Taylor Swift Makes Grammys History as Women Rule Music's Top Honors

epa11128269 (L-R) Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus of Boygenius, winners of the "Best Rock Performance" award for "Not Strong Enough", the "Best Rock Song" award for “Not Strong Enough”, and the "Best Alternative Music Album" award for "The Record"; Taylor Swift, winner of the "Album of the Year" and "Best Pop Vocal Album" awards for "Midnights"; and Jack Antonoff, winner of "Producer of the Year, Non-Classical", pose in the press room during the 66th annual Grammy Awards ceremony at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, USA, 04 February 2024.  EPA/ALLISON DINNER
epa11128269 (L-R) Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus of Boygenius, winners of the "Best Rock Performance" award for "Not Strong Enough", the "Best Rock Song" award for “Not Strong Enough”, and the "Best Alternative Music Album" award for "The Record"; Taylor Swift, winner of the "Album of the Year" and "Best Pop Vocal Album" awards for "Midnights"; and Jack Antonoff, winner of "Producer of the Year, Non-Classical", pose in the press room during the 66th annual Grammy Awards ceremony at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, USA, 04 February 2024. EPA/ALLISON DINNER
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Taylor Swift Makes Grammys History as Women Rule Music's Top Honors

epa11128269 (L-R) Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus of Boygenius, winners of the "Best Rock Performance" award for "Not Strong Enough", the "Best Rock Song" award for “Not Strong Enough”, and the "Best Alternative Music Album" award for "The Record"; Taylor Swift, winner of the "Album of the Year" and "Best Pop Vocal Album" awards for "Midnights"; and Jack Antonoff, winner of "Producer of the Year, Non-Classical", pose in the press room during the 66th annual Grammy Awards ceremony at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, USA, 04 February 2024.  EPA/ALLISON DINNER
epa11128269 (L-R) Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus of Boygenius, winners of the "Best Rock Performance" award for "Not Strong Enough", the "Best Rock Song" award for “Not Strong Enough”, and the "Best Alternative Music Album" award for "The Record"; Taylor Swift, winner of the "Album of the Year" and "Best Pop Vocal Album" awards for "Midnights"; and Jack Antonoff, winner of "Producer of the Year, Non-Classical", pose in the press room during the 66th annual Grammy Awards ceremony at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, USA, 04 February 2024. EPA/ALLISON DINNER

Pop superstar Taylor Swift set another record on Sunday, winning the Grammy award for album of the year for an unprecedented fourth time as women dominated the music industry's top honors.
Swift also announced from the Grammys stage that she would release a new album in April, Reuters reported.
The 34-year-old won album of the year for "Midnights," eclipsing music legends Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder, who each claimed the prize three times.
Swift said she was thrilled by the honor and gushed about the fulfillment she feels from writing and singing songs. "It makes me so happy," she said. "All I want to do is keep doing this."
Earlier, Swift claimed the prize for best pop vocal performance and used the moment to announce that she will release "The Tortured Poets Department" on April 19.
"I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I've been keeping from you for the last two years," Swift said as she disclosed the new album, which was made available for pre-sales during the Grammys telecast.
Swift, who is about to jet to Tokyo to resume the world's highest-grossing concert tour, was among the women who swept the major Grammy awards on Sunday.
Billie Eilish claimed song of the year for "What Was I Made For?," a ballad written for the "Barbie" movie soundtrack.
"As a woman, it feels a lot of the time like you're not being seen," Eilish told reporters backstage. "I feel that this makes me feel very seen. Sometimes it feels really good to have somebody tell you 'good job.'"
Miley Cyrus, winner of her first two Grammys on Sunday, landed the record of the year honor for her empowerment anthem "Flowers."
"This award is amazing," Cyrus said, "but I really hope that it doesn’t change anything because my life was beautiful yesterday."
Best new artist went to R&B and pop singer Victoria Monet, who thanked her mom, "a single mom raising this really bad girl."
Winners were chosen by the musicians, producers, engineers and others who make up the Recording Academy. The group has worked to diversify its membership in recent years by inviting more women and people of color to its ranks.
SZA, who went into the night as the most-nominated artist, won three trophies including best R&B song for "Snooze."
"I came really, really far," she said. "I can't believe this is happening, and it feels very fake."
Indie rock band boygenius, a band formed by musicians Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, also claimed three awards.
JONI MITCHELL, BILLY JOEL PERFORM
Comedian Trevor Noah, back for a fourth stint as host, opened the show on CBS by joking that it was "the only concert that starts on time."
Folk singer Joni Mitchell performed for the first time at the Grammys, singing "Both Sides Now" from a chair and sporting blonde braids and a beret, with Brandi Carlile playing guitar beside her.
In a tribute to the many musicians and industry executives who passed away in the last year, Stevie Wonder played "For Once In My Life" to honor the late Tony Bennett who sang along from a video.
Annie Lennox sang "Nothing Compares 2 U" in a tribute to Sinead O'Connor, and Fantasia Barrino honored Tina Turner with her version of "Proud Mary," backed by singers in shiny gold and silver fringed outfits.
Jon Batiste played "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Lean On Me" in a tribute to Clarence Avant, known as "the Godfather of Black music."
Near the start of the show, country star Luke Combs sang his cover hit "Fast Car," alongside the original singer and writer of the 1988 song, Tracy Chapman.
Toward the end, Billy Joel performed his new single "Turn The Lights Back On," his first original song in 17 years.
In accepting the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, rapper Jay-Z aired some Grammy grievances, including the fact that his superstar wife Beyonce had never won album of the year despite having earned more Grammys than anyone else.
"I don’t want to embarrass this young lady," Jay-Z said as Beyonce watched from the audience. "But she has more Grammys than anyone and never won album of the year. So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work."



