Author: business

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter will finally debut her “Cowboy Carter” tour, and fans from all over the world have been arriving in Los Angeles days early in preparation for the moment she steps a foot onto the stage.

The 35-time Grammy winning singer is set to launch her Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit Tour at SoFi Stadium on April 28 at 7 p.m. PT.

A day before the opening how, Beyoncé’s official “Cowboy Carter” merch truck arrived outside the stadium to prepping to welcome an influx of fans when it officially opens Monday afternoon. However, some fans eagerly visited SoFi and passed the merch truck in anticipation of the goodies inside.

“We just came out here to see the merch truck and feel the vibes before tomorrow’s show,” says Cory Hall, who stopped by SoFi with his friend. “We’re super excited to see the queen slay.”

Beyoncé will launch her Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit Tour on April 28 in Los Angeles. The night will officially kick off at 7 p.m. PT with doors opening at 5 p.m. PT.

As of April 27, fans could still snag tickets on Ticketmaster for the opening concert and the first set of shows at SoFi Stadium with the lowest-priced tickets priced at $69.99 in the outermost section.

There are standard seats available, as well as verified resale tickets for closer seats, with the best floor seats ranging from $769.35 up to $3,450. And ticket experts say that prices will continue to fluctuate leading up to each show.

In the April 27 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-themed episode, the contestants had a vast catalog of songs to perform, with their assignment being to sing a track from one of the nearly 400 Rock Hall inductees. “You’ve Got a Friend” singer James Taylor took on a mentorship role.

In a bold move, Desmond Roberts sang The Commodores in front of Lionel Richie – and taking a risk paid off, as Richie and Luke Bryan insinuated Desmond outdid the former frontman with his cover. Carrie Underwood also stepped outside her comfort zone, hesitantly providing critical feedback (but always couching it with praise, of course).

The aspiring stars got a brief respite from singing when Ryan Seacrest announced the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees – a group that includes Cyndi Lauper, Outkast and Soundgarden.

Read on for the highlights from “American Idol” Episode 12.

What happened last week? Viewers vote for Top 14 as judges save 4 from elimination

