Riize shares new single ‘Impossible’
Today, the next generation global rookie group Riize offers an early glimpse of summer with their new single ‘Impossible’ out now via SM Entertainment/RCA Records.
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Shakira Announces First Run Of Dates On Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour
On the heels of her chart-topping new album, Grammy, and Latin Grammy Award-winning artist Shakira has just announced the first-string dates on her highly anticipated world tour, “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour,” promoted by Live Nation, with 14 arena shows across North America kicking off this Autumn.
The tour’s first leg will start on November 2 in Palm Desert, CA, and includes stops in Los Angeles, Miami, Toronto, Brooklyn, Chicago and more. See below for full tour routing. Known for her dynamic and high-energy performances, Shakira will bring tracks from her new album and her legendary catalogue of hits to life on stage.
Tickets will be available starting with a Citi presale (details below) beginning Wednesday, April 17. The artist presale will begin Friday, April 19 at 10am local time. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general onsale beginning Monday, April 22 at 10am local time at shakira.com.
Citi is the official card of the Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour in the U.S. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Wednesday, April 17 at 10am local time until Sunday, April 21 at 10pm local time through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details visit www.citientertainment.com.
VIP Packages
Fans can also purchase VIP Packages, which may include premium tickets, a meet & greet and photo op with Shakira, an autographed item, access to the pre-show VIP lounge, an exclusive VIP merch item & more. VIP package contents vary based on the offer selected. For more information, visit vipnation.com.
Shakira first hinted at the tour during her appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last month. On Friday, the global superstar surprised fans at Coachella when she appeared during Bizarrap’s set to perform their global smash hit “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” and “La Fuerte,” both featured on her new album. Before exiting the stage, Shakira teased the tour news to a roaring crowd.
Coachella
Coachella marks the second time in the last month that Shakira has surprised fans with a show-stopping performance. Last month, following the album release, Shakira shut down New York City’s Times Square giving a crowd of 40,000+ fans a peek into the energy of her live shows when she performed at the TSX Stage. The performance included her iconic hits like “Hips Don’t Lie,” “Te Felicito/TQG,” and “Session 53,” as well as “Puntería” and “Cómo Dónde y Cuándo” from her new album.
The tour is in support of her new album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, which, in 24 hours of its release became the most streamed album of the year with over 10 billion and was certified 7x platinum. The album debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Latin Album and Latin Pop Album Charts, while “Puntería” with Cardi B holds the #1 spot on both the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Pop Airplay charts. Listen to the album HERE!
This is Shakira’s first tour since 2018, when she wowed fans at sold-out stadiums and arenas around the planet with the El Dorado World Tour, cementing her reputation as “an international pop goddess” (Rolling Stone).
Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour Routing
Sat Nov 02 – Palm Desert, CA – Acrisure Arena
Thu Nov 07 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center
Sat Nov 09 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum
Sat Nov 16 – San Antonio, TX – Frost Bank Center
Sun Nov 17 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
Wed Nov 20 – Miami, FL – Kaseya Center
Sat Nov 23 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center
Mon Nov 25 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
Sat Nov 30 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
Thu Dec 05 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
Sun Dec 08 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
Tue Dec 10 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
Sat Dec 14 – Chicago, IL – United Center
Sun Dec 15 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
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Lulu confirmed for Glastonbury Festival 2024
Glastonbury Festival has announced that pop legend Lulu will be performing. Fans will have the opportunity to see the icon perform again at Glastonbury at the Field of Avalon.
This really is Lulu’s year. She is currently completing her sold-out and final tour, Champagne For Lulu, celebrating her exceptional 60-year career with her friends and family. The tour kicked off in Lulu’s hometown of Glasgow, where she was joined on stage by fellow Scott and TikTok star Nathan Evans and garnered 5* reviews from The Telegraph and the Glasgow Times. At Manchester’s The Bridgewater Hall, Lulu was surprised by her friends Take That on stage for a special performance of their No. 1 hit ‘Relight My Fire’. Tomorrow night, the Champagne For Lulu tour will reach London’s Palladium for a highly anticipated show, coincidentally exactly 60 years since the release of smash hit ‘Shout’.
Lulu kicked off 2024 with a starring role in the hilarious Arthur’s Whisky film for Sky Cinema, where she played the character Susan alongside Diane Keaton and Patricia Hodge. The film featured guest appearances from fellow icon Boy George and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner Lawrence Chaney.
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Reunited and Ready to Rock: Room 94 Returns for One Epic Night in London!
