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Over the years, the concept of the “song of the summer” has been well-contested: Is it merely based on statistics? Is it the song that has become so omnipresent that many have become sick of it? Does this mean that “Happy” by Pharrell Williams and “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea count?

Last year, it was likely somewhere between Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild” and “Luther” by Kendrick Lamar, featuring SZA. Just based on numbers, it was Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” but this is a strong case for why metrics don’t always matter.

On Sept. 23, the autumn equinox will arrive, officially bringing an end to the summer season and countless attempts at giving it an anthem. This year, there was a plethora of choices. So much so that we couldn’t narrow it down to a definitive tune.

However, you can find our potential picks below.

“The Peace,” underscores

“I don’t speak unless I’m spoken to / And I won’t smoke unless you’re smoking too.”

Underscores, the artist that you are. After “U” dropped in March, “The Peace” was one of the first tracks to go viral across social media. It’s since maintained its cultural relevancy, with the artist performing it as part of her DIY pop-up sets, staged from the back of a U-Haul truck.

Historically, underscores hasn’t written much about her personal life, opting for conceptual work. However, “The Peace” offers a rare, intimate glimpse into the artist’s love life and the feeling of sacrificing basic boundaries in order to satisfy someone else.

Beyond its storytelling, the song’s melody and chopped vocal riff are unforgettable on this track, standing out from the rest of the album. This isn’t a jab at the project — “U” is an incredible album and the song is just that good.

“stupid song,” Olivia Rodrigo

A song from Olivia Rodrigo’s third album, “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love,” was always going to make this list, given the strong reception it’s received and its incredible replayability. As further evidence of this, within weeks of its release, the song hit 300 million streams.

The album’s third single, “stupid song,” just makes it in over “the cure,” its second single. Though the latter has one of the best bridges of the year, its undeniably melancholic and macabre nature is what put it out of contention.

Though “stupid song” has its somber moments, it’s easier to scream in a crowd without catching concerned glares. This call for catharsis is ever-present in Rodrigo’s discography, but this last album is the artist in full stride.

“Dance…,” Slayyyter

Speaking of artists in full stride, Slayyyter has been the breakout act of the summer, which is incredible considering that her debut mixtape released in 2019. She’s got skin in the game but hasn’t really been able to crack the mainstream until the release of “Worst Girl in America” and a subsequent, viral Coachella set.

“Dance…” is the opening track of that album and also arguably the best song on it. After about a full minute of pensive, progressive, electronic buildup, listeners get a taste of bliss, sewn-in synths and heavy bass.

When one individual made the bold claim on X that it was “one of the best album intros ever,” Slayyyter was quick to respond with a simple “TRUE.” Shortly after its release, it went viral on Instagram reels and TikTok as creators used the song in a trend where they’d act fatigued before bursting into motion on beat.

“Caught in a Jam,” Portraits of Tracy

This is easily one of the most fun, captivating tracks of the summer — it’s funky, bouncy, buzzy and everything in between. Solidifying its cool is the reassuring note at the end of the music video description: “No generative AI was used at any stage in the production of this material.”

It features — without a doubt — one of the best bridges and refrains of the year, and perhaps onward. Not to mention, its lyrics are equally as enjoyable as the production.

“Oh, something changed in me, I felt it instantly / I had to hit the club so they could all see / Now I’m the dancing queen / F-f-f-far far from 17”

“Caught in a Jam” would an impressive feat from any artist, but it’s exciting to hear it coming from a 22-year-old. Hopefully, the future is bright and groovy for Portraits of Tracy. Reception of the artist’s latest EP, “Q: From Where Do Our Primal Instincts Originate? A: MTV! EP,” has been overwhelmingly positive, with Pitchfork placing it a 7.6 rating.

“BbY Wow,” Karol G, Judeline, rusowsky

The 2026 Coachella headliner is back at it again. This time around, Karol G released “BbY Wow” at the tail end of July, allowing it just enough time to seep into the brains of all its listeners.

Realistically, it needed no time at all. It didn’t take long for the song to hit No. 1 on Spotify global charts, receiving over 3 million streams within a week of its release.

The song is a masterclass in production, pulling and syncopating a sample from iconic dance hall tune “Coolie Dance Riddim,” released by Jamaican producer Cordel Skatta Burrell in 2003. In this, a lot of the heavy lifting is done, and all three artists are left to ride the smooth beat.

Naturally, Karol G really shines here, but Judeline and rusowsky provide an interesting dynamic to the song, making it an instant hit.

