LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Canadian pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen on Tuesday pulled out of a concert for the Boy Scouts of America because of the organization's ban on gay members, becoming the second headliner to pull out of the Scouts' Summer Jamboree show.
Jepsen, whose hit single 'Call Me Maybe' was nominated for Grammy Song of the Year, said on Twitter that she would not perform for the Boy Scouts because of her support for gay rights.
'I always have and will continue to support the LGBT community on a global level,' Jepsen, 27, said.
Rock band Train also said last week they would not play the concert at the Boy Scouts' National Summer Jamboree, set for July in West Virginia, unless the youth organization changed its ban on gay participants.
The 103-year-old Boy Scouts organization has been under pressure from gay rights groups to change the longstanding position and had said in January it was open to removing the national ban on gays, leaving the decision to local chapters.
But the Boy Scouts last month delayed a vote on ending the restriction, pushing back a decision until at least May.
Jepsen and Train had been targeted by advocacy group GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, after they were announced as the headliners for the concert.
An online petition on Change.org asking the 'Call Me Maybe' singer to denounce the Scouts' policy had gathered more than 60,000 signatures.
The Boy Scouts said the Summer Jamboree would go ahead as planned. The National Jamboree takes place every four years and attracts some 45,000 scouts and leaders for outdoor events, showcases and performances.
'We appreciate everyone's right to express an opinion and remain focused on delivering a great Jamboree program for our Scouts,' Boy Scouts' spokesman Deron Smith said in a statement.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Jackie Frank)
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Czech court acquits US heavy metal singer over fan death
PRAGUE (Reuters) - A Czech court acquitted the frontman of U.S. heavy metal band Lamb of God of manslaughter charges on Tuesday in the death of a fan who was pushed off the stage at a concert in Prague.
The prosecution accused Randy Blythe, 42, of shoving 19-year-old fan Daniel Nosek off the stage at the 2010 concert, causing him to hit his head when he crashed onto the floor. Nosek died in hospital a few weeks later from his head injury.
Presiding judge Tomas Kubec ruled that Blythe's actions did not constitute the crime of causing an injury leading to death.
'We did not find criminal responsibility in the actions of the defendant. We found moral responsibility. There has been the death of a young man who had not been guilty of anything.'
Kubec said the concert promoters were ultimately to blame for failing to prevent fans from clambering onto the stage. 'We reached the conclusion that there was a serious fault on the side of the promoter and organizer of the concert.'
Prosecutors immediately appealed against the acquittal, meaning that the case will be reviewed by the Czech High Court.
Blythe, who has cropped his long dark hair but kept his soul patch, wore a dark suit with white shirt and a striped tie at the trial, attended by Czech and international media.
'I have been found not guilty and acquitted of all charges against me. I am a free man,' Blythe said in a post on his Instagram.com profile. 'Please remember the family of Daniel Nosek in your thoughts and prayers in this difficult time. I only wish for them peace. Thank you for your support.'
Blythe nodded his head when the judge said some form of compensation for the victim's family could be suitable.
'The acquittal does not prevent the defendant, if he feels some moral responsibility, to enter negotiations with the family of the victim and act accordingly,' the judge said.
The singer admitted to shoving the fan off the stage after several other fans climbed up onto it during the 2010 Prague show, but said he believed Nosek was unharmed.
He said he did not learn of Nosek's death or the prosecution over the incident until police arrested him at Prague airport when the band returned for another gig in June last year.
Blythe made no immediate comment to reporters after the ruling and left with his attorney.
He was released on bail after his arrest and travelled back to the United States, but returned for his trial. Blythe would have faced up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
(Additional reporting and writing by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
The prosecution accused Randy Blythe, 42, of shoving 19-year-old fan Daniel Nosek off the stage at the 2010 concert, causing him to hit his head when he crashed onto the floor. Nosek died in hospital a few weeks later from his head injury.
Presiding judge Tomas Kubec ruled that Blythe's actions did not constitute the crime of causing an injury leading to death.
'We did not find criminal responsibility in the actions of the defendant. We found moral responsibility. There has been the death of a young man who had not been guilty of anything.'
