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Adrianna Velazquez

Adrianna is a 20-year-old college student attending Wayne State University majoring in Public Relations and minoring in Journalism. With a passion for music and photography she spends most of her time at concerts photographing and interviewing musicians. She also enjoys baseball and coffee, lots of it!

Tim McGraw to Executive Produce and Star in New Crime Drama "Robbers"

Country superstar Tim McGraw is returning to the screen in TNT’s new crime drama “Robbers.”

Country legend Tim McGraw is extending his TV catalog to include a new crime drama for TNT. According to Deadline, McGraw will executive produce the new series, Robbers, based on Christopher Cook’s 2000 debut novel. McGraw will sit with the rest of the production team which will include Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly and Michael Dinner.

Deadline describes the series as being, “the literary-noir tradition of Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men, Robbers tells the story of a cop, two ‘running buddies’ on a crime spree across Texas, and the girl who becomes the complication in a very unique love triangle. Everyone has a story. Everyone is a mystery. McGraw would play one of the two drifters, Ray Bob, described as being worst of the worst.”

This isn’t the first time McGraw has been approached to produce a series. He was previously contacted for TNT’s “The Last Ship” and Fox’s “Wild Blue” before accepting the role for Robbers.

According to McGraw, whose film credits include Friday Night Lights and The Blind Side, time is of the essence when it comes to choosing which projects to take on.
“I get a lot [of scripts]; it’s just finding the right thing for the right time,” McGraw previously explained to Rolling Stone.

Although Robbers remains in the production stages still, McGraw will make his next big screen appearance when Tomorrowland, where he will star alongside George Clooney, hits theatres on May 22.

Nick Fradiani Crowned New American Idol

Just days after FOX announced American Idol is coming to an end, Nick Fradiani was crowned the new American Idol.

Nick Fradiani who faced off Clark Beckham was crowned the latest American Idol during the season finale on Wednesday night.

During the broadcast, judges Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban delivered a captivating performance of Rihanna’s “Diamonds.”

The season came to an end with Fradiani’s grand performance of his debut single, “Beautiful Life.”

The season finale comes just days after FOX announced that American Idol is finally coming to an end after 15 seasons.

It’s no debate that since its debut, American Idol has had a lasting impact on pop culture, from creating music stars to paving a path for other competitive shows that have since launched with a similar structure such as America’s Got Talent, American Idol, whether you love it or hate it is iconic and has changed the TV landscape in more ways than one.

The show created by Simon Fuller which debuted in 2002 with Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson as the original judges launched careers of some of today’s noteworthy artists such as Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood who have led remarkable careers since their talents were discovered by the reality singing competition.

Other winners and famous alums from the show over the years include Phillip Phillips, Chris Daughtry, Jordin Sparks, Jennifer Hudson, Adam Lambert and Clay Aiken.

The competitive series has served as a launch pad for Seacrest who has since become a TV fixture over the years.

According to FOX, the forthcoming 15th season of the television series will pay tribute to the legacy the show has created over the years, honoring winners and judges. The 15th season of American Idol will begin airing in January 2016 and will feature current judges Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban with Ryan Seacrest as the host.

7 Ways to Keep the Conversation Going with Your Contacts

7 tips to help you keep in touch with your contacts when internships and jobs come to an end.

One of the most difficult tasks of networking is keeping in touch with your contacts at the end of an internship or job, so how exactly can you keep in touch with those contacts? Here are 7 tips that will help you keep the conversation going.

  1. Social media is more than entertaining
    It goes without saying that all of us spend a lot of time online. Whether it’s Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. our time spent online can be productive or unproductive, the choice is yours. While we often turn to social media for entertainment, it’s important that you don’t miss out on using it as a chance to engage with your network. Use social media to your advantage. Scroll through your news feed and if you see something interesting take a minute to start a conversation by leaving a comment. It’s important that you make your time spent online just as useful as you do entertaining.
     
