Editor’s note: This article was originally published in an Apr. 24 print edition of the Monitor.

After a four-year hiatus, the “Baby” singer is back, better than ever…with YouTube Premium. At Coachella’s grand stage, Justin Bieber became one of the highest-paid artists ever to perform at the festival, earning $10 million between two weekends. Rocking baggy jorts and a T-shirt, Justin revisited old songs and memories while sitting on a stool, laptop open, searching his old music videos and memes on YouTube, where he started it all. While some complained that the performance was “lazy,” others believed it was a night of time travel full of reminiscing about adolescent years.

Songs from his SWAG album, like “All I Can Take” and “Go Baby,” kicked off the night. The middle was dedicated to that thirteen-year-old bedroom, where you danced in front of the mirror with a hairbrush in hand, featuring some Bieber favorites: “Favorite Girl,” “Never Say Never,” “That Should Be Me” and the golden, but never forgotten, melody of “Baby.” Bieber further surprised the audience by bringing The Kid LAROI onstage—marking his first Coachella appearance—as the two performed their hit collaboration “Stay.” Alongside performing covers of songs by Chris Brown and Ne-Yo, the 32-year-old singer also invited guest artists such as Dijon, Wizkid, Tems and Mk.gee to join. Whether critics hated or loved it, Bieber returns to headline the final weekend of Coachella after he made $5.04 million in merchandise sales the weekend prior. All in all, it can be confirmed that the teenage heartthrob is back and better than ever.

While Bieber stamped his night with old YouTube clips, other performers made history in other ways. Kacey Musgraves returned with a brand-new hit, “Middle of Nowhere.” Friday night’s headliner, Sabrina Carpenter, was joined by Will Ferrell, Samuel L. Jackson and Susan Sarandon; cameos that made Variety scratch their head, but fans deemed it as “iconic.” The all-Filipina-girl group, Bini, became the first Filipino act at Coachella, bringing down the house in shiny boots, ruffled skirts, energetic vibes and fierce attitudes. While the average ticket was priced at $649, and resale costs skyrocketed to $5,000, the sold-out 2026 Coachella performance delivered three unforgettable weekends for fans and the celebrities that attended, posing the question of what will be in store for 2027.

Simone’s Playlist Suggestions (Coachella-inspired):

1. All I Can Take – Justin Bieber
2. Stay – Justin Bieber, the Kid LAROI
3. Things You Do – Justin Bieber
4. Baby – Justin Bieber
5. Beauty and a Beat – Justin Bieber
6. Confident – Justin Bieber
7. Yukon – Justin Bieber
8. Espresso – Sabrina Carpenter
9. Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido – KAROL G
10. Break It Off – PinkPantheress
11. Middle of Nowhere – Casey Musgraves
12. Talk Down – Dijon
13. No Type – Swae Lee
14. Bad Dreams – Teddy Swims
15. RATHER BE – GIVĒON
16. Bad Bad Bad – Young Thug, Lil Baby
17. Lover Girl – Laufey
18. Sailor Song – Gigi Perez
19. Gabriela- KATSEYE
20. Sprinter – Central Cee, Dave

Every Olympics has their highlights, golden moments and scandals leaving speechlessness. The 2026 Winter Olympic Games are no different. Based in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, the two-week non-stop competitions brought widespread smiles, tears, gasps and gossip. As they have come to an end, let’s recap.

Medal counts

For a fifth straight Winter Games, Norway topped the medal chart with 41 total medals, of which 18 were gold—the most ever won by a nation at the Winter Games. America came second with twelve gold medals and 31 total medals, a national record.

The U.S. took several high-profile gold medals, especially in figure skating and ice hockey. The U.S. men’s hockey team won a nailbiter against Canada 2-1 in overtime in a shocking upset, as did the U.S. women’s team in what NBC calls a “storybook ending” to skip Hilary Knight’s Olympic career. Elsewhere on the ice, U.S. figure skaters shone, with standout performances by “Quad God” Ilia Malinin and Alysa Liu, who both brought home a gold medal.

(Side note: if you’ve not watched Alysa Liu’s long routine, you are missing out. She is so infectiously happy.)

Other strong performances came from the Netherlands and host nation Italy, both winning ten gold medals.

Public Infidelity 

Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Laegreid shocked viewers when he publicly admitted to cheating on his girlfriend. The affair happened three months into their relationship, and after coming clean shortly before he took the world’s snow-covered stage, he stated that he wanted to set the record straight after he had “nothing to lose.” Not long after his confession, his ex, whose name has been disclosed, reported that Laegreid’s actions are “hard to forgive.” She “did not choose to be in this position and it hurts to have to be in it,” despite it being Laegreid’s “biggest mistake” of his life. 

Condom Shortages 

Safe to say Laegreid will not be in need of the complementary condoms the Olympics graciously hands out. But even if he was, the shortage would postpone him anyway. Entering the 2026 season, Olympic officials had 10,000 condoms distributed for the 2,800 athletes competing; an average of only 3.5 condoms per athlete. Desperation only increased with Valentine’s Day hitting right in between the Winter schedule, where lovebirds, flings and medal highs all clash together. 

This is not out of the ordinary for the Olympics, however. In the 1992 Winter Olympics, 30,000 condoms were dispersed, and 70,000 in 2000, where there had to be an emergency delivery of another 20,000. In 2002, while hot tubs were provided for use, they were quickly retracted after many used them for sexual pleasure; 100,000 were given out that year. 130,000 condoms, with an additional 30,000 packets of lube, were available for athletes in the Summer Olympics of 2004, and in 2012, 150,000 were ordered, or approximately 15 condoms per athlete, leading British tabloids to call it the “Raunchiest Olympics Ever.”

Attempts to cheat

While the International Olympic Committee no longer flogs or fines cheaters, as was commonplace in the ancient Greek Games, athletes have been trying to cheat the system for three thousand years. Several cheating scandals were raised in Milan.

A notable attempt at cheating was discovered when Swedish curlers called out Canadian curlers for “double-touching” one of the 40-lb stones in violation of the rules. Allegedly, the Canadian pushing the stone told the Swede to “f— off.” Later that weekend, one of Canada’s stone tosses was disqualified due to double-touching, which became a sensitive topic after the Canadian team loss.

Ski jumping also brought intrigue after allegations that male ski jumpers were injecting hyaluronic acid into their genitalia to make them larger during the required body scan. (Ski jumpers’ suits are required to be skin-tight, with a small buffer). Studies on the topic suggested that two extra centimeters of fabric could add 5.6 meters (18.4 feet) to a jump, which could be the decider in a close jump. Maybe size does matter after all.

As the Games draw to a close in Milan, all eyes will turn on Los Angeles. It will be the third time the U.S. city has hosted the Summer Games (the others were 1932 and 1984), and the first instance of three-hosts by a non-European city. The 2030 Games will return to Europe in the French Alps.