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Brandy Returning as Cinderella for Disney’s ‘Descendants: Wicked Wonderland’

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Brandy and Rita Ora are returning as Cinderella and the Queen of Hearts for Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, Disney announced on Tuesday (May 6). The fifth installment of the hit Disney Channel Original Movie series is set for release in 2026 on Disney Channel and Disney+.

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The two music stars were also featured in 2024’s Descendants: The Rise of Red, in which Brandy returned to the role of Cinderella for the first time since she starred alongside Whitney Houston in the 1997 TV movie Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Ora originated the Queen of Hearts role in The Rise of Red.

Also returning are Paolo Montalban as King Charming — who played Brandy’s Prince Charming in the 1997 film too — and Melanie Paxson as Fairy Godmother, making her the only actor to appear in all five Descendants films.

Kylie Cantrall will once again play the Queen of Hearts’ daughter Red and Malia Baker will reprise her role as Cinderella’s daughter Chloe.

Filling out the Wicked Wonderland cast are: Liamani Segura as Red’s sister Pink; Brendon Tremblay as Maddox Hatter’s son Max; Alexandro Byrd as Luisa Madrigal’s son Luis; Kiara Romero as Captain Hook’s daughter Hazel Hook; Joel Oulette as Robin Hood’s son Robbie; Zavien Garret as Dr. Facilier’s son Felix; Ryan McEwen and Dayton Paradis as the Smee Twins, Squirmy and Squeaky; and Leonardo Nam as the Mad Hatter’s son Maddox.

Kimmy Gatewood will direct Wicked Wonderland — her first time helming a Descendants film — with a script from Tamara Chestna and The Rise of Red writers Dan Frey and Ru Sommer. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the first Descendants film, which debuted on Disney Channel in July 2015.

All four Descendants albums reached No. 1 on both Billboard‘s Soundtracks chart and the Kid Albums chart, and reached the all-genre Billboard 200. The first three titles all reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200, with the first release debuting at No. 1. The four projects have collectively earned 3.9 million equivalent album units in the United States, through May 1, according to Luminate.

See Cantrall and Baker reveal the title of the fifth movie in the series below:

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Calvin Harris’ Ex-Business Manager Denies $22M Fraud Claims: ‘Categorically False’

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Calvin Harris‘ former longtime business manager is firing back against bombshell fraud claims, saying he never stole from anybody and that the Scottish DJ willingly agreed to invest in his Los Angeles real estate development project.

Thomas St. John, an entertainment industry-focused accountant who runs the eponymous firm Thomas St. John Group, is currently wrapped up in thorny arbitration proceedings with his former client Harris (Adam Wiles). He’s accused of abusing his access to Harris’ accounts in order to fund his side venture: the construction of a recording studio and office space complex in Hollywood.

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Harris claims that St. John tricked him into investing $22.5 million in the project, known as CMNTY Culture Campus, which he says turned out to be a “complete boondoggle” that he “has not received a single penny in return for” — while suggesting that St. John pocketed much of the money for himself.

However, a representative for St. John says in a new statement that the allegations are “categorically false.” The rep denies that St. John engaged in any self-dealing, adding that Harris is one of nine above-board investors who “knowingly signed investment agreements” to get involved in CMNTY Culture.

“Not a single dollar has been misappropriated, all investor entitlements remain intact, and the project continues to advance within the normal entitlement timeline,” says St. John’s rep in the Tuesday (Sept. 23) statement. “We will continue to take every necessary step to set the record straight and to ensure that these malicious, bad-faith attacks are recognized for what they are: entirely without merit.”

While CMNTY Culture was initially designed to house a recording studio and office space, St. John has since shifted the plans and is now developing a residential apartment complex on the same tract of land in Hollywood. According to his rep, the project is proceeding apace and “is expected to approach a $1 billion valuation” upon completion.

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“While the entitlement process has naturally taken longer than initially projected due to unprecedented interest, macroeconomic conditions and significant city red tape, it remains firmly within its promised schedule and is now on the verge of securing final entitlements, an important milestone that will unlock substantial value,” adds St. John’s rep.

Thomas St. John Group has offices in Los Angeles, London, Amsterdam and Stockholm. The management firm’s U.S. arm recently filed for bankruptcy, citing hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid rent in L.A. and multiple pending legal actions.

One creditor listed in the firm’s bankruptcy papers is Philip Lawrence, a songwriter and producer who made his name collaborating with Bruno Mars. Lawrence used to be a client of St. John’s and at one point invested $10 million from the sale of his catalog into CMNTY Culture Campus, according to court filings in Lawrence’s own personal bankruptcy case.

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Apple’s Newest AirPods Are Now Available Online: Here’s What to Know About the AirPods Pro 3

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All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Apple’s latest earbuds are here with the AirPods Pro 3 officially released on September 19. The iconic white wireless buds may look (almost) the same on the outside, but they’ve received a pretty major makeover when it comes to its internal features.

But are the new AirPods worth buying? And are they that different from previous generations? Read on for our hands-on review of Apple’s latest wireless earbuds release.

