Luke Bryan was named Artist of the Year and Chris Stapleton won Album of the Year at Sunday’s American Country Countdown Awards. Meanwhile, Brooks & Dunn reunited outside of their Vegas show to accept the Nash Icon award and perform their smash “Red Dirt Road.” Ronnie Dunn’s response? “So here’s how it goes.” “I wake up in a parking lot tomorrow in a brown, whiskey haze at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas with this Icon award sitting next to me.” “I go, ‘You ain’t no icon. You ain’t no Johnny Cash.” “You ain’t no Merle Haggard. You ain’t no George Jones. You got a lot long way to go skinny boy with a record deal.’ I’m proud of this, thank you!” Speaking of the late Merle Haggard, Toby Keith, along with Haggard’s band the Strangers, and Haggard’s youngest son Ben, performed. Keith sang a montage of Haggard hits including, “Mama Tried,” “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink” and “Fightin’ Side of Me.” The gorgeous Carrie Underwood (above) showed off her moves – and vocal chops, as always – with a live rendition of “Church Bells.” Usually high-energy Florida Georgia Line took it down a couple of notches for a performance of “H.O.L.Y.” as their wives looked on adoringly. Jennifer Nettles, Cam and Martina McBride performed the latter’s 2003 hit “This One’s for the Girls” in an awesome shout-out to women. A good time was had by all, to state the obvious. Here’s the full list of winners from the American Country Countdown Awards 2016: Artist of the Year: Luke Bryan Male Vocalist of the Year: Luke Bryan Female Vocalist of the Year: Carrie Underwood Group/Duo of the Year: Florida Georgia Line Song of the Year: “Die a Happy Man” by Thomas Rhett Breakthrough Male of the Year: Sam Hunt Breakthrough Female of the Year: Kelsea Ballerini Album of the Year: Traveller by Chris Stapleton Nash Icon Award: Brooks & Dunn
Luke Bryan was named Artist of the Year and Chris Stapleton won Album of the Year at Sunday’s American Country Countdown Awards. Meanwhile, Brooks & Dunn reunited outside of their Vegas show to accept the Nash Icon award and perform their smash “Red Dirt Road.” Ronnie Dunn’s response? “So here’s how it goes.” “I wake up in a parking lot tomorrow in a brown, whiskey haze at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas with this Icon award sitting next to me.” “I go, ‘You ain’t no icon. You ain’t no Johnny Cash.” “You ain’t no Merle Haggard. You ain’t no George Jones. You got a lot long way to go skinny boy with a record deal.’ I’m proud of this, thank you!” Speaking of the late Merle Haggard, Toby Keith, along with Haggard’s band the Strangers, and Haggard’s youngest son Ben, performed. Keith sang a montage of Haggard hits including, “Mama Tried,” “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink” and “Fightin’ Side of Me.” The gorgeous Carrie Underwood (above) showed off her moves – and vocal chops, as always – with a live rendition of “Church Bells.” Usually high-energy Florida Georgia Line took it down a couple of notches for a performance of “H.O.L.Y.” as their wives looked on adoringly. Jennifer Nettles, Cam and Martina McBride performed the latter’s 2003 hit “This One’s for the Girls” in an awesome shout-out to women. A good time was had by all, to state the obvious. Here’s the full list of winners from the American Country Countdown Awards 2016: Artist of the Year: Luke Bryan Male Vocalist of the Year: Luke Bryan Female Vocalist of the Year: Carrie Underwood Group/Duo of the Year: Florida Georgia Line Song of the Year: “Die a Happy Man” by Thomas Rhett Breakthrough Male of the Year: Sam Hunt Breakthrough Female of the Year: Kelsea Ballerini Album of the Year: Traveller by Chris Stapleton Nash Icon Award: Brooks & Dunn
