Miss New York Kira Kazantsev walks the runway after she was named Miss America 2015.Image: Mel Evans/Associated Press Miss New York, Kira Kazantsev, took home the title of Miss America during Sunday’s competition, making it the third consecutive year Miss New York has snagged the crown. During the interview portion of the event, Kazantsey was asked what issue she would want female U.S. Senators to advocate for, to which she answered sexual assault in the military. And during the talent competition, Kazantsey performed a cover of Pharrell’s hit song “Happy” and managed to incorporate a bit of Anna Kendrick’s “Cups” routine from the film Pitch Perfect. Kazantsey, a 23-year-old graduate of Hofstra University, is an aspiring lawyer, and was recently accepted to Fordham University’s law school. Although she represented New York, she actually grew up in California. An advocate for domestic violence awareness, Kazantsey takes the crown from last year’s winner, Nina Davuluri. Miss Virginia Courtney Paige Garrett received first runner up. BONUS: 13 Royally Odd Things You Missed at Miss America Miss America Highlights 1. Spelling errors 2. A Ventriloquist puppet that looked oddly like Joan Rivers. 3. Collared evening wear 4. A nod to Pop-Up Video 5. Twirls 6. A pre-show “Hottest Dad” contest 7. A thumb war to decide the winner 8. Cheetah attacks So I guess @Pharrell and I can’t stop collaborating. #MissAmerica #WhatIsHappening?? pic.twitter.com/AhsTA62PJJ — Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) September 15, 2014 9. Anna Kendrick tweeting about Miss New York’s “Happy” cups performance 10. A baaaaad goat impression 11. Dramatic turns #Judging pic.twitter.com/cOsVUj9om6 — Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) September 15, 2014 12. Gary Vaynerchuk: Businessman, Wine Guy, Selfie-Snapping Miss America Judge 13. Miss New York winning, giving the state a three-peat Image: AP Photo/Julio Cortez/Associated Press Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/09/14/miss-new-york-miss-america/
We’ve had a lot of interesting moments at Mashable in the past year — and luckily, we also happened to be filming many of them. In 2012, we followed an Internet celebrity singing with a turkey leg, talked to folks who lined up for the iPhone 5 for a week, and a tracked down a filmmaker who did documentaries for the Arab Spring. We also peered into Martha Stewart’s bag and survived a takeover attempt from Conan O’Brien. 1. Conan O’Brien Buys Mashable, Ousts Pete Cashmore as CEO In an April Fools’ Day prank, TeamCoco and Mashable got together to create a zany story line that includes Conan buying the site and ousting founder and CEO Pete Cashmore. The Conan O’Brien takeover launched at midnight on April 1 in a 24-hour story arc that shows O’Brien’s attempts to make paper-based tweeting happen. 2. Mashable Goes ‘Behind the Launch’ With New Documentary Series We follow the journey of Vungle, an in-app advertising startup, as they court investors, hire new employees, and finally launch their company. Catch up on all fourteen episodes here. 3. How to Learn a Language on YouTube Reporter Neha Prakash embarks on an attempt to learn Russian from YouTube tutorials, which culminates in a trip to a Russian restaurant as she tries to order from the fluent waitress. Her favorite word? Cпасибо, which means “thank you.” 4. What’s in Martha Stewart’s Tech Bag? America’s pioneering DIY expert has three iPads. What else does she carry in her seemingly endless bag of gadgets? 5. Watch Calexico Play Two Songs Live At Mashable Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico fill Mashable HQ with the distinctive sound of the American southwest. They talk about their new album, Algiers, being a musician in the digital era, and sticking to an analog recording experience. 6. What Does Siri Know About the iPhone 5? Tech editor Pete Pachal grills Siri for inside information about the phone, only to get coy replies. 7. Who Lined Up For the iPhone 5? Meet the colorful characters who camped out at the Apple flagship store for a week. 8. iPhone 5 Line: Unnecessary But Fun We do an early morning stakeout at the Apple Store right before it opens its doors. 9. This Is What Happens When Comic Con Attendees Try to Impersonate Bane At the New York Comic Con, we asked everyone from Wolverine to Batman himself to demonstrate their finest Bane super-villain vocal talents, with mixed results. 10. This Man Fights in and Films the Last Gasps of the Arab Spring Activist and filmmaker Matthew VanDyke spent years traversing North Africa and the Middle East by motorcycle, befriending Libyans and other travelers along the way. We talk to him about his work in this two-part series. 11. Nicole Westbrook Talks Turkey With New Yorkers Watch 12-year-old YouTube viral video star Nicole Westbrook as she interviews people on the street with a turkey leg. You can’t make this stuff up. 12. Internet Feline Luminary Talks Big […]
