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Grammys: Viola Davis joins EGOT club, Beyonce eyes record
Deutsche Welle
06 Feb 2023, 08:24
Davis has become one of few artists to have won all four top arts awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Meanwhile, Beyonce could break the record for the most Grammys won by an artist.
Actor Viola Davis has become the latest star to earn a coveted EGOT — a combination of an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony — at the Grammy Awards on Sunday.
Davis completed her EGOT status by winning the Grammy for best audio book, narration and storytelling for her memoir "Finding Me."
"I wrote this book to honor the 6-year-old Viola, to honor her, to honor her life, her joy, her trauma, her everything," the actor said as she accepted her award.
Davis is the third Black woman to achieve EGOT status, and the 18th person overall.
Beyonce poised to sweep Grammys
Pop superstar Beyonce has so far won three Grammys during the ceremony on Sunday.
The singer won the Grammy for best dance-electronic music recording with "Break My Soul," and also won for best traditional R&B performance with "Plastic Off The Sofa."
During the televised ceremony, Beyonce then won best R&B song with "Cuff It." She has now won 31 Grammys throughout her career.
With six more nominations on top of those three wins — including for album, song and record of the year — Beyonce is on track to become the most-awarded artist in Grammys history.
That record has been held by Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti, who has 31 Grammys, since 1997.
Beyonce already holds the title of most Grammys won by a female artist.
Who is nominated for album of the Year?
Beyonce's house-inspired album Renaissance has been nominated for the night's top gong: album of the year.
She is up against some of the biggest names in music from pop, rap, rock and R&B.
They include ABBA with "Voyage," Adele's album "30," "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers" by Kendrick Lamar and "Harry's House" by Harry Styles.
Meanwhile, Puerto Rican rapper has been nominated with "Un Verano Sin Ti," as has Mary J Blige with "Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe)," Brandi Carlile with "In These SIlent Days," Coldplay with "Music of the Spheres" and Lizzo with "Special."
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ABBA: Unexpected success story that started 50 years ago
On March 6, 1974, the Swedish pop band ABBA won the 19th Eurovision Song Contest, held in the English seaside resort of Brighton. Nobody expected the five strangely dressed Swedes with a song about Napoleon to win.
The bookies had put their money on British singer Olivia Newton-John. She was already a star at the time and the clear favorite. Singer Gigliola Cinquetti, who had already lifted the trophy for Italy in 1964, was also given good odds. But Sweden? The country had never won the competition before, and nobody believed it would. The band ABBA was unknown outside their home country. Their previous attempt to win Eurovision the year before with the song "Ring Ring" was thwarted when they failed to advance past the preliminary round. But in 1974, the stars aligned for them: At the "Melodifestivalen," as the Swedish preliminary round is called, the quartet won with "Waterloo" and was allowed to travel to England to represent Sweden. The rest is music history.
Napoleon's Waterloo reinterpreted as a love song
Thirty-two countries participated in the event, at that time still known as the "Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson." When ABBA's performance was announced as the eighth of a total of 17 that evening, a man dressed as Napoleon walked out on stage. His name was Sven-Olof Walldoff, and he was to conduct the song that would make ABBA famous. He was followed by Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad — not in historical costume, but in glittery clothes, velvet pants and dizzyingly high platform shoes.
Their song was written by the band's manager, Stig Anderson. He hummed it to Ulvaeus and Andersson over the phone and they composed the music for it in the isolation of the island of Viggso. It's about love, and surrendering to it the way the French commander Napoleon capitulated at the Battle of Waterloo. In addition to this song, the band also considered the track "Hasta Manana" to be a promising Eurovision entry. But Stig was against it "Just leave it to me to decide which song we take," he allegedly said to Ulvaeus and Andersson. "If it goes wrong, you can kill me afterwards." There was no murder. On the contrary: Abba won the competition with 24 points, ahead of Italy with 18.
Betting to win
For Anderson, the victory was not the most important goal. He was most concerned with introducing ABBA to a television audience of some 500 million people, and to sell a lot of records. Still, he was optimistic and even bet 120 British pounds that his group would win.
"Waterloo" lasted no longer than two minutes and 45 seconds. And 90 minutes later, ABBA were the winners of the Grand Prix. But the presentation of the award was delayed when an usher refused to let Ulvaeus on stage, unable to believe that this man in a strange glittery outfit was actually a contestant. The Swede later found the confusion understandable, saying, "no one ever got onstage dressed as badly and ugly as we were."
'Waterloo' storms the charts
Immediately after the contest in Brighton, "Waterloo" was released as a single in 54 countries and reached the top ten in almost 20 of them. In Germany and the UK, it became the first of many ABBA singles to hit number one. The song was recorded in Swedish, English, German and French and the single sold more than 5 million copies. In 2004, the song even reached number 20 on the British charts when it was re-released for its 30th anniversary. And on October 22, 2005, "Waterloo" was voted "best song in the history of the competition" at the 50th Eurovision Song Contest.
