Thanksgiving may have come and gone, but we are still gobbling up the most-talked-about entertainment news stories of November! Everything from award shows to health scares trended throughout the month, but music was the real winner of the month. From new albums to a chart-topping battle, let’s dive right into the month’s juiciest stories!
Source: Kevin Winter / Getty
Belieb It Or Not…
On November 13, two of the world’s biggest music acts with, arguably the most-influential fan bases, released new albums that competed for the number one debut in the U.S. One Direction dropped their fifth album, Made in the A.M., while Justin Bieber brought out his newest LP, Purpose. But which one came out on top? After the first week of sales alone, Bieber was able to sweep the coveted number one spot. Despite the close race, Purpose managed to edge out 1D, snagging nearly 649,000 sales. Meanwhile, Made in the A.M. sold close to 459,000 copies in the first week. Of course, each fandom had their methods to pushing their artists’ album to the top. One Direction’s fan base organized world-wide listening parties on Spotify and in-store buyouts for physical copies of the album. Beliebers had a helping hand from the Biebs himself when his camp released ticket packages that promised an album when they purchased tickets to one of his shows. This contributed up to 33,000 of his album sales, according to The Wall Street Journal. But, with critics like Rolling Stone and The Verge giving the edge to One Direction in terms of how the albums sound, which act is the real winner? We’ll leave that up to you.
Source: Alasdair McLellan
Hello, It’s New
Speaking of new things in the world of entertainment, the final film in ‘The Hunger Games’ franchise, Mockingjay—Part2 released worldwide to theaters on November 20. The last installment raked in a whopping $101 million in its first weekend box-office debut. However, despite the massive opening, Katniss Everdeen’s last appearance debuted to weaker sales than previous films in the series. Catching Fire took in $158.1 million in its opening weekend, while Mockingjay—Part 1 opened up to $121.9 million. While Jennifer Lawrence’s film franchise may have dwindled in sales, others in the biz had much stronger sales than in previous years. Adele’s 25 was released on the same day as the ‘The Hunger Games’ movie, debuting to 3.38 million copies sold in one week, the best sales of an album in a week since *NSYNC’s No Strings Attached, released in 2000 (it sold 2.416 million copies). Compared to her previous album, 21, which sold a mere 325,000 copies in its first week, it looks like Adele gets better with age!
Source: Steve Granitz / Getty
American Music Awards
The 2015 AMAs brought out the biggest and brightest in music and film to celebrate some of the best songs and artists of the year. The night was hosted by Jennifer Lopez, who opened the show with an incredible dance number set to the year’s hit songs. Later in the night, we got a sneak peek at the new Star Wars film along with a live score performed by Pentatonix. Celine Dion also paid a touching tribute to the people of Paris after the horrible attacks on the city earlier in the month. Some of the best moments of the night included stellar performances by Selena Gomez, One Direction, and The Weeknd, as well as what should forever be known as the greatest acceptance speech of all time, courtesy of Anna Kendrick and the cast of Pitch Perfect 2. There were also points in the show that got a little…awkward. Charlie Puth and Meghan Trainor took the stage to perform their song “Marvin Gaye,” and seemingly took it to heart when they went in for a 17-second make-out session. Other moments worth mentioning include Justin Bieber’s wet-and-wild performance where he danced in the rain to his song “Sorry,” as well as Diddy’s shout-out to JLo when he asked the crowd to give it up to the host (for those who don’t know, the two dated from 1999 to 2001). Honorable mention goes to the winner of Artist of the Year for the second year in a row, One Direction!
Source: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Victoria’s Secret
Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show
As many know, December marks the premiere of the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. What you may not know is that the event is filmed ahead of time. This month, the newest models for the event were announced alongside this year’s chosen musical acts. While Rihanna was set to rock the runway once again (she performed at the event in 2012), the “FourFive Seconds” singer pulled out of the performance, saying she didn’t feel ready to perform her new material to a live audience and needed more time to perfect it. Luckily, another hit-maker was able to fill her shoes: Ellie Goulding! The “On My Mind” songstress stepped in for the evening with other performers, Selena Gomez and The Weeknd. In addition to new performers, the show also included new models. Supermodels Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid were added to this year’s roster and walked the runway alongside VS alumni Candice Swanepoel, Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, and this year’s “Fantasy Bra” Honoree, Lily Aldridge.
Source: Reuters
Good Luck Charlie
Among the sadder stories this month was one that came from actor Charlie Sheen. During an appearance on the ‘Today’ show, the former Two and A Half Men actor admitted to being HIV-positive. Sheen disclosed his condition to the show’s host, Matt Lauer, and said others who knew of his condition balckmailed him for years, threatening to tell the world his secret unless they were paid millions. The actor denied the possibility that he transmitted the disease to anyone else, including his children, calling it “impossible.” We wish Sheen and his family nothing but the best.
That’s all, folks! Check back in next month to find out what other big stories make headlines. For more stories like this and so much more, make sure you follow us on Twitter and “like” us on Facebook!
The Hudsucker 
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