Israel to amend Eurovision entry over political lyrics
Updated 04 March 2024
Arab News
DUBAI: Israel’s public broadcaster will request changes to the lyrics of a song under consideration for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, reversing its previous stance on the issue.
Eurovision barred the song last week for breaking rules on political neutrality in song lyrics. Artist Eden Golan‘s Israel entry, “October Rain,” contains references to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Israeli broadcaster Kan, which will determine which song enters Eurovision for the country, pledged last week that it wouldn’t request any alteration of the lyrics.
But Israel’s President Isaac Herzog today called for “necessary adjustments” to ensure Israel can enter the show.
The original lyrics of the song were published on Kan's website last month in English.
They include the lines "They were all good children, every one of them" and "Who told you boys don't cry/ Hours and hours/ And flowers/ Life is not a game for the cowards."
The reference to flowers often denotes war fatalities, according to Israeli media.
Kan is also considering a song called “Dance Forever.”
The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Malmo, Sweden, in May.
The event drew a star-studded crowd, including US-Iraqi entrepreneur and fragrance mogul Mona Kattan, accompanied by her co-stars from Netflix’s “Dubai Bling.” Among them were Ebraheem Alsamadi, who decorated the venue with centerpieces from his brand Forever Rose, Safa Siddiqui, Danya Mohammed, Marwan Al-Awadhi (DJ Bliss), and Jwana Karim. Also in attendance were “Love is Blind Habibi” stars Mohammed AlKiswani and Nour El-Hajj.
The Creator of the Year award was presented to Yara Aziz. (AN/ Mohammed Fawzy)
The Creator of the Year award was presented to Yara Aziz. Ahead of her win, Aziz, who boasts 6.5 million TikTok followers, told Arab News: “I started everything on TikTok. It’s been five years now, and this is my first award ever with them. I am nervous, I am excited, I am happy, I am content and I am grateful.”
Originally a medical student, the TikToker attended the event wearing a dress handmade by her grandmother, a process she documented on TikTok for her followers.
Reflecting on the experience, Aziz described the process as “extremely stressful.” She explained, “Honestly, it was stressful for my grandma, she felt like she was under pressure to make something quick and fast. But honestly, it turned out perfect.”
Before the announcement, Aziz mentioned that winning this award would mark the most memorable moment of her social media career — and it did.
The night included performances by Haitian-French artist Naika, known for the viral hit “Sauce,” and Egyptian rapper Marwan Moussa, a TikTok favorite, who thrilled the audience with tracks such as “Tesla,” “Batal Alam” and “Hob Khenaa,” joined by co-singer Nourine Abouseada for the latter.
Egyptian rapper Marwan Moussa thrilled the audience with tracks such as “Tesla,” “Batal Alam” and “Hob Khenaa.” (AN/ Mohammed Fawzy)
The night celebrated other talents including Syrian Canadian Osama Marwah, who won the Video of the Year, while Egyptian singer Tul8te was named Breakthrough Artist of the Year. Lebanese chef Abir El Saghir received the Visionary Content Award, Abdullah Annan was honored as Changemaker of the Year, Shihab Al-Hashemy won Education Creator of the Year, and Nouran El-Sayed took home the Fashion & Beauty Creator of the Year award.
Iconic composer Hans Zimmer working on new interpretation of Saudi national anthem
Announcement by General Entertainment Authority’s Turki Alalshikh
Original composition ‘Arabia’ inspired by the Kingdom also planned
Updated 23 January 2025
Arab News
DUBAI: Oscar-winning film composer Hans Zimmer — who will perform live in Riyadh on Jan. 24 — is working on a new interpretation of Saudi Arabia’s national anthem, according Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority.
Alalshikh revealed on X recently that he had also spoken with Zimmer about ideas for a new Riyadh Season concert and an original composition called “Arabia,” inspired by the Kingdom.
“Today I met someone who is considered one of the greatest musicians of our time … the legend Hans Zimmer,” Alalshikh wrote.
The post continued that the German composer — known for his work on films including “The Lion King,” “Interstellar,” “Gladiator” and “Dune” — was also offered the chance to create the soundtrack for the upcoming Saudi Arabia film, “The Battle of Yarmouk.”
Alalshikh concluded the post by saying that Zimmer had promised he would visit the country again with his family and friends.
Zimmer attended the Kingdom’s Joy Awards over the weekend which honors the achievements of artists in the Arab world.
REVIEW: ‘Severance’ returns with more pleasurable mind bending
Season two of Apple’s sci-fi thriller remains wonderfully weird
Updated 23 January 2025
Matt Ross
LONDON: Despite the fact it’s been nearly three years since viewers last got to see inside the world of “Severance,” Apple’s sort-of-sci-fi show picks up pretty much where it left off. We rejoin the story just a few moments after Mark S (Adam Scott) and his team of Lumon data refiners managed to break free of their ‘severed’ floor — where work and out-of-work memories and personalities are controlled and delineated by a chip embedded in their brains — and alert the outside world to the cruelties of their working conditions. Mark reawakens in the hellish officescape without his team of escapees — Helly (Britt Lower), Dylan (Zach Cherry) and Irving (John Turturro) — and immediately sets about trying to find out what happened to them. This means getting the best of returning supervisor Milchick (Tramell Tillman), his new teenage assistant Miss Huang (Sarah Bock), and a trio of new coworkers.
