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  • Kelly Clarkson returns to talk show after nearly 2 weeks

    Kelly Clarkson returns to talk show after nearly 2 weeks

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    Kelly Clarkson is back on the air.

    The “Since U Been Gone” singer, 42, returned to her daytime talk show on Tuesday after being out for almost two weeks. Guest hosts had stepped in for Clarkson during her unexplained absence.

    Clarkson made her return on the March 18 episode, where she welcomed “Severance” star Adam Scott at the top of the show. She did not address the reason for her absence.

    The Instagram account for “The Kelly Clarkson Show” indicated she will be absent again on Wednesday, as Andy Cohen is listed as guest host. Clarkson will be back for the Thursday and Friday episodes, per the episode lineup and a rep for the show.

    On Thursday, Clarkson will host Tyler Perry, Alicia Vikander and Mau y Ricky. Ellen Pompeo, David Blaine and Crystle Stewart are slated as guests for Friday.

    The “American Idol” alumna has not hosted her show since her March 5 episode, which prompted questions and concerns among fans.

    Others argued Clarkson should not have to tell viewers why she is absent, with one fan writing on YouTube, “I think we need to remember that this is a job, and sometimes, people take time off from their jobs, and they don’t need to explain why. I don’t think Kelly Clarkson needs to tell us where she went to those wondering.”

    “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” star Simu Liu initially stepped in for Clarkson when she was out on March 3 and told the studio audience that even he wasn’t aware he’d be taking the helm that day.

    “Kelly isn’t able to make it today. We’re sending her our very best. I did not know that I was doing this until about five minutes ago when I arrived to promote my new movie ‘Last Breath.’” I’m here now, and look, I’m not one to back down from a challenge.”

    Kelly Clarkson opens up about diagnosis that led to weight loss: ‘I wasn’t shocked’

    Kelly Clarkson’s guest hosts included Wanda Sykes, Josh Groban

    Clarkson returned for the March 5 show, but had been out since then. “Sunday Today” anchor Willie Geist stepped in as host March 12, and Molly Sims hosted March 13-14. Kal Penn served as guest host on March 17.

    Kelly Clarkson is ready to smile again with talk show’s move to NYC: ‘A weight has lifted’

    The star-studded lineup of guest hosts also included “The Daily Show” alum and comedian Roy Wood Jr., who took the reins on March 6.

    “Kelly’s out for the day. I’m back. You’re in good hands. I was here about a week ago, I think they brought me back because of my resemblance to Kelly. You need to squint to see it, though,” Wood joked.

    Comedian Wanda Sykes and singer Josh Groban co-hosted the March 7 episode, and Brooke Shields performed and hosted, as well.

    In 2019, amid the premiere of her talk show, Clarkson opened up to USA TODAY about her approach to hosting “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”

    “This is what’s weird about me. Ignorance is bliss. I’m just doing my thing. I love talking to people. I love singing. I love the audience being kind of a co-host with me. My band’s here,” she told USA TODAY. “So, I’m just kind of doing me. It might work and it might not.”

    Contributing: Bill Keveney, Melissa Rugierri, Brendan Morrow

  • Flashback to 2009 Suzanne Collins interview

    Flashback to 2009 Suzanne Collins interview

    Bob Minzesheimer
     |  USA TODAY

    In celebration of the release of “Sunrise on the Reaping,” we’re revisiting our 2009 interview with “Hunger Games” author Suzanne Collins, where she chatted about “Catching Fire” with the late USA TODAY Book Critic Bob Minzesheimer. It’s one of only about dozen press interviews Collins has done. This story has been lightly updated for style.

    Suzanne Collins, author of publishing’s hottest new teen series, “The Hunger Games,” says the most common question readers ask isn’t about its violence or political undercurrents, but its budding love story.

    “Catching Fire,” second in a trilogy, advances but doesn’t resolve a romantic triangle angling its 16-year-old narrator between two jealous boyfriends.

    Love can wait, Collins says. “She’s got a lot of things on her plate — like staying alive and saving humanity.”

    The series, filled with cliffhangers, is set in the future. North America has been devastated by war and divided between a decadent, all-powerful Capitol and 12 struggling districts. Each district must send one girl and one boy to compete in an annual televised fight to the death. The gladiators are primped by stylists and costume designers before the blood flows.

    Collins, 47, has written for younger kids. She worked on TV shows, including Noggin’s “Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!”. Her five-volume fantasy about an underground war between humans and animals, “The Underland Chronicles,” is for readers 9 to 12.

    “The Hunger Games,” for readers 12 and older, was inspired by Greek mythology and TV.

    Three years ago, Collins, a mother of two (ages 10 and 15), was channel-surfing between reality shows and news from Iraq at her home near Danbury, Conn.