The season two premiere of Dance Showdown, a web series that pits popular YouTube acts against each other in a rhythmic showdown for $100,000, boogied its way online Friday. Judges on board this season are former NSYNC member Joey Fatone and Emmy-nominated choreographer Laurieann Gibson. YouTube famous Ryan Higa, Dave Days and Shane Dawson are guest judges. “It gives people an opportunity to be seen by the world,” Fatone, who is also on this fall’s Dancing With the Stars all-star cast, tells Mashable. “I think it’s great and there is a lot of talent out there still to be seen.” Episode one (watch above) introduces viewers to the 12 eclectic contestants, who among other things are YouTube singers, beauty vloggers, comedians and gamers: Alphacat Andrew Garcia BrittaniLouiseTaylor Chester See: Chimneyswift11 ExoticJess meghanrosette Miss Hannah Minx ONLYUSEmeBLADE PrankvsPrank StilaBabe09 Screen Team Viewers also meet the talent’s dance instructors Tessandra Chavez (choreography alum of So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol and X Factor USA), Lauren Froderman (SYTYCD season 7 winner), Mike Song (MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew finalist), Anze Skrube (nine-time gold medalist at the Slovenian National Championship) and Brinn Nicole (dancer on Snoop Dogg’s world tour). The show, from dance entertainment network DanceOn, attracted 10 million views in season one. Viewers can vote for their favorite dancer starting in round two, which will decide who makes it to the finals. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/06/dance-showdown/
New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter smiles at Yankee Stadium, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014 in New York. Image: Seth Wenig/Associated Press Perhaps it’s that misty-eyed “America’s pastime” trope. Maybe it’s that the game lacks a clock’s anxiety-inducing march toward 0:00. Or maybe it’s childhood memories of post-game orange slices for everyone. Whatever the reason, baseball seems to lend itself to treacly nostalgia more than any other U.S. sport. But do you know what you get if you take all of baseball’s latent, maudlin sentimentality, then infuse that with some good old fashioned NYC-centrism and — most of all — a ton of cold, hard cash? You get the longest goodbye in the history of goodbyes — or, in other words, Derek Jeter‘s months-long retirement ceremony. Ah, Derek Sanderson Jeter, the unassuming kid from Kalamazoo, Michigan, who broke into the bigs at age 20 in 1995 then spent the next two decades becoming a baseball icon before playing his final home game at Yankee Stadium this Thursday (a weekend series in Boston ends his career for good). Ah, Derek Jeter, otherwise known simply — and regally — as The Captain, a superstar on the diamond and the smoothest of operators off it. Ah, Derek Jeter, perhaps the most marketable baseball star of all time, the player whose pinstriped number 2 shirt is the best-selling baseball jersey in history. And now we’re finally getting somewhere. When Gatorade released a breathless Jeter tribute last Thursday, it wasn’t even the first hashtag-brand to put out a lengthy, glossy YouTube spot full of soft lighting and cliched NYC imagery in honor of Jeter. Nope, Nike beat Gatorade to that punch way back in July, before Jeter’s final All-Star Game. (Final season, final All-Star Game — we can only assume some enterprising ball-boy will frame the newspaper Jeter reads during his Final Yankee Stadium B.M., but haven’t fact-checked this to be sure.) To correspond with its Jeter tribute, Nike tried to shove the hashtag #RE2PECT down our throats. Because he wears the number two, get it? And that uh, kind of looks like an “S”? Do you get it? Mutilating the very word “respect” as a sign of #RE2PECT for one as famously #CLA22Y as Jeter could strike some as baldly cynical, of course — a bit #DI2RE2PECTFUL even. But then again, this is about re$pect more than it’s about #RE2PECT. (Nike even has a “Re2pect Collection;” T-shirts are $35.) Re2pect @jumpman23 pic.twitter.com/OYemkDXIzC — Mark Wahlberg (@mark_wahlberg) September 2, 2014 Nike and Gatorade aren’t alone here — oh no, not by a long-shot. You could see this all coming way back in February, when Jeter first announced the 2014 season would be his last. Derek Jeter smiles at a news conference after being named American League Rookie of the Year in 1996. Image: Ron Frehm/Associated Press Now here we are. Average ticket prices for Jeter’s final home game exceed $800. Toys — toys! — are reenacting his top 10 career highlights. Tickets for a “Farewell Derek Jeter […]