Kubec said the concert promoters were ultimately to blame for failing to prevent fans from clambering onto the stage. 'We reached the conclusion that there was a serious fault on the side of the promoter and organizer of the concert.'
Prosecutors immediately appealed against the acquittal, meaning that the case will be reviewed by the Czech High Court.
Blythe, who has cropped his long dark hair but kept his soul patch, wore a dark suit with white shirt and a striped tie at the trial, attended by Czech and international media.
'I have been found not guilty and acquitted of all charges against me. I am a free man,' Blythe said in a post on his Instagram.com profile. 'Please remember the family of Daniel Nosek in your thoughts and prayers in this difficult time. I only wish for them peace. Thank you for your support.'
Blythe nodded his head when the judge said some form of compensation for the victim's family could be suitable.
'The acquittal does not prevent the defendant, if he feels some moral responsibility, to enter negotiations with the family of the victim and act accordingly,' the judge said.
The singer admitted to shoving the fan off the stage after several other fans climbed up onto it during the 2010 Prague show, but said he believed Nosek was unharmed.
He said he did not learn of Nosek's death or the prosecution over the incident until police arrested him at Prague airport when the band returned for another gig in June last year.
Blythe made no immediate comment to reporters after the ruling and left with his attorney.
He was released on bail after his arrest and travelled back to the United States, but returned for his trial. Blythe would have faced up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
(Additional reporting and writing by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Justin Bieber faces fan anger after arriving late to UK show
LONDON (Reuters) - Canadian pop star Justin Bieber faced a backlash on Tuesday after being booed by a London audience for turning up on stage around two hours late, leaving thousands of young fans waiting.
The main attraction of the Monday night concert at London's O2 Arena was due to start at 8.30 p.m., but according to music critics and angry fans the 19-year-old teen idol did not get going until 10.22 p.m..
The popular Sun tabloid newspaper said many fans, some of them as young as five years old, had gone home by the time Bieber began while others voiced frustration.
There was no on-stage apology, and Bieber's Twitter account, which he regularly uses to communicate with more than 35 million fans, was silent on the matter.
The O2 Arena, where Bieber is also due to perform on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, issued an apology on his behalf to all his fans who are known as Beliebers.
'Sorry to all the Justin Bieber fans for the lateness of his show tonight,' the O2 said in a Twitter message late on Monday. 'The Tube (underground trains) will still be running when the show finishes.'
On Tuesday, the venue received concerned queries on whether similar delays may happen again this week.
'Is he planning on doing this again tonight or can someone take control of the jumped up prima donna?' wrote @Jo_Evans.
The O2 Arena replied: 'Jo - we will be doing everything within our power to ensure Justin makes it on stage at the right time.'
Many fans voiced their frustration at having to wait, while others reacted angrily to the headlines.
'Justin Bieber is my fave person but 2 hours late on stage is a joke!' fan Jess wrote on Twitter. 'Does he realise that he has fans under the age of 10?'
Others jumped to his defense early on Tuesday.
'Feel really bad for @justinbieber now! Yes he was late but he put on a flipping good show! It was amazing,' said one.
Not all reviewers were quite so kind for the singer who was named by Forbes magazine in 2012 as the third most-powerful celebrity in the world.
London's Evening Standard awarded the 'Baby' singer two stars, saying he turned 'victory into defeat'.
'By the end, the O2 was barely half-full and when Bieber asked 'Who's seen me play before?', he might have been better wondering who would spend time, money and adoration on seeing him again,' wrote critic John Aizlewood.
Bieber's visit to Britain has probably not been his best.
On March 2, the day after he turned 19, he tweeted 'worst birthday' amid reports some of his entourage were turned away from a London nightclub because they could not supply adequate proof of their age.
Bieber, who was discovered on YouTube in 2008, last month became the youngest artist to land five chart-topping albums in the United States following the release of his latest record, 'Believe Acoustic'.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)
The main attraction of the Monday night concert at London's O2 Arena was due to start at 8.30 p.m., but according to music critics and angry fans the 19-year-old teen idol did not get going until 10.22 p.m..
The popular Sun tabloid newspaper said many fans, some of them as young as five years old, had gone home by the time Bieber began while others voiced frustration.
