Blazing the stage!
A lip sync contest was held recently at St. Saint John the Baptist elementary school in Belle River as part of Catholic Education Week.
Students from Gr. 3 through 8 took part in the first annual event
that included 13 participating acts.
The event was organized by Mme. Scott, Mme. Poisson and Mrs. Ebert to show the amazing talent of students at the school.
'This is our first ever 'Blazing the Stage' lip sync battle,' said Scott. 'The event has been so successful we're looking to make this an annual event and tradition we can continue.'
Students have been preparing for the event for two months.
'We went through an audition process and then assisted the students in polishing up their acts,' added Mme. Poisson.
Twenty-two acts applied which was cut down to 13.
'It was definitely a competition, and students knew that they would be expected to give 100 per cent to the singing, dancing and bring the energy,' said Scott.
Both teachers concur that this is an important event to showcase the arts.
'A lot of kids have different talents and maybe everyone isn't an athlete or into sports…this gives those students a chance to shine,' said Scott. 'As well as allows every student to take part in the arts.'
Fifth grader George, 'The Moonwalker' came out on top with his rendition of Michael Jackson's Billy Jean. Second place went to Carly (Little Kitten) performing 'Girls Just Want to have Fun.' Third place went to The Wannababes.
'I was a little shocked by winning first place and I was a little nervous till I let all my energy out,' he said. 'This is quite an honour.'
He hopes to continue his performing ways and possibly pursue a career in the arts.
'I didn't have to prepare that much as I already knew the dance,' he added.
Students were treated to a rousing rendition of 'We Like to Party' by faculty members.
Special thanks to judges Mrs. Turner, Mrs. Santin and Mr. Tremblay.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time Magazine
4 hours ago
- Time Magazine
The True Story Behind Netflix's Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy
In November 2021, the third Astroworld music festival commenced in Houston, Tex., the hometown of rap superstar Travis Scott. Scott had a personal affinity for the Six Flags AstroWorld theme park in Houston that had closed its doors in 2005, naming his six-time platinum certified 2018 album after it and holding the inaugural festival near the site of the demolished amusement park. After canceling the 2020 edition because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Astroworld 2021 promised to be bigger than the two editions before, expanding the festival from one day to two, while uniting tens of thousands of young fans who had missed out on valuable concert-going experiences since the pandemic began. 'It's a carefree world' is how concertgoer Kaia Redus describes the festival in Netflix's Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy, which details how the Houston celebration turned into a death trap with 10 fatalities, with the youngest victim only nine years old, as well as hundreds of injuries. 'It was a concert you didn't want to miss, and you knew it was going to be fun,' explains Sophia Santana, another survivor, with enthusiasm and certainty. The feature-length documentary, releasing June 10, is the first in a weekly series that digs into big event meltdowns that made headlines, created corporate scandals, and often cost lives. Directed by Yemi Bamiro, the film includes interviews with survivors and experts and uses footage shot on concertgoers' phones to explain how such a massive crowd crush happened during Travis Scott's headlining performance and what happened in the aftermath. What led to the deaths at Astroworld? Astroworld was organized by LiveNation, the biggest live event promoter in the U.S. bar none, and the company was eager to capitalize on Scott's 'rager' brand when Astroworld returned. As The Astroworld Tragedy shows, footage of fans breaking down fences to get into the 2019 Astroworld was used to promote the festival's return. Kirby Gladstein, a returning festival photographer, recalls her team was instructed to lean into the chaos of Scott's performances. Gladstein seemed anxious to share her perspective on the temperature of the festival and how the organizers lost control, as she believes the blame lies at LiveNation's feet. 'They hold so much of this industry in the palm of their hand,' says Gladstein. 