The Beatles song “A Day in the Life has been named in a poll as the best British song ever. “The song, which featured on the classic Beatles album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, topped a survey of music experts by Q magazine. The magazine called the track ‘the ultimate sonic rendition of what it means to be British’.”
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Ang Lee Wins Venice
Ang Lee’s gay cowboy film Brokeback Mountain wins the top prize at the Venice Film Festival. “George Clooney’s film Good Night, and Good Luck had been the hot favourite among film critics to take the Golden Lion on the last night of the annual 11-day festival.”
World’s Greatest Painting? (Time To Vote)
Fresh off the success of polling for Britain’s greatest painting, producers intend to export the idea worldwide. “Voters will be asked to discriminate between Picasso and Pollock, Botticelli and Bosch, in the latest manifestation of the trend to popularise high culture by applying the voting principles of Big Brother. The global success of television formats such as Pop Idol, Big Brother and Strictly Come Dancing has shown an appetite for interactive entertainment formats that can be replicated internationally.”
Indies Score A Bigger Share
Independently-produced recordings are getting a greater share of the music market in the UK. “Almost a third of UK albums that went silver, gold or platinum in 2004 came from independent labels, according to figures next week from the Association of Independent Music (AIM).”
Serota: Reimagining The Tate
Tate director Nicholas Serota has big plans for the Tate. “He plans a radical unseating of painting and sculpture from their positions as the “king and queen” of art. In addition, he aims to create a Tate that “does not appear monocultural” but reflects a “broader British society, in all its richness”. His ambition also includes representing the full depth of contemporary life, such as club culture.”
Spacey Stamps The Vic
Kevin Spacey had a rough reception in his first year running London’s Old Vic Theatre. “Spacey, 46, is committed to a plan to re-establish the Old Vic as the leading popular theatre in London. ‘My commitment here is for 10 years. It will take five to establish myself and build up the audience who come and see the work. I will have been on stage here this year for 36 weeks in three plays. I took six weeks out to shoot the new Superman movie. That to me is the right balance. The movies are not my first priority – the theatre is’.”
Denver Celebrates New Opera House
Denver opens a new opera house – the Ellie Caulkins Opera House to pomp and ceremony. “One couldn’t help noticing that this gathering of old Denver really was old Denver, but Mayor John Hickenlooper said the opera house “will bring in a new generation and give them new reasons to be proud of their city.”
Families Protest Freedom Museum
A group of 9/11 families rallies against plans for a Freedom Center Museum at the site of the World Trade Center in New York. “Family members worry the International Freedom Center will take attention away from those who died in the attack. They said the museum should not be allowed to show exhibits about struggles for freedom around the world. ‘These are important stories to tell. Elsewhere, not at America’s memorial’.”
Our Links to Arts and Hurricane Katrina
We’ve compiled a page of aggregated links to hurricane arts-related stories and resources…
Mid-Lockout, CBC Appoints A New Leader
“The [Canadian] government has appointed screenwriter and journalist Guy Fournier as new chairman of the CBC’s board of directors, prompting hope among the broadcaster’s locked-out employees that the board will move to resolve the four-week-old dispute. Fournier, who was also instrumental in founding Quebec’s Télévision Quatre-Saisons network, was named to the board for a four-year term in February and takes over a top job that has been vacant throughout the build-up to the labour showdown.” The union representing the locked-out CBC workers made hopeful noises about Fournier’s appointment, but an independent watchdog group says that a change in board leadership will likely do little to change CBC president Robert Rabinovitch’s hard-line stance towards his employees.