  2. Get involved
    Attending events is beneficial in many ways. You may find yourself bumping into acquaintances from previous job or internship opportunities, take this is a chance to get up to catch up with familiar faces. Attending events can also give you a chance to meet the pros you’ve always wanted to meet by extending the invitation or approaching them at the event.
     
  3. Remember birthdays
    Remembering birthdays is always a great way to reconnect with your contacts. Wishing them a happy birthday via email, by phone or by mailing out a card will surprise your contacts, letting them know you’re thinking of them on their special day.
     
  4. Use Google Alerts
    Google will send you emails tailored to specific words that appear in news stories. Alerts can also help you keep tabs on your contacts by keeping up with promotions or company news.
     
  5. Ask questions
    One of the benefits of building your network is being able to go to the pros for help. Asking questions is a good way to engage with your existing contacts.
     
  6. Be helpful
    If you see a news story or email that you think might be interesting to your contact, share it! Of course you don’t want to spam their inbox, but sharing interesting news is a good way to show you thought of them and want to help in any way you can.
     
  7. Stop by, say hello
    It wouldn’t be a bad idea to reach out to your past employer to stop by and say hi. If you’re traveling, be sure to let any contacts in the city you’re visiting know that you’ll be in town. Schedule a coffee date or maybe stop by for a tour if they’re working for a new company or have taken on a new position.

"She threw out my daughter's stuff as well as my dog's stuff"

21-year-old arrested after police found her inside Chris Brown’s vandalized home.

Chris Brown seems to always make headlines, only this time it isn’t for not taming his anger and being arrested for assault.

Brown, 26, returned to his home on Wednesday to find a female intruder in his residence. He called police who arrived to the scene and found 21-year-old Amira Kodcia Ayeb in the home whom Brown said he did not know and did not have permission to be at his residence.

Ayeb was arrested and later booked at Malibu/Lost Hills Sherrif’s Station.

According to the Los Angeles County Attorney’s District Office, Ayeb broke into the home where she lived for several days and vandalized the singer’s home and cars. Ayeb is being charged with three felonies for first-degree residential burglary, stalking and vandalism.

Brown took to Twitter to share his frustration about the incident.

“I get home and find this crazy individual in my house,” he wrote. “She had broken the hinges off the doors. She Found time to cook her several meAls. She Wrote ‘I love you’ on the walls. She threw out my daughters clothing as well as my dogs stuff. Then had all these crazy voodoo things around my crib. goes to show you how crazy people are crazy! And she painted her name on my cars!!!! I love my fans but this is some on some real real crazy shit! I pray she will get help.”

Ayeb pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles County Superior Court and is scheduled to reappear in court on May 21.

New TayText App: For the Die-hard Swifties or Tinder Newbies

From your earphones to your hearts, Taylor Swift has finally made her way to your electronic devices in a new texting app that allows you to fill texts with Taylor Swift Lyrics.

It’s a new app called TayText, inspired by the Drizzy Keyboard which allows users to fill texts with just Drake lyrics, the TayText app is added to your messaging as a keyboard feature and enables you to fill your texts with Swift lyrics.

The app features more than 300 lyrics pulled from more than 60 songs to choose from with categories like “Into You,” “Over You,” and “Just Beginning” you’re sure to find the perfect lyrics for any occasion.

For those of you on Tinder, it’s a great feature to have when targeting your potential date, you have Tay at your fingertips to help you say all the right things.

The TayTex app was created by five students from Harvard Business School and is currently available in the app store.

10 Things That Will Turn 10 in 2015

From TV shows to popular novels and life-changing tragedy, these things and events turn 10 this year.

  1. Facebook opening up to the public
    Originally, the social media platform was only available to Harvard students. It became available to use worldwide and has since grown to have the same amount of monthly users (1.35 billion) as China—the world’s most populous country— has people.
     
  2. The release of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
    Within 24 hours of release, the book sold 9 million copies worldwide.
     
