Coronavirus

Andrea Bocelli is hoping his powerful voice can lift spirits around the world amid the coronavirus pandemic -- and he's performing live from hard-hit Italy.

The world-renowned singer is in il Duomo di Milano -- that city's iconic cathedral -- for a concert that will be livestreamed. You can see it here, starting at 10 AM PT.

The Easter event, dubbed "Music for Hope," comes as the country around Bocelli is still reeling from an astounding number of COVID-19 cases. Italy and the United States have each suffered more than 20,000 deaths during the pandemic.

Bocelli will be accompanied by pianist Emanuele Vianelli -- but Bocelli says he's not viewing this is a typical performance. It's clearly more spiritual to him. As Bocelli put it, "It will not be an actual concert, but an occasion to pray together through music.”

He added, "It will be a sacred singing, because as we are taught, ‘those who sing pray twice’. It will be an invitation for everyone to join in the prayer."

"Saturday Night Live" is figuring it out too -- how to keep the show going from home ... with self-shot skits, and the perfect host, too, in Tom Hanks.

The first celeb survivor of the coronavirus hosted the special 'SNL from Home' episode ... delivering a full monologue that did NOT use a laugh track (thankfully) but did pump in a little studio applause during his intro.

Right off the bat, Tom said the show wasn't live -- hence the multiple camera cuts during his monologue -- but was instead shot by the whole cast at home, and later edited.

Everyone was waiting to see who would play Dr. Anthony Fauci in a skit -- he had wisely opted for Brad Pitt -- but it didn't happen. Let's face it, they didn't have the services of hair and makeup to pull off those kinds of transformations.

Fauci did get a shoutout though during Kate McKinnon's hilarious skit about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's home workout sessions. While pumping iron -- meaning AA batteries -- 'RBG' begged Fauci to slide into her DMs.

Other skits included Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che -- complete with the usual graphics -- and Alec Baldwin doing a Trump "on-the-phone" skit (again, no hair & makeup).

Pete Davidson did his version of a Drake's "Toosie Slide" music video, but the home tour was slightly less fabulous, and it was directed by Pete's mom. Remember, he lives with her in Staten Island ... even when NOT quarantined.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is off his potential COVID-19 deathbed ... getting out of the hospital on Easter morning, and he's giving props to the people who helped him survive.

Johnson made a 5-minute long address shortly after he was released from a London hospital, and parts of it sounded like an Oscars acceptance speech. That's not a dig, it was actually very cool the PM mentioned by name almost every nurse or doctor who treated him as he battled the coronavirus.

He made special mention of 2 nurses named Jenny and Luis, who he says were at his bedside through his 3 nights in ICU. As he put it, "They were watching and they were thinking and they were caring and making the interventions I needed" in order to increase his body's oxygen levels.

Johnson announced he tested positive on March 27, and it got so bad he had to be hospitalized early last week.

Catholics in America can still praise God on laptops this Easter, but confessions will have to wait, as churches across the country put a pause on that ritual.

TMZ's learned several Catholic Church leaders in major U.S. cities are ordering confessions and other sacraments to be discontinued during the coronavirus pandemic.

Joseph Zwilling, the spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, tells us ... "All of our sacraments have been put on hold during this crisis," but adds there can be exceptions. Those include people who need a reading of their last rites ... or an emergency baptism.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has called off all regular penance services, too ... but appointments can be set with a priest for dying parishioners or other "extremely extraordinary" situations. Even in those cases, we're told proper social distancing rules must be followed. The Archdiocese of Boston is using the same guidelines.

In San Francisco and Miami, confessions are still being held ... but by appointment only. The Archdioceses in both cities tell us strict social distancing rules are in place, and a special confessional ensures safety, as well as confidentiality.

In Miami, they've benched all priests over 65 or with a compromised immune system.

And, this is interesting ... in New Orleans, some churches are doing confession drive-thrus. We're told parishioners drive up to a priest wearing a mask and gloves, keep a safe distance, and confess away.

The Kansas Supreme Court will decide today whether Kansans can flock to church for Easter, and they're deliberating on webcam ... just like the rest of us.

The surreal scene went down Saturday morning as all 6 state Justices hopped on a Zoom conference from their homes to hear oral arguments in a case that will have major ramifications in the state -- and perhaps in others too.

The case is between Kansas Governor Laura Kelly and the Kansas State Legislature -- the latter overturned Kelly's executive order banning religious gatherings of 10 or more people.

Gov. Kelly didn't take that sitting down -- she sued the state body and now the matter's being discussed by the highest court in the Sunflower State. Gov. Kelly wanted this figured out before Easter, and she'll get it too. A decision is expected later today.

It's just the latest installment in pastors vs. coronavirus. As you know, several church leaders -- including Tony Spell in Baton Rouge -- insist they can and will continue holding services that violate social distancing. Spell told us his parishioners would be happy to die from the virus if it means they can go to church.

Of course, all the other people they could infect outside his church don't get a say in the matter.

Anyway, point is ... a lot of eyes are on Gov. Kelly and the Kansas Supreme Court.

All you basketball know-it-alls got it wrong ... Michael Jordan is NOT the G.O.A.T of college hoops -- so says Bill Walton, who tells TMZ Sports that honor belongs to Kareem!