“Girl Like Me,” PinkPantheress

“Girl Like Me” is an odd entry for potential song of the summer. The track was released back in May 2025 as part of her second mixtape, “Fancy That.” However, it didn’t receive much buzz until April 2026, when PinkPantheress performed at Coachella.

Not long after, she released the official music video for the song, which blew up almost as soon as it landed on YouTube. The video, made in collaboration with faceless director Lauzza, features buildings shuffling on beat and other excerpts of British culture.

It would soon witness the same treatment on streaming, garnering a 165% increase in streaming activity over a four-week period, Billboard reported.

But it’s not all about numbers in the world of music and, thankfully, “Girl Like Me,” delivers sonically, as well. The song flips both “Romeo” and “Always Be There” by aughts-defining electronic duo Basement Jaxx and turns it into a thumping dance pop tune.

“Dine N’Dash,” the Strokes

As plainly stated in our coverage of the Strokes’ appearance at Just Like Heaven in August, the band is “currently riding the high” of its first Coachella performance in 15 years. “Reality Awaits” is an incredibly polarizing album. What’s dividing fans is Julian Casablancas’ insistence on using Autotune, as many prefer his raw vocals.

However, Autotune or not, “Dine N’Dash” is reminiscent of the best of the band, confirming that they’ve still got the juice to make hits 25 years after their debut. The chorus is the key here, as its smooth riff pauses for Casablancas to softy wail out “We could never afford it / So we dine and dash / I would always go last.”

Hello, 2001!

“brand new chanel$,” Slayyyter

It’s always difficult to give an artist a double entry on a list, but in the case of Slayyyter, it was mandatory. “Brand new chanel$” is poised to be a song off of a potential upcoming project, which is expected to be an inverse, “brother album” to “Worst Girl in America.”

In that, it completely lives up to her promises, taking the route of a more traditional pop song, while still delivering on all fronts. Notably, her vocal ability really shines through on this track, as she belts out “I‘m holding it alone just for tonight / I wonder if you / got her in your room / I call you on the phone to start a fight” during the chorus.

The song’s outro is equally as intoxicating, referencing the lyrics and melody of its apparent brother track, “Beat Up Chanel$.”

Like “Dance…,” the song was quick to go viral on social media, and the artist revealed that the song was made to process romantic trauma. Just two days before “WGIA” dropped and during rehearsals for her Coachella set, Slayyyter found out she had been cheated on by her then-boyfriend.

“Choosin’ Texas,” Ella Langley

It’s been 22 weeks since Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” first appeared on top of the Billboard 100, tying Mariah Carey’s seasonally ubiquitous “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Whether you like the song or not, its appeal is officially undeniable.

On Spotify, it’s racked up more than half a billion streams and on YouTube, nearly 100 million. Not to mention, it’s impossible to crawl into any dive bar in the country without being ambushed by “She’s from Texas, I can tell by the way / He’s two steppin’ ‘round the room,” delivered in a Southern drawl.

Is it the “Happy” or “Fancy” of 2026? We leave that with you to decide.

TORONTO — It’s not everyday that we take photos of Oscar winners, unless we happen to be at the Toronto International Film Festival, when it is everyday.

On Friday, during our first session of operations alone, we had the pleasure of shooting Academy Award winners Michelle Yeoh and “Boyhood” mom Patricia Arquette, not to mention two-time Cannes Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu, most recently of the upcoming “Fjord.”

You should bookmark this link and check it regularly to see Jason Armond’s beautiful portraits. Courteney Cox? Jodie Comer? Sebastian Stan doing his serious face? It’s all here.

Our first wave of video interviews is live

Want a quick hit of festival buzz? How about Courteney Cox, Arquette and David Harbour getting scrappy over their favorite pizza toppings? They’re here to promote the Cox-directed “Evil Genius,” about the notorious pizza bomber incident.

Ten years after “The Love Witch” rocked audiences, writer-director Anna Biller is back with “The Face of Horror,” a medieval ghost story and a Technicolor-styled riot of design. She dropped by and mixed it up with our Mark Olsen.

Being a scream queen is a serious honor for Jane Levy and Jessica Rothe, in town with the excellent new slasher “River” but already our favorites for, respectively, “Evil Dead” and “Happy Death Day.”

What are we watching tonight?

‘Misty Green’

Rosalind Eleazar in the movie “Misty Green,” directed by Chris Rock.

(Merrick Morton / TIFF)

Misty Green is an actor — played with searing conviction by Rosalind Eleazar in a star-making performance — who may have missed her moment.

