Lamenting Losses, Grammys Glory, & Super Bowl Spectacle

Good afternoon, readers. Mateo here!

Due to technical difficulties this issue is going out a little later than usual, thank you for your patience! I’m excited to discuss some of the things that are happening on a local and national level. First and foremost: Happy Black History Month! It has been a beautiful month so far, but I am starting to wonder if the snow will ever come. Today, I will be touching on a few different topics and highlighting recent pop culture happenings.

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Saying goodbye to Lutsen Lodge for Now

In a sad bit of news, Minnesota’s oldest resort, Lutsen Lodge, was declared a total loss following a fire early Tuesday morning. This marked the third fire in the resort’s history, with the most recent one being in 1951. With it’s inception dating back to 1885, Lutsen Lodge was highly regarded as one of the most historic resorts in Minnesota. The natural beauty of the area and the elegance of the lodge made it a very favorable attraction. The cause of the fire is still unknown and investigations are underway. On the bright side, Bryce Campbell, one of the owners, said that they plan on rebuilding the property:

“There are a lot of unknowns right now, but what we do know is that we will rebuild again and continue to keep the legacy of Historic Lutsen Lodge going for many generations to come.”

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66th Annual Grammys Awards

It’s a busy time for pop culture right now with The Grammys being last weekend and the Super Bowl happening this upcoming weekend. I managed to catch a bit of The Grammys this year, and a few moments stood out to me. The best live performance of the night went to Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs who sang “Fast Car”, a song originally made and released by Tracy Chapman in 1988. At the time, the song was nominated for three Grammys, winning one. “Fast Car” was considered by many to be a classic song, and an important piece of history. Thirty-five years later, in 2023, a country artist by the name of Luke Combs recorded a cover of “Fast Car”, and it quickly became one of the most popular country songs in the US, peaking at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country chart, and winning Chapman the Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year, making her the first Black woman to ever win the award. As a result of this success, the world was blessed with Tracy Chapman’s first live television performance in over nine years, and it resulted in an incredibly special joint performance. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend watching it.

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Super Bowl Weekend

The Super Bowl LVIII will take place this weekend featuring the San Francisco 49ers representing the NFC and the Kansas City Chiefs representing the AFC. These teams were expected to be contenders, and now here they are, facing off in the biggest game of the year in Las Vegas. The NFL has not shied away from its concern regarding hosting in Sin City, as they have implemented thorough regulations and expectations, and they aren’t taking any chances; they are having the players stay in hotels 20 miles outside of Vegas. NFL commentator Joe Buck is prepared for the worst:

“There’s going to be some story, there’s gonna be something that happens because it’s Vegas and it won’t stay in Vegas. It’s gonna be a big something that happens. I don’t know what it is. I have no idea. I just think that is going to be a mess in my mind.”

The Chiefs, led by QB Patrick Mahomes, have now been to the Super Bowl four of the last five years, hoping to win a third title in that span. Taylor Swift will also be present at the game to support Chiefs star TE Travis Kelce while rumors swirl that he may propose if they win. The NFL’s insistence on covering Taylor Swift throughout the season has not been popular amongst many fans but it has given the NFL a platform to expand its fanbase and see even more commercial success.

The 49ers, another historically good team, do not have many friends in the NFC. They have one of the most complete teams in football, matching up well at almost every position, but the media attention is focused on QB Brock Purdy, who was the 262nd and very last pick in the 2022 draft. National media helped Purdy become an MVP candidate, much to the disagreement of some fans. The combination of these two teams has resulted in many fans being indifferent to the outcome of the game, as seen in the CBS News poll above. Outside of football, Usher will be performing at halftime, and I look forward to hearing many of the hits I heard on the radio and grew up listening to like “OMG”, “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love”, and “Burn”. The Super Bowl commercials always seem to give us a few cool moments, too. Will you be watching the Super Bowl? Let us know!

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Stay informed, stay connected. 

See you next week! 

-Mateo, and the NewPrensa team

Hit play on the Spotify icon below for the NewMusica playlist,
a playlist by the NewPrensa team that brings you NewTaste and NewVibes. 

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