THE ACADEMY CONFIRMS LADY GAGA AND BRADLEY COOPER WILL PERFORM AT THE OSCARS – (02/04/2019)

It’s official: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper will team up to perform their Oscar-nominated hit “Shallow” on the Academy Awards telecast.

In addition, the Academy confirmed that Gillian Welch and David Rawlings would perform another nominated song, “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings,” from the movie The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.

Jennifer Hudson will sing “I’ll Fight,” from the documentary RBG, on the telecast, and another nominated tune, the Mary Poppins Returns song “The Place Where Lost Things Go,” will be performed by a “surprise special guest,” suggesting it won’t be sung by actress Emily Blunt, who Deadline reports is “apprehensive” about performing.

All that remains is for the Academy to confirm that the final nominated song, “All the Stars” from the Black Panther soundtrack, will be performed by Kendrick Lamar and SZA.

Initially, the Academy was only going to feature “Shallow” and “All the Stars,” in an attempt to keep the telecast shorter. But reportedly, when the nominees banded together and demanded all or nothing, the Academy relented – but will allegedly shorten each song to 90 seconds.

Deadline reports the producers of the Oscars did want to cut three of the songs, but either Gaga or her reps pushed back on the “completely unfair” proposal and threatened to pull her “Shallow” performance. Clearly not wanting to lose what should be one of the evening’s most memorable moments, the Academy gave in.

The Oscars air February 24th, live on ABC.

TRAVIS SCOTT, KYLIE JENNER SPARK ENGAGEMENT RUMORS: The pair have yet to confirm or deny ongoing engagement rumors, but fans are convinced once again that Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott are engaged. After performing with Maroon 5 at the Super Bowl Halftime show, Scott shared a cute shot of Jenner on Instagram Stories, starring a massive rock on that finger. This speculation comes after Jenner created a wave of excitement by posting a shot of herself and Scott captioned, “baby #2?” She later told fans she wasn’t pregnant … yet.

JUDGE RULES COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT LAWSUIT AGAINST ED SHEERAN CAN PROCEED: A federal judge in New York has refused to dismiss a lawsuit involving Ed Sheeran’s Grammy-winning hit “Thinking Out Loud.” The heirs of Edward B. Townsend, who own the copyright to Marvin Gaye’s classic track “Let’s Get It On,” have accused Ed of copyright infringement, claiming that “Thinking Out Loud” is too similar to Gaye’s song. The judge’s decision noted that because there are substantial “material facts” in dispute he refused Ed’s motion to dismiss the suit. Those “facts” include whether or not the chord progression used in “Let’s Get It On” – and also used in “Thinking Out Loud” – is “commonplace.” Another fact is whether or not the musical elements in the two songs are so similar that the average person would hear “Thinking Out Loud” and feel that it had been appropriated from “Let’s Get It On.” The judge said there exists “substantial similarities between several of the two works’ musical elements” and noted that jurors “may be impressed by footage of a Sheeran performance which shows him seamlessly transitioning between [both songs].”

CHRISTINA AGUILERA DENIES ‘SWINGING’ AT PINK DURING PAST FEUD – (02/04/2019)

Christina Aguilera says she never swung at Pink during the height of their rumored feud.

The 38-year-old singer said on Thursday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live that she tried to kiss, not punch, Pink during a night at a club following the recording of “Lady Marmalade.” “I seem to have a different memory of a night we had at a club where we played Spin the Bottle,” Aguilera told host Andy Cohen. “I have a love memory.” “I wouldn’t swing on her,” she said. “I was excited about a kiss. I was like, ‘Oh, a kiss and all’s good.’ She put her hand up [and covered her mouth]. I was like, ‘Oh, okay. That’s what we’re doing? Alright’.”

Aguilera did confirm she clashed with Pink while collaborating with the singer, Mya and Lil’ Kim on a cover of “Lady Marmalade” for the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. “I’ve seen her Behind the Music and I know she had some, you know, feelings or whatever about how the recording of ‘Lady Marmalade’ went down and all that,” the star said. “I know [on] the actual video she intimidated me a lot because she was heckling me in the audience a little bit behind the director. I was like, ‘What’s going on?’” she recalled. “She’s a different person now. She’s, like, a mom. She’s cool.”

Pink had said on Watch What Happens Live in October 2017 that Aguilera tried to punch her during a night out. “I think I’m an alpha, and she’s an alpha,” the singer explained. “I’m used to taking my altercations physical and she’s used to having them verbal. We just are very different, we’re very different. And we were very young and new.” “Actually, she swung on me in a club. Hilarious!” she said. “I was like, ‘What’s happening right now? What’s happening’?”

Aguilera and Pink have made up since their reported feud. Pink told The Sun in December 2017 that she and Aguilera had recorded a new duet, but said she wasn’t sure if the song would be released.

PETE DAVIDSON AND KATE BECKINSALE SPOTTED HOLDING HANDS: Rumored new lovebirds Pete Davidson and Kate Beckinsale were spotted holding hands again after his stand-up show at Largo at the Coronet in West Hollywood. They were first spotted together in January, when they reportedly got acquainted at Netflix’s Golden Globes afterparty. 

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