David Blaine’s magic is so good, it’s a little unsettling. He’s been frozen in a block of ice, buried alive, and has somehow managed to escape from impossible situations, all without explanation. Recently, Blaine stopped by “The Tonight Show” to share some magic tricks with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots. At first, it appears that he’s going to stick to simple card tricks, but the audience is in for a huge (and kind of gross) surprise. With every trick, things get a little bit crazier. Just when you think the performance is coming to an end, Blaine pulls off an illusion that no one saw coming. Read More: This Kid’s Amazing Coin Magic Trick Will Have You Questioning Reality I can’t decide if I’m more entertained or creeped out. Hopefully, he won’t make “aquarium stomach” part of his normal routine. Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/david-blaine/
Ed Sheeran performs at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show on Dec. 2 in London.Image: Samir Hussein/Getty Images Ed Sheeran has won the world over, claiming the throne as Spotify‘s most-streamed artist this year, with 860 million listens in the 58 global markets where the service is available. The English singer-songwriter held off stiff competition from Eminem, who is Spotify’s all-time most-popular musician, Coldplay, Calvin Harris and Katy Perry. Perry, next year’s Super Bowl halftime show performer, dethroned Rihanna to become the top female. On Perry’s tail were Ariana Grande, Lana Del Rey, Beyoncé and Lorde. Sheeran’s sophomore studio album, x, also earned the title of top-streamed album, with 430 million streams since debuting at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart in June. He beat out Sam Smith, Iggy Azalea, Pharrell Williams and Grande. Meanwhile, over on rival Rhapsody, Sheeran was absent from the service’s top global artists, as Eminem, Drake, Katy Perry, Beyoncé and Rihanna came out on top in 2014. Musicians’ streaming stats have become more important than ever in terms of their success on Billboard charts. Billboard and Nielsen announced last month that they would alter the Billboard 200 albums chart to now include audio streaming data to rank the top albums, while also taking into account physical sales and paid downloads of albums and tracks. However, streaming services are also embroiled in controversy over artist royalties. Here’s a breakdown of the best of the best on Spotify: Top five global artists 1. Ed Sheeran 2. Eminem 3. Coldplay 4. Calvin Harris 5. Katy Perry Top Five Global Males 1. Ed Sheeran 2. Eminem 3. Calvin Harris 4. Avicii 5. David Guetta Top five global females 1. Katy Perry 2. Ariana Grande 3. Lana Del Rey 4. Beyoncé 5. Lorde Top five global groups 1. Coldplay 2. Imagine Dragons 3. Maroon 5 4. OneRepublic 5. One Direction Top five global tracks 1. “Happy” – Pharrell Williams 2. “Rather Be” (feat. Jess Glynne) – Clean Bandit 3. “Summer” – Calvin Harris 4. “Dark Horse” – Katy Perry 5. “All of Me” – John Legend Top five global albums 1. x – Ed Sheeran 2. In The Lonely Hour – Sam Smith 3. The New Classic – Iggy Azalea 4. Girl – Pharrell Williams 5. My Everything – Ariana Grande Top five global viral tracks 1. “Take Me To Church” – Hozier 2. “Gooey” – Glass Animals 3. “Ojos Color Sol” – Calle 13 4. “Coffee” – Sylvan Esso 5. “Hey Mami” – Sylvan Most streamed artists in the U.S. 1. Eminem 2. Drake 3. Kanye West 4. Lana del Rey 5. Ariana Grande Most streamed tracks in the U.S. 1. “Fancy” – Iggy Azalea 2. “Dark Horse” – Katy Perry 3. “Happy” – Pharrell Williams 4. “Problem” – Ariana Grande 5. “All of Me” – John Legend Most streamed albums in the U.S. 1. x – Ed Sheeran 2. The New Classic – Iggy Azalea 3. In The Lonely Hour – Sam Smith 4. Native – OneRepublic […]
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DTBT_ATF’); }); While riding around in a golf cart, patrolling the fairgrounds on the last day of the Indiana State Fair, these Indiana State Troopers decided to have some fun and make a video to celebrate the occasion. The cops went all Danny and Sandy, reminiscing about their “Summer Nights” by lip-syncing the iconic song from “Grease.” When asked about the viral video, Jonathan Amburgey said, “The State Fair is a time that we have the opportunity to interact with the public in a way that we normally don’t get to. We wanted to show people that we aren’t robots. We have a personality, we like to laugh, and most of all, we like to make other people laugh.” Well done guys. As far as laughter goes, you hit the nail on the head! Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/troopers-grease/
