doing searches for ten years, actually onthe same footing as traceless, but from my living room. I do that because Imyself have been looking for my birth mother for 26 years, but I can’t findher. This way you know how to help someone.”

Barbara Quee: ‘She always assumed I was gone’

Despite the painful turn of events, Quee continues the search for her motherunabated. A few weeks ago, there was finally that much-hoped-for breakthrough.With the help of Traceless she gives her DNA material to a worldwidedatabase and there appears to be a match with a full brother. “He had a lot ofinformation in his adoption file about our mother, so Fiona and I could findher,” she says. She has now been able to speak to her biological mother andeven see her via a video call. Seeing each other in ‘real life’ will take sometime. Quee has not yet been able to travel to Colombia.

But how does such a first contact go? The shock turns out to be great forQuee’s biological mother: she did not know that she is still alive. “I heardfrom her that she actually learned immediately after giving birth that I wouldhave died. So she always assumed I was gone. Then I am there and that was verybizarre for her.”

A first phone call like that is a bit awkward anyway. “Of course it is verydifficult, because what do you say to your mother for the first time if youhave never spoken to and seen her? It’s difficult to make it known who youare, because you don’t know how the business lives with her. It is of course asuper delicate matter. In fact, it is a person with whom I only have a bloodrelationship, but I do not know her otherwise. I don’t know how she’s going toreact.”

Biological mother Quee doesn’t immediately believe her

Quee tried to verify on the phone that she had the right person. “Are you theone we have in mind from the papers? She admitted that, but it was verydifficult for her to respond immediately. She didn’t immediately believe it.It just took some time for her to recover from the shock.”

The whistleblower of Spoorloos, Barbara Quee, still found her real> biological mother. “I heard last week that my mother heard immediately after> giving birth that I would have died. She always assumed I was gone.” #On> 1> pic.twitter.com/PWmtBIRoV6>> — Op1 (@op1npo) December 15,> 2022

Her mother then insisted on a DNA test precisely because she always thoughtQuee had died. The result came last Friday: it has been irrefutably proventhat the woman is her mother. “If you actually read that she is: that isincredible. Especially because after everything that has happened in the pasttwo months, I really didn’t think this would happen.”

You can watch Op1 back via NPO Start.

The Christmas feeling comes in many gradations and timbres. Warmth, we want tofeel. Trusted music wins out over novelties, as Spotify’s top 10 of the moststreamed Christmas songs teaches us. Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For ChristmasIs You’ and ‘Last Christmas’ by George Michaels Wham! set the tone as usual,while Andy Williams’ sixty-year-old ‘It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year’takes on Chris Rea’s relatively recent ‘Driving Home for Christmas’ (1986).

Promising is the rise of Ariana Grande (‘Santa Tell Me’, 2014), Sia(‘Snowman’, 2017) and Kelly Clarkson (‘Underneath the Tree’, 2013) as singersof potential new Christmas classics. All three want the same thing: a lovethat turns out not to have melted into a puddle of water after one wild nightunder the richly decorated tree. Indeed: the same sentiments that alsooccupied Mariah Carey and George Michael in their indestructible Christmasevergreens. Last Christmas I gave you my heart and this year I have only onewish: you. Preferably in Christmas packaging with a bow on it.

Does nothing new ever happen in the Christmas songs that we all love to hear,stream and sing along with? An abundance of songs appears in which songwritersgive new meaning to the Christmas feeling, from Christmas among the dinosaurs(‘Tyrannosaurus Rex for Christmas’, The Lovely Eggs) to the worries of a childin a deprived neighborhood where Santa Claus can’t find a chimney to put thepresents. (Sharon Jones, “Ain’t No Chimneys in the Projects”). Ten tracksstand out this year because of the original, heartwarming or simply hilariousway they touch on the Christmas spirit.

Nelson Christmas present

Dordrecht singer Nielson (Niels Littooij) has set the table for two.Everything is set for a magical Christmas, because didn’t she promise him thatshe would be his Christmas present this year? She didn’t come last year.Hopeless is Nielson, until he looks out the window: Yeah yeah yeah (not aBeatles quote, but autotune) there she is!