  3. Blink-182’s Breakup
    In 2011, band member Tom DeLonge spoke to BBC Radio 1 regarding the band’s split. He told the radio show the reason behind the band’s split was the fault of the machine that grew to run it. “The reason the band broke up was really stupid in the first place; it’s not like anybody had sex with each other’s wives… The band got so big that the machine running the band took over,” said DeLonge. “We were burnt out, we needed a break, but the machine won’t let you do that.”
     
  4. The series premiere of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
    Since the hit series wrapped up, the Sprouse brothers enrolled at New York University where Dylan’s focus lies in video game design while Cole studies humanities and archaeology.
     
  5. Hurricane Katrina
    Katrina killed nearly 2,000 people and caused an estimated $100 billion in damages.
     
  6. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
    According to creator George Lucas, this was going to be the final Star Wars film but the series continued on with six films in total.
     
  7. The Pink Razr
    The phone only had 5.5MB of memory compared to phones today that have at least 8GB of storage space.
     
  8. The series premiere of Grey’s Anatomy
    Shonda Rhimes initially conceived Grey’s Anatomy as a statement against racism. She endeavored to create a show that featured a racially diverse cast that allowed viewers to relate to characters regardless of race.
     
  9. The first Twilight novel
    The first drafts were titled Forks instead of Twilight before the publisher requested to change the title. At first, she didn’t use names to refer to Bella and Edward, instead she used ‘she’ and ‘he.’
     
  10. The series finale of Everybody Loves Raymond
    The filming of the finale was delayed because Patricia Heaton (who played Debra) was sick.

Swipe Left, Swipe Right: Hilary Duff is on Tinder

The Lizzie McGuire star admits she’s on Tinder, and recently successfully went on her first date!

If you’re on the popular dating app, Tinder, you might just have a shot at landing a date with Hilary Duff.

The 27-year-old Lizzie McGuire star revealed that she recently joined the dating app and is already addicted to the swipe left, swipe right fun.

Joining the app started off as a joke, according to Duff who revealed to 104.3’s Valentine in the Morning that she is currently talking to nine guys via the app.

“In my life, I’ve always had really serious boyfriends, I’ve always met people through work and I’ve never been on a blind date. What’s the worst that’s going to happen?” Duff said Tuesday just before her first Tinder date.

Duff went on her first Tinder date later Tuesday night and shared the details with On Air With Ryan Seacrest.

“We went bowling so we didn’t have to talk too much, but we did talk a lot actually,” she told the radio host on Tuesday, April 28. “He was cool. He brought a friend and I had some friends there. He used to be in editing for reality shows. Now, he’s an actor and he just wrote a play. He’s an interesting guy.”

However, Duff revealed she isn’t fond of the idea of dating an actor, but says she’s ready to sail with the app after successfully completing her first date.

“I’m just a Tinder animal,” she said. “I had my Tinder training wheels on for my first date. Now it’s smooth sailing.”

American Idol: Four Advance, One Shocking Elimination

America sent home one contestant last night who quickly proved they were wrong for doing so.

Last night was perhaps the most upsetting elimination on American Idol so far this season.

Clark Beckham, Nick Frandiani, Rayvon Owen, Jax Cole and Tyanna Jones all competed to move on to the next round where only four would be moving forward.

During last night’s episode, Beckham was the first to advance and performed “Living for the City” by Stevie Wonder for his first song of the night. His second performance better showcased his impressive vocals during “Your Man” by Josh Turner but the judges still insisted there were better song options.

Following Beckham was Jax who experienced some pitch problems during her performance of “Empire State of Mind (Part II)” and “Human” by Christina Perri. Although she experienced some vocal challenges last night one thing that draws viewers to Jax is her incredible stage presence that still managed to dominate and evoke emotion in the audience before her.

Fradiani earned himself a spot in the top four and performed “Bright Lights” by Matchbox Twenty and later “What Hurts The Most” by Rascal Flatts which impressed judge Jennifer Lopez who crowned him the star of the night after a stellar performance.

