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Elmo, Cookie Monster & More ‘Sesame Street’ Pals Headed to Italy for 2026 Olympics (and Cannolis!)

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Sunny day! Elmo and his friends are inviting the world to come and play at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina in Italy.

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As announced Tuesday (Oct. 28), the furry red monster is bringing Cookie Monster, Grover and more muppet pals to the Games in February to help with NBCUniversal’s coverage of the biennial event. According to a release, the characters will be featured in activations across Sesame Street’s socials leading up to and during the competitions, as well as in NBCU’s social and broadcast coverage of the athletics.

“Elmo is very excited to come to Milan – that’s in Italy!” Elmo said in statement. “Elmo can’t wait to cheer on all the athletes at the Olympics. Elmo’s mommy is knitting him a special red, white and blue hat. Yeah, baby!”

Cookie Monster added that he’s excited for the trip for other reasons. “Me been practicing curling with a giant chocolate chippie!” he said. “Me can’t wait to try all the delicious Italian treats. Cannoli, me got me eye on you!”

The inclusion of Sesame Street in next year’s Games follows the success of Elmo and friends’ partnership with NBCU in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The gang was featured in illustrations showing their method of travel to the city for the event — via hot air balloon — as well as spots on TODAY, Access Hollywood, NBC Nightly News for Kids promoting the contest.

The group also participated in NBC Sports’ daytime coverage of the Summer Games, meeting Team USA athletes and sharing their experiences on the Sesame Street and NBC Olympics socials.

“Sesame Street has long been a source of joy and learning for families across the country,” said Lyndsay Signor, senior VP of sports marketing for Universal Television Entertainment Group, in a statement. “Bringing Elmo, Cookie Monster and their friends to the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina after the success in Paris adds a playful and heartwarming touch to our Olympic storytelling.”

“Their universal charm fits perfectly with the global spirit of the Olympics,” she added. “And Cookie Monster — we’ve got a fresh batch of biscotti waiting for you!”

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‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Smash ‘Golden’ Notches 10th Week as U.K. No. 1 Single

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It’s another “Golden” week for KPop Demon Hunters as the breakout song reaches a whopping 10th week at No. 1 on the U.K. Official Singles Chart dated Nov. 7.

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The song, taken from the Netflix smash film, is credited to the animated group HUNTR/X and sung by EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami. Earlier this week it was reported that Netflix is targeting 2029 as a release date for a highly anticipated sequel to the animated flick. 

“Golden” has now appeared at No. 1 on the U.K. Official Singles Chart for 10 non-consecutive weeks, and is the longest-running No. 1 single for an animated act of all time. The Archies’ “Sugar Sugar” ruled on the U.K. Singles Chart for eight weeks back in 1969, while “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Disney’s 2022’s Encanto achieved seven weeks.

The song is also closing in on Alex Warren’s “Ordinary”, which has spent a whopping 13 weeks at No. 1 throughout 2025.

Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” is a non-mover and ends the week at No. 2. It has already notched three weeks at the summit to give her longest-running No. 1 single since 2022’s “Anti-Hero”. The LP’s other breakout song, “Opalite”, stays strong at No. 4.

Joining them in the top five is RAYE‘s “Where Is My Husband!” which holds its position at No. 3. Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” lifts one place to No. 5, and is at the same spot on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, a career best.

As Lily Allen’s West End Girl moves up to No. 2 on the U.K. Albums Chart, the LP’s breakout song “Pussy Palace” heads into the top 10, finishing at No. 8. Two more tracks from the record, “West End Girl” (No. 15) and “Madeline” (No. 16), also achieve new peaks.

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Friday Dance Music Guide: The Week’s Best New Tracks From Charlotte de Witte, Illenium, Romy & More

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This week in dance music: Bunt.’s manager Nick Groff talked about using emerging technology to turn phones back on fans during shows during Billboard’s Live Music Summit in Los Angeles on Monday, Nov. 3.

