LOVE IT
• Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” video will feature cameos by rapper Kendrick Lamar, actress Lena Dunham and other celebrities.
• The world’s first Hello Kitty restaurant will officially open on June 1 in Hong Kong. Its menu includes dumplings shaped like Hello Kitty’s face.
• Amy Schumer will star in an HBO comedy special directed by Chris Rock. It will debut later this year.
• Nintendo and Universal are partnering to create “immersive” theme-park attractions based on popular Nintendo games such as Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong.
THE DIGITS
250,000
The number of bricks used to make the world’s largest Lego version of the Millennium Falcon in Melbourne; the non-Lego version of Han Solo’s iconic spacecraft is expected to appear in J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Wars flick
DOLLAR SIGNS
To put a relatable face on economic forces, Italian artist Alessandro Rabatti has imposed superhero imagery over currency icons. Flashbank, for example, blends the Flash with Abraham Lincoln (from the $5 bill) and Mao Zedong (from the Chinese yuan). For more, visit alessandrorabatti.com.
QUICK TALK
Zedd
The Russian-German producer and DJ, 25, has made hit songs for pop stars like Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. His second solo album, True Colors, arrives May 18.
–NOLAN FEENEY
A lot of formerly behind-the-scenes producers, like you and Calvin Harris, are now featured artists on their songs. What’s driving that?
Songs live not only because of the vocals but because of the sounds that make people move. At some point you realize, well, you’re doing all this work, wouldn’t it be fair if you had a little more credit than being written down in some booklet?
You’ve been playing piano since age 4. Has that persuaded any skeptics to sample your electronic dance music?
My grandmother! I had my CD in my car, and she asks, “Is this music?” She literally didn’t know. It’s easy to just hear the sounds because they’re so loud, but there’s a lot of chords and melodies underneath.
Who is the most intimidating artist you’ve worked with?
Lady Gaga is for sure the most opinionated. That was inspiring for me–it was the first time I really got any pushback.
You co-produced Ariana Grande’s “Break Free,” which includes the widely mocked lyric “Now that I’ve become who I really are.” How do you defend it?
I don’t hear a lyric and think about the meaning. I hear what makes me feel good. And [the “Break Free” lyric] made me feel good! Sometimes you have to give yourself that freedom.
“ON MY RADAR
• Radiohead
“It was the only thing I’d listen to on my way home from the studio.”
ROUNDUP
Second Acts
More than 30 TV shows, including NBC’s State of Affairs and Fox’s The Mindy Project, were officially canceled during the week of May 8 (before the broadcast networks’ annual presentations to advertisers). But nowadays that doesn’t mean they’re over. Here, a look at how recent streaming-based resurrections have fared.
MOST SUCCESSFUL
COMMUNITY
A sixth season of the ex-NBC comedy (starring Joel McHale) recently premiered on Yahoo Screen, where it received overwhelmingly positive reviews.
RIPPER STREET
After the BBC axed this British crime drama (starring Matthew Macfadyen), Amazon UK premiered the third season in 2014. It later aired on BBC.
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
Seven years after its final episode aired on Fox, Netflix revived the cult favorite (starring Jason Bateman) for a 15-episode fourth season, which aired in 2014. It received mixed reviews.
THE KILLING
This twice-canceled AMC crime drama (starring Mireille Enos) was scooped up by Netflix in 2014. Many critics, however, pronounced that fourth season dead on arrival.
ALL MY CHILDREN
In 2012, a production company struck a deal to bring the canceled soap to Hulu (sans star Susan Lucci), along with One Life to Live. But behind-the-scenes problems eventually derailed the project.
LEAST SUCCESSFUL
VERBATIM
‘When I needed McDonald’s, McDonald’s was there for me.’
JAMES FRANCO, defending the fast-food chain–which has faced slumping sales and wage disputes–in a Washington Post op-ed; the actor, who worked the late shift at a McDonald’s drive-through counter after dropping out of college, says he often practiced accents on customers before auditions
ONO’S IMPACT
A young Yoko Ono poses with her Painting to See in the Dark, one of the works on display in the Museum of Modern Art’s Ono retrospective (beginning May 17). The artist, also known for her music career and marriage to John Lennon, has a long history with the museum. In 1971 she held an unofficial show at the museum, in which she posted a sign saying she’d released live flies on the grounds and invited guests to track them around New York City.
LEAVE IT
• Starbucks is now selling a 10-oz. mini-Frappuccino–but only until July 6.
• During a heated Twitter spat, One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson slammed former bandmate Zayn Malik for making “bitchy comments.”
• Mariah Carey’s 18-date residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas has received harsh reviews from critics.
• A statue of an Ottoman prince taking a selfie was vandalized just hours after being unveiled in the Turkish city of Amasya.
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