The Voice returns for its ninth season on September 21st. This season features a younger talent pool. Host Carson Daly notes that musical trends among contestants change each season. Gwen Stefani has returned as a coach and is surprised by how young some contestants are, being only 15 years old. Celebrity advisors this season include Rihanna, Selena Gomez, and Missy Elliott. The coaches agree to not allow contestants to sing songs by the coaches to avoid awkwardness. Blake Shelton hints at new music and wants to write a song with Pharrell Williams about "titties".

1. ‘The Voice’ is Back with Season 9
September 15, 2015
Billboard.com
Adam Levine with a freshly bicked head, the return of Gwen Stefani, and A-list advisors, like
Rihanna and Selena Gomez, are just a few of the things that viewers can expect on the upcoming
installment of The Voice. The show returns on Sept. 21 with its ninth season. And this year, it’s
about the fresh young talent.
“Each season, we’ll notice that there are fads and trends in what becomes popular,” says host
Carson Daly. “For a couple of seasons, it was these big soul singers. I think people came out and
were like, ‘Oh Javier Colon won. I need to sing perfect.’ Season 3 and 4, it seemed that every
girl came into an audition wearing a little hat and singing a Tove Lo song to a ukulele. It was
really understated and singer/songwriter and ironic. This is a very youthful season of straight
forward singing talent.”
Stefani seconds Daly’s sentiments, adding that she has been shocked by what she’s seen so far
during the Blind Auditions and Knockout Rounds. “There are a lot of young people. They don’t

2. seem young but they are like, ‘Hi. I just turned 15.’ You’re like, ‘How? There is no way!’” she
explains.
The No Doubt frontwoman/solo songstress is thrilled to be back amongst Levine, Blake
Shelton and Pharrell Williams in the big red seats. And with one season under her belt, she’s
coming into this round with a whole new attitude. “Before Season 7, I never even knew at all
what I was doing. I just kind of showed up and was like ‘Whoa. This is so amazing,’” she tells
Billboard during a press day to promote the show. “This time I feel like I know what to expect
and now I’m looking for different things.”
Another development the coaches have seen this year is that contestants are jumping outside of
their genre in the hopes of mixing things up. Shelton informs Billboard, for instance, that Team
Levine has already claimed a promising young country singer during the show’s Blind
Auditions. “He'll pick 'em, even though he doesn't really want 'em. He just doesn't want me to
get 'em. It always amazes me when country artists fall for it!” he jokes.
And in true Voice style, Season 9 will feature a panel of celebrity advisors, each with their own
unique mentoring style. “Rihanna is all vibe. If she doesn't feel it, she tells you in 2 seconds,”
says Williams. “It doesn't take her 20 minutes to figure that out.” Stefani tells Billboard that
Gomez has a lot to offer the show’s competing talent. “She’s just in a really cool place in her
life. She’s about ready to bust open and blossom in a cool artistry type way.” And Missy Elliott,
says Williams, is all about living in the moment and challenging artists to be more open. “It’s
like she liberates people,” he explains.
While the coaches are open to any type variety of talent that they come across this season, there
is one thing that they have come to universally agree on -- it’s never a good idea for a contestant
to take the stage and sing a Blake Shelton, Maroon 5, No Doubt or Pharrell Williams song.
Stefani actually admits that hearing someone attempt one of her tunes makes her cringe a little
inside. “It’s weird. It’s flattering but it’s also hard. It’s really hard to see it from any other
perspective other than your own,” she explains. “It makes everything awkward,” adds Shelton.
“You feel like, ‘Maybe I should hit my button, because, like, thanks.’ But then if they suck and
you don't, then you're like, ‘Thanks for doing my song. You sucked!’" he jokes.
In terms of other Season 9 surprises, Shelton alluded that he may be performing a few new tracks
on the show. And in addition to destroying Team Levine (his usual goal for each season of the
show), he revealed that he’s been bugging Williams to hit the studio and write a song with him.
When asked what the track would be about, Shelton coyly said, “Titties. All I want to do is sing
about them.” Williams fired back to tell the press that they had just been “Blaked. This what
happens. It's the accent. It allows him to get away with saying anything!”
And the banter has already begun!

3. James Franco warns Lenny Kravitz about rocking out in Guitar Hero Live commercial
October, 4, 2015
EW.com
Lenny Kravitz knows how to rock out, but occasionally, as this summer revealed,
some other things may come out as well. Luckily, the rock star has James Franco to help him
keep things under control.
Kravitz and Franco star in the new commercial for Guitar Hero Live, which EW can exclusively
debut. In it, Franco lends a friendly reminder to Kravitz about making sure everything stays
together as he virtually shreds on the guitar.
Guitar Hero Live reintroduces the series after a five-year hiatus (as does its competitor Rock
Band), with a new take on the rhythm gaming genre. Gone are the familiar five colorful buttons
of plasitc guitars past. Instead, players tap on two rows of three buttons for single notes and
chord-like shapes on a new guitar peripheral. The series has also shed the band focus it adopted
in later entries to just be about guitar, with a campaign mode featuring a live band and audience

4. that reacts to your playing, and a streaming music service that eschews the traditional
downloadable song model.
Guitar Hero Live will be available for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360,
and Wii U on Oct. 20, with a planned mobile release as well.