We got the basketball legend just days after MJ was crowned king of ESPN's "College Basketball's Greatest of All Time Bracket" ... and he says the voters got it flat-out wrong.

Don't get it twisted -- Bill LOVES Jordan, saying he's "one of the greatest players, phenomenal" ... but he tells us he believes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was just better.

"He has the records," Walton says of the former UCLA center. "He has the three championships."

Kareem -- a 1-seed to begin the event -- was shockingly upset in the bracket early on by nine-seeded Shaquille O'Neal.

MJ, meanwhile, ran the table as a 2-seed ... eventually beating Larry Bird in the bracket's championship.

As for how Kareem's college career at UCLA stacks up with Jordan's at UNC ... it seems Walton's got a point when you pull up those numbers.

Kareem -- who went by Lew Alcindor back then -- won three titles and averaged 26.4 points and 15.5 rebounds per game in his three-year career.

Jordan, meanwhile, won one championship while averaging 17.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in his three-year career.

Walton tells us he ain't too worried about the results, though ... and rightfully so, 'cause the guy's got an awesome virtual charity bike ride coming up this month -- where all the money raised is going toward COVID-19 relief efforts!!

Saints P Thomas Morstead is hooking up a bunch of doctors and nurses with thousands of dollars worth of freshly squeezed juices ... all to keep the medical professionals fighting the COVID-19 pandemic safe and healthy!!

In addition to being a Super Bowl-winning, Pro Bowl punter ... 34-year-old Morstead owns a stake in a company called Main Squeeze Juice Co. Thomas tells TMZ Sports he decided he could help by donating product ... so that's exactly what he did.

"Main Squeeze, they make the best juices in the world, and we wanted to make sure we were not only lending some real physical support, but also emotionally, just to let these doctors and nurses know we're behind them."

Thomas says this wasn't just a 1-time thing ... he, along with ex-Saints star Marques Colston (also an investor in the company), and the M.S. execs plan to keep donating as long as it's necessary.

"Main Squeeze franchising company did that on week 1. Week 2, this past week, I personally donated. I believe next week, Marques Colston, a former teammate of mine, is going to be donating as well," Morstead says.

"I don't know that there's an end in sight. We're just gonna try to keep providing support every Monday as long as it's needed."

Morstead says he's lost count of exactly how many drinks they've delivered ... but tells us they gave 1,400 juices to 8 different NOLA hospitals the first week alone.

Walt Disney World employees are taking it on the chin, hard -- the theme park is about to furlough 43,000 workers as it remains closed due to the coronavirus.

Orlando's Magic Kingdom, which has been shut down since March 16, reached agreements with its workers' unions, and will make the layoffs effective April 19 ... according to Forbes. Most of the employees are security guards and other workers involved in operating the facilities.

The Mouse House says the laid-off workers will keep their health benefits up to one year -- and Disney has agreed to pay for coronavirus testing for any employees who need it.

Of course, it's still unclear when Disney will reopen gates at its parks around the world. The massive park will now be staffed by only 200 people with "essential duties."

Forbes says Disney World is the largest single-site employer in the country ... and the massive layoffs are expected to have a domino effect on the Central Florida economy ... where so many other industries depend on Disney being open to stay in business.

Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott are partying like it's NOT 2020 in the middle of a pandemic -- hanging together for a celebration that appears to violate the Texas "safer-at-home" order.

The turn up went down Friday night at the Dallas Cowboys QB's crib in Prosper, TX, and his star running back was there as a guest. We're told it was a birthday party for one of Dak's friends, and at the height of the bash, there were about 30 guests.

At one point, Zeke was seen posting up near a buffet catered by Nick and Sam's Steakhouse in Dallas. Normally, ya couldn't knock him for that ... the grub looked delicious.

The issue is the TX Governor's orders call for social distancing at all times, and no more than 10 people in a gathering.

The numbers don't add up for Dak, who's already getting heat for repeatedly blowing off social distancing for recent workouts with ex-Cowboy Dez Bryant.

We're told there was a sit-down dinner later in the evening at Dak's place for just a select few, closer to the magic number of 10 -- although clearly not seated 6 feet apart.

We've reached out to Dak's reps, but no word back.

Americans are apparently getting thirstier by the day during stay-at-home orders -- because a lot of our workforce stuck indoors cope to knocking back a few while on the clock.

A new study released by Alcohol.org -- which is, ironically, meant to help people kick booze -- shows that citizens in every state in this fine country admit they've been drinking on the job while under quarantine. The numbers might actually surprise you a bit.

Starting out in the Golden State, 38% of Californians report drinking during work-from-home hours, Floridians and Texans clock in at 22% and New Yorkers are at 38%.

The highest numbers are dispersed throughout the midwest and plains states -- Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Iowa all have percentages in the 40s. Idaho, Nevada and Montana too.

Interestingly, the 2 states at the 50% mark are Virginia and tiny New Hampshire. Exactly half of their citizenry say they're burning the midnight tequila.

BTW, a fifth of the people surveyed divulged they'd stockpiled booze in anticipation of being at home. The study also shows that beer is the drink of choice for most people, and one-third are likely to sip in isolation.