Though the industry has not made things easy for her as she suffers racist and sexist slights both big and small, Misty has not done herself any favors either, at times self-sabotaging with a careless attitude toward her undeniable talent and the work that must go with it.

The past few films Chris Rock has written and directed himself, including 2014’s “Top Five,” have felt distinctly personal, as if he is working out his own feelings about his career and the world.

“Misty Green” points toward redemption and hope on the other side of darkness: a pitiless examination of contemporary Hollywood and the difficulty of holding it all together. — Mark Olsen

‘Closing Night’

Sarah Paulson in the movie “Closing Night.”

(TIFF)

The first half of Cody Fern’s strong debut is about the sweet schadenfreude of watching estranged sisters Sandra (Sarah Paulson) and April (Naomi Watts) scream at each other.

The second half pivots to ask if it’s as cathartic to leave things unsaid. Sandra, a stern Broadway actor, has hit the end of her career. April, an anxious Michigan hairdresser, is in Manhattan to see her dopey son Theo (Toby Wallace) and his pregnant girlfriend Lucy (Odessa A’zion) — who, after the family’s controlling matriarch Diane (Dianne Wiest) shows up, should start having second thoughts about passing down their dysfunctional DNA.

Both Fern and his co-screenwriter Devon are actors themselves, so they’ve written their leads one show-stopper scene after another.

Impressively, Paulson even manages to steal the climax away from Watts’ flighty kleptomaniac as her hard luck character takes her lumps with the courage of someone facing down a firing squad, chin held high. — Amy Nicholson

‘Elsinore’

Andrew Scott in the movie “Elsinore.”

(Anthony Dickenson / Focus Features)

Already becoming a must-see out of Telluride and now Toronto, this extraordinary actor’s showcase (arriving in theaters Nov. 20) is carried by a fascinatingly complex turn by Andrew Scott, who just might finally earn some of the hardware he deserved for 2023’s “All of Us Strangers.”

Scott plays real-life Scottish actor Ian Charleson, the bright presence of “Chariots of Fire” and “Gandhi” who never quite had the movie career he deserved. But near the end of his career, in defiance of an AIDS diagnosis, he took on the stage role of Hamlet and left a burning impression.

It’s a performance that consistently elevates “Elsinore” from its recognizable trajectory. Scott deepens Charleson’s race against his own mortality with notes of humor, desperation, guilt, self-delusional avoidance and ultimately the deftness of someone who likes playing pretend. — Joshua Rothkopf

The eighth edition of the Sunset Showdown lasted long after the sun went down — about fours hours and 10 minutes later — before host Palisades prevailed 56-50 over crosstown rival Brentwood in four overtimes. By the end, at 11:43 p.m., the coaches and fans were as exhausted as the players.

Robert Holohan passed for four touchdowns, LJ Stephens ran for three and Malachi Ross had a 38-yard touchdown reception and intercepted a pass in the end zone on fourth-and-goal to clinch the victory for Palisades after Brentwood moved to the Dolphins’ six-yard line. The game ended 17 minutes before midnight thanks in part to several long deliberations by the officiating crew.

Host Palisades (1-3) had a chance to win at the end of regulation but missed a 25-yard field goal with 30 seconds left and the teams headed to overtime with the score tied 31-31. Brentwood missed a chance to end it in the second overtime but had an extra point blocked. Each team scored quickly in the third overtime but the two-point conversion passes were incomplete (starting with the third overtime teams must go for two). Stephens’ five-yard scoring run gave the Dolphins a 56-50 lead but the two-point attempt failed.

Ben Mikail threw for four touchdowns — two to Kruz Jackson, who also scored on a 90-yard kickoff return — and JJ Lublin ran for two touchdowns for Brentwood (2-2). The series debuted in 2018 and is now tied at four wins apiece with five of the games being decided by a touchdown or less. Brentwood won in double overtime on the same field two years ago.

Cathy Engelbert will retire as WNBA commissioner at the end of the year, ending a tenure of seven-plus years that saw both tremendous growth and some turmoil for the league.

“In 2019, I had the privilege of being appointed the league’s first commissioner and to lead a league with enormous potential yet untapped awareness and significant undervaluation,” Engelbert said in a statement released by the WNBA. “Over the years, it has been amazing to watch WNBA players thrive and lead the massive cultural surge around women’s sports.”

Engelbert, 61, told the Associated Press that she has been considering retirement for months and wasn’t pressured into making the decision by NBA or WNBA stakeholders. She added that she will help with finding the next commissioner and with the transition period that follows.

