Thursday 15 March 2012

Kayak quartet on song for London 2012

There was no stopping the women's K4 500 crew of Rachel Lovell, Hannah Davis, Jo Brigden-Jones and Lyndsie Fogarty as they stormed home to win their second Olympic selection race in Penrith and tick the qualification boxes for London.

Kayak quartet
The champagne flowed as they celebrated post-race, but the girls have already set their sights on their ultimate goal- a place atop the London podium.

"We're aiming for that gold medal," 33-year-old mother-of-two Lovell said post-race.

"What other goal can you have? We're definitely aiming for gold."

The mature end of the K4 boat returned to kayaking after a sabbatical in England and is in the shape of her life in what has become one of Australia's best kayak medal chances in London.

"It seems to be when the important races come up we almost over-perform and we do it when it really counts," Lovell said after the race where her first Olympic berth was on the line.

Since coming together less than a year ago, their Olympic build-up has been almost as fast- and certainly as smooth- as this K4 crew's lightening paddling.

"We never under-perform, but it seems like it brings the best out in us when we have these really big competitions and that extra pressure just makes us go even faster," Lovell said.

Sydney's Brigden-Jones, herself returning from shoulder surgery in 2010, echoed Lovell's sentiments.

"We're really excited about the crew. We feel we really have a lot of potential and every time we get in the boat and race it just gets better and better so we're really looking forward to racing at the Olympics and hope we can bring home something awesome… like a medal," she said.

Fogarty and Davis were members of the women's K4 500 crew that won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, illustrating the potential for Aussie paddlers to match it with the strong European nations.

Davis draws inspiration from their bronze medal regularly to highlight how far the girls can go in 2012.

"Beijing taught me that you can set really high goals. They may seem unrealistic to people on the outside but if you've got that true honest belief in the boat you can do it," she said.

"We want to match that, if not go one or two better… and we're on the right track."

The crew came together just four weeks before the 2011 World Championships where they won Australia a quota place in London.

Thanks: london2012.olympics.com.au

Wednesday 25 January 2012

Musical Odyssey — Joe Henry brings acoustic ‘Reverie’ to town

Joe Henry is an intensely perceptive American singer-songwriter whose records are like black-and-white films with bright characters.

Joe Henry

The subtitles are composed from the colors around us.

On the side he has pro­duced and mentored important American artists, who, in many cases, have slipped beneath the starry shadows of pop culture: Solomon Burke, Betty LaVette’s breakthrough album, the Carolina Chocolate Drops (their 2010 Grammy winning “Genuine Negro Jig”), Mavis Staples (the “I Believe in My Soul” compilation) and many others.

Henry, 51, carries the sound of an heirloom metronome in a modern high-rise. He is inspired by his position between time and place, which is why his visit to Chicago to promote his latest album “Reverie (ANTI) should not be missed. Henry and his studio band launch a three-city tour at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

Reverie” is an all-acoustic project Henry recorded about a year ago in his basement studio. The bass, drums, piano and Henry’s voice and guitar touch on the longing tones of folk-gospel in “Odetta,” and blues-tango in “Sticks and Stones,” reminiscent of “Stop,” his ballad that his wife Melanie Ciccone passed along to her sister Madonna — which she re-did in 2000 as “Don’t Tell Me.” But time waits

Thanks : http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/weekend

Waka Waka lyrics


Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)lyrics 

Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, characteristic South African band newly ground. It was the bureaucrat song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

shakira
You're a good soldier
Choosing your battles
Pick yourself up
And dust yourself off
And back in the saddle

You're on the frontline
Everyone's watching
You know it's serious
We're getting closer
This isnt over

The pressure is on
You feel it
But you've got it all
Believe it

When you fall get up
Oh oh...
And if you fall get up
Oh oh...

Tsamina mina
Zangalewa
Cuz this is Africa

Tsamina mina eh eh
Waka Waka eh eh

Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa aa
This time for Africa

This is our motto
Your time to shine
Dont wait in line
Y vamos por Todo

People are raising
Their Expectations
Go on and feed them
This is your moment
No hesitations

Today's your day
I feel it
You paved the way
Believe it

If you get down
Get up Oh oh...
When you get down
Get up eh eh...

Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa aa
This time for Africa

Tsamina mina eh eh
Waka Waka eh eh

Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa aa

Tsamina mina eh eh
Waka Waka eh eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
This time for Africa

Chaka Khan & Grace Jones Rock the Runway in Paris

A little lingerie label stole the show at Paris Fashion Week on Monday, and all it took was a dramatic show of diva performance.

Paris Fashion Week

Etam, famed for their aptitude to shock, showcased their new Spring / Summer 2012 compilation at the Beaux-Arts de Paris in an explosion of disco glory. The undergarment label enlisted the dazzling skills of Grace Jones, Chaka Khan, Gloria Gaynor, Sister Sledge, and the Pointer Sisters to model looks and perform on the runway.

These soul divas lit up the catwalk in true Studio 54 fashion perfectly accentuating the '70s-inspired collection. For the grand finale, all the singers got onstage and performed "We Are Family," as the queens of groove posed with snakes and poodles, both of which actually did make appearances inside New York City's original Studio 54 back in the days of disco. Snakes and poodles and Chaka Khan, oh my!



21 music artists come together for new `Vande Mataram

As many as 21 top-notch music artists, including singers Sonu Niigaam, Shankar Mahadevan and Sunidhi Chauhan and musicians like Amaan Ali and Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, have lent their voice and hand for a new rendition of India`s national song ‘Vande mataram’.

music
The contemporary version of ‘Vande Mataram’, released by Veecon Music and Entertainment, is composed by renowned percussionist Bickram Ghosh.

"My version of `Vande Mataram` is introspective and philosophical. It is the national song woven into a new melody 64 years after independence. It is not a song of uprising as was the mainstay of the original song. I`ve created a melody straight from my heart and the finest of India`s artists have executed it," Ghosh said in a statement.

Apart from Niigaam, Mahadevan and Chauhan, the new rendition has singers Shaan, Shubha Mudgal, Roop Kumar Rathod, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Ustad Rashid Khan, Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty, Kaushiki Desikan, Manoj Tiwari, Palash Sen, and popular band Indian Ocean.

Musicians who have played instruments for it include Kamal Sabri (sarangi), Niladri Kumar (sitar), Ganesh and Kumaresh (violins), Pandit Ronu Majumdar (flute), Rajhesh Vaidhya (veena), besides of course Khan (sarod), Bhatt (mohanveena) and Ghosh (tabla, kanjeera, percussions).

Thanks : http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment