drop

Thousand-dollar tickets and hundreds of dollars in fees shocked some hopeful Olympic fans this month, but they did not keep LA28 from boasting strong sales in the committee’s first ticket drop.

LA28 announced Thursday that it sold more than 4 million Olympic tickets during the first ticket drop. The private organizing committee will have a second ticket drop in August with “refreshed inventory across all Olympic sports at a range of price points.”

But after the popularity of the first purchasing period, many of the lower-priced tickets have already been scooped up.

LA28 said roughly half of the total 1 million $28 tickets were sold during the locals presale, which was limited to people living near venue cities in Southern California and Oklahoma City.

The average price per Olympic ticket is less than $200, which includes a mandatory 24% service fee, and LA28 said about 75% of all tickets, including final events, will be under $400. The premier seats at high-demand events command more than $1,000 per ticket, but the highest priced categories make up about 5% of the total ticket inventory.

Artistic gymnastics sold out the quickest in Drop 1. Four Olympic sports — flag football, lacrosse, softball and squash — sold all their available inventory for the first drop. After five days of local presale, global ticket sales opened and drew fans from 85 countries and all 50 states and U.S. territories. The largest international sales came from the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico and Japan.

For the first female-majority Olympic Games, LA28 reported that women’s Olympic sessions outsold men’s 93% to 88% during the first drop.

“The response to our initial on-sale was nothing short of historic. Fans from near and far have spoken: the world wants to be part of the LA28 Games,” LA28 chief executive officer Reynold Hoover said in a statement. “The success of Drop 1 is about more than momentum — it reflects LA28’s commitment to delivering a fiscally responsible Games that create a lasting legacy for Los Angeles and its communities.”

Drop 2, which will begin in August, will have additional tickets across all Olympic sports, including those that may have sold out during the first purchasing windows. The registration period for Drop 2 opened Thursday at tickets.la28.org and will continue until July 22. Fans who registered for the first drop of tickets but did not receive a time slot and fans who did not buy their maximum 12 general ticket allotment will automatically be entered into the random lottery Drop 2. The new registration period is only required for anybody who did not sign up for the initial drop.

Fans are still limited to 12 Olympic tickets and up to 12 soccer tickets that don’t count toward the general maximum. There is a four ticket per ceremony limit for the opening and closing ceremony that count toward the 12-ticket maximum, which is cumulative across all LA28 presales and ticket drops.

LA28 will have multiple ticket drops with assigned purchasing time slots before ticket sales move to a first-come, first-served format closer to the Games, which open on July 14, 2028. LA28 began its ticketing process earlier than most other Olympic Games with tickets going on sale more than two years in advance of the opening ceremony. The early timeline has created excitement for the first Summer Olympics in the United States since Atlanta 1996, but also prompted concerns about scheduling. Fans clamored for tickets with little information about which teams or athletes would be competing in most sessions.

Tickets are not refundable, but fans can opt for verified resale when LA28 launches its official resale system in 2027. AXS and Eventim is the official secondary ticket marketplace of the LA28 Games and Ticketmaster and Sports Illustrated Tickets have also signed on as additional verified resale platforms.

LA28 will have 14 million tickets available for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which would eclipse the record of 12 million tickets sold for the Paris Games. Paris 2024 sold an about 9.5 million tickets for the Olympics, but used a different ticket system than LA28. For Paris, 3.5 million tickets were sold during the first phase, during which fans were required to buy tickets to at least three different sports instead of the option for single-event tickets available during LA28’s Drop 1 process.

Tickets for the 2028 Paralympics, which will be the first in L.A.’s history, will go on sale in 2027. Ticket sales and hospitality are expected to cover about $2.5 billion of LA28’s expected $7.1 billion budget for the first Games in L.A. in more than 40 years.

ADDISON Rae surprised music lovers at Coachella weekend two by bringing out Olivia Rodrigo to perform her new single Drop Dead.