There was no on-stage apology, and Bieber's Twitter account, which he regularly uses to communicate with more than 35 million fans, was silent on the matter.
The O2 Arena, where Bieber is also due to perform on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, issued an apology on his behalf to all his fans who are known as Beliebers.
'Sorry to all the Justin Bieber fans for the lateness of his show tonight,' the O2 said in a Twitter message late on Monday. 'The Tube (underground trains) will still be running when the show finishes.'
On Tuesday, the venue received concerned queries on whether similar delays may happen again this week.
'Is he planning on doing this again tonight or can someone take control of the jumped up prima donna?' wrote @Jo_Evans.
The O2 Arena replied: 'Jo - we will be doing everything within our power to ensure Justin makes it on stage at the right time.'
Many fans voiced their frustration at having to wait, while others reacted angrily to the headlines.
'Justin Bieber is my fave person but 2 hours late on stage is a joke!' fan Jess wrote on Twitter. 'Does he realise that he has fans under the age of 10?'
Others jumped to his defense early on Tuesday.
'Feel really bad for @justinbieber now! Yes he was late but he put on a flipping good show! It was amazing,' said one.
Not all reviewers were quite so kind for the singer who was named by Forbes magazine in 2012 as the third most-powerful celebrity in the world.
London's Evening Standard awarded the 'Baby' singer two stars, saying he turned 'victory into defeat'.
'By the end, the O2 was barely half-full and when Bieber asked 'Who's seen me play before?', he might have been better wondering who would spend time, money and adoration on seeing him again,' wrote critic John Aizlewood.
Bieber's visit to Britain has probably not been his best.
On March 2, the day after he turned 19, he tweeted 'worst birthday' amid reports some of his entourage were turned away from a London nightclub because they could not supply adequate proof of their age.
Bieber, who was discovered on YouTube in 2008, last month became the youngest artist to land five chart-topping albums in the United States following the release of his latest record, 'Believe Acoustic'.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)
Monday, March 4, 2013
Bobby Rogers, co-founder of Motown group the Miracles, dies at 73
DETROIT (Reuters) - Singer Bobby Rogers, a founding member of the hit-making Motown group the Miracles along with Smokey Robinson, died on Sunday in suburban Detroit after a lengthy illness, family members and associates said. He was 73.
Rogers was a tenor in the original Motown lineup of the group that also included Robinson as the lead singer, bass vocalist Warren 'Pete' Moore, baritone Ronnie White and the quintet's lone female vocalist, Claudette Rogers.
Claudette Rogers, who became Claudette Robinson after marrying the group's star in 1963 and left the group a year later, was Bobby Rogers' first cousin. She and Smokey Robinson later divorced.
'My cousin, Robert 'Bobby' Rogers, who was like a brother to me, lost his battle and succumbed,' she said in a statement issued through the Detroit-based Motown Alumni Association.
'He had a sparkling personality that was loved by everyone,' she told the Detroit Free Press newspaper. 'People always commented on the tall one with the glasses.'
Smokey Robinson, born hours apart from Rogers in the same Detroit hospital on February 19, 1940, saluted his former compatriot in his own statement, saying: 'Another soldier in my life has fallen.'
'Bobby Rogers was my brother and a really good friend,' he said. 'I am really going to miss him. I loved him very much.'
Billy Wilson, president of the Motown Alumni Association, said Rogers died at his home in Southfield, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.
The Miracles grew out of an earlier quintet of high school performers called the Five Chimes that formed in the mid-1950s and changed its name to the Matadors after several roster changes capped by Claudette Rogers' admission to the group.
Introduced to Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr., the group changed its name to the Miracles and became one of the first acts signed to his Tamla Records imprint and went on to record Motown's first million-selling hit single, 'Shop Around.'
The group, which later changed its name again to Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, ultimately released 30 singles that charted in the Top 40, including such Motown classics as 'You've Really Got a Hold on Me,' 'Going to a Go-Go,' 'I Second That Emotion,' 'Tears of a Clown' and 'Tracks of My Tears.'
