Sunday, 25 October 2020
Thursday, 28 April 2016
Watch Kelly Rowland shut down Beyoncé questions like a boss
Kelly Rowland is here for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Claritin, okay? Yes, in addition to helping you fight allergies, the med is also instrumental in fending off questions about Beyoncé'sLemonade. During a satellite appearance on Chicago's WGN Morning News, Rowland talked about a number of topics, like her BET show, Chasing Destiny, and her current music project. Have you had an opportunity to get some thoughts on the whole thing?" entertainment reporter Dean Richards asked around the 2:10 mark.
Nigel Lythgoe Remembers Prince’s Surprise ‘American Idol’ Performance
(photo: Reuters/Chris Pizzello)
One of the most thrilling guest performances in American Idol
history was when the late, great Prince showed up out of nowhere –
almost as if in a genie cloud of purple smoke – on the Season 5 finale
in 2006. It wasn’t a typical Idol finale cameo. Prince didn’t
perform alongside any of the contestants; his appearance was a complete
shock (even to the finalists and employees of the show); and he vanished
almost as quickly as he had appeared, immediately after tearing through
the 3121 tracks “Lolita” and “Satisfied.”
Speaking to Yahoo Music’s Reality Rocks at BritWeek’s Annual Business Innovation Awards honoring Idol creator Simon Fuller, Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe recalls the surreal scene.
“When I first met Prince, I told him exactly what was
going to happen [on the show], how Ryan Seacrest would introduce him,“
Lythgoe remembers. "And he said, ‘No, Nigel. I don’t want any
introduction.’ And I said, ‘To be honest with you, sir, we’re going to
need to do that.’ He said, ‘No, Nigel. I’m going to come on that stage
as a complete surprise.’ So he went out there with the two girls, was
sensational, and left the stage before Ryan could even say, ‘Ladies and
gentlemen, Prince!’ He was gone. The funny thing about that was, Prince
had [a driver] in the theater area, on a telephone in his car, going
around the block. So the driver knew exactly when Prince was going
onstage, and when he was done. The car drove up, Prince jumped out of
the car, ran onto the stage, ran off the stage back into the car, and
drove off. Gone.”Photos: Prince’s Most Memorable Onscreen Moments
While Prince was unwilling to take direction from Lythgoe (“He was very ‘this is the way it’s going to be’”), Lythgoe stresses that Prince was “very gentle with that, not rude in any way. He was very congratulatory about the program and how well he thought it had been done, and I believe he was very, very happy to be appearing on American Idol. But it was literally those conversations: ‘No, Nigel. We’re not going to do it that way.’ Which I’m unaccustomed to!”
As for how Prince’s finale appearance remained such a secret, Lythgoe laughs, “I just kept my mouth shut! Yeah, I know – it’s not like me! But when I need to keep quiet, I can, you know.”
Related: The Voice Coaches Pay Tribute to Prince
Lythgoe produced American Idol during its first seven seasons as well as Seasons 10-12, and he returned this month to oversee the nostalgic series finale. He reveals: “I thought about asking Prince to play again for the Season 15 finale. But then once I went down the route of thinking there shouldn’t be anyone on the finale apart from the judges and contestants, I dropped that idea. But it’s quite interesting that the two people that came into my head [when planning the finale months ago] were David Bowie and Prince. I suppose thank God I didn’t think about anybody else, right?”
Lythgoe ended up including a Bowie medley
on the Season 15 finale, starring past winners David Cook, Kris Allen,
Lee DeWyze, Phillip Phillips, and Nick Fradiani. When asked which
contestants he would have picked for a Prince tribute, he ponders for a
moment and says, “That’s a good question. It’s really difficult to
recreate Prince. I suppose Adam Lambert would have been great for that.
I’d have to think about it, because there was nobody for me ever that
was like Prince – apart from [Fox’s former President of Alternative
Entertainment] Mike Darnell,” he jokes. “I always used to make fun of
Mike’s height [Darnell is 5’2”], so he actually walked up behind Prince
[to compare height]. And he was smaller than Prince! But then again, Prince was in stilettos.”
Monday, 25 April 2016
DPR, NSCDC storm petrol stations, enforce N86.50 pump price
Simon Utebor, Yenagoa
Officials of the Department of Petroleum
Resources and operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence
Corps on Monday compelled filling stations in Bayelsa State to revert to
the Federal Government approved price of N86.50.
The operation led by DPR’s State
Operations Controller, Mr. Asuquo Antai, and NSCDC’s State Commandant,
Mr. Desmond Agu, saw the two federal agencies storming several stations,
particularly in Yenagoa metropolis, to enforce the regulated price.
