Disney has dropped the first trailer for Wish, the Disney Animation film, featuring the 32-year-old Afro-Puerto Rican Oscar-winning actress voicing the lead role.
“Imagine a place where wishes come true,” starts the trailer, which introduces 17-year-old Asha, played by DeBose, the powerful King Magnifico (Chris Pine), Asha’s pet goat Valentino (Alan Tudyk), and Star, a celestial ball of boundless energy that Asha’s wish calls down from the sky.
It also features DeBose’s princess belting out a powerful anthem, “So I Made This Wish” as she swirls around underneath a starry sky. It’s one of several new songs written by Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice for the film.
The film is set in Rosas, a fantastical land located off the Iberian Peninsula. “Our heroine, Asha, lives in Rosas, known as the kingdom of wishes,” said director Chris Buck, who helms the film with Fawn Veerasunthorn. “People come from everywhere to give their wishes to a magical king who promises to grant their deepest desires—someday. Only he can decide which wishes will come true and when.”
Added Veerasunthorn, “We have been inspired by so many iconic films over Disney Animation’s 100 years, especially stories where we explore the power of someone with a wish, combined with the conviction to make that wish come true. Being able to honor that legacy with this incredible story and these amazing characters has been a joy for our entire team.”
In Wish, Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force—a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe—the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico—to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.
The film is produced by Peter Del Vecho and co-produced by Juan Pablo Reyes. Jennifer Lee executive produces and serves as writer with Allison Moore. The score is composed by Dave Metzger.
Disney has offered a sneak peek at its new animated musical “Wish,” starring the 31-year-old half-Puerto Rican Oscar-winning actress, singer and Broadway star.
DeBose will star alongside Alan Tudyk in the film, which focuses on how the iconic Wishing Star came to be.
The Disney Animation Studios film will be directed by Oscar-winning Frozen helmer Chris Buck and Raya and the Last Dragonalum Fawn Veerasunthorn.
Wish will feature songs by Grammy nominee Julia Michaels. DeBose performed a song from the film titled “More for Us.”
DeBose stars as Asha, the 17-year-old heroine who’s driven, incredibly smart and an optimist, a sharp-witted leader in the making who sees darkness that others do not. She’s navigating a Kingdom of Wishes, where wishes can literally come true. Asha makes an impassioned plea to the stars, wishing for guidance and help, and ends up bringing an actual star — a cosmic force that’s a literal ball of energy and communicates through pantomime — down from the sky.
Tudyk voices Valentino, a goat.
They’ll face a villain described as one of most formidable foes in Disney history.
The filmmakers said the film blends timeless watercolor style with 3D CG animation.
“Fawn and I both grew up on Disney classics and fell in love with them,” Buck said. “Truly is no greater power in the universe than someone with a true wish in their hearts.”
Jennifer Lee, who heads up Disney Animation, is co-scripting, with Peter Del Vecho & Juan Pablo Reyes producing.
“The film means so much to all of us at the studio and has been an incredible collaboration across all the generations,” Lee said onstage.
An animation test was shown to the room, which featured animators experimenting with character movement.
Walt Disney Animation Studios revealed a FIRST LOOK at “Wish,” their all-new animated feature film that explores how the iconic wishing star came to be. (1/2) #D23Expopic.twitter.com/LWOy7X5JLM
Christina Aguilera is calling for politicians to take action on the issue of gun reform…
The 40-year-old half-Ecuadorian American Grammy-winning singer has joined a roster of celebrities who’ve signed an open letter to U.S. Senators urging them stop gun violence now.
Five years ago, amidst a string of deadly attacks at live music venues including the horrific mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., on June 12, 2016, the cover of Billboard‘s July 2016 issue featured an open letter to U.S. Congress signed by 200 artists and music industry executives calling for gun reform.
Unfortunately, the need for reform has only grown stronger as shootings have continued around the country at a terrifying rate.