One of Rogers' most notable vocal contributions with the group was his two-part harmony with Robinson on 'You've Really Got a Hold on Me,' which was later covered by the Beatles. Rogers' voice also is heard in the background of the Marvin Gaye track 'What's Going On,' uttering the phrase: 'It's just a groovy party, man, I can dig it.'
He shared songwriting credits with Robinson on a number of songs recorded by the Miracles, such as 'Going to a Go-Go,' and other groups, including the Temptations hit 'The Way You Do the Things You Do' and 'First I Look at the Purse' by the Contours.
Rogers was inducted with other members of the Miracles into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, about 25 years after the controversial solo induction of Robinson.
Miracles vocalist Ronnie White died in 1995.
(Additional reporting by Patricia Reaney in New York; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Eric Beech)
Rogers was a tenor in the original Motown lineup of the group that also included Robinson as the lead singer, bass vocalist Warren 'Pete' Moore, baritone Ronnie White and the quintet's lone female vocalist, Claudette Rogers.
Claudette Rogers, who became Claudette Robinson after marrying the group's star in 1963 and left the group a year later, was Bobby Rogers' first cousin. She and Smokey Robinson later divorced.
'My cousin, Robert 'Bobby' Rogers, who was like a brother to me, lost his battle and succumbed,' she said in a statement issued through the Detroit-based Motown Alumni Association.
'He had a sparkling personality that was loved by everyone,' she told the Detroit Free Press newspaper. 'People always commented on the tall one with the glasses.'
Smokey Robinson, born hours apart from Rogers in the same Detroit hospital on February 19, 1940, saluted his former compatriot in his own statement, saying: 'Another soldier in my life has fallen.'
'Bobby Rogers was my brother and a really good friend,' he said. 'I am really going to miss him. I loved him very much.'
Billy Wilson, president of the Motown Alumni Association, said Rogers died at his home in Southfield, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.
The Miracles grew out of an earlier quintet of high school performers called the Five Chimes that formed in the mid-1950s and changed its name to the Matadors after several roster changes capped by Claudette Rogers' admission to the group.
Introduced to Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr., the group changed its name to the Miracles and became one of the first acts signed to his Tamla Records imprint and went on to record Motown's first million-selling hit single, 'Shop Around.'
The group, which later changed its name again to Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, ultimately released 30 singles that charted in the Top 40, including such Motown classics as 'You've Really Got a Hold on Me,' 'Going to a Go-Go,' 'I Second That Emotion,' 'Tears of a Clown' and 'Tracks of My Tears.'
One of Rogers' most notable vocal contributions with the group was his two-part harmony with Robinson on 'You've Really Got a Hold on Me,' which was later covered by the Beatles. Rogers' voice also is heard in the background of the Marvin Gaye track 'What's Going On,' uttering the phrase: 'It's just a groovy party, man, I can dig it.'
He shared songwriting credits with Robinson on a number of songs recorded by the Miracles, such as 'Going to a Go-Go,' and other groups, including the Temptations hit 'The Way You Do the Things You Do' and 'First I Look at the Purse' by the Contours.
Rogers was inducted with other members of the Miracles into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, about 25 years after the controversial solo induction of Robinson.
Miracles vocalist Ronnie White died in 1995.
(Additional reporting by Patricia Reaney in New York; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Eric Beech)
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Jimi Hendrix estate rolls out "People, Hell and Angels" studio set
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - If there were any doubts about the lingering force of fabled rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix more than four decades after his death, his latest single should put them to rest.
The single 'Somewhere' went to No.1 on the Billboard Hot Singles sales in February. That bodes well for the latest posthumous album plucked from the Hendrix musical vaults, which producers say has stood up well to the test of time.
'People, Hell and Angels,' to be released on CD this Tuesday, is billed as a collection of twelve previously unreleased studio performances by Hendrix, although some of the songs have emerged in other versions since his death at age 27 in 1970 from an accidental drug overdose.
The album arrives with the simultaneous release of newly struck mono vinyl editions of early Hendrix classic albums 'Are You Experienced' and 'Axis: Bold As Love.'
The tracks on 'People, Hell and Angels,' were planned as a follow-up to the influential guitarist's chart-topping 1968 album 'Electric Ladyland.'