Before the operation, filling stations
in the state were dispensing a litre of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) at
between N150 and N200.
Beside the astronomical rise in prices
of fuel, some filling stations in the state, with the exception of the
NNPC mega filling stations and their affiliates, were discovered to be
shortchanging customers through under-dispensing and product hoarding.
Addressing journalists after the operation, Antai said fuel supply to the state had improved in the last few days.
He wondered why why operators of filling stations still chose to sabotage the government and inflict pains on consumers.
The Operations Controller said, “The
government has emphasised times without number that all retail outlets
should sell at N86.50. We have embarked on this operation to enforce
government directive.
“Most of the filling stations have not
been selling at the appropriate price. We had a meeting with independent
marketers on the issue. We have told them that henceforth, they should
sell at the regulated price or face severe sanction. “
He, however, appealed to Pipelines and
Products Marketing Company to increase supply to Bayelsa, saying the
state had yet to meet its daily consumption figure 837,000 litres.
He warned marketers against hoarding
products, under dispensing and diversion of products, saying that
recently, the Department sanctioned 16 filling stations for sharp
practices.
In his comment, the NSCDC state
Commandant, Desmond Agu, warned against product diversion, saying that
errant marketers would be arrested and dealt with according to the law.
Agu said, “Let me sound it loud and
clear that diversion of petrol is prohibited. Anyone caught diverting
products meant for Bayelsa to another places will be decisively dealt
with. My men will be on 24 hour surveillance and patrol.
“And those people involved in black
marketeering are warned in their own interest to stop. From tomorrow,
anyone caught selling with jerry cans would be meant to forfeit the fuel
and will be detained.
“We are aware that some filling stations
sell only at night to rip customers off. We have mandated our
operatives to henceforth patrol in the midnight to fish out errant
marketers. We are poised to ensure that fuel consumers do not suffer in
Bayelsa.”
However, a customer, Chief Nengi James,
urged the DPR and the NSCDC to see that such operation was done
regularly to sanitise the situation.
James, the Chairman of Civil Liberties
Organisation in Bayelsa said, “It is not a one-off operation. If the
relevant enforcement agencies carry out such operation continuously,
all the sharp practices going on at filling stations will be reduced to
the barest minimum.
“The PPMC should also ensure that the
right quantities are brought into the state. By so doing, enforcement
will be easier and erring filling stations will have themselves to
blame.”
Saudi Arabia agrees plans to move away from oil profits
The Saudi cabinet has approved sweeping economic reforms aimed at moving the country away from its dependence on oil profits.
Just over 70% of revenues came from oil last year but it has been hit by falling prices.One part of the plan will see shares sold in state-owned oil giant Aramco to create a sovereign wealth fund.
Announcing the reforms, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman described his country as being addicted to oil.
Saudis react on social media
The Vision 2030 plan, he told the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel, would ensure "we can live without oil by 2020".
Among the reforms he announced in his interview were:
- Shares worth less than 5% of Aramco, a company he valued at up to $2.5tn (£1.7tn), will be sold
- Some of the proceeds will go towards a sovereign wealth fund worth $2tn
- A new visa system will allow expatriate Muslims and Arabs to work long term in Saudi Arabia
- Steps will be taken to diversify the economy, including investment in mineral mining and expanding military production
- Participation of women in the workforce to increase
The IMF called the Saudi plan an "ambitious, far-reaching effort" but warned implementation would be a challenge.
Oil has made Saudi Arabia a major economic force. But it comes at a cost. The short-term problem is the volatile price of crude oil, which is now less than half what it was in mid-2014. Saudi Arabia has deep pockets.
It will not go running to the International Monetary Fund for financial help, something another oil exporter, Angola, has done. But the Saudi reserves are eroding and with almost three quarters of government revenue coming from oil, the price fall is making itself felt.
For the long term, international efforts to combat climate change create huge uncertainty about demand for oil in the future. Oil will not lose its dominance of the market for transport fuel in the next few years, but further ahead the outlook is unknown.
So Saudi Arabia needs to become less dependent on oil for government revenue and for the jobs and incomes of Saudi nationals.
Oil prices are still less than half the peak of $115 a barrel seen in June 2014. But the prince said the reforms would go ahead regardless of prices.
"The vision has nothing to do with crude prices," he said.
"If the oil price goes back up it would greatly support the vision but it does not need high prices. We can deal with the lowest prices possible."