Fans, brace yourselves! After a seven-year interlude, the dynamic band that ignited stages and captured hearts is back. That’s right — Room 94 is reuniting for a one-off (hopefully not) show, set to electrify London this summer! Get ready to relive the magic, as the band takes the stage for a night of unforgettable music, nostalgia, and pure exhilaration.
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The power of POV: five films that put you in the shoes of otherwise unrelatable characters
By Daniel O’Brien, University of Essex
The point-of-view (POV) shot is a filming angle that is usually used to put the viewer into the rigid perspective of how a character sees the world, either for a few scenes, or in some cases, the whole film.
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Shakira makes surprise Coachella appearance with Bizarrap
Award-winning artist Shakira surprised fans at Coachella last night when she joined Bizarrap on stage to perform their global smash hit “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” and “La Fuerte,” both featured on her record-breaking new album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran. Before exiting the stage, Shakira teased the crowd that they’d be seeing her performing again later this year with her own tour.
Shakira’s surprise Coachella performance comes on the heels of the release of her new album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran – listen HERE!
The record boasts 16 tracks, 8 new songs, a new remix, and 7 previously released hit singles. In the first 24 hours of its release, the album became the most streamed album of 2024, was certified 7x platinum, and has now surpassed 7 billion global audio and video streams to date. The album debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Latin Album and Latin Pop Album Charts, while “Puntería” with Cardi B holds the #1 spot on both the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Pop Airplay charts.
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Zayn releases rare live solo performance for ‘Alienated’
Multi Platinum-selling recording artist, songwriter, producer, and philanthropist Zayn has released a stunning live performance video to debut ‘Alienated,’ the second single from his forthcoming album, Room Under The Stairs, due 17th May, 2024 via Mercury Records / Island Records UK
The performance marks the first time Zayn has performed live since 2016 and showcases his soaring falsetto within the intimate song. About the song, Zayn commented, “‘Alienated’ was the first song I wrote for the album, so it kind of set the tone for the whole project – it shaped the way I wanted to approach the sound of my own voice, the styling of the guitars and the overall sonic direction.”
For the past six years, Zayn has been writing and crafting Room Under The Stairs at his home studio in rural PA. This album marks his most personal release to date, reflecting where he is in life, while exploring the complexities of healing, stillness, and growth. It also sees the genre-bending artist explore a new sound, leaning into his soulful vocals, live instrumentation, and poetic lyricism as a songwriter.
Reflecting upon Room Under The Stairs, Zayn says “This is my favorite album that I’ve made to date, mainly because it comes from a place of sheer honesty and vulnerability. I wanted each song to feel as if it was just me sitting beside you telling you how I feel, singing directly to you. It’s raw and stripped back and the type of music I always hoped to make.”
He continues, “Working with Dave Cobb has been an amazing experience. The way he’s elevated the music is second to none, and he has done an incredible job helping me create this record. I hope we can take listeners on some whimsical, magical journey, and that they enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it.”
“I think just being where I was at that time, staying away from things and living with my own thoughts inspired me to want to write something from that place. I’ve got to put this out as a whole body of work, it’s something for myself, not even just for the world,” says Zayn.
Room Under The Stairs was co-produced by Zayn with 9x Grammy award-winning producer Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, A Star Is Born, Brandi Carlile). Cobb came on board after hearing the songs Zayn had crafted, marveled by how raw and honest it was. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Cobb said “What got me about Zayn was his voice, you can hear love, loss, pain, triumph and humanity in it. Zayn has really created his own universe on this record, he really has no fear and is speaking straight from his soul.”
Room Under The Stairs is available for preorder HERE
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Back to Black: Amy Winehouse biopic reviewed by an alcohol expert
By Sadie Boniface, King’s College London
Content warning: this article discusses mental health, addiction and eating disorders.
Back to Black is a new biopic about the life of musician Amy Winehouse. It covers the time from when she gets her record deal aged 18, until her tragic death from alcohol poisoning in 2011 at the age of 27.
Ahead of the film’s release, reactions to promotional material suggested the critical response could be mixed. This was borne out in early reviews, which ranged from resoundingly positive to somewhat scathing. Others have and will discuss the filmmaking, musical performances and storytelling, or compare Back to Black’s retelling against existing accounts of Winehouse’s life.
As someone who researches alcohol and its effects, I was interested in how Winehouse’s addiction to alcohol and other substances would be portrayed.
Winehouse died in 2011 of alcohol poisoning and an inquest into her death found that she had a blood alcohol level of 0.416. This level of intoxication is life threatening, and is associated with loss of consciousness and suppression of vital life functions.
