Arts

Ashin Wirathu, the Burmese Buddhist monk known for whipping up anti-Muslim sentiment in Myanmar, is the subject of a new documentary airing at France’s renowned Cannes Film Festival, which starts Wednesday.

By filmmaker Barbet Schroeder, “The Venerable W” will appear in a special screening at one of the most prestigious cultural events in the world, marking the culmination of Wirathu’s journey from an obscure rabble-rouser to international infamy.

But his path to notoriety abroad points to questions back home about how much of a role the media have played in fueling his rise. Some believe he has been given too much of a platform for his hateful views or that coverage of his activities merits a more thoughtful approach.

Media attention for anti-Muslim views

“He has been famous because of the interviews and because of the posts in the local media,” said Thitsa Hla Htway, secretary of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Myanmar.

He urged journalists to not report his more repugnant musings and to report on more diverse issues.

“What I want to stress is that they should just stay away from him and his popularity will go down. There are many important issues in Myanmar which are more important than him,” he said.

In and out of prison

This wasn’t the feeling five years ago, when Myanmar was emerging from military rule and grappling with ascendant Buddhist nationalist forces in the form of the 969 movement and Ma Ba Tha, the Committee to Protect Race and Religion.

Sentenced to prison for 25 years in 2003 for inciting violence, Wirathu was released in an amnesty in 2012, the same year that saw the first of several deadly riots to plague the country’s transition to democracy from nearly five decades of military rule.

‘Time magazine’ interview

Though Myanmar has long struggled to contain religious enmity, the story was not often heard outside of the country due to its isolation. That changed with a 2013 TIME magazine issue that put Wirathu on the cover and sought to explain the man’s connection to the mayhem.

The initial coverage was revealing, but over the years, Wirathu was interviewed by countless journalists, including the author of this article. Doubt crept into the worthiness of the enterprise for many journalists.

Social media star

But his following on social media is enormous, his posts can be inflammatory, and the fact that he has not faced strong pushback implies he has connections.

Thiha Saw, the director of the Myanmar Journalism Institute, said he credits Wirathu’s rise more to the explosion of internet access that has occurred in recent years. He added that mainstream media outlets in Myanmar have been cautious about not giving Wirathu an unnecessary amount of exposure.

Supported military

But his level of influence remains an open question. He supported the military-backed ruling party in a 2015 election contest against Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, which won easily. This past March, Wirathu was hit with a ban on giving sermons for one year.

Even so, he was allowed to travel to a part of northern Rakhine State this month that has been largely closed off to observers since Rohingya militants attacked border posts in October, killing nine and setting off a crackdown that has resulted in accusations of possible crimes against humanity.

British journalist Oliver Slow, the chief of staff for the weekly magazine Frontier Myanmar, said in his personal opinion there needs to be a mix of scrutiny and restraint in the reporting.

Journalists want more scrutiny of Wirathu

“I think obviously he [Wirathu] needs to be heavily scrutinized. His group and the people behind him have the potential to cause massive issues, so I think it’s important to be reporting on him and what they are doing,” Slow said. “But I think we pretty much know all his views now, they’ve been aired for the past four or five years. His views on Muslims, his views on religion, have been so well aired, I just don’t really see any benefit any more of interviewing him.”

Matthew Smith, executive director of the NGO Fortify Rights, said in an email he isn’t persuaded by arguments the media has disproportionately fueled Wirathu’s rise to power, even if Wirathu has benefited from the attention.

“Wirathu is a populist demagogue with a considerable following and powerful connections behind the scenes,” Smith said. “But he and his followers have unarguably used international media attention to their advantage, to build their prominence and advance nationalist and racist narratives.”

Smith wants more investigative coverage of Wirathu.

“We see the occasional profile piece and don’t find those terribly helpful. Most foreign readers, particularly in the West, regard Buddhism as a tranquil religion of peace, so editors have endless fodder in stories of an extremist monk who preaches hatred.”

Schroeder, the filmmaker, did not immediately respond to a request for an interview sent through his production company.

 
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The 70th Cannes Film Festival is opening Wednesday under sunny Cote d’Azur skies, heavy security and widespread unease in the movie industry.

 

Security was greater than ever at the French festival, with stepped up efforts to restrict access and even an anti-drone system. France remains under a state of emergency since the November 2015 Paris attacks. This is also the first festival held since the nearby Nice attack last year that killed 86 people.