Rayvon Owen who has been advancing each week by a thread had luck on his side as he advanced to the top four. He hit the stage to perform Lady Antebellum’s hit single, “Need You Now” and Justin Bieber’s “Believe.”

It was Jones who lost America’s vote during last night’s episode but immediately proved they were wrong after delivering a powerful performance of Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls).”

Despite her departure from the show, at just 16 it’s clear that Jones has talent that will see the light of many opportunities moving forward.

The top 4 will compete again on American Idol on Wednesday, May 6 at /7c on FOX.

Instagram Launches New @Music Channel

Instagram announced its new @Music channel that will feature emerging artists, music profiles and more.

Instagram emerged first as a visual medium that allowed users from around the world to share their story through photographs. The application features a variety of filters and eventually, expanded to allow its users to share 15-second video clips.

It’s served as a marketing tool for many brands and celebrities who have used the social media platform to visually market their projects by expanding their audience. Musicians for example, have used Instagram to share exclusive behind-the-scenes news and updates with fans. From using the app’s photo feature to release cover art for singles or albums to using its video feature to release snippets of new songs and life on the road, Instagram has enabled celebrities to connect with fans on a more intimate level.

According multiple reports, Instagram has announce its newest expansion which includes launching an exclusive music channel, @Music.

According to Buzzfeed, the channel will post once daily, Tuesday through Sunday and will feature emerging artists, music profiles, music lessons and other material.

Instagram outlined its mission statement for the new channel:

The music community is –– and always has been –– an important part of Instagram. For the past four years, we have become the home for artists big and small –– a place where people across the musical spectrum come to share stories, reveal their creativity and connect directly with fans.
Today we’re launching @music, a new account dedicated to exploring music around the globe, from those who create it to the community around it. Each week, we’ll take a look at the musical experience on Instagram. That means showing you a different side of artists you know and love, like Questlove (@questlove), and introducing you to up-and-coming talents from around the world, like Tricot (@ikkyu193). It means highlighting music photographers, album illustrators, instrument makers and, of course, fans.
In the Instagram tradition, we will also welcome community participation with a new, music-themed monthly hashtag project. Music is a huge part of all of our lives here at Instagram. It’s a passion of ours, and we know it’s a passion of yours. So follow along at @music –– we think you’ll discover something new.

What emerging artists are you hoping to see on Instagram’s new feed? Tweet us @CNcollegenews and let us know!

Bruce Jenner Ends Speculation to Gender Identity Gossip During a Brave Interview

Olympic gold medalist and Kardashian family member, Bruce Jenner talked exclusively with Diane Sawyer to end speculation about transitioning from a male to a female when he announced during the two-hour ABC television special. 

The announcement made Jenner the highest-profile people to publicly come out as transgender and he noted that he had been undergoing hormone treatment as part of the transition process from male to female for a year and half.

According to Nick Adams, the director of programs for transgender media at the gay rights organization Glaad, when a transgender celebrity comes forward with their story it contributes to teaching people about the challenges the transgender community faces.

“Every transgender person’s journey is unique, and by choosing to share this story, Bruce Jenner adds another layer to America’s understanding of what it means to be transgender,” said Adams in a statement.

Jenner’s children and stepchildren took to social media to share their support for Jenner, 65.

Kim Kardashian, 34, tweeted a day earlier: “Love is the courage to live the truest, best version of yourself. Bruce is love. I love you Bruce. #ProudDaughter.”

Daughters Kendall and Kylie Jenner also took to Twitter to share their support.

“So very proud of you, my hero,” wrote Kendall Jenner, 19, accommodated with a link to an Instagram image of a questionnaire she filled out in fifth grade, where, in answer to who she would be if she could be anyone, she wrote, “my dad.”

Kylie Jenner, 17, wrote that she “woke up still in awe . . . I’ve never been more proud of you, Dad!!!!!!”

According to nytimes.com, E! will chronicle his transition through a documentary series that will begin broadcasting this summer.