Stealing the spotlight from one of the most iconic female music artists Rihanna is no small feat. However, her watch, which she actually wore around her neck, recently stole the limelight.

Rihanna brought her A-game to Pharrell Williams’ debut LV collection at Paris Fashion Week. She cheered for Pharrell, spearheading the French luxury house’s new campaign.

Rihanna creates a new trend

However, Rihanna’s selfie in which she is wearing a Jacob & Co watch worth nearly Rs 5.7 crore has gone viral on the internet.

Jacob & Co has teamed up with the singer to create a new trend – a watch choker. It is for the first time that a timepiece has been worn on a neck.

As per the brand, the 47-mm white gold Brilliant Flying Tourbillon, set with a total of 368 diamonds, has been reconstructed to be worn as a choker.

Meanwhile, Rihanna, who is pregnant with her second child, has been slaying her maternity style. She flaunted her baby bump in a checkered cropped denim shirt, jeans, an oversized jacket and a beanie.

Rihanna completed her look with glittering heels and layered diamond necklaces.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky

Rihanna and Rocky have been dating since early 2020. They went public with their romance in November of that same year.

In April 2022, there had been rumours about the rapper cheating on her but were later found to be false. It was in May 2022 that the couple welcomed their first child, a baby boy.

All roads lead to BKC Jio Gardens tonight as fans of 90s boyband Backstreet Boys prep to watch their teen idols onstage. In their rollercoaster three-decade career, AJ McLean, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, and Kevin Richardson have thrilled fans around the world with their impeccable choreography, heavenly harmonies, and over a dozen chart-topping hits.

Due to overwhelming popular demand, they have expanded their massive DNA World Tour to Mumbai and Delhi. This tour is a celebration of the then-boyband’s rich legacy, featuring megawatt hits such as ‘I Want It That Way’, ‘Everybody’ (Backstreet’s Back), ‘Quit Playing Games With My Heart’ and ‘As Long As You Love Me’, along with the latest offerings from their recent album DNA, including ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’, ‘Chances’, and ‘No Place’, among others.

The quintet has already landed in Mumbai to a roaring welcome from fans at the airport. Their hotel staff treated BSB to a Bollywood-style dance performance of their hit songs which Nick Carter posted on his Instagram page. In the video, he remarked with an ear-to-ear grin on his face.

“This is the first time I have seen something like this in my entire career.” In the caption, Carter wrote, “What cool surprise arriving at the hotel here in Mumbai India. The hotel staff had a full-out Bollywood-style dance prepared remixing all our songs. I guess we really do have fans all over the world.”

Sold-out shows

There has been a mad scramble for tickets ever since the concert was announced in February 2023. BSB fans are a passionate and mixed bunch. Everyone from the portly neighbourhood housewife with four kids in tow, the suave businessmen in their Armani suits to the navel-baring crop top brigade are followers. So, it’s not surprising that tickets were sold out weeks ago.

Official ticketing partner Bookmyshow’s website had no tickets available across tiers: Everybody Zone (general access for INR 3500 to INR 5000), I Want It That Way (closer to the stage for INR 8000 to INR 10000) and All I Have To Give (VIP passes with lounge access for INR 15000 to INR 20000).

Prices varied according to the subdivision in each tier for Mumbai and Delhi. However, as the concert date inched closer, tickets mysteriously started resurfacing. Suddenly, concertgoers are selling off their tickets via social media since they weren’t going “due to unavoidable circumstances”. Of course, they are selling them at a much higher price than the original cost.

General access tickets are going for VIP prices. The truth behind the matter is hidden in plain sight: scalping.

Trend of scalping

Scalping of concert tickets is when someone buys tickets to a concert or event and then resells them for a higher price. The person who bought the tickets originally is usually a fan who wants to attend the event, but the scalper buys the tickets with the intention of making a profit by reselling them at a higher price.

Scalpers use bots and loopholes on the ticketing site to do this. This is possible because demand for the tickets is often higher than the supply, and scalpers take advantage of this by charging fans more than the original price.