 

Festival organizers have said everything has been done to maintain a balance of safety and the celebratory atmosphere of the world’s most prestigious film festival.

 

This year’s festival has its own anxieties. Television, virtual reality and Netflix are a larger presence than ever before in the program.

 

Arnaud Desplechin’s “Ismael’s Ghosts” will open the festival Wednesday.
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This year’s Eurovision song contest, hosted in Kyiv, saw Portugal crowned the winner.

But Russian officials cried foul even before the competition, as Ukraine banned their last-minute entry of contestant Yulia Samoylova, a singer who is disabled and uses a wheelchair.

“We were all very much surprised,” says chairwoman of the Moscow branch of Russia’s Disabled People Society Nadezhda Lobanova-who is herself in a wheelchair. “We don’t know how they treat their disabled, but it seems to me we wouldn’t have done anything like this. But we were surprised. And we wondered whether they’d let in a healthy singer or whether it was was done only to the disabled person.”

Instead, Samoylova performed on May 9 for Russia’s World War II Victory Day celebration in Russia-annexed Crimea. Her performing in Crimea in 2015 got her blacklisted from entering Ukraine in the first place.

 

Critics say Russia’s choice of a disabled contestant, while knowing she would be banned for breaking Ukrainian law, was a cynical move.

“It was not just tactless, it was so unfair,” says translator and disability expert Veronica Ivanova-who is also disabled and uses a wheelchair. “It was cruel to use a disabled person in their political games knowing in advance the risks. Hoping that the disability would melt the hearts of the European Union and, especially performing in Ukraine, I think that was very cruel.”

It’s not the first political scandal involving the Eurovision contest and Crimea. Last year’s winning song “1944”, by Crimean Tatar Susana Jamaladynova, was about Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s forced deportation of Crimean Tatars. It was seen as a subtle rebuke of Russia’s current occupation of Crimea.

But Russian claims of Kyiv’s discrimination against disabled are even more dubious as Russia itself still struggles to provide for disabled people. It took five years for Ivanova to get a proper ramp installed at her apartment building.

“It takes a long time due to bureaucratic processes but, in the end, it’s possible,” she says. “In the provinces, I am scared even to imagine how to do it.”

Despite a handicapped accessible sign, for Ivanova to enter her local grocery store requires serious help as there is an impassable step before a ramp that is too steep to safely climb in a wheelchair.

Forcing disabled access is still a challenge, grants Lobanova, as owners don’t want to pay for properly equipping their businesses, and apartment buildings require permission from all residents. “That’s rather ridiculous. But often the residents and especially landlords do not understand,” she says. “So there is a problem with the installation of stairlifts because permission must be received from all residents of the building.”

But Moscow has seen a lot of progress since she started working for disabled people three decades ago.

“There were no disabled in Moscow because there was no possibility to move around. Only those who had their own cars had such an opportunity. It was hard to find employment. It was hard to get education. There was no access,” says Lobanova.

 

About 85 percent of Moscow is accessible for the disabled, she says, a much higher rate than most Russian regions.

Today, vehicles and sports for Russia’s disabled are available in most cities, while education and jobs come easier, though not without problems

.

“In Moscow it is not such an acute problem as a lot of enlightenment work is carried out among employers by various social bodies,” says Ivanova. “In the regions, it’s worse.”

The controversy over Russia’s Eurovision contestant has had one positive outcome, says Ivanova, it raised more discussion on the plight of Russia’s disabled.

Olga Pavlova contributed to this report.
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Once renowned in Asia for its durability and versatility, traditional Korean paper called Hanji is now produced only in a handful of rural paper mills.

But Korean-American artist Aimee Lee is dedicated to carrying on the 2,000-year old tradition through her artwork and teaching.  And some of the artwork she produces from the famously durable paper are wearable.

“The very first dress that I made out of Hanji was a western dress, but, as I was making more dresses, I thought just in the way that I explored Korean paper… I thought it would be wonderful to explore Korean dresses.”

The dress and other artwork by Lee created with Hanji, traditional Korean paper, are on display in a group exhibition during May at the Korean Cultural Center in Washington to mark Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month.

“Delicacy and strength is what I found in Korean paper,” says Jeanne Drewes, chief of binding and collections care at the Library of Congress. To Drewes, what the exhibit shows is that paper and fabric can be almost interchangeable. “That comes out in this exhibit.  This exhibit is so wonderful.”