ABBA forever — even virtually
Benny Andersson later said the Swedes were at first dismissed as a one-hit wonder whose fame would soon fade. Nothing could have been further from the truth. In the ensuing 50 years, ABBA has sold 400 million records, landed 17 number-one hits — such as "The Winner Takes It All," "Dancing Queen," "Thank You For The Music" and "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme" — opened their own dedicated museum, and produced "Mamma Mia!," a successful stage musical for more than 20 years now. It was also adapted into a hit movie.
The fact that the band actually broke up in 1982 has done nothing to dampen their success. For decades, fans hoped for a reunion, and the quartetfinally obliged in 2021 with the album "Voyage" and a virtual reality concert show featuring their digitally-produced "Abbatars." And of course, the set list for the show included — what else? — "Waterloo."
Angelina Jolie alleges ‘history’ of Brad Pitt’s physical abuse
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s fight over the French winery they once owned together is coming to a head and reigniting older conflicts, as new legal documents allege a “history of physical abuse of Jolie” on the part of Pitt prior to their fateful plane ride in 2016.
On Thursday, Jolie filed a motion with the Los Angeles Superior Court, a copy of which CNN has obtained, wherein she claims that she attempted to sell Pitt her stake in the Miraval winery and that their negotiations ultimately broke down after Pitt conditioned the sale on Jolie signing an NDA that “prohibited Jolie from speaking (other than in court) about Pitt’s abuse of Jolie and their children by attempting to tie Pitt’s personal reputation to Miraval’s business.”
This week’s new filing stems from Pitt’s 2022 lawsuit, in which he claimed that he and Jolie had an agreement that neither would sell their stake in the winery without the other’s consent. In a June 2023 filing, he alleged that Jolie’s sale of her stake in the winery was “vindictive” after an “adverse custody ruling.”
Jolie also claims in Thursday’s filing that Pitt’s “history of physical abuse of Jolie started well before the family’s September 2016 plane trip from France to Los Angeles,” but does not go into further detail about the alleged prior abuse.
“At trial, Jolie will prove through testimony, emails, photographs, and other evidence why Pitt was so concerned about his own misconduct that he blew up his own deal to purchase Jolie’s interest in Miraval because she refused to agree to his new, expansive NDA,” the filing reads.
Jolie claims in the filing on Thursday that she agreed to sign an NDA that was “limited to not disparaging Miraval’s wine business” as part of her initial deal to sell Pitt her stake in the winery, which they were close to finalizing at the time.
Pitt had previously claimed in his June 2023 amended complaint that after Jolie would not agree to sign his NDA, she proposed an even broader NDA that “would have provided that “[o]ther than in court pleadings or testimony, neither party shall directly or through a party’s representatives make in a public forum any derogatory remark about the other party.”
CNN has reached out to a representative for Pitt seeking comment on the new allegations outlined in Thursday’s filing.
“Mr. Pitt refused to purchase Ms. Jolie’s interest when she would not be silenced by his NDA. By refusing to buy her interest but then suing her, Mr. Pitt put directly at issue why that NDA was so important to him and what he hoped it would bury: his abuse of Ms. Jolie and their family,” Paul Murphy, Jolie’s attorney, told CNN in a statement on Thursday. “After eight months of delays, this motion asks the Court to force Mr. Pitt to finally produce that evidence.”
Jolie never ended up pressing charges against Pitt in relation to the 2016 altercation, according to the filing, because she believed “the best course was for Pitt to accept responsibility and help the family recover from the post-traumatic stress he caused.”
CNN previously reported that Pitt was not arrested or charged in connection with the 2016 incident after the FBI completed its investigation, and a representative for Pitt disputed Jolie’s account of that incident included in an October 2022 filing. Pitt’s representative said in a statement to CNN at the time that “Brad has accepted responsibility for what he did but will not for things he didn’t do.”
In October 2021, Jolie sold her half of the winery to Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of Stoli Group, controlled by Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler.
The ongoing legal proceedings and “Pitt’s unyielding attempts to control and punish Jolie continue to take a huge emotional and financial toll on her and their family,” the filing reads. “Jolie longs for their family to be able to heal and their children to be spared further pain and trauma, and truly wishes Pitt would want the same too.”
Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt in 2016. They were declared legally single in 2019, and a joint custody arrangement was established in 2021.
Legal proceedings as they pertain to the Miraval dispute also remain ongoing. The former couple purchased the country estate and winery in the south of France in 2008.