How the World’s Press Rated Paris’s Olympics Opening Ceremony

Former French football player Zinedine Zidane holds the Olympic torch during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
Former French football player Zinedine Zidane holds the Olympic torch during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
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How the World’s Press Rated Paris’s Olympics Opening Ceremony

Former French football player Zinedine Zidane holds the Olympic torch during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
Former French football player Zinedine Zidane holds the Olympic torch during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)

Paris broke with tradition on Friday by turning the Olympic Opening Ceremony into a parade down the River Seine rather than a stadium-based show.

TV viewers around the world were treated to a spectacle performed on bridges, the riverbank and rooftops, culminating with French athletes Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner lighting the Olympic cauldron and a performance from Canada's Celine Dion.

However, the 6,000-odd athletes, 3,000 performers, 300,000 spectators and dozens of world leaders had to endure heavy rain for much of the event.

Here's how the world's media judged Paris's ambitious ceremony:

FRANCE

Newspaper Le Monde wrote in a rave review that director Thomas Jolly "succeeded in his challenge of presenting an immersive show in a capital transformed into a gigantic stage".

Right-leaning Le Figaro said the show was "great but some of it was just too much". It said viewers "could have been spared" images including an apparent recreation of the painting of The Last Supper of Jesus and his apostles in front of a fashion show.

UNITED STATES

"Opening Ceremony Misses the Boat" headlined the New York Times's television review.

It wrote that the river parade "turned the ceremony into something bigger, more various and more intermittently entertaining. But it also turned it into something more ordinary — just another bloated made-for-TV spectacle".

The Washington Post was more glowing, noting that the organizer's "bold thinking" brought a shine back to an event that has seen its popularity wane in recent years.

CHINA

China's Xinhua state news agency said the ceremony succeeded in showcasing France.

"There were Can-Can girls, a homage to the reconstruction of Notre Dame and of course the French Revolution, with fireworks, heavy metal and singers who appeared to have lost a battle with the guillotine.

"If there was a downside to the ceremony, it is that any event performed over such a long distance has to struggle with continuity, and the big difference between this ceremony and others is that the parade of athletes was mixed in with the performances."

SOUTH KOREA

South Korean media noted the "impressive" imagination of using the whole city as the backdrop but the event was overshadowed by the country's team being misintroduced as North Korea.

South Korea's CBS radio said while the incident was no doubt an honest mistake, it was disappointing the Paris organizers failed at what should have been a very basic part of the event.

GERMANY

"As beautiful as it was mad," wrote Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine. "France revolutionized the opening ceremony ... by the end even the rain had been defeated."

Tabloid Bild was bowled over by Celine Dion's return to the stage after four years, defying illness to "sing just as in the best of times. She deserves a gold medal for this performance."

BRITAIN

British tabloid The Sun joked "Wet The Games Begin!" on its front page alongside an image of the Eiffel Tower surrounded by laser beams, and described the ceremony as spectacular.

The Daily Mail's headline read "La Farce!", mainly in reference to the train disruption earlier in the day, but the paper also judged Paris's gamble on the weather had "backfired spectacularly".

A writer for the Guardian newspaper described the parade of boats on the Seine as "like watching an endless series of weirdly nationalistic office parties" but concluded Celine Dion had rescued the event with a "jaw dropping" performance.

ITALY

La Gazzetta dello Sport said the ceremony was "something unprecedented, even extraordinary. A great show or a long, tedious work, depending on your point of view and sensibility."

The mainstream Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera likened the show to a contemporary art performance, noting that "some (spectators) were bored, others were amused, many found the spectacle disappointing".

The left-leaning Italian daily La Repubblica said the ceremony overshadowed the athletes.

"A lot of France, a lot of Paris, very little Olympics.... a mirror that the immortal Paris turned on herself and discovered that she was so much, too much and soaking wet".