If the Season 6 premiere of Game of Thrones felt a tad uneventful, this week’s episode more than made up for it by arguably doing as much advance the plot as any individual episode in the show’s history. Watch Game of Thrones Season 6 Episode 2 Online We begin with the long-awaited return of Bran – and the first appearance of Lyanna Stark, who according to some theories , is the mother of Jon Snow. Interesting stuff, but let’s face it, the real revelation here is that Hodor talks! And his real name is Willis! Unfortunately, that’s all in the past. In the present, he and Meera just stand idly by while Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven have visions. They’re basically like the straight-edge roommates in a stoners’ dorm. From there, we move to Castle Black for a showdown nearly as tense as any scene in the acclaimed ” Watchers on the Wall ” episode in Season 4. At first we were disappointed, as it seemed that the show would be spending another episode attempting to convince us that Jon Snow is really dead (more on that later), but hey – it was cool to see that badass Wildling giant again. Also making a return in this episode – the d-bag who flashed his dong at Cersei during her painfully memorable walk of shame. We get the feeling the dude won’t be making any further cameos. If you like giants slamming regular-sized people into walls, this was episode for you! The Lannisters continue to make their case for the most dysfunctional family in Westeros, as Tommen suspects Cersei of killing Trystane and prevents her from attending Myrcella’s funeral. View Slideshow: Game of Thrones Season 6 Episode 2 Photos: Bran is Back! The High Sparrow returns, and it appears he won’t be as easily dispatched as many (including Jaime) initially thought. It’s beginning to seem like he’s another villain who’s in this for the long haul, but his aims, and the impact that he’ll have on the struggle for the Iron Throne are still unclear. “Everyone is poor and powerless, and yet together, we can overthrow an empire,” he tells Jaime, doing his best impression of Bernie Sanders’ evil twin. As the sole bad guy who claims to be working for the greater good, the Sparrow could prove to be a dangerous and formidable foe to the Lannisters. At the very least he’ll be the primary target of Cersei’s inevitable revenge. Speaking of Lannisters, Tyrion is still working for the missing Khaleesi. Although these days, that mainly means drinking a lot and spouting witty one-liners. In fairness, if we were about to single-handedly prove that dragons aren’t so bad after all, we’d need a glass of wine or seven, too. Tyrion unchains Dany’s scaly pets, and survives the encounter, but we still don’t know much about how well the dragons follow orders and what role they’ll play in her rescue. Unfortunately, that was the closest we got to a Daenerys update this week. Arya continues to practice the world’s most painful religion, though for once, she seems to be making progress. Meanwhile, Ramsay gets backed further into a corner and reacts like the evil vermin that he is by perpetrating one of the most despicable acts we’ve seen on GoT (no mean feat!). Like Ramsay, Sansa, Reek and Brienne are also laboring under the impression that Jon is alive, well and in command of the Night’s Watch. It’s partially for that reason that Reek (in a surprisingly touching scene) abandons the mission to return Sansa to safety and heads home. (The title of the episode applies to just about every storyline in equal measure.) That brings us back to the Iron Islands (Also worth noting: This episode was filled with some impressively seamless transitions.) where Euron Greyjoy throws his brother Balon to his death. And then finally – finally! – we get a direct answer to the question that Thrones fans have been asking for months: Can Melisandre bring Jon Snow back to life? The answer yes – but it ain’t easy. The showrunners did a good job of building tension during Jon’s resurrection scene, but the whole thing felt a bit inevitable, which was perhaps unavoidable, as fans have been predicting this outcome for months. We all knew that Jon was coming back somehow. His character is too significant to the show’s other storylines, and it would’ve been absurd to spend so much time establishing his importance just to kill him off in somewhat random fashion. Now that the “Jon is dead” storyline is resolved (Paul is still the walrus, BTW.) it almost feels like we can let out our bated breath and go about the business of beginning to bring “the great game” toward its conclusion. The episode is entitled “Home,” after all, and that could’ve meant several things in Jon’s case, but in the end, it seems to affirm that the Lord Commander truly belongs at Castle Black. View Slideshow: Game of Thrones Gambling Odds: Wager on Who Will Win the Iron Throne!