“We’ll run a real succession process in the remaining four months,” Engelbert told AP. “If we don’t find someone, I’ll stay on.”

During Engelbert’s tenure, the WNBA has experienced record TV ratings and robust attendance, with a lucrative media rights deal being finalized this year and plans in place for expansion to 18 teams by 2030. An influx of talented and popular young players — including Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers — helped along those lines.

Engelbert also helped the league and its players’ union agree on a new collective bargaining agreement this spring, resulting in the first million-dollar salaries for WNBA players.

Still, the negotiations leading up to the CBA were strained at times. Other issues surrounding the league — including player safety, the eligibility of transgender players, and the inconsistency of on-court officials — have caused some to question Engelbert’s leadership ability.

“Cathy has presided over the WNBA through the most significant period of growth in the league’s 30-year history,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in the WNBA’s news release. “We are grateful for Cathy’s leadership and unwavering commitment to the advancement of women’s basketball.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

DETROIT — Shohei Ohtani is not feeling “100%,” manager Dave Roberts revealed before the Dodgers game against the Tigers on Saturday. And that will be at the center of the team’s conversation about whether to start him Sunday.

It would be Ohtani’s first pitching start since July 3. He’s been just serving as the designated hitter in the meantime, while managing lingering inflammation and soreness in his left knee, primarily aggravated by pitching. But it’s not just his knee that’s ailing him, Roberts said after talking to the Dodgers training staff. His biceps issue from earlier in the year is part of the concern as well.

Ohtani threw a 20-pitch bullpen — shorter than his customary between-starts session — on Friday to tentatively set him up to throw the first inning Sunday.

“The knee, the body, just throwing, pitching, not 100%,” Roberts said. “What percent it is, I don’t know the answer.”

Roberts said he wanted to have clarity after the game Saturday, so he could notify Tigers manager A.J. Hinch and right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who is set to pitch Sunday either way. If Ohtani pitches Sunday, it would be opening for Glasnow.

“I’m not going to ambush those guys, and I’m not going to ambush Glas,” Roberts said. “So I think I would say that after the game, we’ll know definitively.”

If Ohtani doesn’t pitch Sunday, Tuesday, likely before left-hander Eric Lauer, could in theory be an option. But if Ohtani doesn’t feel good enough to start Sunday, two extra days of rest probably aren’t to resolve the issue, making a longer leadup more likely.

“We’re still thinking about potentially the buildup and what that would mean, which is fair,” Roberts said. “But at the end of the day, it’s what’s best for Shohei, what’s best for us, what makes the most sense. That’s kind of where we’re at.”

The longer it takes for Ohtani to return to the mound, the fewer starts he’ll have to build up before the postseason.

“I wouldn’t bet against Shohei,” Roberts said. “But I still think that five innings to the end of the season is aggressive for anyone.”

Though Roberts said the question is more “when,” rather than “if,” Ohtani will return to the mound, the fact that Ohtani’s knee issue (and apparently biceps as well) has not yet resolved calls into question whether it makes sense for him to resume two-way duties this late in the year.

“To be quite frank, I just don’t see everything getting to 100% by the end of the season,” Roberts said. “But there’s a lot of pitchers that are not 100% and still viable. So again, it’s just not an exact science.”

If that holds true, the concern is twofold: both how Ohtani’s health could affect his performance on the mound and at the plate.

“Obviously, where we’re at right now with the pitching, the starting pitching certainly being a strength, his value offensively is hugely important, and so we can’t compromise that in any fashion,” Roberts said. “So, if throwing potentially cuts into that, that’s not worth the squeeze. So that’s something, for me, I’m very bullish on making sure we don’t compromise the hitting.”

Ohtani entered Saturday with a .218 batting average since Aug. 8, when he resumed playing catch. But Roberts pushed back on the impulse to draw a line between Ohtani’s recent offensive dip and his side work on the pitching side.

“It just hasn’t been a whole body of work on the throwing side,” Roberts said. “Honestly, for me, I think the pitch selection hasn’t been good.”

Regardless of Ohtani’s status for Sunday, the superstar’s feedback will continue to play a large role in the Dodgers’ decision-making.

“I think that as the competitor, he wants to do both, and I respect it,” Roberts said. “But nothing I’m saying changes his identity as a two-way player.

“I think in the moment, he still feels that there’s still an opportunity, and I’m not trying to say there isn’t. But I do think that at the end of the day, he’s very aware of our roster, strengths, weaknesses, and his value to the ball club, and whatever that means.”