Category: Новини

LAS VEGAS — Multi-genre artist Jon Batiste won album of the year and R&B duo Silk Sonic took two of the top honors on Sunday at a Grammy awards ceremony that featured a surprise appeal for support from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. 

Batiste, who leads the band on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” landed five awards overall, including the night’s biggest prize for “We Are,” a jazz album inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. 

“I believe this to my core – there is no best musician, best artist, best dancer, best actor. The creative arts are subjective,” Batiste said. “I just put my head down and I work on the craft every day.” 

Batiste’s other wins included best music video for “Freedom,” a vibrantly colored tribute to New Orleans, and an award for composing and arranging of songs for animated Pixar movie “Soul.” 

Silk Sonic, featuring Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, claimed the song and record of the year awards for their 1970s inspired hit “Leave the Door Open.” The pair rose from their seats and danced slowly before making their way to the stage. 

“We are really trying our hardest to remain humble at this point,” joked Paak as the pair accepted the second honor. 

Olivia Rodrigo, the 19-year-old singer of heartbreak ballad “drivers license” on her album “Sour,” scored three awards, including best new artist. 

“This is my biggest dream come true. Thank you so much!” Rodrigo said as she held her trophy. 

Midway through the ceremony, host Trevor Noah introduced a video message from Zelenskyy, who contrasted the joy found through music to the devastation caused by Russia’s invasion of his country more than a month ago. 

“What is more opposite to music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people,” Zelenskyy, wearing a green t-shirt, said in a hoarse voice. 

“Fill the silence with your music,” he added. “Support us in any way you can. Any, but not silence.” 

The remarks preceded a John Legend performance that featured two Ukrainian musicians and a Ukrainian poet.  

The highest honors in music were postponed from January during a spike in COVID-19 cases and moved from Los Angeles to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Stars walked a red carpet and thousands of spectators packed the venue, a contrast to last year’s scaled-down outdoor event. 

Noah urged the audience to think of the evening as “a concert where we are handing out awards.” 

“We are going to be keeping people’s names out of our mouths,” Noah added, a jab about actor Will Smith, who a week ago slapped comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars and told him not to mention his wife’s name. 

Korean pop band BTS, a global phenomenon that has never won a Grammy, left empty-handed again. But the group delivered a high-octane performance of their hit “Butter,” dodging laser beams in what looked like a scene out of a heist movie. 

Rock band Foo Fighters, whose drummer Taylor Hawkins died a little over a week ago, won three awards, including best rock album for “Medicine at Midnight.” No one from the band appeared to accept the trophies. 

Winners were chosen by some 11,000 voting members of the Recording Academy. 

In comedy categories, comedian Louis C.K. won best album for “Sincerely Louis C.K.,” his first comedy special since he admitted to sexual misconduct in 2017. 
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LAS VEGAS — The Grammy awards, the highest honors in the music industry, were out at a live ceremony in Las Vegas on Sunday. 

Below is a list of winners in key categories. 

ALBUM OF THE YEAR 

“We Are” — Jon Batiste 

RECORD OF THE YEAR 

“Leave The Door Open” — Silk Sonic  

SONG OF THE YEAR 

“Leave The Door Open” — Silk Sonic 

BEST NEW ARTIST 

Olivia Rodrigo 

BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE 

“Kiss Me More” – Doja Cat Featuring SZA 

BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM 

Sour — Olivia Rodrigo 

BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE 

“Making A Fire” – Foo Fighters 

BEST RAP PERFORMANCE 

“Family Ties” — Baby Keem Featuring Kendrick Lamar 

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM 

“Starting Over” – Chris Stapleton 

BEST MUSIC FILM 

“Summer Of Soul” — Various Artists 
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The friendship of Ukrainian musician Valeriya Sholokhova and Russian musician Nikita Morozov transcends the fighting between their countries. For VOA News, Iacopo Luzi has the story.
Camera: Iacopo Luzi
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The Muslim holy month of Ramadan — a time when Muslims abstain from food, drink, smoking and other activities from dusk to dawn daily, begins at sundown Saturday in most parts of the world

At sunset, Muslims break the daily fast with the iftar, a meal shared with family and friends.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the lunar Islamic calendar, and start and end dates vary each year. According to conventional Islamic belief, the Quran, the Muslim holy book, was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad more than 1,400 years ago during Ramadan.