Personally, I can’t stand the sound of leaf blowers. I mean, even the people who work with them on a daily basis wear headphones so they can block out their ungodly noise. But put one of the unnecessarily loud machines in front of Fiesta the llama at The Houston Zoo? Well, you can forget about any other plans you had for the day. Every morning when zookeepers clean out the stalls, the fluffy lady demands that they give her some of that sweet, sweet leaf-blowing air. “Oh. OH! Get my tum.” YouTube / The Houston Zoo You do you, Fiesta. I’ll just be here watching with my earplugs in. Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/leaf-blower-llama/
Image: Sony Online Entertainment Massively multiplayer online games have gotten a bad rep over the years, but those who play them know the joys of an immersive, adventurous world. Thanks to a sweeping scale, many MMOs can offer players whatever experience they want, be it raiding, questing or battling. A quick look at the titles due for release in 2014 show the genre is still alive and well, with fresh ideas and ever-improving hardware. To add to the excitement, many studios are giving gamers behind-the-scenes looks at their creation progress. Thanks to beta sessions, developer chats and lots of trailers, the landscape for MMOs looks very promising. Here are seven new games slated for 2014 launch that are taking risks and pushing the definitions of what an MMO can be. In other words, plan to lose all your free time diving into these fun, creative worlds. 1. Elder Scrolls Online Bethesda Softworks has maintained a cult following for its Elder Scrolls series for years. These sweeping sagas let players roam across various regions of Tamriel, learning magecraft, joining the Dark Brotherhood or just harassing city guards who took arrows in the knee. That open-world mentality seems like a natural fit for an MMO. With Elder Scrolls Online, players will get a chance to wander the snowy mountains of Skyrim and the mysterious Black Marsh. Bethesda has a reputation for great storytelling in its games, so expectations are high for the online game. It is set in a time before the RPG games, so expect to see different struggles between the races and lots of new villains to take out. The latest betas have been making big strides in polish; the art style will not disappoint franchise fans. 2. EverQuest Next Landmark The original EverQuest title was one of the early entries in the MMO genre, and it’s getting a long-awaited overhaul. Some elements of the upcoming EverQuest Next will probably look familiar from those first days, but David Georgeson and his team promise a revolutionary approach to the game style. Although EverQuest Next probably won’t hit shelves for at least another year, we’ll get our hands on EverQuest Next Landmark quite soon. Landmark is a blank canvas that gives players powerful in-game tools to build just about anything they can dream up. These creations in the game will be available for purchase by EverQuest Next players, through the Player Studio. Sony Online Entertainment will take a cut, but the players with the most impressive items will also pocket some cash for their inventions. EverQuest Landmark is winding down a promising alpha stage, and we’re hoping to see Landmark’s official launch at some point in 2014. 3. World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor It’s not exactly a new game, but the new expansion for World of Warcraft marks a big change in the granddaddy of MMOs. On the visual side, the Blizzard team is revamping the player character models to bring the nearly decade-old game more in line with contemporary graphics […]
Let’s be honest, for years we’ve tied our shoes without using the top lace holes in our sneakers. Or maybe you use them, but they don’t add much to your walking experience. Why are they there? What do they do? They’ve got to have a purpose, right? Well, it turns out that not only do they have a function, but it’s actually pretty epic when you discover the difference it makes in your shoe-wearing experience. Don’t believe us? Just see for yourself… Now don’t we all feel pretty silly for never figuring that out? Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/shoelace-hole/