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We got our hands on the AirPods Pro 3 a few weeks ago and have been putting them straight to work — literally. We typically keep our earbuds on all day at work, if not for taking calls then for listening to a playlist or podcast. And just as expected, the new AirPods offer great sound quality, with well-balanced audio — no matter the genre — and crisper details pulled out from each track. Compared to the previous AirPods models, the sound in the Pro 3 feels a little bit bolder and punchier, though we have to admit we didn’t here a drastic difference. Still, songs fill the entire space around you, as if you’re in a listening room or studio and not well, sitting at your desk or couch. Apple says that’s thanks to a new acoustic housing that better supports spatial audio (basically a fancy way of describing theater-like sound with music “floating” around you rather than directly at you). Apple has always been consistent with its audio quality so it’s no surprise that it remains strong here.

The most noticeable improvement is the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) technology. The noise cancellation feature is better than ever and Apple says the new AirPods remove two-times more unwanted noise than the AirPods Pro 2 and four-times more noise removed compared to the original AirPods Pro. They’re not kidding: listening to music in the airport lounge the other day, we almost missed our boarding announcement because we were so immersed (note to self: you can always switch between modes).

We typically use our AirPods out of the office too, especially when we’re out for a run. The gummy ear-tips help the AirPods Pro stay in our ears better than the regular AirPods, and the new earbuds now come with five different eartip sizes to help you perfect your fit. Somewhat strangely, we found the small eartips worked best for our left ear but we sized up to a medium eartip for our right ear. Either way, the earbuds feel totally secure and comfortable, even when we were moving around.

With less comfortable earbuds, we often find ourselves removing them in between use cases, but we tried keeping the AirPods Pro 3 on throughout our workday, and after finding the right “foam-infused” eartips for our ear size, the buds weren’t distracting or uncomfortable to leave on. The foam tips also add as an extra layer of “insulation” so to speak, for passive noise cancellation.

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The best new features though aren’t instantly tangible. For starters, the AirPods Pro 3 now have a built-in heart rate sensor that lets you track your heart rate and calories whether for day-to-day activities or up to 50 different workouts. Apple’s Hearing Aid features, meantime, can now automatically reduce background noise and boost voices, so your conversations come in clearer (say, when you’re using the earbuds on a call).

One of the coolest new features is Apple’s Live Translation tool, which lets you converse with others in a different language with a live translation either on your iPhone or translated directly into your AirPods. Pretty cool right? We tested this out with a friend who spoke Spanish and we found that it was pretty intuitive. With the active noise cancellation mode turned on, the earbuds were also able to lower the volume of the person speaking (in the foreign language) and boost the English translation in our ears.

Apple currently supports Live Translation on the new AirPods for English, French, Spanish, German and Portuguese. The company says Italian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese will be coming to the platform by the end of the year. Just note: to use Live Translation, you need to open up your iPhone settings to download the language the other person is speaking and the language you’d like to translate it to. You’ll also need to be using a new or updated iPhone.

You’ll be pleased to know that battery life is strong: Apple says you can up to 10 hours on a single charge with transparency mode and up to eight hours with ANC turned on. The 8-10 hours range is in line with our testing, but it helps to have the included wireless charging case handy just in case.

Overall, Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 are workhorse earbuds that really do it all. In our opinion, these are some of the best earbuds you can buy online right now, whether you’re using them for music, work, health and fitness, travel or all of the above. You’ll find yourself reaching for them basically every day, making them worth the pick up. Speaking of which: you can get them on Amazon now for $249 here.

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How Two Former Sony Music Mexico Execs Turned Their ‘Big Idea’ Into a Thriving Marketing & Promo Business

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Five years ago, Latin music moguls Diego Laviada and Hernán Villarreal, who both worked at Sony Music Mexico for more than two decades, launched their own marketing and promotion agency called Dubbing Hits. 

“I felt the desire to do something else,” Laviada, CEO of Dubbing Hits and former vp of marketing and promotion at Sony Music Mexico, tells Billboard. “When I told Hernán about wanting to start this project, he got really excited and decided to join me. I didn’t have much to offer him at first, other than this big idea and the dream to follow it.”

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Based in Mexico, Dubbing Hits has become a one-stop company with different verticals specializing in creative and influencer marketing, audiovisual production, paid media, and mass promotion on TV, radio, and digital media, to name a few. The agency also works closely live entertainment companies, events, influencers and brands, and recently teamed up with creative and audiovisual production company Cuarto Piso. 

“When it came to the growth of independent artists, I felt there was a need for professional, experienced, and honest attention that can guide the artist in their different stages,” says Laviada, who has almost 35 years of experience in the industry.

What started off as a small team of six people has evolved into an office with more than 35 employees. Led by Laviada and Villarreal, Dubbing Hits says it has collaborated on more than 1,000 promo plans and 500 music releases, with over 400 of those reaching No. 1 in Mexico; and executed more than 1,500 campaigns that have generated 5.3 billion impressions across 14 countries. The agency has also expanded its campaigns to the coveted screens in New York’s Times Square. 

Dubbing Hits’ notable clients include Alejandro Sanz, Bad Bunny, Carin León, Fuerza Regida, Grupo Firme, Katy Perry, Marc Anthony, Miley Cyrus, Rauw Alejandro, Romeo Santos and Shakira, along with companies such as Disney+, OCESA Seitrack, Rimas and Spotify. 

Now, on the company’s fifth anniversary, Laviada and Villarreal have no plans to slow down. 

“This industry is so extensive with lots of options that I think we make the perfect combination, always with the hunger to support, create and be that partner that believes in the artist and lives their dream,” says Laviada. “Our slogan best explains it: ‘Your project, our passion.’”

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