Born in New York, Lee’s dedication to Hanji started in 2008 when she went to Korea with a U.S. Fulbright grant to research the disappearing traditional paper arts.   She apprenticed at a papermill in a remote village. It was run by a fourth-generation family whose patriarch is the Korean National Intangible Cultural Property holder of Hanji making. National intangible property is traditional knowledge that the South Korean government has designated for preservation. And intangible cultural property holders are masters of their crafts.

Lee turned what she learned about paper-making in Korea into a video which can be viewed here.

US Hanji studio

“When I first came back from Korea, I was so, so committed to sharing everything that I learned because it was so compelling, so interesting,” Lee says. “What I like about Hanji is that it’s so versatile.  So you can do so many things. I thought the world really needed to know.”

Working with the Morgan Conservatory, a non-profit arts center in Cleveland, Ohio, Lee built the first U.S. Hanji studio in 2010 to make and share the craft of Korean papermaking.   Each fall, mulberry trees whose inner bark is used to make Hanji, are harvested from the conservatory’s garden.

“I gather raw plant material from outside and then have to go through the process of stripping, sorting the parts you need and cooking it in special solutions and rinsing it, beating it and then making paper.  And then making art from that.  So it is a whole range from scratch.”

The self-appointed Hanji ambassador lectures or teaches workshops at art museums and universities across the country.  Lee’s passion for the paper led to her award-winning book: Hanji Unfurled: One Journey into Korean Papermaking.

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“Actually more people not of Korean descent take my workshops than people of Korean descent.  I think people that come are very open-minded. It is a way to learn about other cultures in a way that is very hands-on.”

Lee also uses natural dyes she makes from kitchen scraps and flowers.  Her artwork ranges from traditional objects to more contemporary woven paper objects. Her series of artists books reside in library collections including Yale University library.

Lee plans to continue making Hanji indefinitely. She says, “I still feel like there are so much I can do and learn.”
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Longtime late-night host David Letterman has been honored with the nation’s top prize for comedy.

The Kennedy Center announced Tuesday that the 70-year-old Letterman is this year’s recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. He is the 20th humorist to receive the annual prize, which began in 1998. Last fall, he delivered a warm tribute on stage at the Kennedy Center as his frequent guest, Bill Murray, accepted the award.

Letterman hosted more than 6,000 episodes of late-night television, starting in 1982 with NBC’s “Late Night with David Letterman.” He moved to CBS in 1993 and hosted “The Late Show” until his retirement two years ago.

Letterman’s irascible, independent streak inspired fierce loyalty from fans and critics.
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Despite his jokes that he’ll never get asked back, Jimmy Kimmel is set to host the Oscars once more. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday said Kimmel will return for the 90th Oscars with producers Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd, the team behind this year’s ceremony.

 

Ratings for the 89th Oscars this past February were the lowest since 2008 with 32.9 million viewers tuning in, even with the drama of the envelope gaffe in which Faye Dunaway, reading an incorrect card, announced “La La Land” as the best picture winner. The snafu was corrected on stage and “Moonlight” was given the award.

 

The 90th Oscars will be held on March 4, 2018 in Los Angeles and broadcast live on ABC.

 
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Princess Mako, the granddaughter of Japan’s emperor, is getting married to an ocean lover who can ski, play the violin and cook, according to public broadcaster NHK TV.

The Imperial Household Agency declined to confirm the report Tuesday.

Kei Komuro, the man who won the princess’ heart, was a fellow student at International Christian University in Tokyo, where Mako, 25, also graduated, NHK said.

They met at a restaurant in Tokyo’s Shibuya about five years ago at a party to talk about studying abroad, and they have been dating several times a month recently, it said.

Komuro has worked as “Prince of the Sea” to promote tourism to the beaches of Shonan in Kanagawa prefecture, the report said.

Women can’t succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne in Japan. Mako’s father and her younger brother are in line to succeed Emperor Akihito, but after her uncle Crown Prince Naruhito, who is first in line.

Once she marries, Mako will no longer be a princess and will become a commoner.

But the process building up to the wedding is likely to take some time and be full of ritual, as Japanese nuptials, especially royal ones, tend to be.

First there will be an announcement, the equivalent of an engagement, and then a date for the wedding will be picked and the couple will make a formal report to the emperor and empress. NHK said Mako has already introduced Komuro to her parents, and they approve.

Unlike royalty in Great Britain and other European countries, the emperor and his family tend to be cloistered, although they travel abroad and appear at cultural events.

Akihito, 83, is the son of Hirohito, Japan’s emperor during World War II.

