Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Member of Parliament Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine Sunday night put up a live online performance from his home on the outskirts of Kampala, to mark Mother’s Day. The show dominated social media, coming at a time when live shows are no longer possible …
Read More »Religion’s hold on Little Richard, rock’s sex-amped founder
New York, United States | AFP | A ferocious pianist with a madcap rubberband of a voice and bombastic stage personality, Little Richard, who died Saturday at 87, will go down in history as a key architect behind years of rock’s music world dominance. But though his pancake makeup and gaudy …
Read More »Greece’s ‘invisible’ artists call for help in virus squeeze
Athens, Greece | AFP | “For us, there is no return to normality.” Despite being one of Greece’s best-known folk singers, Natassa Bofiliou is among thousands of artists worried about the economic impact of coronavirus lockdowns that have only just begun to be eased. In a country where art is widely …
Read More »Taylor Swift to broadcast special Paris concert
New York, United States | AFP | The coronavirus forced Taylor Swift to cancel her 2020 tour dates, but fans will still get a chance to see the pop star in concert in a special set to air this month. The megastar whose “Lover” album came out last fall announced Friday that a one-hour concert …
Read More »Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber drop track for COVID charity
New York, United States | AFP | Pop royalty Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber have teamed up for a duet to raise funds for the children of frontline workers fighting coronavirus. The pair, both 26, dropped “Stuck With U” early Friday morning, a bubblegum-sweet ode to isolation with close ones. The now customary shot-from-home style …
Read More »Mission Impossible to Mission Control: Tom Cruise to film in space
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Tom Cruise will film his next Hollywood blockbuster on location — 250 miles up in the air and orbiting the Earth once every 90 minutes. The “Top Gun” star will fly through the stratosphere to shoot an as-yet-unknown film aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said on …
Read More »Star filmmakers draw inspiration from Russia lockdown
Moscow, Russia | AFP | The coronavirus pandemic might have brought the film industry to a halt but Andrei Konchalovsky, one of Russia’s most renowned film and theatre directors, is as busy as ever. He wants to make a documentary about daily life under quarantine, exploring the poetic side of the …
Read More »Reinvent the reel: Hollywood mulls new measures to restart shooting
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Movie moguls, directors and lawyers are searching for radical solutions to reopen Hollywood as soundstages gather dust and studio profits slide weeks after cameras stopped rolling due to coronavirus. The film industry has been on lockdown in California since mid-March following strict stay-at-home orders, …
Read More »The Masaka Kids Africana go viral with Drake’s ‘Toosie Slide’
Masaka, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A video by children of the charity group The Masaka Kids African has gone viral after they performed musician Drake‘s ‘Toosie Slide’ challenge. One of their videos got over a million views after the musician Drake posted the performance on his Instagram account. The …
Read More »Virtual mega-concert featuring Stones, Swift celebrates health workers
New York, United States | AFP | A virtual concert packed with A-listers — from The Rolling Stones to Taylor Swift to Billie Eilish — entertained fans around the world with a show celebrating health workers, as billions shelter at home due to coronavirus. Lizzo, Jennifer Lopez, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney …
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