'After the huge success of the (Jimi Hendrix) Experience and those first albums, he wanted to branch out more, and the blues sound on this is just different from the others,' said Janie Hendrix, Jimi's step-sister and president and CEO of Experience Hendrix, the company founded by the musician's father to oversee the star's estate.
'This new album is very important for all his fans as it really showcases his creativity and a different side to him,' she told Reuters.
Feeling constrained by the limitations of the Jimi Hendrix Experience trio (which included drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding), the guitarist had already started working with an eclectic group of musicians.
They included the Buffalo Springfield's Stephen Stills, drummer Buddy Miles, saxophonist Lonnie Youngblood and bassist Billy Cox, with whom Hendrix had served in the U.S. military.
The resulting sessions, culled from 1968 and 1969, form the basis of 'People, Hell and Angels,' co-produced by Janie Hendrix, original engineer and mixer Eddie Kramer and long-time Hendrix historian John McDermott.
CREATIVELY FREE
'What we wanted to do with this new album is provide what we all felt are really compelling examples of Jimi's artistry and also his often-overlooked role as a producer,' said McDermott, a long-time collaborator with Experience Hendrix on various Hendrix projects.
'He saw right away that guys like Buddy Miles and Billy Cox, with whom he later formed Band of Gypsys, brought a new approach and sound to his songs and music. And Jimi was always very free creatively. He wasn't afraid to serve the song,' McDermott told Reuters.
McDermott cites 'Electric Ladyland,' which featured such diverse players as Stevie Winwood, Dave Mason and Chris Wood.
'Working in the studio was a totally different palette for him, compared with playing live,' he said. 'He could experiment with extra percussion, an additional guitar, organ - whatever he felt the track needed.'
And while those tracks, which include such titles as 'Earth Blues,' 'Baby Let Me Move You' and 'Izabella,' are now 45 years old, the audio quality is superb, because nothing beats analog tape for enduring sound quality.
'Jimi's masters were recorded before the era of mass-production that caused the archival nightmares of the Seventies, for example, where tapes lose their glue backing, (so) we've never faced that problem with the Jimi Hendrix library. His whole tape archive is in very good shape,' McDermott said.
The new album is the latest in a slew of albums, films, tribute tours and books following Hendrix's death in 1970 in London. These materials far outnumber the three studio albums he released in his four-year career at the top.
'He's a timeless artist and the technology's finally caught up to what he was trying to do musically,' Janie Hendrix said.
'People are still hungry for real music and good songs, and Jimi was a great songwriter and one of the greatest guitarists of all time,' she said.
Every new generation regards Hendrix as a touchstone, said McDermott. 'If you want to understand the role of rock guitar and listen to real virtuosity, then Jimi's the man.
'People react to the originals, and that's what he was, a true visionary whose music doesn't sound dated at all nearly half a century later,' he said..
(Reporting By Iain Blair, editing by Jill Serjeant and Todd Eastham)
The single 'Somewhere' went to No.1 on the Billboard Hot Singles sales in February. That bodes well for the latest posthumous album plucked from the Hendrix musical vaults, which producers say has stood up well to the test of time.
'People, Hell and Angels,' to be released on CD this Tuesday, is billed as a collection of twelve previously unreleased studio performances by Hendrix, although some of the songs have emerged in other versions since his death at age 27 in 1970 from an accidental drug overdose.
The album arrives with the simultaneous release of newly struck mono vinyl editions of early Hendrix classic albums 'Are You Experienced' and 'Axis: Bold As Love.'
The tracks on 'People, Hell and Angels,' were planned as a follow-up to the influential guitarist's chart-topping 1968 album 'Electric Ladyland.'
'After the huge success of the (Jimi Hendrix) Experience and those first albums, he wanted to branch out more, and the blues sound on this is just different from the others,' said Janie Hendrix, Jimi's step-sister and president and CEO of Experience Hendrix, the company founded by the musician's father to oversee the star's estate.
'This new album is very important for all his fans as it really showcases his creativity and a different side to him,' she told Reuters.
Feeling constrained by the limitations of the Jimi Hendrix Experience trio (which included drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding), the guitarist had already started working with an eclectic group of musicians.