Akihito expressed his desire to abdicate last year, and Japan has been preparing legislation especially for him so he can.

Until Japan’s defeat at the end of World War II, Hirohito was viewed as divine, and no one had even heard his voice. But the times are changing, and the Japanese public harbors a feeling of openness and familiarity toward the emperor and his family. People are likely to see Mako’s marriage as a celebration, although the rituals will continue to be tightly orchestrated.
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Bill Cosby says he doesn’t expect to testify at his Pennsylvania sexual assault trial.

 

The comedian spoke to Sirius radio host Michael Smerconish in an interview being broadcast Tuesday.

 

Smerconish says he agreed to air an uncut, 82-minute conversation between Cosby and his daughters in exchange for the interview.

 

Cosby says his lawyers won’t let him speak about the criminal case. But he says he has “never, never” lost the support of his wife.

 

Daughter Ensa Cosby says she believes “racism has played a role” in the accusations against her father.

 

Bill Cosby replies, “It could be.”

 

Cosby says his health is generally good, but glaucoma has left him legally blind.

 

Cosby says he isn’t trying to influence jurors, who will be selected next week for the June 5 trial.
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The rock band Bon Jovi surprised graduates and guests at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s commencement exercises Tuesday by putting on an impromptu performance.

 

Fairleigh Dickinson won a nationwide contest to bring the New Jersey-based band to play their graduation by generating the most interest on social media.

 

Jon Bon Jovi, who was born and raised in Sayreville, New Jersey, spoke to the graduates before the band performed “Reunion,” a song about a class gathering years later to share memories of their lives.

 

“Today marks the end of one chapter in your life and the start of another,” he said from a stage at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, where the band has played to sold-out crowds many times. “Enjoy the book; you’re the one writing it.

 

“Don’t take anything personally. Accept both praise and criticism equally, but take neither to heart. There are many surprises awaiting you on the journey.”

 

The contest was run by MTVU, and asked students across the country to tweet their best college moments with the hashtag #JBJReunionContest.

 

“Reunion” was first performed by Bon Jovi in 2015 at the commencement exercises for Rutgers University, and appears on the band’s current album “This House Is Not For Sale.”

 

Most of the students did not know Bon Jovi would be appearing until they were already inside the stadium, home field for the NFL’s Jets and Giants. Although best known for ’80s-era hits like “Livin’ On A Prayer,” “You Give Love A Bad Name” and “Wanted Dead Or Alive,” Bon Jovi’s current album went to No. 1 on the charts and they were the top-selling live band in the U.S. for the first three months of 2017, making them popular with students whoseparents watched the band on MTV decades ago.

 

Iman Suleiman of Garfield, said she loves Bon Jovi because his music was featured on an episode of her favorite TV show, “Glee.”

 

“Our generation is one of the last generations that love Bon Jovi,” added Isabelle Nemeh, of Wayne.

 

And Jessica Awad, of Wyckoff, enjoyed Bon Jovi, even though she had someone else in mind.

 

“I would have preferred Justin Bieber, but it’s still cool,” she said.

 

 In an interview inside the Giants locker room before the ceremony, Jon Bon Jovi told The Associated Press he hopes the graduates remain flexible about their plans.

 

 “Whatever your vision of how your life is going to be going forward, do it in pencil,” he said. “The great thing is the journey is about to begin. You may take some turns along the way that may take you to somewhere you never even dreamed of going. It’s a great journey.”

 

 
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Rapper Travis Scott’s recent arrest after a concert in Arkansas is not his first on accusations of encouraging fans to join him on stage.

Police in Rogers say the Houston-born musician, whose real name is Jacques Webster, was arrested Saturday night on charges of inciting a riot, disorderly conduct and endangering the welfare of a minor.

Police say Webster encouraged fans to bypass security and rush the stage, leaving a security guard, a police officer and several others injured.

The Associated Press has sought comment from Webster’s representatives.

Webster was sentenced to one year of court supervision after pleading guilty to reckless conduct charges stemming from a 2015 incident in Chicago at the Lollapalooza music festival. Chicago officials said Webster encouraged fans to vault security barricades. No one was injured.
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Beyonce dominated last year’s BET Awards with “Lemonade,” but there’s more juice in her cup.

The pop star is nominated for seven awards at the 2017 BET Awards, the network told The Associated Press on Monday. The show will take place June 25 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

Bruno Mars follows Beyonce with five nominations.