The film focuses on Winehouse’s (Marisa Abela) relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil (Jack O’Connell). His substance use is first shown in opposition to Winehouse’s (him: “cokehead”, her: “drinker”), but their behaviour come to mirror each other. Fielder-Civil talks about “toxic codependence” in one scene, when Winehouse visits him in prison.
More striking than the codependency, though, is the lack of agency Winehouse seems to have despite her talent and success. In her relationships with Fielder-Civil and her father (Eddie Marsan) she is almost deferential. Her manager and label hold power over her career. But most shocking of all is how normal life is made impossible by the intrusiveness of the paparazzi.
Depicting Winehouse’s addiction
Alcohol is present in the film from the first scene, a family party that introduces us to Winehouse’s close relationship with her nan, Cynthia (Lesley Manville). Before it becomes an overt part of the storyline, viewers are given clues about Winehouse’s relationship with alcohol.
She is shown drinking neat vodka in a pub with her soon-to-be manager, drinking a murky-looking “Rickstasy” (Southern Comfort, vodka, Bailey’s and banana liqueur) cocktail alone the day she meets Blake Fielder-Civil for the first time. In one scene she tells her nan that she’d had “a couple of drinks” for courage before appearing on the Jonathan Ross show.
Less clearly signposted, however, are her concurrent mental health problems. It is well documented that Winehouse experienced mental health difficulties including depression and bulimia.
There is a strong link between substance use and mental health problems and they often coexist.
The filmmakers’ choice not to show Winehouse’s other mental health problems too heavily is arguably a fair one, as the director, Sam Taylor-Johnson, has said she wanted the film to “joyfully honour” Winehouse. But the result is that Winehouse’s relationship with alcohol and other substances lacks nuance on the screen.
The complexities of addiction
There is extensive research on how social stressors, parental conflict, interpersonal trauma and complicated grief are related to substance use.
Viewers are reminded of what Winehouse has lost or does not have (her parents’ marriage, Fielder-Civil, her nan, a baby), in ways that validate the notion of “drinking to cope” or self-medication.
Most of us understand the idea of self-medicating intuitively. But depictions of it on screen should not be too simplistic. Research into post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol use disorder found there was a lack of good evidence for the self-medication model. Alcohol use and mental health also have relationships that go in both directions, with evidence that mental health drives alcohol use and vice versa.
Towards the end of the film, Winehouse’s request to go to rehab comes as a rapid acceleration through the psychologists’ classic “stages of change” theory of behaviour, which claims that people move through six stages of change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance and termination. We see little of her time in rehab, and while we later get a sense of the chronic and relapsing nature of addiction, viewers are left to fill in the blanks at the end.
On the whole, while Back to Black succeeds in avoiding harmful and stigmatising representations of addiction and mental health problems, viewers don’t get a deep insight into the realities and complexities of addiction.
If you want to examine your own relationship with alcohol, you can check your drinking here with Alcohol Change UK or speak to your GP.
Sadie Boniface, Head of Research at Institute of Alcohol Studies, Visiting Researcher, King’s College London
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Jonas Brothers Set For First EU Show Of 2024 At Rock In Rio Lisbon
The Jonas Brothers are set to rock the stage at Rock in Rio Lisbon! Despite the postponement of their European tour “THE TOUR” due to scheduling conflicts, the North American band has confirmed their concert at Rock in Rio Lisboa on June 22, marking their first European show of the Summer 2024.
Headlining the World Stage, the trio, consisting of Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Kevin Jonas, will make their Portugal debut alongside other renowned acts such as Macklemore, Ivete Sangalo, and Carolina Deslandes. The electrifying lineup also includes performances by James, Filipe Karlsson, and Kura on the Galp Stage, all on the same day.
Renowned for their chart-topping hits and massive fan base, the Jonas Brothers have sold over 20 million albums, secured 26 Billboard Hot 100 hits, and earned a coveted star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, solidifying their status as one of the most successful groups of the 21st century.
Their global “THE TOUR” kicked off in 2023 with the release of “The Album” and promises to be their biggest and most extensive tour yet, spanning throughout 2024. The eagerly anticipated debut in Portugal at Rock in Rio Lisboa marks an exciting new chapter for the band and is expected to be a highlight of the festival’s 20th anniversary edition.
Roberta Medina, Executive Vice-President of Rock in Rio, expressed enthusiasm for the event, stating, “The European tour may have been postponed, but we’re still ready to welcome the Jonas Brothers on June 22… It’s sure to be an emotional day!”
