TODAY’S PEOPLE
Ukrainian duo heads to Eurovision Contest
KYIV, Ukraine—Even amid war, Ukraine finds time for the glittery, popfilled Eurovision Song Contest. Perhaps now even more than ever.
Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition are rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil.
The duo set off from Kyiv for the competition on Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland. Then they will travel on to next month’s competition
saidöit’s in Malm , Sweden.
Heil vital the country takes part, “to show that even now, during the war, our culture is developing.”
At the contest alyona and Heil will perform “Teresa & Maria,” an ode to inspiring women.
The song blends alyona’s punchy rap stylings with Heil’s soaring melody and distinctly Ukrainian vocal style.
Anitta conveys her ‘Funk Generation’
First, she took over Brazil. Now, the world. The trilingual Brazilian pop star Anitta has returned with a new album, the club-to-bedroom ready “Funk Generation.”
It is an infectious collection of dance songs celebrating a once maligned genre, writes The Associated Press’
Maria Sherman.
The album also manages to experiment beyond its confines.
Brazilian funk, what is frequently referred to as funk carioca or baile funk, is a combination of Brazilian rhythms, African and electronic music, and rap.
Like hip-hop and reggaetón before it, funk in Brazil has been stigmatized for its lyrics about everyday realities: sex, violence, drugs.
But music is storytelling, rhythms can bring about change, and Anitta’s new album makes that clear.
Chung, Spielberg collab on ‘Twisters’
Growing up in the Midwest, filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung developed both a healthy fear of tornadoes and a reverence for Jan de Bont’s 1996 disaster film “Twister.”
When he was hired to direct “Twisters,” storming theaters on July 19, he knew one thing was non-negotiable: They needed to shoot in Oklahoma, not on soundstages.
The film isn’t a direct sequel to the 1996 one and stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos and Glen Powell as a new bunch of storm chasers.
“Twisters” isn’t quite finished yet but he’s feeling good about it, having already gotten a pretty major confidence boost from producer Steven Spielberg.