It might be hard to believe, but things did happen in the arts and entertainment world over the weekend that had nothing to do with Taylor Swift.

Swifties went into full flight over 1989 (Taylor’s Version), the re-recording of the 2014 album that arguably transformed her into the Pop Diva to Watch.

Billboard reports 1989’s past week was the biggest for any album by units earned since Adele’s 25 in 2015 (although Jung-Kook’s album Golden won their fan poll).

Not everyone (nobody?) has quite the cut-through she does, so we thought we’d spotlight some other stuff. And this way, you can stay up-to-date without ever having to pause your 20th repeat of Blank Space today.

Our girl Kylie gets high in Vegas

The original Pop Diva to Watch is, obviously, Kylie Minogue.

This was made very clear over the weekend, as she performed her first ever Las Vegas residency, in a show creatively titled More Than A Residency.

As per the online reaction, it was a high-energy performance, with Kylie herself saying she felt the “VEGAS HIGH” on her social media.

It’s the latest in a recent spate of wins for Kylie, with her new album Tension debuting at number one on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Albums chart, and reportedly delivering her largest US sales week for an album in almost two decades.

Our girl is at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas for three months, giving lucky audiences plenty of time to padam padam.

— Allison Jess

Female music royalty finally gets some recognition

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been criticised roundly (and often rightly) for many reasons over the years.

They’ve been on a long redemption tour, one that came to a head when founder Jann Wenner was ousted from its board of directors after comments he made about Black and female artists. The 2023 induction over the weekend also shows some encouraging progress when it comes to equality in the Hall.

Elsewhere, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine and The Spinners were also inducted as performers, session musician and producer Al Kooper, and Elton John’s songwriting partner Bernie Taupin were also given Musical Excellence awards, hip hop progenitor DJ Kool Herc and guitar icon Link Wray took out Musical Influence Awards, and Soul Train host Don Cornelius took the Ahmet Ertegun that goes to non-performing industry professionals.

“I’m honoured to be in the class of 2023, alongside such a group of profoundly articulate women and outstanding articulate black artists,” Taupin said in his speech, referencing Wenner’s comments earlier in the year.

Other highlights include Carrie Underwood performing George Michael’s ‘One More Try’, St. Vincent covering Kate Bush’s ‘Running up That Hill’ (Bush did not attend, but sent a note of thanks), and a tribute to The Band’s Robbie Robertson from Elton John, Chris Stapleton, Sheryl Crow and Brittany Howard.

— Dan Condon

Real Housewives reckoning is underway

The Real Housewives franchise has never shied away from heavy topics and, perhaps because of that, the series can dip into murky moral territory — with breakdowns turned into memeable moments.

Criticisms against the franchise and its network Bravo have increased recently, as a series of former housewives and Bravo stars have filed lawsuits, alleged mistreatment and campaigned for the creation of a reality TV union.

Last week, fuel was added to the fire with an 8,000 word exposé by Vanity Fair writer Anna Peele, featuring interviews with previous housewives Leah McSweeney, Eboni K. Williams, Bethenny Frankel and more.

They say the TV empire does little to care for its stars’ mental health, with McSweeney stating she broke nearly a decade of sobriety out of pressure to be good TV.

It’s also alleged that ex-New York cast member Ramona Singer used racial epithets in conversation and expressed that Williams — the first Black New York housewife, cast for its 13th season — shouldn’t be on the cast, as her presence “ruins the show”.

Neither Bravo or parent company NBC have publicly commented, though Singer was removed from the line-up of Bravo Con, a three-day convention held over the weekend in Las Vegas. During it, Bravo released a trailer for the upcoming season of Ultimate Girls Trip, featuring Singer.

— Jared Richards

Speaking of big networks allegedly neglecting their stars’ mental health…

The week after British actress Ruby Barker wrapped filming for her character Marina Thompson in Bridgerton, she was admitted to hospital for mental health reasons.

“I was deteriorating, and then the minute we wrapped…” the 26-year-old told the LOAF Podcast in an episode released last week.

A year later, in the run-up to when the show was to be released, she returned to hospital for similar reasons.

Barker said “not a single person from Netflix, [and] not a single person from SHONDALAND” contacted her to check on her welfare or to offer support in the wake of either stay.

“I was just then coming out of hospital [for the second time] … my Instagram following was going up, I had all these engagements to do. My life was changing drastically overnight and yet there was still no support and there still hasn’t been any support.”

Unsurprisingly, the content mill had a field day over this news. Barker has been described as “slamming” Netflix and Shondaland by numerous publications.

Barker is having none of that. In a video to her Instagram followers, she said: “I literally stated fact very calmly.”

“I said what I said because the crux of the point I was making is about a duty of care…

“I think that as people we can do better.”

And in the comments, she continued: “I never deep dived or exposed any of the nuanced behind the scenes experiences I had as a 21 year old, working class woman of colour, descending into psychosis on that job. And I likely never will due to the very real climate of fear and repercussion for those that use their voice to catalyse change in this world.”

— Yasmin Jeffery

TikTok is mad about the “Lin Manuel Miranda-ification” of Disney

The release date for Disney’s hotly anticipated new musical Wish is drawing closer, and TikTok is already set on hating it.

Villain song ‘This Is The Thanks I Get?!’ by Chris Pine has TikTokkers like @reuben declaring “Disney is truly in its flop era — it’s giving AI generated, it’s giving writer’s strike”.

“I don’t know who decided that every song has to sound like a Lin Manuel Miranda rip off but we need to end it.”

The video’s at almost 3 million views and compares the Wish track to villain songs from years gone by, wondering why “Disney thinks that the audience can’t understand nuance anymore”, pointing to hits like Hellfire, Poor Unfortunate Souls and Mother Knows Best.

While it’s a little early to tell just how good (or bad) this film’s going to turn out, recent division around yet another “adorkable” protagonist and the merging of 2D and 3D animation styles don’t have fans particularly hopeful.

— Rachel Rasker

In local arts news, DanceRites is returning after 3-year hiatus

What is DanceRites, you may ask? It’s kind of like So You Think You Can Dance but First Nations, and without all the speccy smoke and mirrors.

In its biggest program to date, the annual festival will bring together 350 performers from some 30 different nations and clans, for an incredible exchange of culture and storytelling in the form of a dance-off at the Sydney Opera House.

It’ll be held on the forecourt of the Opera House at Tubowgule (Bennelong Point), a traditional meeting place for the Gadigal people. Dancers will battle it out for the top prize in front of a panel of five judges, performing song and dance in two categories: “Cultural Dance and Song Cycle” and “Wildcard”.

This is the first time the competition is happening in person since 2019 — it was held virtually in 2020 because of COVID and has been on hiatus since.

Oh, and did we mention it’s free?

— Anna Freeland

Is Drew Barrymore okay?

Things got a bit weird on Drew Barrymore’s show over the weekend.

Drew’s longtime friend and former babysitter (???) Pauly Shore proposed to her on stage, after saying it was hard for him to let love in. He then interrupted her final spiel to promote his one-man show.

It is unclear whether this was a publicity stunt or just a man being weird and intense again, but it has raised a lot of questions, like: Why did her producers let this man on the stage? Is that fear or excitement in her eyes? Who is Pauly Shore?

Even though we’re a bit iffy on Drew for her previous strike-violating behaviour, I don’t think anyone should EVER be totally blindsided with a rando proposal. At least he didn’t do a flash mob.

— Katherine Smyrk