They included the Buffalo Springfield's Stephen Stills, drummer Buddy Miles, saxophonist Lonnie Youngblood and bassist Billy Cox, with whom Hendrix had served in the U.S. military.
The resulting sessions, culled from 1968 and 1969, form the basis of 'People, Hell and Angels,' co-produced by Janie Hendrix, original engineer and mixer Eddie Kramer and long-time Hendrix historian John McDermott.
CREATIVELY FREE
'What we wanted to do with this new album is provide what we all felt are really compelling examples of Jimi's artistry and also his often-overlooked role as a producer,' said McDermott, a long-time collaborator with Experience Hendrix on various Hendrix projects.
'He saw right away that guys like Buddy Miles and Billy Cox, with whom he later formed Band of Gypsys, brought a new approach and sound to his songs and music. And Jimi was always very free creatively. He wasn't afraid to serve the song,' McDermott told Reuters.
McDermott cites 'Electric Ladyland,' which featured such diverse players as Stevie Winwood, Dave Mason and Chris Wood.
'Working in the studio was a totally different palette for him, compared with playing live,' he said. 'He could experiment with extra percussion, an additional guitar, organ - whatever he felt the track needed.'
And while those tracks, which include such titles as 'Earth Blues,' 'Baby Let Me Move You' and 'Izabella,' are now 45 years old, the audio quality is superb, because nothing beats analog tape for enduring sound quality.
'Jimi's masters were recorded before the era of mass-production that caused the archival nightmares of the Seventies, for example, where tapes lose their glue backing, (so) we've never faced that problem with the Jimi Hendrix library. His whole tape archive is in very good shape,' McDermott said.
The new album is the latest in a slew of albums, films, tribute tours and books following Hendrix's death in 1970 in London. These materials far outnumber the three studio albums he released in his four-year career at the top.
'He's a timeless artist and the technology's finally caught up to what he was trying to do musically,' Janie Hendrix said.
'People are still hungry for real music and good songs, and Jimi was a great songwriter and one of the greatest guitarists of all time,' she said.
Every new generation regards Hendrix as a touchstone, said McDermott. 'If you want to understand the role of rock guitar and listen to real virtuosity, then Jimi's the man.
'People react to the originals, and that's what he was, a true visionary whose music doesn't sound dated at all nearly half a century later,' he said..
(Reporting By Iain Blair, editing by Jill Serjeant and Todd Eastham)
"Slanderous" new calypso songs banned from Guyana's airwaves
GEORGETOWN (Reuters) - Calypso lyrics decrying corruption and excess have so irked Guyana's government that new songs from the popular Caribbean music genre have been banned from state airwaves.
Calypso music has long been a proud and central feature of life in Guyana, a laid-back former British colony of just 750,000 people on the northeast shoulder of South America.
But the politically spicy lyrics of some recent songs have been too much for the government. Staff at the government-run National Communications Network, or NCN, received a directive this week prohibiting the broadcast of new calypso songs.
Public Works Minister Robeson Benn was so angry at one tune on NCN radio that he drove down to the station himself 'to find out what the hell was going on,' an official spokesman said.
'It was slanderous,' the minister said afterward. 'I hold it as my right to go to the station to intervene in an activity which I think impacted me as a citizen and also as a minister.'
One of the calypsos that offended authorities blasts the government's corruption record.
'With all de corruption dat taking place, we is de ones fe (they) blame, while dem a thief, thief, thief,' the song, which won a local competition, goes in the local creole language.
'Calypso lyrics are spicy,' said the piece's singer, Lester Charles. 'Either you laugh your head off or it get you real vex.'
President Donald Ramotar recognizes Guyana has a corruption problem but says its scale is exaggerated.
Six-time national calypso champion Geoffrey Phillips, who goes by the stage name of 'The Mighty Rebel,' described the state media ban as 'petty and disgusting.'
'Calypsos are the spirit and passion of the people,' he said. 'If we are being forced to tone down, then calypso would lose its soul.'
(Writing by Girish Gupta, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Peter Cooney)
Calypso music has long been a proud and central feature of life in Guyana, a laid-back former British colony of just 750,000 people on the northeast shoulder of South America.
