American Idol is BACK. White Lotus season 3 coming soon. Vans Warped Tour REVIVAL. All this AND MUCH MORE!!

Season 23 of American Idol debuts on Sunday, March 9. Ryan Seacrest is back as host, with returning judges Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie. Carrie Underwood is taking over Katy Perry’s seat at the judge’s table. Katy’s leaving is saving Idol producers a ton of cash. She was reportedly earning $25M per season, but Carrie reportedly is doing it for less than half that. Her salary is rumored to be in the $10M-$12M range. Luke and Ryan reportedly both make $12M, too, so why is Lionel rumored to be making only $10M??? It was previously announced that Jelly Roll will be serving as the artist-in-residence. I can’t find the rumored salary for him, but — with Luke, Carrie and now Jelly Roll — I did find a lot of negative reaction to having so much country music influence on Idol this season. Now it’s been announced that Josh Groban will be a mentor on Idol for the episodes they film at Disney’s Aulani Resort in Hawaii. In fact, it looks like they’re filming those episodes now and they’re scheduled to wrap up this portion of filming tomorrow. 

How excited are we that White Lotus is back for Season 3 this Sunday night on HBO Max! This year, guests will be staying at a White Lotus property in Thailand. At the red carpet premiere in LA on Monday, Arnold Schwarzenegger was there with his son Patrick, who is not only in Season 3, he is naked. Arnold posted on Instagram, “I could claim to be surprised to find out he has a nude scene, but what can I say — the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Don’t miss it this Sunday — trust me.”  This season’s cast also includes Leslie Bibb, Parker Posey, Michelle Monaghan, Walton Goggins, Aimee Lou Wood, and Carrie Coon.

The very first Vans Warped Tour was held way back in 1995, with headliners No Doubt and Sublime. Over the years, that tour has launched the careers of artists like Katy Perry, Fall Out Boy, Bebe Rexha, Paramore, Sum 41,  and The Black Eyed Peas. It’s been six years since the last one, with headliners Blink-182, 311, Bad Religion and The All-American Rejects. But the Warped Tour is back for its 30th anniversary this year, spread out over 3 separate weekends. And for the first time ever, Avril Lavigne is performing! She’s signed on for the first stop June 14-15 in Washington, D.C. The tour continues without her when they hit up Long Beach, CA, July 26-27, and Orlando, Nov. 15-16. The touring lineup includes 3OH!3, Bowling for Soup, Beauty School Dropout, Blessthefall and more. Head to VansWarpedTour.com for tickets.

We can’t stop talking about Kendrick Lamar’s jeans! First of all, the jeans Kendrick wore for the Super Bowl Halftime Show were by the designer Celine, and they retail for $1300. According to the website, these are a “flared surf jean in summer dazed wash” and they are completely sold out. But now we’re learning that these jeans were originally meant to be worn by Timothée Chalamet. Kendrick and Timmy share the same stylist, who originally pulled these women’s size 29 jeans for Timmy. However, they hugged Kendrick’s hips perfectly, despite his size 33 waist. Also, Timmy is 5’10” and Kendrick is 5’5”, which made them baggier because of the extra length. 

In the locker room after the Chiefs’ Super Bowl blowout loss to the Eagles, Travis Kelce told reporters, “We haven’t played that bad all year…You don’t lose like that without everything going bad.” And on today’s New Heights podcast, Travis talked about it with his big brother and former Eagle Jason, saying, “Just wasn’t our day. Couldn’t find a lick of momentum. I’m kicking myself for some of the tiny, tiny decisions I made on the field.” Travis said the loss was a “tough pill to swallow,” adding, “Chiefs Kingdom, I’m sorry for how it ended…..I wish I had made better decisions early on to help my guy Pat (Patrick Mahomes) out and help my team find that momentum and that confidence. But you know, I just have to tip my hat to the Eagles.” Looking on the bright side, Travis said, “I have loved ones, I have the most amazing family in the world that supports me in everything I do and they were all there, cheering me on and hoping for the best on Sunday.”