    “On one channel young people were competing for money. On the next channel, young people were fighting for their lives. I was tired, and the ideas merged.”

    If the Roman Empire had had TV, would the real-life gladiators have been TV stars?

    “Absolutely,” Collins says. “It was mass, popular entertainment. If you take away the audience, what do you have?”

    She also was familiar with the myth of the Theseus and the Minotaur, in which Athens was forced to send seven boys and seven maidens to Crete to be devoured until Theseus volunteered to go and kill the monster.

    In Collins’ series, the country is called Panem, from the Latin “panem et circenses” (bread and circuses), a metaphor for popular amusements used to placate the populace.

    The narrator is named Katniss Everdeen. Katniss is an edible plant, which Collins discovered in an outdoor-survival book.

    Thanks to her father, who died in a coal-mining accident when she was 11, Katniss knows how to use a bow and arrow to survive, a useful skill when she volunteers to replace her younger sister in the Hunger Games.

    Katniss cares about the two boys, but not in the same way they love her, Collins says. “She’s not that interested in romance. She equates love with marriage and kids, who could be sent to the games.”

    Readers, however, are taken by Katniss’ romantic prospects. The Internet is filled with debates about her best potential mate. If you search Google for Katniss Everdeen, you will get 50,300 results — just one year after she appeared in print.

    The first book, “The Hunger Games,” hasn’t risen above No. 92 on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list, but it has stayed in the top 400 for an entire year, with 500,000 copies in print. “Catching Fire” has a 350,000-copy first printing, which portends a best seller.

    In Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., where “The Hunger Games” is among 49 books on the ninth-grade summer reading list (students chose three), teacher Annmarie Powers says her students introduced her to the series.

    It “spread like wildfire,” she says, with themes that teens are consumed with: “fairness, relationships, plenty of violence and blood, greed, hypocrisy, subservience and rebellion.”

    Collins is slated to write the screenplay for movie producer Nina Jacobson. But first she has to finish the third book, saying only: “There are deaths.”

    Major characters?

    “Probably. Apparently, everyone is fair game.”

    ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ is here: Prequel is a cornucopia of iconic ‘Hunger Games’ characters

    Bob Minzesheimer was USA TODAY’s Book Critic from 1997 to 2015, where he interviewed everyone from Maya Angelou to Stephen King and James Patterson. Read his full obituary from 2016 here.

  • Prince Harry's visa application under scrutinyEntertainment

    Prince Harry's visa application under scrutinyEntertainment

    Prince Harry’s visa application under scrutinyEntertainment

  • Watch Robert De Niro play two roles in 'The Alto Knights'Movies

    Watch Robert De Niro play two roles in 'The Alto Knights'Movies

    Watch Robert De Niro play two roles in ‘The Alto Knights’Movies

  • Lollapalooza 2025 lineup led by Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo

    Lollapalooza 2025 lineup led by Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo

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    The Lollapalooza lineup is here.

    Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and Doechii will all perform at the annual music festival, held in Chicago’s sprawling Grant Park each summer, as well as Tyler, The Creator, Luke Combs, Gracie Abrams, Korn, A$AP Rocky, Rüfüs du Sol and Twice. Carpenter, Doechii and Abrams have all shot to music superstardom over the past year while Rocky will return to the tour circuit after he was found not guilty in a gun assault trial last month.

    Tyler, The Creator was previously scheduled to close out the first night of last year’s festival but backed out in a disappointing move for fans. Megan Thee Stallion headlined night one of Lollapalooza 2024 in her fellow rapper’s absence.

    ‘See you this summer’: Lollapalooza reveals dates for 2025 festival

    The festival announced other buzzy performers Tuesday including Role Model, Sierra Ferrell, Finneas, Dominic Fike, T-Pain, Bleachers, Clairo, Remi Wolf, Isaiah Rashad, Gryffin, Wallows and Dom Dolla.

    How to get Lollapalooza tickets, pre-sale details

    The pre-sale starts Thursday at 10 a.m. central time and lowest-price four-day tickets for one hour only and fans can sign up on lollapalooza.com.

    When is Lollapalooza?

    Earlier this month, organizers revealed in a video message on social media that the festival will run from July 31 to Aug. 3.

    Lollapalooza featured historic Chappell Roan performance

    Lollapalooza 2024 featured knockout performances from the likes of Chappell Roan and Kesha. Roan, who was riding the wave of her breakout success with “Good Luck, Babe!,” made history with the massive turnout for her set. A spokesperson for Lollapalooza told USA TODAY in a statement at the time that Roan’s performance was “the biggest daytime set we’ve ever seen.”