So now, five years later, as venues prepare to reopen after their pandemic shutdown and music fans ready to return to concerts and festivals, we stand again with the music community to ask lawmakers to take swift action to stop the violence. — Hannah Karp, Billboard editorial director
An Open Letter to Senators: Stop Gun Violence Now
As leading artists and executives in the music industry, we are adding our voices to the chorus of Americans demanding change.
Music always has been celebrated communally, on dance floors and at concert halls. But this life-affirming ritual, like so many other daily experiences — going to school or church or work — continues to be threatened, because of gun violence in this country.
The one thing that connects the tragedies like the shootings in Boulder, El Paso, Las Vegas, Parkland and so many other places in America, to the one that happened in Orlando five years ago this June, is that it is far too easy for dangerous people to get their hands on guns.
We call on the Senate to do more to prevent the gun violence that kills more than 100 Americans every day and injures hundreds more: Take action on background checks.
Billboard and the undersigned implore you — the people who are elected to represent us — to close the deadly loopholes that put the lives of so many music fans, and all of us, at risk.
Sincerely,
Christina Aguilera, Tori Amos, Sara Barielles, Aaron Bay-Schuck, Tony Bennett, Selim Bouab, Rob Bourdon, Scooter Braun, Cortez Bryant, Michael Bublé, Vanessa Carlton, Joseph Carozza, Steve Cooper, Tom Corson, Lee Daniels, Ellen DeGeneres, Brad Delson, Diplo, Mike Easterlin, John Esposito, Melissa Etheridge, Fletcher, Luis Fonsi, Becky G, Kevin Gore, Julie Greenwald, Josh Groban, Horacio Gutierrez, Joe Hahn, Halsey, Billy Joel, Craig Kallman, Alicia Keys, Kid Cudi, Carole King, Elle King, Adam Lambert, Cyndi Lauper, Kevin Liles, Dre London, Jennifer Lopez, Macklemore, Zayn Malik, Carianne Marshall, Ricky Martin, Paul McCartney, Julia Michaels, Guy Moot, Jason Mraz, Gregg Nadel, Yoko Ono, Mark Pinkus, Gregory Porter, Prince Royce, Bonnie Raitt, Dawn Richard, RMR, Paul Robinson, Maggie Rogers, Kelly Rowland, Mike Shinoda, Sia, Matt Signore, Britney Spears, Rob Stevenson, Sting, Barbra Streisand, Justin Tranter, Sir Trilli, Sharon Van Etten, Aimie Vaughn-Fruehe, Eddie Vedder, Andrew Watt.
Manny Marroquin’s ready to talk shop with the next generation of musicians…
The Grammy Museum has announced plans to host eight Grammy Career Day events for the remainder of the year, with the 39-year-old Guatemalan mixing engineer and nine-time Grammy winner among those professionals participating.
The career days, which launched on September 24, will take place on Thursdays at 6:00 pm ET starting through November 19.
The education program will be hosted virtually via digital conferencing for the first time.
But Marroquin isn’t the only Latino taking part in the program…
Mike Elizondo, a 47-year-old Latino producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist and Grammy winner, will join Marroquin
Grammy Career Day is a nationwide education program focused on career mentorship for middle- and high-school students in music programs.
In addition to Marroquin and Elizondo, this year’s participants include music director Rickey Minor, who is coming off his second Primetime Emmy win for his work on The Kennedy Center Honors, and music supervisor Julia Michels. The line-up also includes Grammy-nominated artist Paul Jackson Jr.
Here’s the full schedule:
Sept. 24: Engineer Manny Marroquin and producer, songwriter and musician Mike Elizondo
Oct 1: Jonathan Azu, founder and CEO of the management firm Culture Collective, and music supervisor Julia Michels
Oct. 8: Jeff Greenberg, owner and CEO of The Village Studios, and Henry Alonzo, chief creative officer at Adarga Entertainment Group
Oct. 15: Songwriter, producer and video director Madison Beer and artist/bassist Sekou Bunch, who is the CEO of Ibis Music Entertainment, LLC
Oct. 22: Loretta Muñoz, assistant vice president, membership group at ASCAP, and entrepreneur and music manager Orly Marley
Oct. 29: Kiara Lanier, singer/songwriter and CEO of Hits For LifeNov. 12: Film and television composer Amanda Jones
Nov 19: Bass player, composer, producer, and music director Rickey Minor and musician, educator, and recording artist Paul Jackson Jr.
