Dylan ‘sends’ Nobel speech

‘Sing’ premieres

STOCKHOLM, Dec 5, (Agencies): Music icon Bob Dylan won’t be at the Nobel prize ceremony this week to accept his award, but he has sent along a speech to be read aloud, the Nobel foundation said Monday.

The 75-year-old, whose lyrics have influenced generations of fans, has had a subdued response to the honour, remaining silent for weeks following the news in October he had won the prize for literature.

“This year’s Laureate in Literature, Bob Dylan, will not be participating in the Nobel Week but he has provided a speech which will be read at the banquet”, the foundation said in a statement.

Sending along the speech does not exempt the American songwriter from holding a lecture at a place and a type of his choosing, the only requirement by the Nobel foundation.

Rock legend Patti Smith will perform a version of Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” at the ceremony on December 10 in Stockholm, which is the same day as the banquet.

Dylan said in a letter on Nov 16 that he would not attend the ceremony because he had “pre-existing commitments”, in an announcement that did not come as a surprise to observers.

Dylan

Performing

Dylan did not say a word about his prize on the day it was announced, Oct 13, when he was performing in Las Vegas.

The writer of “Blowin’ In The Wind”, “Like A Rolling Stone”, and “Mr Tambourine Man” confined himself to his songs.

The Swedish Academy said it respected Dylan’s decision, but that it was “unusual” for a Nobel laureate not to come to Stockholm to accept the award in person.

Asked on Oct 28 by Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper if he would attend the Nobel prize winners’ banquet, Dylan said: “Absolutely. If it’s at all possible”.

Academy member Swedish writer Per Wastberg accused Dylan of being “impolite and arrogant”, and said it was “unprecedented” that the academy did not know if Dylan intended to pick up his award.

But the first songwriter to win the prestigious award in literature is expected to come to Stockholm early next year.

Nobel laureates are honoured every year on Dec 10 — the anniversary of the death of prize’s founder Alfred Nobel, a Swedish industrialist, inventor and philanthropist.

Several other literature prize winners have skipped the Nobel ceremony in the past for various reasons — Doris Lessing on grounds of ill health, Harold Pinter because he was hospitalised and Elfriede Jelinek due to social phobia.

The value of the prestigious award this year amounts to 8 million kronor ($870,000).

Music echoed through the Microsoft Theater at LA Live Saturday evening for the premiere of “Sing”, the latest in star-studded, song-filled animated fare from Universal and Illumination Entertainment.

Cast members Jennifer Hudson, Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, and Seth MacFarlane were among the celebrities who walked the red carpet, along with Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri and producer Janet Healy. NBCUniversal vice-chairman, Ron Meyer, was seen snacking on popcorn prior to the film’s start.

Legendary recording artist Stevie Wonder, who sings the original track “Faith” in the singing competitioninspired film — which includes 103 tunes in total — was also on hand for the festivities.

“There’s Stevie Wonder, standing right there, and he is a legend”, marveled “Sing” director Garth Jennings. “And seriously, when Stevie Wonder says, ‘I love your movie, I love your songs, can I do another ...?’ Things like that are miracles. That doesn’t happen very often in a lifetime, never mind a career. I’m about as grateful as I can get”.

Jennings, who notes that the filmmakers never could have predicted the outcome of this latest election, nonetheless considers “Sing” the perfect antidote to today’s trying times.

“It is a joy fest”, he says. “It is unashamedly joyful and that was, from the outset, our mission. There are weird coincidences, like the fact ‘Hallelujah’ features very prominently and, of course, we lost Leonard Cohen and that song has taken on a new meaning lately. But you can’t ever predict these things because you are making decisions about a movie three years before it’s finished. I’m so proud of it because of that reason, that people seem to really, really enjoy it as much as we always hoped”.