If the Season 6 premiere of Game of Thrones felt a tad uneventful, this week’s episode more than made up for it by arguably doing as much advance the plot as any individual episode in the show’s history. Watch Game of Thrones Season 6 Episode 2 Online We begin with the long-awaited return of Bran – and the first appearance of Lyanna Stark, who according to some theories , is the mother of Jon Snow. Interesting stuff, but let’s face it, the real revelation here is that Hodor talks! And his real name is Willis! Unfortunately, that’s all in the past. In the present, he and Meera just stand idly by while Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven have visions. They’re basically like the straight-edge roommates in a stoners’ dorm. From there, we move to Castle Black for a showdown nearly as tense as any scene in the acclaimed ” Watchers on the Wall ” episode in Season 4. At first we were disappointed, as it seemed that the show would be spending another episode attempting to convince us that Jon Snow is really dead (more on that later), but hey – it was cool to see that badass Wildling giant again. Also making a return in this episode – the d-bag who flashed his dong at Cersei during her painfully memorable walk of shame. We get the feeling the dude won’t be making any further cameos. If you like giants slamming regular-sized people into walls, this was episode for you! The Lannisters continue to make their case for the most dysfunctional family in Westeros, as Tommen suspects Cersei of killing Trystane and prevents her from attending Myrcella’s funeral. View Slideshow: Game of Thrones Season 6 Episode 2 Photos: Bran is Back! The High Sparrow returns, and it appears he won’t be as easily dispatched as many (including Jaime) initially thought. It’s beginning to seem like he’s another villain who’s in this for the long haul, but his aims, and the impact that he’ll have on the struggle for the Iron Throne are still unclear. “Everyone is poor and powerless, and yet together, we can overthrow an empire,” he tells Jaime, doing his best impression of Bernie Sanders’ evil twin. As the sole bad guy who claims to be working for the greater good, the Sparrow could prove to be a dangerous and formidable foe to the Lannisters. At the very least he’ll be the primary target of Cersei’s inevitable revenge. Speaking of Lannisters, Tyrion is still working for the missing Khaleesi. Although these days, that mainly means drinking a lot and spouting witty one-liners. In fairness, if we were about to single-handedly prove that dragons aren’t so bad after all, we’d need a glass of wine or seven, too. Tyrion unchains Dany’s scaly pets, and survives the encounter, but we still don’t know much about how well the dragons follow orders and what role they’ll play in her rescue. Unfortunately, that was the closest we got to a Daenerys update this week. Arya continues to practice the world’s most painful religion, though for once, she seems to be making progress. Meanwhile, Ramsay gets backed further into a corner and reacts like the evil vermin that he is by perpetrating one of the most despicable acts we’ve seen on GoT (no mean feat!). Like Ramsay, Sansa, Reek and Brienne are also laboring under the impression that Jon is alive, well and in command of the Night’s Watch. It’s partially for that reason that Reek (in a surprisingly touching scene) abandons the mission to return Sansa to safety and heads home. (The title of the episode applies to just about every storyline in equal measure.) That brings us back to the Iron Islands (Also worth noting: This episode was filled with some impressively seamless transitions.) where Euron Greyjoy throws his brother Balon to his death. And then finally – finally! – we get a direct answer to the question that Thrones fans have been asking for months: Can Melisandre bring Jon Snow back to life? The answer yes – but it ain’t easy. The showrunners did a good job of building tension during Jon’s resurrection scene, but the whole thing felt a bit inevitable, which was perhaps unavoidable, as fans have been predicting this outcome for months. We all knew that Jon was coming back somehow. His character is too significant to the show’s other storylines, and it would’ve been absurd to spend so much time establishing his importance just to kill him off in somewhat random fashion. Now that the “Jon is dead” storyline is resolved (Paul is still the walrus, BTW.) it almost feels like we can let out our bated breath and go about the business of beginning to bring “the great game” toward its conclusion. The episode is entitled “Home,” after all, and that could’ve meant several things in Jon’s case, but in the end, it seems to affirm that the Lord Commander truly belongs at Castle Black. View Slideshow: Game of Thrones Gambling Odds: Wager on Who Will Win the Iron Throne!
