عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Entertainment

UK Singer-songwriter Raye Sweeps Brit Awards

Raye had been nominated in a record seven categories. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
Raye had been nominated in a record seven categories. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
TT
TT

UK Singer-songwriter Raye Sweeps Brit Awards

Raye had been nominated in a record seven categories. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
Raye had been nominated in a record seven categories. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP

Rising star Raye on Saturday swept the UK's top music awards, setting a record for winning the most prizes in a single year.
The 26-year-old singer-songwriter scooped six awards including best artist, R&B act, new artist, song of the year for "Escapism" and album for "My 21st Century Blues", AFP said.
Her award for best songwriter was pre-announced.
Accepting the best new artist award she called the win "overwhelming", adding "this is wild".
"What is actually happening right now?" a delighted Raye told the audience at London's O2 arena.
"The artist I was three years ago would not believe the sight she is seeing today. I'm in control, I'm my own boss now," she declared.
She had made history even before the ceremony started by being nominated for a record seven prizes in one year.
The Londoner, whose real name is Rachel Keen, had been up against six other female artists out of the 10 shortlisted in the gender neutral best artist category following a controversy last year.
Not a single female artist ended up being shortlisted in the category in 2023 after the merging of the best female and male artist categories for the first time a year earlier.
That led Brit Awards chairman Damian Christian to complain about a "disappointing lack of female representation", blaming a dearth of eligible 2022 releases by big female stars.
This year the shortlist was extended from five to 10 and included Dua Lipa and Jessie Ware, newcomer Olivia Dean, and Mercury Prize winners Little Simz and Arlo Parks, as well as Raye.
- Rocky road -
This year's awards also saw prizes go to Dua Lipa for best pop act, US singer-songwriter SZA for international artist and US indie supergroup Boygenius for international group.
Kylie Minogue was honored with the Brit Awards global icon prize.
Minogue also took to the stage, with other artists performing including DJ Calvin Harris, Ellie Goulding, Dua Lipa, Nigerian Afrobeats star Rema and Raye.
Her Brits triumph follows a sometimes difficult path to the top.
Before making it as a solo artist she wrote songs for big names such as Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez and Little Mix.
She had also had success as a guest artist on dance tracks.
But after being signed by record company Polydor, creative disagreements led to a tearful online post in which she accused the label of refusing to release her debut album.
Polydor subsequently released her from her contract and she went on to critical and commercial success as an independent artist.
Her track "Escapism" featuring American rapper 070 Shake took off on TikTok and scored a UK number one hit just over a year ago.
The single, the third from her debut album, also topped singles charts in Denmark and Ireland and entered the top 10 in 20 countries.
The Brit Awards were first held in 1977. The event is run by British Phonographic Industry, a trade association that represents the UK music industry.

Most Viewed

 
 
Entertainment

Alfonso Cuarón, Cate Blanchett Bring Series ‘Disclaimer’ to Venice Film Festival 

Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the mini-series "Disclaimer", out of competition, at the 81st Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy August 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the mini-series "Disclaimer", out of competition, at the 81st Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy August 29, 2024. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Alfonso Cuarón, Cate Blanchett Bring Series ‘Disclaimer’ to Venice Film Festival 

Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the mini-series "Disclaimer", out of competition, at the 81st Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy August 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the mini-series "Disclaimer", out of competition, at the 81st Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy August 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Alfonso Cuarón is the first to admit that he does not know how to make a television series. He might even be too old to learn how, he said.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker has technically now made a series, the seven-part AppleTV+ show “Disclaimer,” four episodes of which premiered Thursday at the Venice Film Festival. But he did it his way: Like a film.

Based on Renée Knight’s 2015 book of the same name, “Disclaimer” is a psychological thriller about a documentarian and journalist, Catherine Ravenscroft (Cate Blanchett), who discovers she’s a character in a novel that reveals her darkest secret.

Cuarón, Blanchett and Kevin Kline all made the journey to the Italian film festival to debut and speak about the show before it begins streaming on Oct. 11.

“I read the book and immediately in my mind I saw a film, but I didn’t know how to make that film,” Cuarón, the director of films including “Gravity” and “Roma,” said in a news conference Thursday. “It was way too long. I could not shape it as such.”

It was only later, he said, that he thought it might work in longer form, inspired by predecessors like Rainer Werner Fassbinder, David Lynch and Krzysztof Kieślowski.

“I was intrigued and that was the point of departure,” Cuarón said.

He started writing with one name in mind for Catherine: Blanchett, terrified that she might say no. Not only did she not say no, she also was the one who suggested Kline for a British character. Sacha Baron Cohen plays her husband in the show and Kodi Smit-McPhee plays her son.

All soon realized that approaching it as a film, and shooting it as a film, would take much longer than a normal series. He even enlisted two cinematographers, Emmanuel Lubezki and Bruno Delbonnel, to add a distinct visual language to the different perspectives in the story. All told, it took about a year.

“It was a really long process,” Cuarón said. “And I really feel for the actors because they were stuck with the characters for way too long.”

Blanchett laughed that they were “still recovering.”

The final three episodes will screen Friday at the festival. Though the festival is most known for its feature film premieres, it does play host to select series as well. This year those also include Joe Wright’s Mussolini biopic “M: Son of the Century,” Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The New Years” and Thomas Vinterberg’s “Families Like Ours.”