The Weeknd at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards

(Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

ready for the weeknd

The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” is about to hit 5 billion streams on Spotify

The song is hundreds of millions of streams ahead of the competition.

8/29/25 8:12AM

They said it couldn’t be done. They said, maybe, it shouldn’t be done. But it’s about to happen: we (Spotify’s 675 million monthly active users) are about to send The Weeknd’s 2019 earworm “Blinding Lights” past the 5 billion stream mark on the platform, making it the first song in history to pass the round-number threshold.

Shut up and play the hit

As the second single from “After Hours,” The Weeknd’s fourth studio album, the song was a solid hit at the time, spending four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 — a “respectable stay,” per Stereogum, but by no means absurd. The synth-pop track’s staying power since, on the other hand, has been frankly insane.

The song has been streamed more than 4.995 billion times, and is still clocking about 1.4 million streams a day almost six years after its release. Presuming that figure increases a little on Fridays and Saturdays, with many of The Weeknd’s tracks lending themselves nicely to, well, the weekend, “Blinding Lights” should cross the barrier over the next three days.

Wildly, another one of his tracks isn’t that far behind in the rankings either.

Spotify most streamed songs chart — Sherwood News

For a song that was first teased on a Mercedes ad on German TV one Sunday, the feats “Blinding Lights” has gone on to achieve have been remarkable. Released in November 2019, the song went on to become the biggest song of 2020 by sales and size, standing as the only song to spend a full year in the Top 10 in the US and overtaking Chubby Checker’s 1960 hit “The Twist” as the Billboards’s top Hot 100 hit of all time in 2021.

With such impressive stats behind his biggest hit, earlier song “Starboy” also breaking Spotify’s top three most streamed songs of all time, and a staggering 26 more entries with over 1 billion plays on the streamer, per Kworb figures, it’s no surprise that The Weeknd is one of the biggest stars on the platform. Only three artists — Bad Bunny, Drake, and a certain Ms. Swift — are racking up more daily streams at the moment.

Saleah Blancaflor8h

Prediction markets show Jordan catching up to Chalamet following Actor Awards

The Screen Actors Guild hosted its Actor Awards on Sunday, with the film awards closely monitored ahead of the Academy Awards. The Best Supporting Actor and Actress races remain suspenseful as Sean Penn (“One Battle After Another”) and Amy Madigan (“Weapons”) took home the Actor Awards in those respective categories, shifting the odds in both markets predicting who’ll take home the Oscar.

(Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.)

But the most exciting race is for Best Actor. Several award pundits and experts predicted that “Marty Supreme” star Timothée Chalamet was a lock for the Actor Award despite his loss at the BAFTA Film Awards the previous weekend. But a few suggested that either “Blue Moon” lead Ethan Hawke or Michael B. Jordan could receive the honor instead. And that’s exactly what happened when the “Sinners” star was announced as the winner.

While some have pointed out that the Actor Awards aren’t a reliable signifier for who will win the Oscar (Demi Moore and Chalamet received the SAG honors last year, but didn’t win the Oscar), it certainly puts Jordan at a higher advantage and makes the Best Actor race closer than it’s ever been. Chalamet previously had a higher lead in the prediction markets, but markets are now pricing in a 49% chance he takes the Oscar while Jordan’s odds have risen to 40%.

Millie Giles

NOVEL FINDINGS

Happy Read Across America Day — 40% of US adults didn’t read a single book last year

A YouGov survey finds that the top 4% of American readers accounted for nearly half of all books consumed in 2025.

Saleah Blancaflor2/27/26

Prediction markets show Chalamet in the lead for Best Actor, but Actor Awards could shake up race

The final voting period has kicked off for the 98th Academy Awards. Up until last weekend, many of the main categories seemed like a lock. While “Hamnet” star Jessie Buckley has been the predicted front-runner for the Best Actress statuette for some time now, the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor and Actress races have been upended following the BAFTA Film Awards.

(Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.)

While Timothée Chamalet still remains in the lead for the Best Actor prize, his odds have gone down slightly after he lost the BAFTA award, while the wins of Wunmi Mosaku and Sean Penn in the supporting categories have made it a more exciting race. Here’s a roundup of what some experts and awards pundits have said this week:

While Gold Derby still has Chalamet as the front-runner for the Actor Award (and the Oscar), his odds have gone down slightly following the BAFTA loss. Surprisingly, the publication has “Weapons” star Amy Madigan in the lead to win the Actor Award for supporting actress, while they have Penn as the front-runner getting the Actor Award for supporting actor.
Numlock Awards reports that the BAFTA Awards reshaped the Oscars race, with Chalamet’s loss throwing the Best Actor race “into chaos” following “I Swear” star Robert Aramayo’s win. (He was not eligible to be nominated for an Oscar.)
Meanwhile, Variety’s Clayton Davis reports that the Oscars race has officially become “fractured, unpredictable and thrilling” following the BAFTA Awards. However, he predicts that “Sinners” star Michael B. Jordan will win the Actor Award this weekend and has heard rumblings that “Blue Moon” star Ethan Hawke could pull a last-minute victory.
IndieWire’s Anne Thompson says that Chalamet is “good to go” for the Actor Awards and the Oscars, adding that the Best Supporting Actress and Actor categories are the ones to keep an eye on.
Deadline’s Pete Hammond believes that Chalamet’s BAFTA loss doesn’t necessarily impact the Actor Awards — Aramayo isn’t nominated for an Oscar and the BAFTA Awards tend to favor homegrown actors. He agreed with many of the other pundits in that Mosaku and Penn’s wins add more suspense.
AwardsRadar’s Joey Magidson points out that no one has ever won two Actor Awards in a row, which could open Chalamet up to an upset win from Hawke.
Meanwhile, AwardsWatch’s Erik Anderson has Chalamet as a lock for the Actor Award, though he lists Jordan as the follow-up should there be a surprise win in that category.

The Actor Awards are on Sunday, and whoever wins that evening could lock in the fate of the actors in the lead and supporting Oscar categories.

Millie Giles

LEARNING MACHINES

2/27/26

More US teens are using AI for studying. Not all of them feel great about it.

A new survey finds over half of Americans aged 13 to 17 use AI chatbots to help with school.

3d robots working at desks with computers in a repetitive office pattern

Max Knoblauch2/26/26

Apple and Netflix announce a Formula 1 content swap

Just months after Apple signed a five-year, $140 million-per-year deal for US media rights to Formula 1 races, the streamer is sharing with Netflix.

In a rare content swap, Apple TV will allow Netflix to simulcast the F1 Canadian Grand Prix in May. Netflix, in turn, will allow Apple to carry its popular “Drive to Survive” docuseries.

“Drive to Survive” will land on the queues of both Netflix and Apple TV at 12 a.m. PT this Friday.

The docuseries has been a major driving force behind F1’s increasing popularity in the US, with more than half of the sport’s followers crediting “Drive to Survive” as a key reason they became fans, per a 2022 survey.

Netflix and Apple TV Join Forces to Stream Formula 1 Thrills