    Additional sources told CNN that Roan reportedly had “Lollapalooza’s biggest set of all time,” although the exact number of attendees at Roan’s show was not confirmed.

    Last year, online festivalgoers were able to stream the Chicago concerts using the streaming service Hulu, which had the official livestream. Fans were able to watch and listen to two channels of live performances starting Thursday afternoon, with Hozier and Megan Thee Stallion as the opening night headliners.

    Contributing: Brendan Morrow, Anna Kaufman, Edward Segarra

  • How to watch, who’s performing

    How to watch, who’s performing

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    As the Grand Ole Opry turns 100, the famed radio show and performance venue has embarked on a yearlong centennial birthday celebration, kicking off with a massive, three-hour live show.

    On Wednesday, NBC will air live “Opry 100: A Live Celebration” featuring performances from a number of A-list artists including Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Reba McEntire and Carrie Underwood.

    Hosted by Blake Shelton, the show promises to be a big night as the Opry welcomes home a number of its most famed members. Performances will take place both at the Grand Ole Opry House and Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, the collective’s former home.  

    Here’s a rundown on who’s performing, and how to watch.

    Brad Paisley invites Post Malone to perform at Grand Ole Opry: ‘You and I can jam’

    How can I watch or stream ‘Opry 100’ live?

    The three-hour live show will be broadcast Wednesday on NBC and simulcast on Peacock beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

    Who is performing at the ‘Opry 100’ live special?

    A who’s who of country music’s finest, Wednesday’s special will feature performances from current headliners and architects of the genre.

    Full performances are expected from:

    In addition to the full performances, several stars are slated for special appearances, perhaps guest features on songs or presentations of digital content.

    Special appearances will include:

    What is the Grand Ole Opry?

    Founded in Nashville in 1925, the Opry is the longest-running live broadcast show in the world. Each week, the venue hosts three to seven live shows featuring some of country music’s hottest stars along with hitmakers from adjacent genres.

    Wednesday’s live show is set to honor that rich tradition with iconic collaborations, reflections on legendary Opry moments and exclusive digital content that honors the artists, fans and songs that define country music.  

    Contributing: Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY

  • Band objects to use of ‘Closing Time’

    Band objects to use of ‘Closing Time’

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    Minneapolis rock band Semisonic is protesting the White House’s use of its song “Closing Time” in a video showing a handcuffed deportee posted on social media.

    The video, posted Monday on X – the social media platform owned by Elon Musk and previously known as Twitter – shows a shackled man being frisked followed by several men being led onto a plane with the words “Border Patrol” in the foreground.

    Lyrics from the song “Closing Time,” are heard as the shackled man is shown: “Closing time, you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.” The lyrics are also written in the online post, along with a link to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection account on X. Then, as the video shows men climbing the aircraft steps, the lyrics, “I know who I want to take me home,” are heard.

    The Customs and Border Protection retweeted the post on X adding the caption: “It’s closing time. We are making America safe again.”

    On Monday afternoon, Semisonic posted a note on its X account, saying: “We did not authorize or condone the White House’s use of our song ‘Closing Time’ in any way. And no, they didn’t ask. The song is about joy and possibilities and hope, and they have missed the point entirely.”

    Near ‘constitutional crisis’: Recapping legal showdown over deportations of Venezuelans

    The song, “Closing Time,” is from the band’s 1998 album “Feeling Strangely Fine.” The single was No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart for five weeks and hit No. 8 on its Pop Airplay chart.

    When asked about the post on Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “our entire government clearly is leaning into the message of this president,” The Associated Press reported.

    Last month, the White House posted another controversial video called “ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight,” which showed chains and manacles being laid out on a tarmac as a nearby jet is warming up. A man is shown being shackled and walking up the flight steps.

    Semisonic latest artist to object to Trump’s use of music

    Semisonic is just the latest musician or band to object to the use of their music by the Trump administration or campaign.

    Other artists – some who have sent cease-and-desist letters or threatened suits – include Aerosmith, Beyoncé, Phil Collins, Celine Dion, John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival), Foo Fighters, Guns N’ Roses, Elton John, Linkin Park, Panic! At The Disco, R.E.M., Rhianna, the Rolling Stones, The Smiths, The White Stripes, Pharrell Williams, Neil Young, and the estates of Prince, Sinéad O’Connor, and Tom Petty.

    “Closing Time” is written by Semisonic’s Dan Wilson, who last month won a Grammy for best song written for visual media (“It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony,” a documentary starring Jon Batiste and his wife Suleika Jaouad). The song was also nominated in 2024 for best original song Oscar.