Middle school and high school students and teachers across the U.S. are invited to join these Grammy Career Day sessions. If schools want to participate, they can register via the online form.
There will be another series of virtual Career Day events in spring 2021.
The 27-year-old Mexican rising star, whose real name is Alexander García, has been honored by SoundExchange as one of digital radio’s top 20 breakout artists of 2017.
El Fantasma placed seventh on the list — the top Latin artist in the tally — behind Julia Michaels and Harry Styles and ahead of Noah Cyrus and Bad Bunny.
“We’re not celebrating yet. We’re looking ahead,” said a smiling El Fantasma, whose nickname comes from his fair complexion.
El Fantasma was feted by SoundExchange’s Matthew Limones at a private luncheon in Las Vegas two days before the Latin Grammy awards, where he’s nominated for his first Latin Grammy in the Best Banda album category for En El Camino.
SoundExchange’s honors are based on play on outlets like Pandora, SiriusXM, iHeartRadio and Music Choice.
This week, El Fantasma also placed his fifth single on the Top 10 of Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart.
Despite the power of reggaetón and urban music, Regional Mexican continues to be a driving force in digital radio, said Limones, noting that Christian Nodal also made the Top 20 list, at No 17.
As for El Fantasma, he’s continuing to break the mold with music that’s strongly tied to his roots and which has cross-generational appeal.
“I like to film all my videos in Durango de la Sierra,” he says, referring to his birth town. “I don’t like to show mansions or stuff like that. My corridos talk about people who wake up to drink coffee in the morning, who work the fields. Everybody deserves their own corrido.”
Vevo wants to make it a happy Halloween for music fans in San Francisco. After four years in the U.K., the streaming platform is bringing its flagship Halloween event to the U.S. for the first time.
Vevo will host simultaneous shows at the Craneway Pavillion in San Francisco and Victoria Warehouse in Manchester on Saturday, October 28, featuring live sets from rising acts supported this year on Vevo Lift, including the 26-year-old Colombian singer-songwriter.
Reyez joins a lineup that includes Khalid, Julia Michaels and Aminé.
They’ll perform for 4,000 guests at the U.S. leg with a fifth artist to be announced in due course.
The U.K. lineup features Jonas Blue, JP Cooper, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man and Yungen.
Selena Gomez is lending her hands to help the victims of the Orlando Shooting.
The 23-year-old half-Mexican American singer/actress is among 24 artists featured on a new recording to raise money for the victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre.
The all-star release, entitled “Hands” — a charity single from Interscope Records with support from GLAAD — was conceived by hit songwriter Justin Tranter, co-writer of Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” and hits for Gomez, DNCE, Fall Out Boy and Gwen Stefani.
The June 12 shooting at the gay nightclub in Orlando, which killed 49 people and injured 53, is the most deadly mass shooting in American history and the deadliest act of violence against the LGBT community.
Funds from the song will aid families with medical care, counseling and will also be used for education.
“Like the rest of the world I woke up to the news that morning and was horrified and sad and scared,” says Tranter, who has raised money and awareness for LGBT causes since coming out at age 14.
“Hands” is available on iTunes.
Proceeds will be distributed by Equality Florida Pulse Victims Fund, the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida and GLAAD.
The idea for the all-star project came together one day after the shooting.
L.A.-based Tranter and songwriting partner Julia Michaels had been on the road with Gomez writing songs aboard her tour bus in Miami the weekend of June 11 when news of the bloodshed prompted Tranter to switch course. That afternoon he signed on as a volunteer at The Center Orlando, the region’s chief LGBT community center.
