Posted by admin on 22 Feb 2010 | Tagged as: awards, events, protest
VALERIO SCANU Per tutte le volte che SANREMO 2010by Roma-eterna I’ve seen audiences get riled up about song contests, but rarely seen an orchestra almost run riot. Italy’s San Remo song contest is a prestigious event that celebrates the classic tradition of Italian canzone. What is surprising is that contestants have to face two juries: [...]
Posted by admin on 28 Dec 2009 | Tagged as: events, protest
Image via Wikipedia Eminem will be back in the UK for a show in 2010, the first in over 5 years. However, organisers were worried that the shows would be boycotted by the powerful Outrage gay rights group, who protested at previous shows and have been very effective in obstructing shows by Jamaican artists with [...]
Posted by admin on 05 Oct 2009 | Tagged as: RIP, politics, protest
Amazon.co.uk WidgetsMercedes Sosa, the Argentinian singer who became the voice of the nueva cancion movement of the 60s and 70s, has died at the age of 74. Sosa was an outspoken singer, who used her voice and art to champion the causes of the poor in South America, even though she tried to distance herself [...]
Posted by admin on 22 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: meanings, news, politics, protest, religion
In a pretty radical move, Sony Entertainment has decided to pull a track by the Malian harp player Toumani Diabete from the upcoming Little Big Planet game. The track “Tapha Niang” contains two lines quoted from the Quran. After a poster on a Sony message board started complaining, the company decided to withdraw the track [...]
Posted by admin on 19 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: news, politics, protest
The issue of homophobic reggae lyrics is back in the news yet again, with an announcement that the German government is considering blacklisting homophobic lyrics from Jamaican performers. Artists such as Elephant Man and TOK are under scrutiny. Censorship is always a touchy issue – but no less touchy than the protection of minorities. So [...]
Posted by admin on 30 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: news, protest
The New York Times ran a short piece about the then 16 year-old Gail Renard who snuck into the bed-in organised John Lennon and Yoko Ono in Montreal in 1969. At one stage, she witnessed some 50 people sing “Give Peace a Chance”. Choirboys included Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg as well as Petula Clark. [...]
Posted by admin on 16 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: Eurovision, news, protest
I sometimes wonder if there’s a large book with complaints one can make about Eurovision entries that people pull out every year. French MP Jacques Myard is complaining that France’s Eurovision is partly in English. Post-modern dandy Sebastien Tellier’s “Divine” is in English (of sorts). Almost predictably, a number of politicians have taken it upon [...]
Posted by admin on 21 Dec 2007 | Tagged as: news, politics, protest
I’ve always been a little uncomfortable with the campaign against dancehall, as it has echoes of the thought police in action. But I’ve always been very uncomfortable with some of the extremely violent anti-gay lyrics as well. Now the British resort Brighton has become the first UK town to officially ban licensed venues from playing [...]
Posted by admin on 13 Aug 2007 | Tagged as: meanings, news, protest
Irish band Republic of Loose have found themselves on the wrong side of the fence in South Africa, where their single “Break” was picking up good airplay. According to a report in the Irish Independent, a DJ came to the conclusion that the song was about unprotected anal sex. I don’t think I’d come to [...]
Posted by admin on 14 Jun 2007 | Tagged as: meanings, protest
Remember all the fuss about the anti-gay songs coming from Jamaica? A step forward has been taken, with three of the best-known performers – Beenie Man, Sizzla and Capleton – actually signing a charter to renounce homophobia and condemn violence against gays. The “Reggae Compassion Act” now hopes to get the support of the other [...]