Category Archives: Music

Voyager take Australia to ninth place in Eurovision grand final

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Fans of song contest hail ‘a brilliant result’ as Perth synth metal rock band perform track Promise in Liverpool

Australia’s Eurovision hopefuls Voyager have performed strongly at the song contest, placing ninth out of a tight field of just 26 acts in the grand final.

The synth metal rock band from Perth delivered a flawless performance of their track Promise, with lead singer Danny Estrin appearing in an 80s car flanked by other band members.

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Eurovision 2023: Sweden wins the 2023 Eurovision song contest with Tattoo by Loreen – as it happened

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Loreen becomes only second person to win contest twice as Sweden claims seventh victory overall

The scandal though is that Georgia were robbed of a place in the final. Robbed, I tell you. A dramatic gothic ballad type affair with lots of creepy hands in the background on the screen reaching out for Iru, the song Echo would have been a great addition to tonight’s show. Don’t blame me, I voted for it.

This tweet summed it up really.

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Ukraine aims for repeat victory in most political Eurovision in years

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Four-hour broadcast will feature taunts at Putin and a singalong of a Liverpool anthem

There will be rockets, soldiers and moustachioed men in their underpants lampooning Vladimir Putin as a “crocodile psychopath” – and that’s just the Croatian act.

One of the most stridently political Eurovision grand finals in years takes place in Liverpool on Saturday night against a backdrop of a war in Ukraine that shows little sign of ending.

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Sunak and Starmer criticise decision to deny Zelenskiy a Eurovision speech

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Producers of event refuse Ukraine president’s request to speak over fears of politicising contest

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have voiced their disapproval of a decision to prevent Volodymyr Zelenskiy from being able to address this year’s Eurovision.

The prime minister and the Labour leader were united in criticising the decision to block the Ukrainian president’s request to speak at Saturday evening’s grand final. They were joined in their opposition by the former prime minister Boris Johnson.

PA Media contributed to this report

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Hosting Ukraine’s Eurovision party – podcast

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Hannah Moore reports from Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena where Britain is preparing to host the Eurovision song contest on behalf of last year’s winners Ukraine

On the eve of the Eurovision song contest finals, Hannah Moore travels to Liverpool to watch the rehearsals and hear from Ukrainians running stalls in ‘Eurovision Village’.

Chris West, the author of Eurovision! A History of Modern Europe Through the World’s Greatest Song Contest explains politics always plays a big part in the event but this year is particularly poignant.

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Sorry, Swifties: BTS revealed as authors of mystery book that intrigued the internet

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Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS will be out on 9 July, ending feverish speculation that the previously untitled book was a Taylor Swift memoir

The guessing game began this week when a mysteriously untitled book, scheduled for publication in July and known only as “4C Untitled Flatiron Nonfiction Summer 2023”, appeared. It quickly became a bestseller when Taylor Swift fans began feverishly speculating that it was her surprise memoir.

But the mystery has been solved, with publishing house Flatiron Books bringing forward their announcement by a month to reveal the book is actually by another musical powerhouse: the K-pop boyband BTS.

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Eurovision organisers rebuff Zelenskiy request to give video speech at final

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European Broadcasting Union, which oversees song contest, says appearance by Ukrainian president could politicise the event

The owners of the Eurovision song contest have turned down a request from Volodymyr Zelenskiy to make a video appearance during the final on Saturday in Liverpool.

The Ukrainian president had hoped to appeal to the global audience of about 160 million people to continue their support for his country in the war with Russia.

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Country star Jimmie Allen accused of sexual assault by former manager

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Grammy-nominated musician, 37, accused of a ‘torrential cycle’ of abuse and harassment, which Allen denies

The country star Jimmie Allen is being sued by his former manager for sexual assault.

The woman, known as “Jane Doe”, has alleged that the singer repeatedly raped and harassed her over an 18-month period, referring to it as a “torrential cycle” of abuse. According to Variety, a lawsuit was filed this week in federal court in Tennessee, accusing Allen, 37, of sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, sex trafficking and emotional distress.

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Risk of cyber-attack is main Eurovision worry, says BBC executive

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Cybersecurity experts drafted in to help thwart any sabotage attempt as UK stands in as host for Ukraine

The risk of a cyber-attack by pro-Russian hackers is the “main worry” for broadcasters staging the Eurovision song contest on behalf of war-torn Ukraine, a BBC executive has said.

Experts from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre have been drafted in to help thwart any attempts to sabotage the competition’s public vote on Saturday.

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Rita Lee, Brazil’s undisputed Queen of Rock, dies aged 75

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Tributes pour in for founder of Os Mutantes, who sardonically named her tumour after far-right president Jair Bolsonaro

Rita Lee, the legendary Brazilian musician, composer and founder of the trailblazing band Os Mutantes, has died at 75, prompting emotional tributes to Brazil’s undisputed “Queen of Rock”.

Rita Lee was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2021, memorably nicknaming her tumour “Jair” – a sardonic reference to Brazil’s widely loathed then president, Jair Bolsonaro.

