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Posted: 09 Mar 2013 05:19 AM PST

MOSCOW: The new Miss Russia took the unusual step Saturday of contradicting President Vladimir Putin by denouncing the jailing of two members of the Pussy Riot female punk band who performed a protest song in a church.

Eighteen-year-old Elmira Abdrazakova (pic) - an ethnic Tatar whose choice was protested by nationalists on some prominent websites - said she did not think the young performers should have been thrown in jail for two years.

"I finished Sunday school and for me, a church is sacred. And to do something like that is unacceptable," she told the Russian News Service radio station.

"But the punishment was still too severe. Perhaps they should have just worked with them to change their view of the world."

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina were sentenced to two years in prison after a court convicted them of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for a February 2012 performance in a Moscow cathedral that ridiculed the Church's open support of Putin ahead of presidential elections.

Their treatment has provoked international outrage and has come to symbolise the deterioration of political rights under former KGB spy Putin during his 13-year rule.

Their cause has been picked up by such global stars as Madonna and Sting while the US State Department has officially expressed its disappointment with Russia's handling of the case.

Putin - his ties with the powerful Church becoming more prominent with the years - has defended the jailing and ridiculed those who stuck up for the young women.

Abdrazakova's criticism is rare because few prominent Russians dare to disagree with Putin in public because of the heavy state media backlash this is likely to incur. -AFP

Bright lights ahead

Posted: 08 Mar 2013 11:47 PM PST

British pop singer Rita Ora is on the heels of Rihanna.

BRITISH pop singer Rita Ora could be the next Rihanna. Like Rihanna, she was discovered and is being groomed by American rap mogul Jay-Z.

And she has found success early. Her first three singles went to No.1 on the British singles charts last year, even before the August release of Ora, her debut album which also topped the charts there.

The 21-year-old tells us that she wants to be successful like Rihanna, but on her own terms: "It's awesome how her (Rihanna's) journey has exploded. Her track record has been really impressive. She is definitely doing her own thing but I would love to be successful in my own lane."

Ora started out doing backing vocals for English R&B singer Craig David in 2007. Within two years, Jay-Z's music company Roc Nation spotted her singing in London clubs and signed her.

She had a guest spot in the video for the rapper's Top 10 single Young Forever.

She is full of praise for her label boss. She says: "He's so chilled-out and very wise and he's ready to help if you ask for it.

Online buzz for her debut album started to intensify last year and increased momentum after British drum 'n' bass artist DJ Fresh roped her in to sing on Hot Right Now, which went to No.1 on the British charts last February. The song appears on DJ Fresh's album nextlevelism as well as Ora's album.

Then How We Do (Party) and R.I.P, her club-worthy and dance-friendly previews from her album, topped the British charts last March and May respectively.

She is not letting the early chart successes go to her head. "I'm gonna grow along with my fans and every album is going to be different. My music is going to change but it's going to be great," she says.

"But the music I create will always be music that comes from my heart, it's always going to be honest and real."

Ora has come a long way from Kosovo, where she was born. Well aware that most people only know her birthplace as being a war-torn country in the late 1990s, she says: "It's so interesting how people react when I tell them I'm from Kosovo because they wanna know about it and it's so intriguing because no one really knows about it that much."

She moved to London with her parents when she was barely a year old. Proud of her heritage, she returned to Kosovo last year to film the music video for her single, Shine Ya Light.

She says: "I want people to see the beauty of Kosovo and see where I was born. I went there for the music video and we shot in the streets and we shot in the shopping malls. I want to show people exactly why Kosovo is great." – The Straits Times, Singapore/Asia News Network

Rita Ora appears at Future Music Festival Asia 2013 at Sepang International Circuit on March 16. Details at futuremusicfestival.asia.

Bieber back on stage after paparazzi clash, illness

Posted: 08 Mar 2013 08:01 PM PST

LONDON: Canadian pop star Justin Bieber returned to the stage Friday after a torrid 24 hours in which he suffered a health scare then lashed out at a photographer.

The 19-year-old said he had had a "rough week" and was "human" following the foul-mouthed confrontation with a paparazzi cameraman in London.

Bieber was forced to halt a London show for 20 minutes on Thursday night after complaining of being "light of breath" and was later taken to hospital.

The teen idol was back on stage Friday night for the last of four shows at London's O2 Arena - having angered British fans with a very late start in the first show on Monday.

"Sometimes when people r shoving cameras in your face all day and yelling the worst thing possible at u...well I'm human. Rough week," Bieber wrote on Twitter ahead of Friday's show.

"Not gonna let them get the best of me again. Gonna get focused on this show tonight. Adrenaline is high now. Gonna put it on the stage."

"Only way someone can break u is if u let them."

Footage of the incident broadcast on Britain's Channel 5 News showed Bieber apparently making contact with the unnamed member of the paparazzi as minders rushed the star into a van outside his central London hotel.

The unnamed cameraman shouted swear words at Bieber - who was dressed in a red sweatshirt and beanie - and told the Canadian star to "go back to America".

Bieber got out of the van and said "What did you say?" to the photographer before unleashing a series of swear words and threatening to "beat the fuck out of you".

The star's security team then bundled him back into the van before it drove off.

The performer's later apologies came on his Twitter account, which is the world's most popular with 35.6 million followers.

Bieber has a history of run-ins with paparazzi. In May he allegedly kicked and punched a photographer in a parking lot in the United States but no charges were filed.

In January he offered prayers - while calling for tougher laws against paparazzi - after a photographer was killed on a freeway while trying to get a picture of Bieber's Ferrari. The singer was not in the car at the time.

Bieber's stay in London started badly when his show on Monday began two hours late. He blamed the tardy showtime on technical difficulties.

On Thursday he walked off mid-way through a song towards the end of his set Thursday and a spokeswoman said then that he was "feeling a little under the weather".

His manager Scooter Braun told the 20,000-strong crowd that the singer was determined to return to the stage against medical advice.

"Justin got very light of breath, the whole show he's been complaining. He's backstage with the EMTs (emergency medical team) and the doctor," Braun said.

His representative told entertainment channel E! News that emergency personnel gave him oxygen. - AFP

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Sabtu, 9 Mac 2013

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

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