The track came out on Friday, marking itself as the lead single off of Olivia’s much-anticipated third album “you look pretty sad for a girl so in love.”

The Diet Pepsi singer turned to the crowd and asked them if they had been listening to any new music during the week, before beginning to sing her 2025 single, Headphones On.

However, when Addison sung the lyrics “I compare myself to the new IT girl,” Olivia came out of nowhere and joined in the performance.

The moment was met with enormous cheers from the crowd, as no one expected a special guest to arrive.

But the roaring reception only got louder as the ladies launched into singing Drop Dead.

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Olivia announced that she was releasing her third album earlier this month via a post to her Instagram channel.

In the post she shared a photo of the front cover, showing her with her eyes shut on a swing set.

In the caption she revealed the release date as June 12, sharing: “My third album ‘You seem pretty sad for a girl so in love’ is out June 12th.

“I am so proud of this record and I can’t wait for you to hear it.”

Drop Dead is the first new music to arrive from Olivia since September 2023 when she released her Sophomore album, GUTS.

GUTS achieved massive success with hits including Vampire and Bad Idea Right?

It followed the success of her debut album SOUR from 2021, adored for smash-hit Drivers License.

Weekend two of Coachella has been incredibly popular, abundant with A-list celebrities and more surprise guests.

Sabrina Carpenter wowed the audience on Friday night with a long set that told the story of a young girl navigating Hollywood throughout each song.

But just when fans thought the show couldn’t get any better Sabrina brought out Madonna, and they dueted a rendition of Like A Prayer.

Justin Bieber also wowed the crowd and got them in their feelings, bringing a laptop on stage to sing along to his old hits karaoke-style.

But PinkPantheress pulled out all the stops when it came to surprise guests.

The songstress brought out not one but three fellow musicians including Zara Larsson and Janelle Monae.

KATSEYE concluded the trio of surprise singers, and the crowd absolutely loved it.

Coachella festival is held annually at the Empire Polo Club in California.

AMANDA Bynes was spotted dashing around the streets of Los Angeles on Friday, looking in incredible shape while debuting a new hair colour.

The appearance comes just five days after the singer, 40, surprised her fans by spontaneously dropping a new single called Girlfriend.

Sporting a casual outfit, Amanda opted for a grey zip up hoodie and navy shorts to complete her errands in the city.

To keep her energised and hydrated, Amanda had an iced coffee in her hand as well as an unopened straw.

She finished the outfit off with a pair of comfortable Uggs, a black designer bag and jet black hair.

It’s a major change from the star’s signature platinum blonde tresses, giving her an edgier look.

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In December Amanda revealed that she had lost over 28lbs with the assistance of Ozympic.

Posting on social media to celebrate the achievement, Amanda penned to her followers that she was “down 152lbs” to date.

Amanda first announced that she was going to begin her Ozympic journey last June when the craze of weight loss injections swept the entertainment industry by storm.

At the time she described feeling “so excited” to shed some pounds and that she’ll “look better in paparazzi pictures”.

Amanda had previously opened up about battling depression and cited it as one of the reasons behind her weight gain.

It led to her becoming increasingly insecure, hoping to someday return to her teenage weight of 110lbs.

As she grew up, Amanda underwent some different procedures to alter her appearance.

Last August Amanda confirmed that she had gotten excess skin surgically removed from her eyelids.

She described the procedure, known as a blepharoplasty as “one of the best things [she] could have ever done for [her] self-confidence.”

Amanda has also had various tattoos done over the years, including a Roman numeral on her finger and a heart on her face.

Amanda is a former child actress who was known for playing various roles on Nickelodeon.

Some of the popular TV shows that she featured in include All That and The Amanda Show.

She won several Kids’ Choice Awards for both programmes, and later went on to star in sit coms and teen comedy films including What I Like About You, Hairspray, and Living Proof.

After the end of her conservatorship, Amanda pivoted to try out other creative pursuits including releasing music.

She released her first singles, Diamonds and Fairfax, back in 2022.