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Take That, Katy Perry and more entertain 20,000 at coronation concert

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Prince of Wales also appears on stage, saying to King Charles III: ‘Pa, we are all so proud of you’

Thousands danced and waved their flags underneath Windsor Castle in the first concert ever held in the grounds to celebrate King Charles’s coronation.

Stars including Katy Perry, who sang Roar and Firework, and Lionel Richie, who played Easy and All Night Long, entertained the 20,000-strong audience, including the royal family, and millions at home on Sunday. Take That provided a rousing finale, drawing the night to a close with Never Forget, featuring an intro from the choristers of Saint George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

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Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian singer-songwriter, dies aged 84

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Musician best known for folk-pop hits such as If You Could Read My Mind and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald continued to tour in his later years

The Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, best known for folk-pop hits such as If You Could Read My Mind and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, has died at the age of 84, his family has announced.

His longtime publicist Victoria Lord said Lightfoot died at a Toronto hospital on Monday evening.

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Liverpool predicted to get £40m Eurovision boost in visitor spending

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Extra 100,000 visitors expected amid £1bn lift for UK hospitality in May helped by coronation, bank holidays and Eurovision

Liverpool is likely to receive a £40m boost as tens of thousands of Eurovision fans descend on the city to celebrate the annual song contest next week.

Liverpool, which saw off Glasgow to be chosen as host after last year’s winners, Ukraine, were unable to hold the event amid Russia’s invasion, is expecting an influx of visitors.

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Māori punk band’s tour of Wales puts spotlight on indigenous languages

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New Zealand group Half/Time to perform alongside artists who sing in Cymraeg as part of musical cultural exchange

They will bring heavy riffs, pounding drums and lyrics delivered with a growl – but a punk band from New Zealand arriving in Wales this week is also hoping to spark important conversations about what it means to create pop songs in “minority” languages.

The band Half/Time, which perform in Māori as well as English, is to appear alongside artists and groups who sing in Cymraeg as part of a cultural exchange organised by the universities of Cardiff and Waikato in the south Island of New Zealand.

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Liverpool plans huge Eurovision sing-along in solidarity with Ukraine

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Project hopes Beatles classic will ‘unite the world’ and show victims of the conflict that they’ll never walk alone

An ambitious campaign to create the world’s biggest sing-along as an expression of solidarity with Ukraine during the Eurovision song contest is gaining momentum.

The #HelpUkraineSong project is aiming to “unite the world through music” by getting as many people as possible to sing the Beatles’ With a Little Help from My Friends at noon on Saturday 13 May.

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HMV to return to flagship Oxford Street store after four-year absence

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First HMV shop was opened in 1921 by British composer Sir Edward Elgar and closed in 2019

HMV is to return to its former flagship store on London’s Oxford Street after a four-year absence. It is expected to reopen towards the end of this year, in time for Christmas.

The store was empty for an extended period after the music and entertainment company vacated the site in 2019, before most recently becoming home to one of the many American candy stores that popped up on Oxford Street during the pandemic.

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Ed Sheeran sings in court as part of Marvin Gaye plagiarism case

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British singer testifies about songwriting practices and plays guitar during trial over whether he copied Gaye’s classic Let’s Get it On

Ed Sheeran played the chord progression to his hit song Thinking Out Loud and sang on the witness stand in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, during a trial over whether he copied Marvin Gaye’s classic Let’s Get it On.

Testifying as the first witness in his own defense to a packed courtroom, the British singer-songwriter described his process for writing the song about everlasting love in 2014, shortly after he began a new romantic relationship and after his grandfather died.

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Freddie Mercury’s collection of ‘splendid things’ up for auction

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Items belonging to Queen singer on sale include costumes, handwritten lyrics and a moustache comb

For more than 30 years, Freddie Mercury’s London home has been untouched, a shrine to the legendary superstar of the rock band Queen who died in 1991 at the age of 45.

Now its contents – from Mercury’s dazzling stage costumes and handwritten lyrics to paintings and beautiful objects collected on his travels – are to go on show in London, New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong ahead of being sold at auction.

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Harry Belafonte, singer, actor and tireless activist, dies aged 96

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Chart-topping calypso singer who supported US civil rights movement and African initiatives dies of congestive heart failure

Harry Belafonte, the singer, actor and civil rights activist who broke down racial barriers, has died aged 96.

As well as performing global hits such as Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), winning a Tony award for acting and appearing in numerous feature films, Belafonte spent his life fighting for a variety of causes. He bankrolled numerous 1960s initiatives to bring civil rights to Black Americans; campaigned against poverty, apartheid and Aids in Africa; and supported leftwing political figures such as Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.

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Rapper Aitch inspired by sister to skydive for Down’s syndrome awareness

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Musician cheered on during jump by his sister Gracie, who has the condition and regularly features in his work

Rapper Aitch has skydived to raise money and awareness for Down’s syndrome, inspired by his sister Gracie, who has the condition. Gracie, 13, regularly features in the Manchester-born rapper’s music and recently joined her brother in the video for his latest single, Round 2.

Although the skydive had been scheduled to take place in March to coincide with Down’s syndrome Awareness week, windy conditions postponed the jump.

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