Linde Schöne You Don’t Have To Come To My Parent

In this voluptuous Christmas bell production, the Nijmegen singer promises herlover an intimate Christmas under the mistletoe. “Then we’ll go our way untilsunrise,” she rhymes lamely after a Springsteen-worthy saxophone solo. Don’tbe afraid to play Scrabble with the family, she tells her suitor. Bestsentence: “And we’ll deal with your fear of commitment next year.”

kid bug Just Like Xmas

Dedicated to Mimi Parker, who passed away in November, the drummer and singerof the group Low who sang the original of this song on the most beautifulindie Christmas album ever, Christmas from 1999. Kidbug is the collectivearmed with heavy fuzz guitar around singer Marina Tadic (Eerie Wanda) whogives the song a ghostly charge.

Daniel Lohues The Light of the Christmas Tree

After ‘Kerstfeest Met Joe’ (2006), the Drenthe bard Lohues is no newcomer tothe field of Christmas music. In his fat dialect from the Land of Bartje hesings how beautiful it is, “all those lichies and those lanterns”. His InExcelsis Deo comes with the note that peace on earth will not be in the cardsfor the time being.

Gaspar Royant Xmas & the Three Wise Men

In recent years, the French chansonnier Gaspard Royant has developed fromtraditional rock to a more electronic, experimental framework. Thiscollaboration with producer Le Superhomard and Australian singer MaxwellFarrington has a pleasantly bombastic eighties vibe, for those cold Decembernights.

Lauren Spencer-Smith Single on the 25th

Her demo of ‘Fingers Crossed’ went viral on TikTok before English-Canadiansinger Lauren Spencer-Smith ventured into this Christmas song. „ Kissingunder the mistletoe ” and ” walking through the snow ” are nice activitiesto get through the 25th of December, she sings jealously. But you have to havea boyfriend or girlfriend first.

**Pentatonix & Meghan Trainor ** kid-on-christmas

Close harmony and a fat disco beat are the ingredients of the collaborationbetween vocal group Pentatonix and pop star Meghan Trainor. That reindeer canfly and that Santa reads everyone’s wish list: only a child believes that.Meghan wishes us to be children forever at Christmas.

Chris Isaac Dogs Love Christmas Too

Isaak’s rockabilly-tinged album Everybody Knows It ‘s Christmas appears onSun, the revived label of Elvis Presley’s early records. Dogs love Christmasbecause Santa always pulls a dog biscuit out of his pocket. One big advantage:unlike the owner, they don’t have to do Christmas shopping.

Phoebe Bridgers So MuchWine

How much wine must a man drink before the vessel is empty? In Bridgers’heartbreakingly melancholy cover of an obscure song by The Handsome Family,the word “Christmas” is mentioned only once. A Christmas slump, or perhaps aChristmas depression, never sounded so compellingly beautiful and sad before.

Josh Stone Snow

Yet one more classic crept in through the Christmas album by the Englishsinger Joss Stone, who plucked her ode to the healing effect of a large packof snow from the film WhiteChristmas (1954). What’s Christmas without snow,Stone wonders wistfully with a lavish orchestra. „ Oh, to see a mountaincovered with a quilt of snow! Irving Berlin, because he wrote it, couldn’thave put it more poetically.

Hace unos meses, le preguntaron a Rodrigo de Paul (Sarandí, 28 años) si teníaganas de que empezara ya el Mundial. La respuesta parecía cantada, sinembargo, respondió que no. “Conociéndome, sé que me va a costar”, vaticinó. Yse conocía bien. Hace una semana, le volvieron a preguntar lo mismo y vino aconfirmar sus temores. “Con el tiempo le dare más valor. Hay tantaresponsabilidad, que no nos permite disfrutar del todo”, justificó.