On The Bachelor Season 20 Episode 7, Ben Higgins’ journey officially reached the point where he selected his coveted final four. Who would earn those roses … or a plane ticket home? Watch The Bachelor Season 20 Episode 7 Online As always, if you wish to know who makes it to the season finale and wins Ben’s final final rose, read The Bachelor spoilers here. If you prefer to remain spoiler-free, let’s recap Monday! Picking up where last week left off, The Bachelor Season 20 Episode 7 saw Higgins get down to business with his six remaining ladies. If you watch The Bachelor online , you know that this is the first week without Olivia Caridi to play the villain. So what was the focal point? A trip to Ben’s hometown of Warsaw, Indiana. Unlike Chris Soules’ hometown of Arlington, Iowa, however … Ben actually lives in Denver now. But still, such a quaint place for a date. Lauren Bushnell and JoJo Fletcher, the obvious frontrunners, take up most of the screen time as the former tours the place Ben grew up. The latter, meanwhile, gets … empty Wrigley Field. JoJo even gets a Chicago Cubs jersey that says “Mrs. Higgins” on the back. “Mrs. Higgins… sooounds good…” JoJo, totally naturally. View Slideshow: The Bachelor Season 20: Meet the Ladies! The group date featured one rose and two boats: Ben and Caila pile into one while Becca and Amanda follow behind them from a distance. Sucks for them. Next, they fly kites apparently. Amanda ultimately gets the rose, Becca breaks down, Caila struggles with her own insecurities, and the tears start flowing all night long. Meanwhile, Ben tells us he wants to take Amanda to McDonald’s because “That’s a normal thing for me.” Yes, product placement alert! After that giant advertisement, they went to the fair (because small town Indiana) and generally seemed to hit it off in this swell place. Ben’s date with Emily, though? Wow. Just wow. Either the producers paid her to embarrass herself or they got lucky, because it’s hard to imagine a meet-the-parents date going worse. “I have so many dreams to accomplish,” Emily tells Ben’s mom, later explaining that said dreams entail becoming … an NFL cheerleader. It got worse from there, if you can believe that. “I’m so average at everything in life,” she says, really selling herself. “I will be an above-average mom, and an above-average wife.” You don’t want to go in there and oversell yourself or pretend to be something you’re not, but probably not the best sales pitch in history. Ben’s parents were not exactly bowled over, and this week proved to be her last as she was sent packing while the other girls watched. That seemed a little cold, but hey, it’s reality TV. At the rose ceremony, Ben had four to give up and one Becca Tilley to eliminate, as the entire episode had been telegraphing throughout. Caila Quinn earned the last rose – in terms of the one that was the most up for grabs – while this is still Lauren’s game to lose honestly. JoJo has an outside shot, but nothing more. Still In This Thing & Headed to the Coveted Final Four : Lauren Bushnell, Caila Quinn, Amanda Stanton and JoJo Fletcher. Out : Becca Tilley and Emily Ferguson. View Slideshow: Lauren Bushnell Photos: Ben Higgins’ Bachelor Babe?
The CW concluded its latest Arrow-The Flash crossover by dropping a major bombshell on viewers. Indeed, Oliver Queen has one major daddy issue: he is one! Watch Arrow Season 4 Episode 8 Online On Arrow Season 4 Episode 8 , Oliver confronted an ex-girlfriend after running a DNA test to confirm that her child really is. As some have speculated, however, this mother-son tandem are not comic book characters Sandra and Connor Hawke. They are simply two relative unknowns named Samantha and William Clayton. This way, executive producer Andrew Kreisberg told reporters after a screening of the installment, Connor can still be introduced at a different point down the line. Thanks to Barry going back and erasing the timeline in which Felicity learned of Oliver’s secret, resulting in a major blowout, Oliver now has no plans on revealing the truth to his girlfriend. As you might expect, according to producer Wendy Mericle, this is “definitely going to come to a head in the middle of the season.” She adds: “True to what we’ve done on the show, if there’s a secret somewhere, it’s going to come out, and it’s going to have some serious consequences, [which will] raise the stakes [for Olicity] and throw some wrenches into the works of their relationship.” View Slideshow: 15 Best Shows in CW History: Ranked! Also having consequences? Barry trip back in time after Vandal Savage actually destroyed both Team Arrow and Team Flash. “When Sara was brought back, when Thea was brought back, last year when Barry changed the timeline, this year when Barry changes the timeline… any of these things that feel like the right thing to do, there is always, always a price to be paid,” Kreisberg previews. Finally, as seen in the concluding minutes (when Malcolm gathered Savage’s ashes) the villain’s story is not over. Not by a long shot. Look for details of how he’ll resurface to play a major role on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow , which premieres in January. So there you have it. Crossover complete. Visit TV Fanatic to watch Arrow online in case you need to catch up and then sound off: What did you think?!? View Slideshow: 18 Sexy Small Screen Superheroes