But the politically spicy lyrics of some recent songs have been too much for the government. Staff at the government-run National Communications Network, or NCN, received a directive this week prohibiting the broadcast of new calypso songs.
Public Works Minister Robeson Benn was so angry at one tune on NCN radio that he drove down to the station himself 'to find out what the hell was going on,' an official spokesman said.
'It was slanderous,' the minister said afterward. 'I hold it as my right to go to the station to intervene in an activity which I think impacted me as a citizen and also as a minister.'
One of the calypsos that offended authorities blasts the government's corruption record.
'With all de corruption dat taking place, we is de ones fe (they) blame, while dem a thief, thief, thief,' the song, which won a local competition, goes in the local creole language.
'Calypso lyrics are spicy,' said the piece's singer, Lester Charles. 'Either you laugh your head off or it get you real vex.'
President Donald Ramotar recognizes Guyana has a corruption problem but says its scale is exaggerated.
Six-time national calypso champion Geoffrey Phillips, who goes by the stage name of 'The Mighty Rebel,' described the state media ban as 'petty and disgusting.'
'Calypsos are the spirit and passion of the people,' he said. 'If we are being forced to tone down, then calypso would lose its soul.'
(Writing by Girish Gupta, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Peter Cooney)
Friday, March 1, 2013
Scottish singer Susan Boyle to make film debut
(Reuters) - Scottish singer Susan Boyle will get her first turn on the big screen in the British holiday period film 'The Christmas Candle,' the movie's producers said on Thursday.
Boyle, 51, will back up Samantha Barks, Hans Matheson and Lesley Manville in the Christmas film that began production this week on location in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.
The film, based on the novella by Max Lucado, tells the tale of an enchanted Christmas candle in Gladbury, a dull village that must confront the dawning of the 20th century and a new, skeptical minister.
There was no information on what role the singer will play.
'Everyone on set is a delight to work with and it's a fantastic experience to be part of the team,' Boyle said in a statement.
'I'm really enjoying getting dressed in the period costumes and stepping back in time and although it's very cold filming on location, I'm wearing long johns under my bustle,' she added.
The singer became an overnight international sensation in 2009 after appearing on variety show 'Britain's Got Talent' and performing a flawless rendition of 'I Dreamed a Dream' from the musical 'Les Miserables.'
Her rendition has been viewed hundreds of millions of times on YouTube, and her life story from unknown Scot to multi-million-selling recording artist has itself been made into a musical.
Barks was most recently in the 2012 film production of 'Les Miserables.' Matheson's credits include 2010's 'Clash of the Titans' while Manville is best known for 2010's 'Another Year.'
'The Christmas Candle,' directed by John Stephenson, is produced by Impact and Big Book Media and will be distributed in the United Kingdom by Pinewood Productions.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey in Los Angeles; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Xavier Briand)
Boyle, 51, will back up Samantha Barks, Hans Matheson and Lesley Manville in the Christmas film that began production this week on location in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.
The film, based on the novella by Max Lucado, tells the tale of an enchanted Christmas candle in Gladbury, a dull village that must confront the dawning of the 20th century and a new, skeptical minister.
There was no information on what role the singer will play.
'Everyone on set is a delight to work with and it's a fantastic experience to be part of the team,' Boyle said in a statement.
'I'm really enjoying getting dressed in the period costumes and stepping back in time and although it's very cold filming on location, I'm wearing long johns under my bustle,' she added.
The singer became an overnight international sensation in 2009 after appearing on variety show 'Britain's Got Talent' and performing a flawless rendition of 'I Dreamed a Dream' from the musical 'Les Miserables.'
Her rendition has been viewed hundreds of millions of times on YouTube, and her life story from unknown Scot to multi-million-selling recording artist has itself been made into a musical.
Barks was most recently in the 2012 film production of 'Les Miserables.' Matheson's credits include 2010's 'Clash of the Titans' while Manville is best known for 2010's 'Another Year.'
'The Christmas Candle,' directed by John Stephenson, is produced by Impact and Big Book Media and will be distributed in the United Kingdom by Pinewood Productions.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey in Los Angeles; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Xavier Briand)
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