Beyonce, who won video of the year with “Formation” last year, is nominated for the top prize again with “Sorry.” Her competition includes her sister Solange (“Cranes In the Sky”); Mars’ playful “24K Magic”; Migos’ No. 1 hit “Bad and Boujee”; and Big Sean’s anthemic “Bounce Back.”

Beyonce and Solange — who has four nominations — will go head-to-head for best female R&B/pop artist, along with Rihanna, Mary J. Blige and Kehlani. Beyonce’s other nominations include album of the year for “Lemonade,” the viewer’s choice award and video director of the year. She’s nominated twice for best collaboration with the songs “Freedom” (with Kendrick Lamar) and “Shining” (shared with Jay Z and DJ Khaled).

The winners in the 19 categories, including film and sports awards, will be selected by BET’s Voting Academy, comprised of entertainment professionals and fans.

Mars, whose latest album was inspired by `90s R&B, is also nominated for best male R&B/pop artist, album of the year, the viewer’s choice award and video director of the year.

Chance the Rapper, who scored four nominations and won three Grammys this year, will battle Lamar, Drake, J. Cole, Future and Big Sean for best male hip-hop artist. Nicki Minaj will compete with rival Remy Ma for best female hip-hop artist, an award Minaj has won since 2010.

Hip-hop trio Migos also scored four nominations.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a behemoth of culture and wealth, is rebounding from more than a year of internal turmoil and financial problems.

 

As part of its recovery efforts, the museum is considering a mandatory admissions fee for visitors from outside New York state. The set fee, possibly $25 for adults, would be the first in the venerable museum’s 147-year history.

 

Facing a $15 million operating deficit, the Met filed a formal proposal with New York City this month to charge visitors who don’t live in the state a set admission, instead of the current voluntary contribution.

 

“We’ve had financial challenges — significant ones — over the last couple of years that have culminated over the past year, and a rather significant need to reorganize the institution and to retrench our finances,” said Daniel Weiss, the museum’s president.

 

About 100 staff positions have been eliminated through buyouts and layoffs. The number of special exhibits staged each year is being slashed from 55 to about 40. A $600 million new wing that had been planned, but not fully financed, is postponed indefinitely. Instead, the Met will be focusing on more pressing capital needs, Weiss said, including spending as much as $100 million to replace a block-long “ocean of bad skylights” built in the 1930s over art galleries.

 

Met director and chief executive Thomas Campbell stunned the art world in February by announcing his resignation, amid criticism of the museum’s financial management.

 

“It was clear we were on a path that was not sustainable, and if we didn’t deal with it, it was going to get worse in a hurry,” said Weiss, who took the reins from Campbell and is now the interim CEO.

 

He blamed the museum’s financial problems on “a perfect storm” of money-sucking factors: too many costly special exhibitions; restaurants and gift shops where revenues declined; and public programming that was overly ambitious.

 

Revenue from admissions and membership also had slipped.

 

But make no mistake, there’s no immediate danger to the museum, which has endowments of $3 billion.

 

Admissions fees might help ease the current budget deficit, which was about 5 percent of the $315 million in operating costs in 2016.

 

“The deficit is not high compared to the total budget, but remember, these numbers are not just about the money: Donors want to back a winning story, and any indication that it’s not makes them skittish,” said Andrew Taylor, an arts management expert at Washington-based American University.

 

The details of how the fees would work are the subject of talks with the city, which gives the museum $27 million in subsidies annually. The city also owns the museum site in Central Park and has approval rights for entrance policies.

 

An entrance fee of $25 would be in line with admissions to other New York art institutions, from the MoMA ($25) and the Guggenheim ($25) to the Whitney ($22).

 

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio gave some generalized support to the idea, saying it was “fair” for non-state residents to pay something. “I’m a big fan of Russian oligarchs paying more to get into the Met,” the mayor joked recently.

 

Of the record 7 million visitors in 2016, 67 percent came from outside New York state and 39 percent of the total from abroad.

 

In recent years, the museum was targeted by a class-action lawsuit that challenged the Met’s “recommended”  $25 admission and accused the institution of obscuring the fact that people could enter for less. The case was settled last year when the Met agreed to say the price is only “suggested,” with signs telling visitors that “The amount you pay is up to you.”

 

Visitors have split on whether an entrance fee should be mandatory for some.

 

Angeleka Kunath, 64, visiting from Hamburg, Germany, said she feels foreigners should pay and would gladly do so to keep the Met running at its best.

