The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
| Miners sacked for doing the Harlem Shake underground Posted: 04 Mar 2013 10:49 PM PST SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian mining services company has fired up to 15 workers who performed an underground version of the Harlem Shake and posted it online, in a second incident of the Internet dance craze sparking safety concerns. The workers were part of an overnight crew working at the Agnew Mine in Western Australia owned by South African miner Gold Fields Ltd. The workers were employed by Barminco, an Australia-based underground services company. The 30-second video posted on YouTube shows a group of miners, some wielding tools and shirtless, performing the Harlem Shake, which typically begins with a one solo dancer who is quickly joined by others, often in costumes or with props. Barminco, based in Perth, could not be reached for comment after a dismissal letter sent to the workers was obtained by the local newspaper, the West Australian, saying the stunt breached the company's "core values of safety, integrity and excellence". But a spokesman for Gold Fields said the decision to fire the workers was taken by Barminco after the video was posted on YouTube last week. "Underground mining has strict safety standards as there are accidents and fatalities. The Barminco management saw this as a breach of standards," said spokesman Sven Lunsche on Monday. The report came after the U.S.'s Federal Aviation Administration said it was looking into a mid-air, aisle performance of the convulsive dance by a group of college students on a packed flight due to safety concerns. Frontier Airlines has defended its decision to allow the dance on the flight from Colorado Springs to San Diego, saying safety measures were followed and the seatbelt sign was off. The sackings in Australia sparked an online debate with a Facebook page set up to call for the reinstatement of the "sacked WA Harlem Shake Miners". The workers told The West Australian that they were not endangering safety, pointing out that helmets were worn throughout. The Harlem Shake is an electronic dance track by U.S. DJ Baauer - aka Harry Rodrigues - which was released last year with record label Mad Decent. But it took off as a YouTube craze after a group of teenagers from Australia posted a video of their version of the dance which was replicated rapidly on the web, with up to 4,000 Harlem Shake video variations uploaded daily. The craze has driven the song to top of the iTunes U.S. chart and third on the iTunes Australia list. |
| Whitney Houston's FBI files show fan letters, possible extortion Posted: 04 Mar 2013 08:10 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The FBI on Monday released decades-old files on late pop singer Whitney Houston, detailing letters from obsessed fans and an alleged extortion attempt investigated by the bureau. The 128 pages from Houston's files posted online on the FBI's website showed one fan's attention-seeking letters but did not divulge any new insights into the troubled singer's personal life. Houston, known both for her soaring ballads and well chronicled history of drug abuse, was found dead last year in a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub. She was 48. Authorities called her death an accidental drowning due to cocaine use and heart disease. The FBI cases were opened at the height of the singer's career between 1988 and 1999. Names and several details were redacted from the files. Among the Grammy-winning singer's FBI files, released through a Freedom of Information Act request, were love letters sent by a Vermont man, who wrote that he "might hurt someone with some crazy idea." The file shows the FBI interviewed the man but the bureau concluded no law was broken because the man said he would have only hurt Houston's reputation by proclaiming his love publicly. An alleged US$250,000 extortion attempt was brought to the FBI's attention shortly after Houston's marriage to R&B singer Bobby Brown in 1992 and threatened to make public private information unless the I Will Always Love You singer paid. Houston told the FBI in an interview that she considered the person a friend. Houston in 1999 also received letters and recorded cassette tapes from the Netherlands which she deemed threatening, according to the files. The sender made outrageous claims in an FBI interview that he was "President of Europe," purchased Brazil for US$66 billion and helped Nelson Mandela win election in South Africa. |
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