Fasting, one of the five pillars of Islam, is practiced by Muslims to achieve a greater consciousness of God. The other pillars include praying, giving alms, professing one’s faith and going on a pilgrimage to Mecca, called the hajj.

This year will be the largest hajj since global coronavirus pandemic restrictions were enacted two years ago.

The Islamic Networks Group, based in San Jose, California, describes Ramadan as “a month of intense spiritual rejuvenation with a heightened focus on devotion, during which Muslims spend extra time reading the Quran and performing special prayers,”

Last year, fasting across the world ranged from 10 to 20 hours a day. In many majority-Muslim countries, working hours are reduced and restaurants close during fasting hours.

Ramadan ends at sundown on May 1.

 
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Will Smith resigned Friday from the motion picture academy following his Oscars night slap of Chris Rock and said he would accept any further punishment the organization imposed. 

Smith in a statement released Friday afternoon said he would “fully accept any and all consequences for my conduct. My actions at the 94th Academy Awards presentation were shocking, painful and inexcusable.” 

Film academy president David Rubin said Smith’s resignation was accepted. 

“We will continue to move forward with our disciplinary proceedings against Mr. Smith for violations of the Academy’s Standards of Conduct, in advance of our next scheduled board meeting on April 18,” he said.

Smith loses voting privileges with his resignation. But there are other, less tangible benefits to being part of the academy, Hollywood’s most prestigious organization: It bestows industry credibility on its members. It’s invitation only, with a once-a-year membership review. 

“I betrayed the trust of the Academy. I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work,” Smith’s statement said. “I am heartbroken. I want to put the focus back on those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to get back to the incredible work it does to support creativity and artistry in film. 

“Change takes time and I am committed to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason,” Smith concluded in the statement.

The resignation came two days after the academy’s leadership board met to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Smith for violations of the group’s standards of conduct. Those proceedings could have resulted in suspension or expulsion, and it was not immediately clear what additional punishment he could face. 

Few expulsions

Had he been expelled, Smith would have joined a small group of men removed from the academy: Harvey Weinstein, Roman Polanski, Bill Cosby and the actor Carmine Caridi, who was kicked out for sharing awards screeners. 

On Sunday, Smith strode from his front-row Dolby Theatre seat onto the stage and slapped Rock, who had made a joke at the expense of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Moments later, he went on to win the best actor award for his role in King Richard. 

Rock, who was about to present Oscar for best documentary, declined to file charges when asked by police.  

The fallout was immediate and intense. Smith had supporters for coming to his wife’s defense, but he was widely condemned for responding with violence and for marring both his long-sought Oscar victory and overshadowing the night’s other winners. 
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The Cambodian artist Morn Chear is having something of a moment in the art world, with exhibits in his country’s capital, Phnom Penh, and the U.S. cities of Seattle and Denver. On canvass and with block prints, he is challenging prejudices against people with disabilities. VOA’s Scott Stearns has our story from Colorado, with VOA Khmer’s Sokummono Khan and Socheata Hean in Cambodia.
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A Russian opera said Thursday it had canceled a concert by Russian superstar soprano Anna Netrebko over her comments on Moscow’s military operation in neighboring Ukraine.

The 50-year-old singer who lives in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Wednesday “condemned” the operation, after she and other Russian artists in Europe and the United States came under pressure to publicly take a stance.

The Novosibirsk Opera in Siberia canceled a concert at which she was to perform on June 2.

“Living in Europe and having the opportunity to perform in European concert halls appears to be more important (for her) than the fate of the homeland,” it said in a statement.

But “our country is brimming with talent and the idols of yesterday will be replaced by others with a clear civic position.”

Netrebko, who has voiced pro-Kremlin views over the years, and in 2014 posed with a flag in the separatist Donetsk region in Ukraine, also holds Austrian citizenship.

Netrebko’s statement on Wednesday was, however, not enough for the Metropolitan Opera in New York to reconsider its ban on her performance there. 
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