With additional performances by music icons like Ed Sheeran, Doja Cat, Scorpions, Camila Cabello, and Ne-Yo, among others, Rock in Rio Lisboa promises to deliver an unforgettable experience across two weekends in the picturesque city of Lisbon.
Scheduled for June 15, 16, 22, and 23, 2024, at the new venue in Parque Tejo Lisboa, the 10th edition of Rock in Rio Lisboa celebrates two decades of musical history in Portugal. With an exciting lineup and surprises in store, this historic festival is a must-attend event for music enthusiasts worldwide.
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UK’s creative industries bring in more revenue than cars, oil and gas – so why is arts education facing cuts?
By Adam Behr, Newcastle University
Recent guidance issued by the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, to the Office for Students reveals conflicting priorities in government and pours fuel on fires burning in an already troubled higher education sector.
The focus on science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) – “strategically important high-cost subjects” – is met by a freeze on funding for arts subjects such as music, fashion and drama at undergraduate level.
This amounts to a cut in real terms in the face of inflation, and there are cuts in grants for postgraduate provision – as well as the programme for widening participation to support access to higher education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
It follows a previous tranche of cuts in 2021 and comes as universities in general – and the arts and humanities in particular – are struggling. Inflation has added weight to the burdens felt across the sector, bringing long-term tensions to the surface as the university funding model starts to unravel.
In brief, the cost of educating a student has outstripped the fees, with no immediate prospect of raising them, not least because they already leave graduates with large debts. This is compounded by falling A-Level numbers in the arts and humanities, making recruitment more difficult. The inevitable result is a decline in provision.
Oxford Brookes and Kent universities have announced the closure of their music departments, while redundancies at Goldsmiths could threaten up to half of jobs in departments including English and creative writing, history, music, theatre and performance, and visual cultures.
A false economy
The ostensible logic of supporting the hard sciences, and the wider economy, reveals contradictions in the government’s own stated strategies, and masks a false economy. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) Creative Sector Vision, for instance, states that: “Creative industries are a true British success story, from global music stars like Adele and Ed Sheeran to world-class cultural institutions like the National Theatre”.
It also, crucially, highlights the importance of skills “to ensure that the sector can attract and develop the very best creative talent … from all backgrounds and parts of the country”.
Even a hard-nosed economic perspective suggests that arts provision warrants support, rather than a freeze. By the government’s own estimates, the creative industries contribute around £126 billion to the UK economy. That’s more than the car industry, for instance, or aerospace, oil and gas.
While obviously many of the skills needed will be in areas like coding, the contribution still includes around £27 billion in music, visual and performing arts, publishing, design, fashion, museums and galleries.
Higher education arts provision also adds broader value to the cultural life of the nation and to its school-age educational framework as, again, the government acknowledges. The National Plan for Music Education, for instance, notes that universities “offer access to live music performances … through free tickets to concerts held on site or taking student performers out into schools … bring[ing] reciprocal benefits, as students gain invaluable experience of working with young audiences, and school-age pupils are inspired by musicians close to their own age”.
Value of arts and science exchange
The contradictions also reach past the creative sector, and the courses directly affected. The funding cuts appear to gloss over the value that arts courses bring to the higher education sector (itself worth £71bn in gross value added to the economy) overall.
Universities don’t operate in siloes with arts and STEM separated. They support one another financially, with cross-subsidy across degrees that are cheaper to deliver and those that are more expensive (including subjects like engineering).
In research too, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, with humanities and sciences each benefiting from collaboration across subjects, especially in the rapidly evolving creative sector, where technological savvy, critical thinking and an imaginative approach are mutually beneficial.
This zero-sum approach to arts and STEM in higher education also undermines the holistic, Humboldtian model of the university whereby a combination of research and teaching across arts and sciences generates knowledge, value and engaged an citizenship. This has long been central to the strength and international appeal of British universities.
The DCMS’ Creative Sector Vision points to the value of dialogue across interdisciplinary research, business and the wider public sector, arguing that, “the government and industry have demonstrated how we can leverage public funding, the UK’s world-leading university base, and the creative sector’s ingenuity”.
Straitened times make for difficult decisions, especially when headline figures show a variation in earnings across graduates in different subjects. But pitting degrees against one another and dividing them into those that are “useful” is an approach that deploys immediate tactics at the expense of long-term strategy.
If funding cuts degrade provision for creative subjects, the effects will be felt beyond the departments immediately affected. The arts underpin the creative industries, and universities exist as part of a wider ecosystem of research, development and education which, even in the government’s own terms, relies on the exchanges between arts and science to create value across the board.
Adam Behr, Senior Lecturer in Popular and Contemporary Music, Newcastle University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.