List of All Articles with Tag 'w'

'These days, he always seems to be in a bad mood. He's even snappy with his co-stars,' an insider spilled about Ryan Seacrest

An unpublished, as-yet-untitled book by an unnamed author shot up the US bestseller lists this week, thanks to preorders from Taylor Swift fans who believed it to be her memoir.

The 2009 audio saw Alex Jones spew a series of insults at Kelly Nichols, calling her 'trashy' and telling her he will form another family

Eurovision, that famously camp song contest which has a strong pro-LGBTQ+ stance and has this year acknowledged Putin’s war in Ukraine as the reason for it being held in Liverpool on the country’s behalf, has blocked President Volodymyr Zelensky from making a video address - because it would breach the event’s “non-political nature”. Organisers behind the show, who on Thursday saw no issue with drag queens absolutely slaying on the M&S Bank Arena stage and preaching messages of love and acceptance, rejected the request ahead of the grand final on Saturday. In a statement, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) – whose previous decisions to ban Russia and Belarus from participating definitely weren’t political, obviously – said the request from Mr Zelensky to address the Eurovision audience “while made with laudable intentions, regrettably cannot be granted by the European Broadcasting Union management as it would be against the rules of the event”. Belarus was disqualified from the contest in 2021 over political messaging in their planned entry (their second attempt before the deadline), while Russia was kicked out of Eurovision a year later for its illegal invasion of Ukraine. And the rules state “all participating broadcasters” must ensure that “the ESC [Eurovision Song Contest] shall in no case be politicised and/or instrumentalized and/or otherwise brought into disrepute in any way”. That’s ‘instrumentalise’ in the sense of using Eurovision as a platform to spread a political message, before anyone makes a musical pun (we know you want to)… Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The EBU’s decision has since been criticised by Boris Johnson, the former prime minister who became a meme over how many times he’d meet with the Ukrainian president whenever he was experiencing a turbulent moment in his premiership. “It would have been right to hear from President Zelensky at tomorrow night’s Eurovision. There is only one reason the contest is not in Ukraine and that is because of Putin’s illegal war,” he tweeted. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman told reporters: “The prime minister believes it would be fitting for President Zelensky to address the event and we’re disappointed by the decision from the European Broadcasting Union. “The values and freedoms that President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine are fighting for are not political; they’re fundamental, and Eurovision themselves recognised that last year when they rightly suspended Russia’s participation from the competition.” No 10 added, however, that they are not planning to call on the EBU to change its mind. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Tiffany Chen and Robert De Niro have only been dating for a couple of years, but it’s believed they have known each other since 2015

The 52-year-old took a shot at the Duchess of Sussex by claiming that the photos were staged and also took aim at her athleisure wear

The 'Holy Cowboy' crooner revealed Rihanna had inspired her to debut her baby bump on stage

Elle Fanning is talking about the pressures around movie franchises and what they mean for her own career.

The true fate of many of these ships will never be known, but speculation suggests that storms, piracy, mutiny, accidental bombing, and even the attack of a giant squid could be responsible for their vanishings.

The Dyrt makes finding and booking campsites around the country stress-free.

'If I were asked to give up my career and just move countries, I would do it without question for my daughter,' said Chopra

Millions will be watching as 26 countries go head to head to be crowned champions of the Eurovision Song Contest this weekend – but not everyone calls themselves a fan. The notoriously weird and wonderful event still divides opinion right down the middle – when it comes to Eurovision, you’re either all in or not. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter We pitched two writers against each other, one who loves Eurovision and one who can’t stand it. So, whose side are you on? Kate Plummer: Why I hate Eurovision What would happen if you brought together all the kinds of musicians who X Factor judges consider passing at the audition stage of the competition - but ultimately decide not to? What would happen if you asked cruise ship singers to come together and belt out hours of 'tunes' that resemble copyright-free hold music at best, or something your 10-year-old niece cooked up on GarageBand at worst? The answer, of course, is the gaudy Eurovision Song Contest, that homage to naffness, that yearly nightmare that we are forced to endure. "But it's fun!" the doltish masses cry. "Look at their outfits," the square-eyed cretins say. Save it. Like most organised fun and forced merriment (see hen dos, school reunions and anything to do with sport), Eurovision is absolutely awful. But unlike hen dos, school reunions and anything to do with sport, there is no escaping the tyrannical grip of its regime. It man spreads over the course of Saturday night telly, it bleeds into every pub, bar and group chat of excitable friends organising their cursed viewing parties. This year, it will even be screened in cinemas. Where is my respite? I didn't even vote for Brexit but surely the yearly congregation of the worst representatives of Europe is a dividend we could have gained from leaving the bloc? The 2023 contest is being held in the UK city of Liverpool this week, building up to the grand final on Saturday. Acts from 37 countries are taking part. So will I be tuning in to see which act has become this year's meme and what 'funny moments' have gone viral on social media? Absolutely not. After all, 66 contests and over 1,600 songs, there's a reason the only Eurovision act anyone can name is Abba... Eurovision is completely naff. Count me out. Harry Fletcher: Why I love Eurovision There aren’t many things that every single member of the family can sit down to watch together and genuinely look forward to. Eurovision is one of them. It’s a big event in our household, with family members spread around the country heading back up north to watch together. Why do we love it? The sheer strangeness is certainly a factor. The likes of Käärijä, representing Finland in 2023 with the bizarre 'Cha Cha Cha', are doing a good job keeping it weird and wonderful. But the sheer quality of the entries is more impressive year on year. The overall standard has increased inexorably and the quality of the songwriting in the strongest entries is always staggering. Crafting a good Eurovision song is an art form, and there are still entries from more than 10 years ago that pop into my head occasionally. Eurovision also has to be the most welcoming, accessible major event in the UK calendar. It’s for absolutely everyone; it’s a comfortable space, completely free of cynicism. With Eurovision, you take away all the nastiness that comes hand in hand with X Factor and other formats that invite people to sing before live audiences. Here, there’s none of the sneering at contestants or gawking at eccentric members of the public. Instead, with Eurovision it’s a celebration, and an invitation to be as weird as you like when representing your country. Eurovision can always be relied on to bring out the best in Twitter, too. When so much of social media is increasingly devoted to negativity and hate, it feels like a throwback to nicer times when it functioned more as a public forum for fans during events like Eurovision. The contest has changed a lot since I started watching around 15 years ago. There was an endearingly cheap feel about the contest back then, but the production values are outstanding these days. It’s far less of a niche interest than it used to be too; with the event coming to the UK this year, it’s attracted more and more attention. More eyes on this wonderfully odd event, which celebrates diversity, gives us genuinely brilliant songs every year and gives us something wholesome to get stuck into on social media can only be a good thing. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.