The practice of scalping can be controversial because it often means fans have to pay more than they should.

Wrote Twitter user Piyush: “There is suddenly a surplus of Backstreet Boys tickets for Mumbai:

One ardent fan tweeted: “The millennial in me wants to attend the BackStreet Boys DNA World tour in Mumbai, but ticket bohot mehenga hai. Kuch jugaad hai kya?

The scalping of concert tickets for BSB is a fascinating example of the dynamics of supply and demand. The popularity of the boy band is such that demand for tickets is far outstripping supply, creating a lucrative opportunity for scalpers who are able to obtain tickets through various means.

Scalpers are using sophisticated technology and strategies to capitalize on the imbalance between supply and demand and adjust their selling price accordingly. While some may see scalping as a nefarious practice that takes advantage of fans, it can also be seen as a natural outcome of a market where demand exceeds supply. It’s clear that the practice of scalping can have negative consequences, however, particularly when it creates a sense of unfairness among fans who are unable to obtain tickets at face value.

Surge in streaming

The band has seen close to a 2x surge in daily searches on Spotify in India since the Mumbai and Delhi of their world tour were announced in February.

Spotify playlist- ‘This Is Backstreet Boys’; which includes some of the band’s biggest hits, also witnessed an 88% increase in streams during this period. Released over 20 years ago; ‘I Want It That Way’ continues to be a fan favourite and is the band’s top-streamed track in India since the tour announcement. This is followed by ‘As Long as You Love Me’, ‘Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) – Radio Edit’, ‘Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely’, and ‘Quit Playing Games With My Heart’, which complete the list of the top 5 most streamed Backstreet Boys songs on Spotify in India right now.

New documentary

BSB has also gifted their loyal fans with the first episode of their slick new documentary series, ‘Making Of The DNA Tour’, offering an exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpse into the preparation for this world tour. Five episodes are out on their Youtube channel. Rick+Tone will be recording more footage for the documentary during the Mumbai and Delhi shows.

 Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Sandhu has revealed that she gained weight since being crowned in December, but she doesn’t mind the change. However, it was the online bullying that got to her and she “broke down” so many times.

“Physically I have kind of grown, got more pounds and increased my weight, which I am totally comfortable about right now,” the Indian-born beauty queen told People.

The 22-year-old added: “I was bullied for gaining weight. It was kind of uncomfortable and really surprising for me to see how people started having their opinions, which should not really matter.”

“It’s not about how you look, it’s about who you are from inside and how you treat people and what you believe in.”

She says that leading up to the competition, diet and exercise was all about winning.

“I was really focused towards my goal and I was (not) thinking about my health,” Sandhu said.

“The whole time we were working out, doing so many activities, and just after winning, I had almost a month just to relax.”

“During that time, I actually didn’t work out, and I was just eating and just enjoying that time with my family,” the former Miss Universe says.

“I never realised that it would start showing on my body.”

Some of the online comments were very cruel.

“I definitely broke down so many times,” Sandhu admits. “Sometimes in the most unexpected times. I’m just about to go on stage or something and this whole thing comes in my mind. It’s really sad.”

Sandhu gained weight but also didn’t feel well, and a doctor diagnosed her with allergies she never knew she had.

“I have a gluten allergy,” Sandhu shares.

“I can’t have wheat or anything which contains wheat. Apart from that, I also have some soy allergy (and) coconut allergies.”

“I’m allergic to eggs and I kind of realised that when I came to New York,” the model and actress says.

“Because (eggs are considered) vegetarian and it’s known as non-vegetarian in India. It took me time to realise that the things which I was allergic to, I was still having. I didn’t know.”

Now that the 70th Miss Universe title holder has gotten a grasp on her health, her mindset has shifted.

“I’ve gone through that phase of my life where I used to feel bad about everything,” Sandhu says. “Now, I started loving everything. It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to feel sad.”

Sandhu hopes sharing her story will help others who struggle with body image and self love.

“We all are imperfect,” she says.

“We need to realise that there’s a point where we understand that we need to embrace our flaws and when you do that, you can conquer anything in this world.”