“I called them and said, ‘If I fly up is there something for me to help with?'” he tells Billboard. “They say, ‘We need as many hands as we can possibly get.'”
“Hands” took hold the next day when Tranter met GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis who had arrived at the center from New York.
Beyond their immediate efforts — distributing food and water and GLAAD’s work with media — both were looking to make contributions that would have ongoing benefits. They point out that the massacre was also a profound attack on people of color, as that Saturday evening had been a popular “Latin Night” at Pulse. Most of the victims were of Latin heritage and Ellis says she does not want that point forgotten.
“When you hear the song it talks about hate being the driver here,” she says, “and that’s important because we have to be able to identify what’s driving these cruel acts in order to stop them. Artists using their platforms to accelerate acceptance is very powerful.”
Aligning with Interscope for the release, Tranter, GLAAD and Interscope president of A&R Aaron Bay-Schuck put the word out that a fundraiser was in the works. Within days artists from all spheres of the business had lined up — also among them Halsey, Ty Herndon, Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons, Adam Lambert, The Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, MNEK, Alex Newell, Mary Lambert, Prince Royce, Jussie Smollett, Nate Ruess and RuPaul — all recording separately from their homes, local studios, touring locations or wherever they happened to be at that moment.
“We assigned everybody what we thought would be the best part for their voice,” Tranter says, “and we asked them all to sing an additional part, just in case. But everybody got it done in time so we ended up with extra vocals.”
In Los Angeles “Interscope let us use their studio,” he notes. “Mary J. Blige recorded in New Orleans. Britney Spears in Thousand Oaks, I think. Pink in Santa Barbara. MNEK recorded at home in London. Selena recorded in her studio bus. Dan Reynolds recorded in his home. Adam Lambert was in Luxembourg. Ty Herndon the country star was in Spain. Kacey Musgraves, Nashville. Everyone just got it done.”
Another goal of the record, according to GLAAD, is to fund educational programs.
“This was an American guy who was born in Queens,” Ellis says of the gunman, Omar Mateen, 29, who was killed by police after a three hour stand-off. “He learned that hate here in America. This happened on American soil, against a particular community.”
While politicians and lobbyists have focused in recent weeks on Islamic terror and familiar narratives about gun ownership, Ellis, Tranter and others in the LGBT community want people to remember that this was a hate crime.
“I’m not educated enough to speak on the political details,” Tranter says. I’m a songwriter, not a politician. It could have been a million things but clearly, 100 percent, this was an attack on the LGBT community and people of color.”
“Hands” grew out of an unfinished piece that Tranter, Michaels and co-writer and producer BloodPop (formerly known as Blood Diamonds) had been working on and then shelved.
“The song didn’t ever finish itself and it didn’t ever feel right,” Tranter says of their initial efforts. “Now we know why.”
Mark Ronson also co-produced, while vocal engineer Benjamin Rice finessed the disparate tracks: “He helped us find the structure and make sense of it all.”
Warner/Chappell publishing executive Katie Vinten brought in numerous artists, among them P!nk, whom Tranter calls “a lifesaver,” adding, “Her vocal on the chorus is like from heaven directly.”
Spears opens the song with the plaintive line, “Can hold a gun or a hold a heart.” RuPaul is heard quietly toward the end, saying “take my hand baby.”
The songwriters had no specific plan as they entered the studio — only that they didn’t want the piece “to ever sound dated.”
“We didn’t want to have any trendy electronic elements,” Tranter notes. “We wanted it to sound classic, timeless and human. We want this anthem of positivity to be played for years to come.”
“Imagine a place where wishes come true,” starts the trailer, which introduces 17-year-old Asha, played by DeBose, the powerful King Magnifico (Chris Pine), Asha’s pet goat Valentino (Alan Tudyk), and Star, a celestial ball of boundless energy that Asha’s wish calls down from the sky.