 

“The price is worth it. Art is so important for our lives and humanity; it gives us inspiration it brings people together,” she said.

 

Ken Wilson, 60, who was visiting from Greensboro, North Carolina, said he didn’t think anyone would have a problem paying to get in.

 

“It’s amazing and educational,” he said. But he said it was unfair that New Yorkers would get a discount. And with the search for its new director underway, the museum could maybe discuss cutting the high six-figure salaries of its top executives.

 
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Kara McCullough, a scientist working for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has been crowned Miss USA.

 

McCullough, who represented the District of Columbia in the decades-old pageant, was born in Naples, Italy, and raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She said she wants to inspire children to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

 

“I love science,” McCullough said after the Sunday event. “I look at this as a great opportunity to … get to experience worldwide culture, as well as just having the opportunity to be impacted by so many children, hopefully in the math and sciences.”

 

McCullough bested 50 other contestants and will represent the U.S. at the Miss Universe contest.

 

This was the second year in a row that the representative of the nation’s capital won the Miss USA title. Last year, District of Columbia resident Deshauna Barber became the first-ever military member to win Miss USA.

 

This year’s top five finalists were asked questions that touched on the pros and cons of social media, women’s rights and issues affecting teenagers. McCullough was asked whether she thinks that affordable health care for all U.S. citizens is a right or a privilege. She said it is a privilege.

 

“As a government employee, I’m granted health care and I see firsthand that for one to have health care, you need to have jobs,” she said.

 

McCullough said she will be discussing with her supervisor whether she will take a leave of absence from her job at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission during her one-year reign.

 

Miss New Jersey Chhavi Verg, who studies marketing and Spanish at Rutgers University, was the runner-up at the event held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on the Las Vegas Strip.

 

Verg was one of five women who participated in the pageant who told The Associated Press they immigrated to the U.S. with their families at a young age. Verg and the women representing Florida, North Dakota, Hawaii and Connecticut described the challenges and opportunities they faced as immigrants.

 

Verg told The AP that she and her parents immigrated from India to the U.S. with only $500 in their pockets when she was 4 years old. Her first winter she did not have a winter coat and the family struggled to adjust.

 

“I want to show Americans that the definition of what it means to be American is changing,” the 20-year-old said. “It’s not just one face. There are many different people who are Americans, and I feel like Asian-Americans often times are left out of the conversation.”

 

The contestants’ remarks contrast with the controversy that surrounded the pageant in 2015, when then-part owner and now U.S. President Donald Trump offended Hispanics when he made anti-immigrant remarks in announcing his bid for the White House.

 

Trump co-owned The Miss Universe Organization with NBCUniversal, but the network and the Spanish-language broadcaster Univision quickly cut ties with him, refusing to air the show. Trump sued both networks, eventually settling and selling the pageant to talent management company WME/IMG.

 

 
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Katy Perry has announced her upcoming album will be titled “Witness” and will be released on June 9.

 

Perry has also announced an extensive tour of North America to promote the release.

 

The singer’s website says Perry’s first tour since 2015 begins Sept. 7 in Columbus, Ohio, and has dates listed through Feb. 5. Anyone who buys a ticket will receive a copy of the album.

 

Two singles have been released from “Witness” so far: “Chained to the Rhythm” and “Bon Appetit.” Perry hinted at the album’s name earlier this month by wearing a headpiece that spelled out the word “Witness” on the red carpet at the Met Gala.

 

Perry is set to perform on the season finale of “Saturday Night Live” this weekend.

 
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Paris bid leaders want to capitalize on the sense of optimism surrounding new President Emmanuel Macron to beat Los Angeles and secure the Olympic Games in 2024 — not 2028.

With the IOC currently assessing a proposal to award the next two Olympics — one to each city — Paris officials insist the French capital city is the right choice for 2024.

The 39-year-old Macron, France’s youngest-ever president, officially took office on Sunday as the IOC evaluation commission started a three-day visit to Paris.

“Our team has a new member, the new President of France, Emmanuel Macron,” bid leader Tony Estanguet said on Sunday. “He’s been a fantastic supporter of our bid from the beginning. He will be with us all the way to Lima and hopefully beyond.”

Los Angeles and Paris are the only two bidders left for the 2024 Games, which will be awarded in September at a meeting of Olympic leaders in Peru. The race began with five cities, but Rome, Hamburg, Germany, and Budapest, Hungary, all pulled out.