Carrie Underwood opens up: Judges made ‘concessions’ choosing Top 14 saves

Constructor: Dena R. Verkuil

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• AMEX (14A: MC alternative) We occasionally see MC as a shortened version of “emcee,” which had me headed down the wrong path at first. Here MC is an abbreviation for Mastercard, which is an American Express, or AMEX, alternative.
• ALBUM (15A: “Help!” or “Nevermind”) Help! is a 1965 ALBUM by the Beatles. Nevermind is a 1991 ALBUM by Nirvana. This is a fun clue. At first I was wondering if the answer was something like “plea” or “request” (neither of which fit…).
• TLDR (16A: “Here’s a summary” initials) TL;DR = too long; didn’t read
• ERS (20A: “The Pitt” and “St. Denis Medical” settings) The Pitt is a TV series that premiered in January of this year. Set in the ER of the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital, it stars Noah Wyle as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch. The entire season of the show covers one 15-hour work shift, with each episode covering approximately one hour. St. Denis Medical is a mockumentary TV series that premiered in November 2024. The series is set in an Oregon hospital. Both of these shows have been renewed for a second season.
• SNARK (22A: Commentary accompanied by an eyeroll) Mention of an eyeroll reminds me of a SNARK-filled comment my daughter once made to me when she was a teenager. In response to something I said, my daughter replied, “I just rolled my eyes to Minnesota (we live in Iowa).” I laughed, of course.
• NOHO (30A: NYC or L.A. neighborhood) NOHO is a primarily residential neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. NOHO got its name from the neighborhood being “North of Houston Street.” In Los Angeles, California, the NOHO Arts District is known for its theaters, art galleries, cafes, and shops. The L.A. community takes its name from its location in “North Hollywood.”
• DRE (37A: Name hidden in “speed reader”) Discovering DRE in “speed reader” is a fun find. This clue made me curious about what phrase my name is hidden in, and I discovered that Sally is hidden in “Love is all you need.”
• SPECIES (40A: Taxonomic category) SPECIES is one level, or taxonomic category, in the classification of living organisms. SPECIES is a rank below genus. Animals are often identified using their genus and SPECIES names. For example, the scientific name of human beings is Homo sapiens. Homo is the genus, and sapiens is the SPECIES.
• KOS (46A: Stat for Laila Ali) Laila Ali retired from an eight-year undefeated professional boxing career in 2007. During her boxing career, 21 of her 24 fights were won by KOS (knockouts).
• NEVADA (51A: Driest state in the United States) The average annual rainfall in NEVADA is approximately 7 inches. Some areas of NEVADA get around 40 inches of rainfall a year, which lets you know that some areas of the state do not receive much rain at all. The Mojave Desert covers the southern third of NEVADA.
• E-GIRL (62A: Emo-inspired Gen-Z aesthetic) The E-GIRL (and e-boy) aesthetic emerged in the late 2010s, and was popularized by TikTok. The look of this emo-inspired fashion subculture may include baggy clothes, neon-colored hair, nail polish, and decorative chains.
• AUNT (65A: Gayle, to Tina, Gene and Louise in “Bob’s Burgers”) Bob’s Burgers is an animated sitcom centered on Bob and Linda Belcher and their children – Tina, Gene, and Louise. As the name of the show suggests, the Belchers own a burger restaurant. Gayle is Linda’s sister, which makes her Tina, Gene, and Louise’s AUNT.
• MOATS (69A: Features of Angkor Wat and Leeds Castle) Angkor Wat, located in Cambodia, is a complex that was originally constructed as a Hindu temple for the Khmer Empire in the early 12th century. It was gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the century. Leeds Castle is located in Kent England. It was constructed in 857, and was renovated in 1278. As the clue informs us, both Angkor Wat and Leeds Castle have MOATS.
• OMEN (9D: It’s a sign!) The exclamation point in this clue is a signal to solvers to interpret this clue literally. An OMEN is literally a sign.
• OHIO (25D: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s state) The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland, OHIO. It’s located on Lake Erie, and the building was designed by I. M. Pei, meaning there are multiple crossword clue angles associated with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
• NACHOS (30D: Cheesy dish named for its inventor, Ignacio Anaya) Ignacio Anaya (1895-1975), whose nickname was Nacho, was the maître d’ at a restaurant in Mexico when he invented NACHOS, the Tex-Mex dish that has become so popular it has even been honored with a Google Doodle.
• SAKE (38D: Omakase drink) Omakase is a Japanese phrase that means “I leave it up to you.” Ordering omakase at a Japanese restaurant means leaving the selection of food (often sushi) up to the chef. Omakase meals may be accompanied by SAKE, a Japanese rice wine. Sometimes different types of SAKE will be paired with different sushi offerings.
• EARTH (50D: April 22 honoree) Since April 22 was just six days ago, hopefully it was in your mind that EARTH is the honoree referenced here. EARTH Day was first observed on April 22, 1970. EARTH Day has grown into an observance celebrated in more than 193 countries. The theme for EARTH Day 2025 was Our Power, Our Planet.
• EGGO (55D: “Stranger Things” waffle brand) Stranger Things is a Netflix TV series about a small town dealing with a hostile alternate dimension. Millie Bobby Brown portrays Eleven, a young girl with psychokinetic abilities who is known, among other things, for her fondness of EGGO waffles.
• Several other clues I especially enjoyed:
  • BINGO (5A: “You hit the nail on the head!”)
  • VOTE (17A: Exercise a civic duty)
  • HASTE (53A: Proverbial tastemaker)
  • STARR (10D: Apt surname for an astronomer)

Dafoe, 69, is one of our greatest character actors, a man who’s appeared in more than 100 movies during his 45-year career, often in supporting roles or controversial parts but always making films better by inserting his signature electricity.

He has a list of greatest hits: Oscar-nominated turns as an idealistic soldier in “Platoon,” Vincent van Gogh in “At Eternity’s Gate” and a big-hearted motel manager in “The Florida Project.” And then there’s his high-profile take on Jesus in Martin Scorsese’s “The Last Temptation of Christ.”

We’re here, however, to celebrate his more out-there work, the characters that have been meme’d on social media (like GIF-able “The Smile Man”) or are just memorably unconventional for a guy who’s impossible to pigeonhole. With Dafoe back on the big screen in the throwback family adventure “The Legend of Ochi” (in theaters now), here are the actor’s 15 most gonzo movie roles, ranked:

David Yazbek’s latest curio, which opened April 27 at the Longacre Theatre, is a waggish, walloping, what-in-tarnation musical; the sort of coup that is so sublimely strange and strangely profound, it will revive your faith in Broadway itself.

That’s a whole lot of words for a show where the lead character spends half the 100-minute runtime with his mouth pursed shut in a casket. But that’s also part of its genius. “Dead Outlaw” is based on the unbelievable true story of Elmer McCurdy (Andrew Durand), a haplessly inept train robber who was born in 1880, died in 1911, and buried in 1977.

After he was gunned down by police, McCurdy’s body laid unclaimed in an Oklahoma funeral home for months. Embalmed with liberal amounts of arsenic, he was eventually propped up and put on public display, with looky-loos paying two bits to gawk at the so-called “bandit who wouldn’t give up.”