5. Alexander Wang’s Love Note To Cali At Balenciaga
October, 2, 2015
HarpersBazaar.com
Actresses Bella Heathcote, Nicola Peltz, Riley Keough and Zoe Kravitz donned four of the 36
romantic-meets-sportif all-white looks at Alexander Wang's last showing for Balenciaga today.
These veritable Hollywood starlets were included stealthily among the models at the show who
have walked miles of runway this season—girls like Lexi Boling, Maartje Verhoef, Anna Ewers
and Lineisy Montero.
The nod to Hollywood didn't end there as the sound track served as an ode to California, with
classic jams like L.L. Cool J's "Going Back to Cali" and 2 Pac's "California Love" playing as the
see-through lace, silken belt bags and cut-out gowns made their way down a runway complete
with marble pools of blue water. Presumably, Wang, who hails from Northern California, is
exiting his Parisian gig and returning to New York. But home is home and Wang is making
his return to the U.S. full-time with a beautiful swan song to the house that Cristobal built in his
wake.

6. Victoria’s Secret Angels Give Out Their Sexy Superlatives to Taylor Swift, Emma Stone,
Beyonce and More!
September 16, 2015
People.com
Need an extra dose of sexy to get you through the rest of the week? It’s your lucky morning.
Victoria’s Secret’s annual What Is Sexy? List is here, and some of the most notable (and
lingerie-clad) Angels are handing out awards to the hottest (and, well, sexiest) A-listers in the
biz. See who made the List, below!
Angels Lily Aldridge, Behati Prinsloo, Sara Sampaio, Candice Swanepoel and Taylor Hill are
serving up some sexy superlatives to Hollywood’s most notable (and stylish) stars — from
Emma Stone‘s ultra-glam red carpet style to Beyoncé‘s killer bikini body to Taylor Swift‘s
(reportedly insured for $40 million) legs for days. (Though bestie Lily Aldridge lauds Swift for
her sizzling-hot attitude: “Taylor’s positivity is the sexiest part of her!” she tells PEOPLE.)
But the top winner of the lingerie label’s hot list? Rihanna, of course! The singer is taking home
the title of “Forever Sexy” — an award we can totally get behind! “Rihanna always looks hot
and is sexy 24/7!,” Sampaio tells PEOPLE.

7. Zoe Kravitzz Talks Feminism, Family, And Why Women Are The Funniest
October 6, 2015
ElleUK.com
A lesson in cool from Zoë Kravitz, age 26: Get yourself some scenester parents (it helps if
they’re a bit like Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz). Choose some kick-ass roles in X-Men,
Divergent, Mad Max and this month’s hit indie film, Dope. Become best friends with the most
major women in Hollywood (we’re talking Miley, Cara, J-Law...) Start a rock band, and call it
Lolawolf. And then call ELLE from a tattoo parlour in LA to chat. OK, sorry Zoë, we can’t
compete.
What’s it like being a young woman in Hollywood now?

8. It’s a great time because people are finally talking about our opportunities and roles. This is an
industry that has been run by men for so long and we can’t expect them to speak for us, because
they really don’t know. It’s time for women to start writing our own sh*t, directing our own sh*t,
producing our own sh*t. We have to start doing it.
What made you want to take the role in Dope?
I’ve always wanted to do a black film. I wanted to celebrate being black and to work with black
actors and directors. But I’d found that I didn’t relate to the characters that were being written.
This film read like an instant classic, like Superbad or Clueless. It captured my generation so
well.
We loved the music in the film...
Me too. Nineties hip-hop is really my sound. My band actually played one of the songs in the
movie.
Is your band Lolawolf still going strong?
It was never intended that the band would be more than a hobby, so it’s a blessing it has blown
up so big. What I like about music is I have total control over it, unlike with the acting. It’s
almost like my diary, and it keeps me sane.
Are you a feminist?
It’s a funny thing to me. To be a feminist, you’re almost validating all the things that feminists
are against. I would rather completely disregard all stereotypes. With Mad Max, I was surprised
by the responses of, ‘Oh my god, this is a feminist film.’ It’s cool that people responded that
way, but to be honest, I didn’t think about that when we were shooting. I was just like, ‘Yeah,
these women are badass.’
How do you stay sane?
My friends and my family are everything to me. They keep me grounded. I’ve been working a
lot, so I haven’t been home to New York very much, and that’s when I really feel the
difference. My favourite thing is to take the subway and just walk around with my headphones
on. Now people recognise me and it’s changed with everyone on social media – they all want
selfies.
You recently joined Twitter?
I only joined because there was a fake Zoë Kravitz on Twitter saying all this weird stuff that I
didn’t want to be associated with.
Who do you call for advice?

9. My best friend who lives with me, and I have another best friend who was actually physically
there when I was born. Also Riley Keough, who was in Mad Max too – I’ve known her since
we were three.
What’s next...
I really want to do a comedy. I feel like Bridesmaids has opened it up for women in comedy and
people are really hungry for that. I know I am. Women are a different kind of funny to men.
Even in life, when I’m just with my girlfriends, we say and do the funniest sh*t that men have
no idea about.
Who else makes you laugh?
Amy Schumer is great. And I think Kristen Wiig is one of the funniest people to have ever lived.
She is actually a genius.