Source: CNN
Allu Arjun gets rousing welcome from die-hard fans on his 42nd birthday
Allu Arjun, who is awaiting the release of 'Pushpa: The Rule', was in for a surprise as he turned 42 on April 8.
Hundreds of his fans gathered outside his house in Hyderabad at midnight to greet him on his birthday. Overwhelmed by their love, Allu Arjun greeted them, waved at them and also thanked them for coming all the way to wish him. His fans gave him the loudest cheer on his birthday.
A video of Allu Arjun waving to his fans outside his home is now going viral. In the video, he can also be seen greeting them with folded hands. He blew flying kisses to them as they chanted 'Pushpa' several times.
Source: India Today
Robert Downey on Jimmy Kimmel's Oscar joke about his addiction: Don't care
Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr recently opened up about the viral joke that host Jimmy Kimmel had made about the actor's addiction issues on Oscars night.
Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr has finally opened up about how he feels regarding host Jimmy Kimmel's viral Oscar joke regarding his addiction issues. While many people deemed the joke problematic, Downey Jr himself is not too bothered about it.
Speaking to Esquire, Robert Downey Jr said, "I don’t care. I love Jimmy Kimmel. I think he’s a national treasure.”
That night, Downey won an Oscar for his role in the Christopher Nolan directorial, Oppenheimer. Prior to his win, Kimmel had made a joke about how the night is one of the 'highest' points of his career. The camera then panned to Downey, who laughed and pointed towards his nose and then mimed the words 'keep it moving' to Jimmy.
In the same interview, Downey's close friend, Jodie Foster, said that she was worried for Downey's health at one point.
“I took him aside at one point during filming and said, ‘Look, I couldn’t be more grateful for what you’ve given in this film. But I’m scared of what happens to you next. Right now, you are incredibly good at balancing on the barstool. But it’s really precarious, and I’m not sure how that’s going to end,'” Jodie told the publication.
Downey has been open about battling addiction.
On the work front, he will next be seen in Park Chan-wook's TV series, The Sympathizer.
Source: India Today
Shakib is the prince of my life: Bubly
Love, marriage, children, then separation, this news is not unknown to Shakib-Bubly fans. The two celebrities have not lived under the same roof for a long time.
Mentioning that there is no place for any other man in her life except Bubly Shakib, the heroine said, "Shakib is the prince of my life. He is the only man i love."
Marrying Shakib is a wrong decision of life, did it ever feel like that? In response to such a question, Bubly said, yes it seems. Because, in many difficult times of my life, when I needed him by my side, I did not have him by my side. At that time, it seemed that the decision to marry him was wrong.
"My son is everything now. No love, no relationship can get close to me. In the future, I will spend time with films, children, family," she added.
I miss my mother a lot on Eid: Dighi
Actress Prarthana Fardin Dighi stepped on the big screen as a child artist. She has received praises for acting in several films. She won the National Film Award three times for acting as a child artist.
Still, the acting of that little dighi floats in the eyes of the audience and his sweet dialogue rings in the ear. Dighi is no longer a child artist, she has written the name of the film as a heroine after a long break. Eid-ul-Fitr is celebrated everywhere. How was Dighi's Eid? He talked to Rtv about Eid.
In a recent interview, Dighi said, "Eid means joy, no matter how much fun I have with everyone in the family, Eid hurts me very much. Because i lost my mother in my childhood. In my childhood, I used to eat my mother's cooking on the day of Eid. Like all mothers in the world, my mother had a lot of fun cooking. I miss my mother so much on Eid. I feel empty without her."
Christopher Nolan, Interstellar, re-release
Filmmaker Christopher Nolan's acclaimed 'Interstellar' will be re-releasing on its tenth anniversary in IMAX and 70 MM. The news was announced at the ongoing CinemaCon in Las Vegas.
Christopher Nolan directorial Interstellar will be releasing again on its upcoming tenth anniversary this November. The news was shared by Paramount studio at the ongoing CinemaCon in Las Vegas. The film, starring Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey in lead roles, had grossed 188 million dollars at the domestic box office and over 730 million dollars globally.
Interstellar will be releasing in 70 MM print and in IMAX.
Interstellar was co-written by Nolan and his sibling Jonathan Nolan. The plot centered around a farmer and a former NASA pilot who is recruited to pilot a spacecraft when the conditions on Earth become unlivable. Apart from Hathaway and McConaughey, the film also starred Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, Ellen Burstyn and Michael Caine in pivotal roles.
The news of re-release comes almost on the heels of the massive critical and commercial success of Nolan's latest directorial, Oppenheimer, starring Irish star Cillian Murphy in lead role.
Apart from ruling the roost at the ticket counter, Oppenheimer also became the main star of the Oscars night as it collected awards in all major categories, including Best Actor, Best Film and Best Director, for Murphy and Nolan, respectively.
Source: India Today