Creator Dan Erickson and director Ben Stiller waste no time in rediscovering the subtle blend of tangible oddness and sinister dystopian creepiness that made the first season such an uncomfortable joy. And, perhaps emboldened by season one’s success, drop greater hints at just how weird the wider world of Lumen and its mysteriously enigmatic founder Kier Eagan might be. Mark and his team are told that their escape has led to sweeping reform across the company, but with Mark having learned that his wife on the outside may be trapped somewhere in the building — rather than being dead, as his ‘outie’ personality had been led to believe — the setup for more convoluted reveals is in place by the end of this season’s first episode.
In all the best ways, “Severance” feels the same as it did. The surreal nightmare of its setting is as terrifying as ever, and the sharp juxtaposition of Mark and the others’ personalities remains joyfully jarring. The pace of plot revelation actually appears to have slowed even further — but while this is surface-level frustrating, it’s also a big part of why the show is so engaging. Is this new season likely to answer all your questions from three years ago? It is not. In fact, by the end of episode one, there’s more mystery, rather than less. But “Severance” remains the most captivating of headscratchers.
Review: ‘A Man on the Inside’ – comedy series on Netflix
Dressed in impeccably pressed suits and armed with plenty of trivia about architecture, he saunters in, shyly at first, then begins to find his footing
Updated 19 January 2025
Jasmine Bager
“A Man on the Inside” is an eight-episode comedy series that premiered on Netflix in 2024, blending humor, heartfelt storytelling and a touch of mystery.
After retired professor and widower Charles Nieuwendyk (Ted Danson of “The Good Place”) speaks to his concerned only daughter, Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis), he decides to make a change. A year after her mother’s death, Emily encourages her father to find a new purpose; to take a class or try a new hobby.
With a love of newspaper cutouts (he would often clip and mail interesting articles to Emily), Charles finds an intriguing yet vague job listing in the classified section.
He is soon recruited by Julie, a private investigator (Lilah Richcreek Estrada), who reluctantly enlists his help to uncover the whereabouts of a stolen necklace in a local San Francisco retirement community.
At its heart, the series explores the evolving father-daughter relationship between Charles and Emily, along with her husband and three teenage sons.
It also shows Charles making friends and trying out new things at an age and stage in his life when he thought life ended with his wife’s death.
Dressed in impeccably pressed suits and armed with plenty of trivia about architecture, he saunters in, shyly at first, then begins to find his footing.
“He’s like if a podcast wore a suit,” one staff member aptly describes him.
Then another valuable item is stolen from the community. Then another.
Stephanie Beatriz (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) co-stars as Didi, the sharp and determined managing director of the retirement community, bringing her trademark wit and charm to the role.
The whodunit-style show examines coping with grief, lost love, and the excitement of new beginnings from the perspective of seniors.
Whether you’re here for the mystery, the comedy, or its effortless charm, the series delivers a family-friendly binge-worthy viewing experience.
Andrew Garfield says tear-jerker film ‘We Live in Time’ is everyone’s story
Updated 19 January 2025
Shyama Krishna Kumar
DUBAI: It is no secret that Andrew Garfield’s latest movie, John Crowley’s “We Live in Time,” now in cinemas across the Middle East, is a tear-jerker that will pull at your heartstrings from Scene 1.
Beginning with the cancer diagnosis of co-main character Almut (Florence Pugh), the story then follows her back and forth through time to tell the story of her relationship with Tobias (Garfield), from their first encounter after a road accident to the birth of their daughter at a filling station and more.
Grace Delaney, Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh in ‘We Live in Time.’ (Supplied)
“I think the point of this film is that it is everyone’s story,” Garfield told Arab News. “I think after any human being lives a certain amount of time, if they’re lucky, they get to experience terrible loss. And I know that that’s a strange way of phrasing it, but I do see it as a privilege to love deeply and therefore to lose terribly, to lose each other, whether it’s a partner or a mother or a father or a friend.”
While over the past few years Garfield has been on an on-and-off break from filming in an attempt to know himself better, the script from Justine Wright lured him back to set.
“I was in a very peaceful, contemplative place in my life, and reflecting on everything and wanting to be creative, but not necessarily wanting to be on a film set. But then, you know, reading the script, I thought, ‘Oh, this will be a very natural creative process,’” he said.
“There was a certain amount of letting go, but it was a letting go of a different kind. It was a letting go of too much overthinking. It felt like a very natural letting go, getting out of the way of not working too hard, letting the moment define the moment, letting myself be filled up, and trusting that the moment was enough,” said Garfield, who lost his mother to cancer in 2019.
His subsequent journey of self-discovery has further helped his craft as an actor.
“This is one of the privileges of being an actor, I think, being an artist, but particularly about being an actor is that, depending on the roles you get to play, you’re accessing and finding and inhabiting parts of yourself that you didn’t know were there and capabilities that you didn’t know you had. Dark and light, expressive, expansive and destructive and shady. So, yes, I’m definitely drawn to knowing myself as thoroughly as possible,” Garfield said.
“And yeah, I’m definitely seeking out as much of being in authentic relationship to myself, and therefore others, and therefore the world, and therefore my work as possible. And sometimes it’s really, really painful, because there are aspects of myself that I wish I didn’t have, like all of us. But the danger is, I think, if we try to exile those parts of ourselves, we end up being in denial of what we’re capable of, and then we end up really doing damage and electing the wrong people to lead countries, etc.
“So, yeah, it feels important to me to find all of those different parts and own them and welcome them; and therefore be able to govern them and not be governed by them, because they’re just unconscious drives.”
