Top 10 Pop Culture Moments of 2016, Part 2
Yesterday, we looked at 10-6 of Top 10 Pop Culture Moments of 201610-6 Recap:10. “American Idol” ends after 15 seasons9. Jumping Upside-Down for “Stranger Things”8. Indy 500 blackout lifted after 65 years7. Beyoncé does it again6. The Juice is back
Here are the five biggest moments in pop culture of 2016:
- 6th Time’s the Charm for Leo
– Leonardo DiCaprio picked up his elusive Oscar in February for “The Revenant”
– First Oscar nomination was 22 years prior for “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” at 19-years-old
– His long career has included nominations for his performance in “The Aviator,” “Blood Diamond,” and “The Wolf of Wall Street”
– Other notable performances include “Titanic,” “Catch Me If You Can,” “The Departed,” and “Inception”
- The Final Five take over Rio
– The 2016 U.S. women’s gymnastics team consisted of Simone (SIM-OWN) Biles, Aly Raisman (RAYS-MEN), Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, and Madison Kocian (KOE-SHEN)
– The declared themselves “The Final Five” for two reasons: they are the “final” team to be overseen by USA’s Martha Karolyi after 16 years of coordinating for Team USA women’s gymnastics; also, 2016 is the “final” Olympics for teams of five, as the International Gymnastics Federation reduced teams to four members beginning in 2020
– “The Final Five” won gold in the team all-around
– 19-year-old Simone Biles won gold in individual all-around, gold in vault, gold in floor exercise, and bronze in balance beam
– Aly Raisman won silver in individual all-around and silver in floor exercise
– Laurie Hernandez won silver in balance beam
– Madison Kocian won silver in uneven bars
- Disney shatters box office records
– Walt Disney Studios broke Universal’s record of $6.89 billion in 2015 for annual box office revenues worldwide
– Marvel films “Captain America: Civil War” & “Doctor Strange” finished in the Top 10
– Also in the Top 10, animated films “Finding Dory” & “Zootopia”
– Another big debut for Star Wars in December with “Rogue One”
– Live-action “The Jungle Book” also finished in the Top 10 worldwide, with over $960 million
- SNL does what it does best
– As in the past, Saturday Night Live poked fun at past elections with Tina Fey portraying Sarah Palin, Will Ferrell as George W. Bush, Fred Armisen as Barack Obama, and many more
– SNL cast member Kate McKinnon continued her portrayal of Hillary Clinton from last season
– However, two-time Emmy winner Alec Baldwin replaced Darrell Hammond to portray Donald Trump ahead of the presidential debates and forthcoming election
– SNL covered topics such as Trump’s apology over his statement made to The Today Show’s Billy Bush, Hillary Clinton, bits from the presidential debates, and Clinton suffering the defeat by singing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”
- Fly the W after 108 years
– The Chicago Cubs ended the longest drought in sports in October by winning the 2016 World Series in 7 games over the Cleveland Indians, who now hold the longest active drought of 68 years since winning their last championship
– Down 3-1 in the World Series, Cubs fans were in desperation mode to get three wins in a row to win, with the last two games being played on the road
– The victory put an end to the “Curse of the Billy Goat” (Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis was asked to leave Wrigley Field during the 1945 World Series because the odor of his pet goat was bothering fans, and he said, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more.”)
– The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook has the Cubs listed as the clear favorite to win the 2017 World Series, with 3-1 odds