Diplo reflected on his ex Katy Perry and her new boyfriend, the former prime minister of Canada Justin Trudeau. Demo Lovato’s new dance album It’s Not That Deep bumped Tame Impala’s Deadbeat out of the number one spot on Top Dance/Electronic albums and the co-writer of Deadbeat’s star single “Dracula” Sarah Aarons told us about the production process and the procrastination that brought the song to life.

“It was like, ‘Cool, this mix is due in 45 minutes,'” Aarons recalled of finishing “Dracula.” “When you know you have a deadline, your brain just goes, ‘This is the right thing.’ [Kevin Parker] called me and he went, ‘What about this melody?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah! How did we not do that melody already? It totally fits the song.’ We’d written lyrics so many times, we already had so many lyrics floating around our brains. We had so much of what we knew the song was that it kind of clicked.”

Meanwhile, Fred again.. continued his 10 shows/10 songs/10 weeks run in Dublin (and in fact released three songs this week), we celebrated the 20 year anniversary of Madonna’s disco-laced Confessions On a Dancefloor and Calvin Harris announced a 2026 Las Vegas residency at Wynn Nightlife, the property where the Scottish producer had his first ever Vegas residency back in 2011.

The Avicii Estate and Pophouse released the first of a three-part documentary series about the making of the late artist’s 2015 album Stories and Above & Beyond released their own documentary about the making of their July album Bigger Than All of Us. Plus, Grammy season kicked off with the nominations announced today, with Skrillex, PinkPantheress and Fred again.. leading the dance/electronic fields with two noms each.

Is there more? You bet there’s more. These are the best new dance tracks of the week.

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Anuel AA & Blessd’s ‘Pórtate Bonito’ Skyrockets to No. 1 on Latin Airplay Chart

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Anuel AA returns to the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart with “Pórtate Bonito,” his first team-up with Blessd. The track flies 9-1 on the Nov. 8-dated list, Anuel’s first champ in over three years.

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Released August 21 on Real Hasta La Muerte, “Pórtate Bonito” was initially announced on Anuel’s Instagram account on August 6, alongside news that Blessd would join him on his RHLM 2 tour.

The collab, produced by Ovy on The Drums, surges 9-1 in its seventh week on the chart with the Greatest Gainer weekly honors, after a 32% boost in audience impressions, to 7.6 million, logged during the Oct. 24-30 tracking week, as reported by Luminate.

The new win marks Anuel’s first No. 1 in over three years, since “Ley Seca,” with Jhayco, ruled for one week in February 2022. In sum, he’s placed 11 rulers, here’s a recap of those since “Ella Quiere Beber,” with Romeo Santos, in 2019:

Title, Artist, Peak, Weeks at No. 1
“Ella Quiere Beber,” with Santos, Feb. 2, 2019, one
“Secreto,” with Karol G, May 4, 2019, one
“Baila Baila Baila,” with Ozuna, Daddy Yankee, J Balvin & Farruko, May 11, 2019, one
“Otro Trago,” with Sech, Darell, Nicky Jam, & Ozuna, Aug. 31, 2019, one
“China,” with Daddy Yankee, Karol G, Ozuna & J Balvin, Sept. 21, 2019, two
“Aventura,” with Lunay & Ozuna, Nov. 9, 2019, one
“Keii,” May 2, 2020, one
“Fútbol & Rumba,” with Enrique Iglesias, Aug. 8, 2020, one
“Location,” with Karol G & J Balvin, April 10, 2021, one
“Ley Seca,” with Jhay Cortez, Feb. 5, 2022, one
“Pórtate Bonito”” with Blessd, Nov. 8, 2025, one

Colombian star Blessd adds his third No. 1 on the overall Latin radio ranking. “Medallo,” with Justin Quiles and Lenny Tavarez, and “Si Sabe Ferxxo,” with Feid, each led for one week in 2022 and 2024, respectively.

Beyond its Latin Airplay coronation, “Pórtate Bonito” ascends 3-1 on the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart. Plus, it gains traction on the Hot Latin Rhythm Songs chart, where it narrowly misses the top 10 with an 18-11 leap.

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