The IOC has four vice presidents looking into the prospect of awarding the 2024 and 2028 Games at the same time in September.

“We have one goal during these few days: to convince you that Paris is the right city, with the right vision, at the right moment,” Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said. “The right city with world-class venues and accommodation, and the best public transport in the world, ready right now.”

International Olympic Committee members were in Los Angeles earlier this week to meet with the U.S. bid leaders and inspect their planned venues. While Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti appeared at least willing to consider hosting the 2028 Olympics if the city isn’t awarded its first choice of 2024, Hidalgo said Paris is set for the earlier edition.

“With financial and political stability and support, we are ready right now,” Hidalgo said. “At the right moment, as the no risk option.”

Patrick Baumann, the chair of the IOC evaluation commission, said Sunday’s discussions with Paris leaders focused solely on their project for 2024.

“Right now we are still in a process where we assess a potential candidacy for 2024,” Baumann told a press conference. “2024-2028 was not a matter of discussion.” 

The French government has pledged one billion euros ($1.1 billion) of support for the Paris bid and Macron is expected to confirm that amount. If Paris is awarded the 2024 Games, the infrastructure budget is expected to total 3 billion euros, with operational costs of 3.2 billion euros.

Paris is also betting on the compactness of its plans to make the difference. According to the bid dossier, 84 percent of the athletes will be able to reach their competition venues in less than 25 minutes, and more than 70 percent of the proposed venues are existing facilities, with a further 25 percent relying on temporary structures.

Paris, which last staged the Olympics in 1924, failed in bids for the 1992, 2008, and 2012 Games.

With the pro-business and pro-EU Macron, Paris bid leaders have a strong supporter. The new president has already thrown his weight behind Paris’ bid, telling IOC President Thomas Bach over the phone of its “expected benefits for all French people.”    

Macron did not attend Sunday’s night gala dinner with IOC members in Paris but invited the evaluation commission on Tuesday to the Elysee Palace before they leave.

Meanwhile, the Paris team added another high-profile figure to their list of backers on Sunday as it unveiled France soccer great Zinedine Zidane as their latest ambassador.

“I was involved in several bids, but this one is really close to our hearts,” said Zidane, who also supported the Qatar bid to host soccer’s 2022 World Cup and was involved in Paris’s 2008 and 2012 failed bids.  

IOC members started their visit with a full day of discussions on Paris’ proposals that will be followed by venue visits on Monday and further meetings on the final day.

“Our friends of Paris 2024 presented us with an exceptional and well detailed bid presentation,” Baumann said. “We have two cities with a wonderful Olympic spirit. It’s difficult to give them less than 10 out of 10.”
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Veteran Irish rock band U2 is the top-selling live music act in the United States for summer 2017, ticket seller StubHub said on Sunday, outpacing pop acts such as Ed Sheeran and Lady Gaga with a concert tour celebrating its seminal “Joshua Tree” album.

U2’s 13-stop “The Joshua Tree Tour 2017” topped the list of most popular live music acts in the United States between Memorial Day (May 29) and Labor Day (September 4). British singer Sheeran’s U.S. leg of his “divide” tour came in at No. 2 with 32 shows over the summer.

Unlike most artists who tour in support of new albums, U2’s concert celebrates the 30th anniversary of its 1987 “The Joshua Tree” album, with lyrics that drew from the band’s travels across America and social commentary.

U2 will kick off its U.S. Joshua Tree tour on Sunday at Seattle’s 68,000-capacity CenturyLink Field, and will play shows across the country including California, Texas and Florida before heading to Europe.

Sheeran’s tour will be at venues averaging a capacity of 20,000 while U2’s venues are upwards of 65,000 seats.

StubHub’s top-10 list did not include tickets sold for shows in Canada.

StubHub, which did not release the number of tickets sold, said U2 had outsold Sheeran by 65 percent and outsold last year’s top summer act, British singer Adele, by 15 percent.

Tickets for U2 have averaged around $246, while average ticket prices for Sheeran have been about $231, the ticket seller said, adding that U2’s June 3 Chicago date was the most in-demand concert of the summer.

StubHub’s top-10 acts of the summer saw an equal division of veteran artists and current pop and hip-hop acts, with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Metallica, Tool and Roger Waters facing off Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar and Justin Bieber.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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Renee Fleming sang the famous “Ja, ja” one last time, acknowledging the ascendancy of youth, and made a graceful exit from the stage.