Prince songs set to dominate charts
- 6 hours ago
- From the section Entertainment & Arts
Sales of Prince's music have skyrocketed since his death last Thursday, at the age of 57.
The Very Best of Prince and Purple Rain hold the number one and two spot respectively in the US Billboard chart.The chart is compiled on a Friday, meaning Prince outsold the rest of the market in just 24 hours.
In the UK, two of his albums also entered the Top 40 on Friday. Some of the sales were spurred by the lack of Prince material on streaming services.
The star's catalogue was only available to stream on Tidal, while he relentlessly pursued people who illegally uploaded his material to sites like SoundCloud, Daily Motion and YouTube.
"I have a team of female black lawyers who keep an eye on such transgressions," Prince once said. "And you know they're sharp."
The Official Charts Company in the UK said that, based on early figures, Prince could have the number one single and album in the UK this coming Friday.
He was found in an unresponsive state in a lift on the first floor of his home. Emergency service personnel performed CPR, but were unable to revive him.
"Yes, it's Prince," an unidentified male caller told emergency services, according to a transcript of the 911 call.
The star was pronounced dead at the scene. Details of the post-mortem examination have yet to be released, but his body was released to his family on Friday afternoon and he was cremated on Saturday.
Thousands of fans have flocked to Paisley Park, the First Avenue nightclub, and other sites made famous by Prince since his death, while tributes have come from Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Justin Timberlake and President Obama, amongst others.
Eric Clapton said Prince had helped him battle depression and drug addiction in the 1980s, calling him "a light in the darkness".
"I was out on the road in a massive downward spiral with drink and drugs," he wrote on Facebook. "I saw Purple Rain in a cinema in Canada, I had no idea who he was, it was like a bolt of lightning! In the middle of my depression, and the dreadful state of the music culture at that time it gave me hope."
He also said the star was "far more 'royal' than [Queen] Elizabeth II," whose birthday celebrations fell on the same day as Prince's death.
Justin Timberlake added: "He's somewhere within every song I've ever written."
Meanwhile, US comedy show Saturday Night Live dedicated this weekend's edition to the star, playing back his musical appearances and footage of an invitation-only concert he played for the programme's 40th Anniversary.
The NFL also uploaded the star's memorable, rain-drenched SuperBowl concert to YouTube for the first time since it aired in 2004.
Memorial and museum
A senator in Prince's home state of Minnesota has called for purple to be adopted as its official colour, reported the St Paul Pioneer Press; while Prince's brother-in-law said plans were "in the works" for a large-scale public musical memorial.A private memorial service was held for the rock star on Saturday, attended by about 20 of his closest friends and family.
Among them was Sly and the Family Stone bassist Larry Graham, who toured with Prince and converted him to the Jehovah's Witness faith.
Also present was drummer Sheila E, one of Prince's most frequent collaborators on records including Lovesexy, Erotic City and The Glamorous Life.
"What was challenging yesterday was listening to his music at a very low, soft volume and the room very low in lights and everyone just taking a moment, just sitting there, kind of going, 'Wow,'" she said.
The musician also confirmed plans to turn Prince's home and recording studio into a museum, akin to Elvis's Graceland.
Forthcoming tribute
"We're hoping to make Paisley what [Prince wanted] it to be. [He] was working on it being a museum," she said. "He's been gathering memorabilia and stuff from all the tours, like my drums and his motorcycle.""There's a hallway of his awards and things, which he really didn't care about too much, but he displayed it for the fans because he knows that they would want to see it," she continued.
"There's pictures of him all down the halls, some you've seen before and some never [seen]… There's a mural on the wall with his hands out and on one side is all the people he was influenced by and the other side is all of us who have played with him... It's beautiful."
The percussionist added that she would be the musical director of the forthcoming tribute, which is expected to take place in Minneapolis.
And she said the star never truly appreciated the impact he had.
"When you're in a place of musically creating and writing, you just do your thing, and you don't realise how many people you touch," she explained.
"I don't know that he really knew how he touched almost everyone in this world."
Radja Nainggolan scored a brilliant late goal as Roma beat Champions League rivals Napoli - handing Juventus the Serie A title in the process.
Napoli needed to win to keep the title race going but Roma proved too difficult an opponent to overcome.The hosts are now within two points of second-placed Napoli, who occupy the final automatic Champions League place.
Nainggolan's 89th-minute winner was a fine, curling effort from outside the box from Mohamed Salah's lay-off.
Roma legend Francesco Totti, whose future is uncertain, was a late substitute and was involved in the build-up to the goal on his 598th Serie A appearance.
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