    In 2024, Wilson won a Grammy for best country song for co-writing “White Horse,” with Chris Stapleton. He also co-wrote and produced “Treacherous” for Taylor Swift’s 2012 album “Red.”

    This story was updated with a new promo image.

    Contributing: Jonathan Limehouse.

    Follow Mike Snider on Threads, Bluesky and X: mikegsnider  &  @mikegsnider.bsky.social  &  @mikesnider.

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  • Show based on Natalia Grace could’ve been ‘Cancel City’

    Show based on Natalia Grace could’ve been ‘Cancel City’

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    For 21 seasons, Ellen Pompeo has been the heart-rate monitor of ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy.” Now the Golden Globe-nominated actress is (temporarily) trading the comfort of Grey Sloan Memorial for what she feared could be the end of her career: the role of Natalia Grace’s adoptive mother in Hulu’s limited series inspired by the saga.

    “I said, ‘This seems like walking through a landmine field; this seems like Cancel City,’” Pompeo shares candidly in an interview, where she seems unguarded and full of interesting observations about the human condition. “How are we going to do this? What version of this story are we telling? And are we going to portray someone with dwarfism as evil?”

    Even if you’ve heard of Grace, you might not fully grasp her story, or all of the “they said, she said.” Over eight episodes, “Good American Family” (streaming weekly on Wednesdays) tells a dramatized version of Grace’s journey, first from the perspective of Kristine (Pompeo) and Michael Barnett (Mark Duplass) and then from that of the Ukrainian immigrant-born with dwarfism (Imogen Faith Reid).

    The Barnetts hoped Grace would be the perfect complement to their family when they adopted her in 2010. Instead, they claim she terrorized them, placing thumbtacks on the stairs for her family to step on, and trying to kill Kristine, Michael said in a 2019 interview with “Good Morning America.” The Barnetts successfully petitioned Grace’s birth year to be amended from 2003 to 1989 in 2012, moved her into an Indiana apartment and relocated to Canada. But a more recent DNA test concluded that Grace is much closer to her original birth year, meaning she would’ve been just a child when she was forced to fend for herself.

    With such varying accounts, co-executive producer Sarah Sutherland says, she and series creator Katie Robbins “did a tremendous amount of research.” Before becoming a TV writer, Robbins “was a journalist and a documentarian,” Sutherland says. “And I used to work in economics research. So the way in which we’re nerds actually services this kind of project really well.”

    Robbins noticed that perception of the events was influenced by whose point of view was being shared. “It was this roller coaster going through the articles, and it became this Rorschach test: How you saw it depended on who was telling the story and what biases and background you were bringing to the story,” she says. “That was really fascinating to me, and so I wanted to try to bring that into the experience of watching the show and really use it as a way of talking about perspective and bias and the elusive nature of truth.”

    Speaking with Robbins put Pompeo more at ease, and so did the actress’s agent, she says, who encouraged, “This is the turn to take,” she recalls. “Really turn things on its head and show people a completely crazy side of you.”

    But the key for the miniseries was Reid. The onscreen mother-daughter duo met on a Zoom call that lasted hours, Pompeo says. They had that electrifying chemistry. Reid “walked me through what this project meant to her,” Pompeo says, “and her perspective and how important she felt like it was to tell her version of this story.”

    Pompeo welcomed the responsibility of making a mindful, watchable TV show inspired by true events.

    “‘Grey’s’ has other challenges,” she says. “But I really wanted something that really challenged me and to see if I have what it takes.”

    “I’ve been doing the same thing for 20 years,” she adds. “And if I fall on my face, I fall on my face. This was something that I could put 200% of my effort into and let’s just see what happens.”

    When does ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ return in 2025? Season 21 midseason premiere date, time

    Pompeo says she’s in preliminary discussions to appear in seven episodes of “Grey’s” next season, the same number as this season.

    “I absolutely am so privileged to be able to say that I get to be a part of it, still, and the fans love that, and with a commitment that works for me and makes me able to fill my life with other things,” she says. “I don’t know if there’s been a next-season pickup or not. But they know that I love that show and that’s 20 years of my life and that I always will pop in and out and make appearances.”

    But after decades of playing Grey, it’s the mad roles that provide Pompeo’s world more color. “I would love to have more opportunities to keep playing crazy characters,” she says.

  • David Archuleta and other stars sing their favorite Lady Gaga songsEntertain This!

    David Archuleta and other stars sing their favorite Lady Gaga songsEntertain This!

    David Archuleta and other stars sing their favorite Lady Gaga songsEntertain This!

  • Seeing double! Celebrity mother-daughter look-alikesCelebrities

    Seeing double! Celebrity mother-daughter look-alikesCelebrities

    Seeing double! Celebrity mother-daughter look-alikesCelebrities