The Walking Dead has found an actor to come on board in the iconic role of Negan. And it’s a face with which television fans are very familiar. Jeffrey Dean Morgan – who rose to small screen prominence as Denny Duquette on Grey’s Anatomy and also as John Winchester on Supernaturual – has been cast as the villainous character made famous in the Robert Kirkman comic book series. He will guest star on The Walking Dead Season 6 finale and then be upgraded to series regular status on The Walking Dead Season 7, which has already been ordered by AMC. According to the comics on which this smash hit is based, Negan is the leader of the Saviors, a ruthless group of survivors. He actually kills Glenn with his barbed wire-covered baseball bat (named Lucille), which is an interesting note because viewers are currently wondering whether Glenn is already dead, following his fall into a pit of Walkers two weeks ago. The Hollywood Reporter states that Matt Dillon and Timothy Olyphant were also under consideration for the role. Morgan, meanwhile, is currently stealing every single scene on The Good Wife Season 7 . He’s been sizzling up that CBS drama as private investigator Jason Crause, though this AMC booking means he’s unlikely to return for Season 8. View Slideshow: The Walking Dead Cast: Before They Were Stars…
It may be Friday, and folks around the nation may be enjoying a few rays of sunshine before the weather turns cold, and the Pope may be gracing America with his presence. But this is still a tragic day for millions of young men and women around the globe. Okay, mostly millions of women around the globe. But the point still remains: Zayn Malik quit One Direction on March 25, 2015. That’s six months ago today. As a result, the hashtag “#6MonthsWithoutZayn” has been trending worldwide on Twitter, with one user summing up most people’s feelings by writing of One Direction at the moment. “4 in our eyes. But 5 in our hearts.” How true, right? Another 1Der Tweeted “Still waiting for you to come home even though I know that you won’t change your mind,” while another simply wrote: “I’m emotional.” We all are, especially due to how crazy everything has been since Zayn left. Malik has since split from fiancee Perrie Edwards. He’s also signed a solo record deal, saying he left One Direction to make real music . OUCH. One Direction, meanwhile, has announced the release date of its next album (November 13). But it’s also made a far more heartbreaking announcement: the group will take an extended hiatus in 2016 . If the boy band never reunites, the outcry from Twitter may very well take down the entire social media universe.
It may be Friday, and folks around the nation may be enjoying a few rays of sunshine before the weather turns cold, and the Pope may be gracing America with his presence. But this is still a tragic day for millions of young men and women around the globe. Okay, mostly millions of women around the globe. But the point still remains: Zayn Malik quit One Direction on March 25, 2015. That’s six months ago today. As a result, the hashtag “#6MonthsWithoutZayn” has been trending worldwide on Twitter, with one user summing up most people’s feelings by writing of One Direction at the moment. “4 in our eyes. But 5 in our hearts.” How true, right? Another 1Der Tweeted “Still waiting for you to come home even though I know that you won’t change your mind,” while another simply wrote: “I’m emotional.” We all are, especially due to how crazy everything has been since Zayn left. Malik has since split from fiancee Perrie Edwards. He’s also signed a solo record deal, saying he left One Direction to make real music . OUCH. One Direction, meanwhile, has announced the release date of its next album (November 13). But it’s also made a far more heartbreaking announcement: the group will take an extended hiatus in 2016 . If the boy band never reunites, the outcry from Twitter may very well take down the entire social media universe.
Yesterday, we reported that Kim Zolciak suffered a stroke . She shared the frightening news with fans via an Instagram caption posted alongside a photo of the reality star lying in a hospital bed. Kim revealed that she suffered a transient ischemic attack (commonly referred to as a “mini stroke”) just minutes after flying home from a Dancing With the Stars rehearsal. It’s unclear how serious her condition is, but we now know that Kim is still hospitalized. The 37-year-old mother of six posted the above photo this morning along with a caption reassuring fans that she’s on the mend. “Going in for one more procedure, things are looking up! don’t let the oxygen scare you its just protocol,” Kim wrote. “I wanted THANK all of you for the love!” “I feel so overwhelmed with all the texts, comments etc. I’m so grateful to have all of you! #TheyDontCallMeToughieForNothing” It’s unlikely that Kim will return to Dancing With the Stars this season, but she revealed on Instagram that her dancing partner Tony Dovolani has been by her side for two days straight. Kim says she expected to be out of the hospital by now, but it seems doctors aren’t taking any chances. At one point, Kim was unable to speak and lost all feeling on the left side of her body. She says she’s now feeling better and is eager to complete her recovery at home. View Slideshow: Kim Zolciak Body Selfies