Esa soga apretará como nunca este domingo en el ondulante Lusail. Hasta ahora,su paso por Qatar ha discurrido por una senda paralela a la de Argentina:ofuscado de inicio y más suelto según han ido pasando las jornadas. El fue unode los grandes señalados en el costalazo inicial ante Arabia Saudí. “Losboludos van a seguir buscando para hacerte caer y culparte de un resultado. Noaflojes”, le animó la Brujita Verón. Unas curvas, personales y colectivas, queles vinieron bien, según De Paul. Él es uno de los convencidos en el vestuarioargentino de que ese gatillazo arrinconó al equipo, lo empujó al precipicio ysirvió para comprobar hasta donde llegaba el aguante del grupo.

Aquel día posterior a la derrota en el debut, en medio de las tribulacionesalbicelestes, dejó una imagen en el campo de entrenamiento de la Universidadde Qatar, con el sol cayendo a plomo, que no sorprendió pero evidenció en unmomento de dudas el reparto de pesos dentro de la caseta: De Paul y Messisentados solos, apoyados en una alambrada, asistiendo a los ejercicios de loscompañeros que no habían jugado el día anterior. Nadie esperaba que salierandel interior de las instalaciones y aparecieron. La estrella y el hombre queno se separa de él.

Quedan dos partidos, el que nadie quiere jugar, por el imaginario tercersitio, y la codiciada final. And días de Mundial, Eduardo Galeano se refugiabatras un letrero que decía: “Cerrado por fútbol”. Lo difícil es colocar elcartel contrario para recuperar la costumbre después de los goles. La vida noes un negocio que se puede cerrar o abrir a discreción. El lunes deabstinencia sigues pensando en jugadas; miras la pimienta y la sal sobre lamesa y te preguntas si son mediocampistas o defensas centrals. Por desgracia,no se ha inventado una desintoxicación para la futbolitis aguda.

El único remedio consiste en pensar en el próximo Mundial, del que mi paísserá comparsa. La auténtica sede será Estados Unidos, que conquistó esederecho cuando el FBI exhibió la corrupción de la FIFA. Como de costumbre,México y Canada apoyaron al Gran Hermano a cambio de partidos de consuelo.

Pero no nos adelantemos tanto. Tus esperanzas para el domingo son grotes yjustificadas. Francia tiene grandes jugadores, pero llegó disminuida pordemasiadas ausencias y ahora tres de los suyos tienen el virus del camello.Napoleón llegó a Egipto con tropas menos diezmadas, pero los auténticosproblemas de Deschamps son otros: su equipo padece la indolencia del que sesabe poderoso y Argentina anhela el triunfo con el sentido trágico quedetermina a los campeones. El deseo de que Messi alce la única copa que se leha resistido, la pasión de las multitudes que llenan la 9 de Julio, la célebreAbuela que se ha convertido en cabala de barrio y las predicciones de losnumerólogos sugieren un triunfo albiceleste.

Pero conviene limitar los vaticinios. El fútbol es tan raro que su mejorprofeta ha sido el pulpo que adivinó los resultados de Alemania 2006.

Alguna vez te preguntaste por qué ciertos países nos apasionamos por unMundial en el que no podremos destacar. Los argentinos tienen dos estrellas enel pecho y han dejado escapar alguna otra. Pero la pasión futbolística es tanamplia que incluye a los que sólo rompemos marcas negativas.

Sin ánimo de alardear, ahí te van algunos récords que no todos tens. En 1930,México protagonizó con Francia el partido inaugural de los mundiales, recibióel primer gol y sufrió la primera derrota. En el siguiente juego, cometimos elprimer autogol. Desde entonces, nuestros fracasos se han sostenido. Si loscalculos no me engañan, llevamos 28 partidos perdidos en mundiales, cifrainigualada. Somos uno de los cinco países que más veces han participado en elcotejo (los otros, Brasil, Alemania, Italia y Argentina, tens varios títulosen su haber). Esta asiduidad ha permitido alcanzar estadísticas de asombro. De1930 a 1958, pasamos por cuatro mundiales sin conquistar un punto, y fueronnecesarios 32 años para que alcanzáramos una victoria.