The daily gossip: The Weeknd will play the Super Bowl halftime show, the CMAs are a health hazard, and more

1.

The NFL has revealed which artist will try to pull together a pandemic-friendly Super Bowl halftime performance next year: The Weeknd. The singer, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, is set to perform during the Super Bowl LV halftime show, the NFL said on Thursday. "We all grow up watching the world's biggest acts playing the Super Bowl and one can only dream of being in that position," he said in a statement. "I'm humbled, honored, and ecstatic to be the center of that infamous stage this year." Well, ideally the stage won't actually be "infamous" next year, as The Weeknd's navigates the challenges of performing mid-pandemic. Super Bowl LV is scheduled to take place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on Feb. 7. [NFL.com, The Week]

2.

It is truly baffling the extent celebrities will go to in order to avoid wearing a dang mask. Just look at the Country Music Association Awards, which were held on Wednesday night in spite of the fact that we're in the midst of an increasingly "out of control" pandemic. At the ceremony, a number of singers — including Maren Morris, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, and Lauren Alaina — were photographed entirely without masks. Instead, the celebs used transparent handheld face shields, which they could daintily hold up to their nose and mouths like Victorian ladies' fans, and which almost certainly did nothing to prevent the potential spread of pestilence. To quote one outraged onlooker: "If those stupid CMA awards kill Charley Pride…" [Glamour]

3.

There is apparently some major drama going down in the unexpected intersection of the Venn diagram of "K-pop fans" and "people who are extremely protective of pandas." Blackpink, the "biggest pop band in the world," are in trouble after snuggling a 3-month old giant panda cub in the teaser for the upcoming episode of their reality TV show 24/365 with Blackpink. "The seemingly innocuous cuddling of a baby giant panda at a zoo near Seoul has drawn a sustained flurry of criticism from Chinese internet users who accused the band of putting a 'national treasure' at risk," The New York Times explains, noting that the endangered species is only supposed to be handed by professionals in full protective gear. Blackpink have since pulled the teaser, and are beary sorry. [The New York Times]

4.

Women directors are taking center stage as 2020's awards season begins. The Gotham Awards, which recognizes independent films, unveiled its 2020 nominees on Thursday, and for the first time ever, all five movies nominated for Best Feature were directed by women. The nominees are Kitty Green's The Assistant, Kelly Reichardt's First Cow, Eliza Hittman's Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Chloé Zhao's Nomadland, and Natalie Erika James' Relic. Films that pick up nods at the Gotham Awards don't always go on to receive Oscars love; of the five movies nominated for Best Feature by the Gotham Awards in 2019, just one, Marriage Story, was ultimately nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Still, there's no argument anymore: The future of film is definitely female. [Variety, The Week]

5.

The Daily Gossip would humbly like to second Vulture in the opinion that "the only person worthy of replacing Alex Trebek is Ken Jennings." This apparently requires being said, because a circulating list of a sportsbook's odds contains a whole lot of ridiculous people that absolutely should not be considered as the next Jeopardy! host. Jane Lynch? Wolf Blitzer? Chris Harrison (guys, he's busy!)? Joe Rogan?! Page Six has reported that ABC News journalist George Stephanopoulos has been eyeballing the coveted position himself. But as Vulture writes, "Ken Jennings, the certified greatest of all time, is the only worthy successor to Trebek, and we're writing this post because Jennings is way too nice to say it himself." Ding ding ding ding — that is correct. [Vulture, Page Six]

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