 

The 58-year-old soprano, the most well-known American classical singer, performed the Marschallin in Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” for the final time Saturday in what may have been her farewell to staged standard repertoire.

 

Confetti fell from the top of the Metropolitan Opera and bouquets were thrown from the crowd during a nine-minute ovation that followed the performance on the final day of the company’s 2016-17 season. Fleming plans to concentrate her appearances on concerts and will consider singing in new operas. 

 

Fleming first sang the Marschallin, an aristocrat who accurately predicts her lover will leave her for a younger woman, at the Houston Grand Opera in 1995. Saturday was her 70th staged performance of the role, which included productions in San Francisco, London, Paris, Zurich, Baden-Baden and Munich, and with the Met on tour in Japan. She sang additional concert versions in Boston, Washington, and Paris.

 

“I feel satiated,” she said outside her dressing room. “It’s time — time to say goodbye.”

 

She was 36 for her first Marschallin, four years older than the age of the character created by composer Richard Strauss and librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal for the opera, which premiered in 1911.

 

“Nothing seems like 22 years. Where did it go?” Fleming said. 

 

The Marschallin is one of her most acclaimed roles and it seemed an apropos choice. She wistfully sings during her first act monologue: “Time is a strange thing. While one is living one’s life away, it is absolutely nothing. Then, suddenly, one is aware of nothing else.”

 

“This fear of aging, it touches everybody’s heart,” Fleming said after the performance.
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The Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, was the scene of the final of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, the annual europop song fest that was expected to garner a television audience of some 200 million.
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Portugal’s Salvador Sobral won the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday with a gentle romantic ballad that challenged the event’s decades-long reputation for cheesy, glittery excess.

Sobral sang his Amar Pelos Dois (Love For Both) in a high, clear tenor accompanied by quiet strings and a piano. Unlike the 25 other competitors who performed on a wide stage backed by flashing lights, bursts of flames and other effects, Sobral sang from a small elevated circle in the middle of the crowd, an intimate contrast to others’ bombast.

“Music is not fireworks, music is feeling,” he said while accepting the award.

Runner-up Kristian Kostov of Bulgaria wasn’t short on feeling — his power-ballad “Beautiful Mess” was awash in melodrama, the singer appearing almost wrung out by romantic turmoil.

Moldova’s Sunstroke Project finished a surprising third, with a bouncy, jazzy song called “Hey Mama”‘ that featured a clever stage routine in which the female backup singers hid their microphones in bridal bouquets.

Francesco Gabbani of Italy had led bookmakers’ tallies for most of the days leading up to the final, but he ended up placing sixth even though his act seemed the epitome of Eurovision’s cheerfully tacky aesthetics — singing a driving number about spirituality while accompanied by someone in a gorilla suit.

Eurovision, in its 62nd year, is aimed at apolitical entertainment. But the sweet intentions were soured this year when Russia’s participation was scuttled by host Ukraine over the two nations’ diplomatic and military conflict.

Russia is one of Eurovision’s heavy hitters, tied with Sweden for the most top-five finishes this century. But this year’s Russian entrant, Yuliya Samoylova, was blocked from competing by Ukraine because she had toured in Crimea after Russia’s 2014 annexation of the peninsula.

In response, Russia’s state-owned Channel 1 television is refusing to broadcast the contest, replacing Saturday’s final with a screening of the film “Alien.”

The Moscow-Kyiv split is a headache for Eurovision’s producer, the European Broadcasting Union, which strives mightily to keep pop and politics separate. Overtly political flags and banners are banned, and lyrics are monitored for provocative content.

In 2009, the EBU nixed the Georgian entry “We Don’t Wanna Put In,” a dig at Russian President Vladimir Putin. The union, however, has been criticized for not barring “1944” last year, allowing Russia-Ukraine tensions to fester.

The acrimony is ironic, since Eurovision was founded in 1956 to bring the recently warring countries of Europe together. It launched a year before the foundation of the European Economic Community, forerunner of the European Union.

From its launch with seven countries, Eurovision has grown to include more than 40, including non-European nations such as Israel and — somewhat controversially — far-off Australia.

The contest helped launch the careers of Sweden’s ABBA — victors in 1974 with “Waterloo” — Canada’s Celine Dion, who won for Switzerland in 1988, and Irish high-steppers Riverdance, the halftime entertainment in 1994.
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The Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, is bracing to host the finale of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, the annual europop song fest that is expected to garner a television audience of some 200 million.
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