'By talking about what happened at Astroworld, I know that I'm jeopardizing my career, ultimately.' (No representative of LiveNation is interviewed in the documentary, though their responses are included in text at the end of the film, and include pointing to the roles of SMG Global and the Houston Fire Department in setting sellable capacity for the venue, and stating all relevant parties were aware of event plans and safety codes. The company released their only statement on the tragedy the day after it occurred, in 2021.) The Astroworld Tragedy interviews crowd safety expert Scott Davidson, onsite paramedic Jose Villegas, and security guards Jackson and Samuel Bush (who were only hired hours before the festival began) to paint a picture of the poor planning that contributed to the festival's death tally. The mainstage was unoccupied all day, meaning that fans could camp out for Scott for hours in the hot Houston sun. It also meant that thousands of fans traveled to the headline set from the same direction at the exact same time, creating the perfect conditions for crowd crushing. On the left-hand side of the stage, fans funnelled directly into a pen that added more pressure to fans against barriers with no route of escape. Beginning at 9 p.m., Scott appeared on stage and the crushing quickly worsened; the most upsetting footage of The Astroworld Tragedy is taken from cell phone videos shot inside the pen, showing fans being asphyxiated and crushed in real time while Scott's performance blares unaffected behind them – while Scott would later say he was aware of some fainting and disturbance, he claimed to not realise the gravity of the situation. How did Astroworld organizers respond to the crisis? 'Stop the show! Stop the show! Stop the show!' shout fans as Scott introduces a guest onstage. Despite concertgoers screaming for help en masse, climbing up to restricted areas to demand help from officials, and calling the police, the concert didn't end until an hour after Scott began performing onstage. Davidson concluded (and the documentary team consulted an additional crowd safety expert to verify his findings) that a major fault with the festival was that only two individuals had been delegated authority to stop the concert when it became dangerous, but as Davidson explains, 'any key decision-maker [...] should have been able to very quickly initiate a show stop process, what should have been as simple as a figurative or literal button being pushed.' Meanwhile, crush victims were struggling to breathe and stand up straight. 'I just remember thinking, 'Don't fall down because you won't make it back up,'' recalls Santana. The countdown to 10 p.m. was hectic and lethal, and Davidson quotes the transcript of a LiveNation manager speaking to the audio engineer, one of the only people who could speak directly to Scott onstage: 'We have four active CPRs going on. Two are most likely dead. It is very, very bad. There are more crush victims than I've ever seen in my 25-year career.' Mark Lentini, a former commander for the Houston Police, places the responsibility for the Astroworld tragedy on the festival organizers rather than the police response. He points out how completely predictable the chaos of unauthorized entry and jumping fences would have been to a properly organized festival team. But others see it differently; as Davidson explains, as the crisis was worsening, the Houston Police and LiveNation agreed to continue the concert for Drake to appear onstage to avoid 'trigger crowd panic'. 'The idea of a performance continuing while even one CPR in progress is underway is insane, unprecedented, not to mention multiple,' stresses Davidson. What was the aftermath? Travis Scott's statements on the tragedy were received as insincere by many survivors and victims' loved ones, who tearfully recount the moments at hospitals and reunification centers when they were informed of deaths. Since Astroworld, Scott has made only a few comments on the tragedy, but the song 'My Eyes' on his 2023 album Utopia references his perspective of the event, with one lyric that goes, 'If they just knew what Scotty would do to jump off the stage and save him a child.' In addition to Utopia, Scott has released a companion film Circus Maximus, and is currently nearing the end of a global tour—but Astroworld has not been held since 2021. A grand jury decided not to hold any individual criminally responsible for the tragedy, and the families of victims received out of court settlements for lawsuits brought against Scott and LiveNation. Since Astroworld, LiveNation has faced a host of other legal issues, including a lawsuit from the Department of Justice for monopolization of the music industry, another from the families of an artist who was murdered backstage at a festival, and criticism of their hostile arbitration rules. Netflix's documentary gets to the heart of how something as traumatic and confounding as the Astroworld crowd crush happened, but the questions it ends on—Why didn't someone stop it? Will it happen again?—are left terrifyingly unanswered.
Cosmopolitan
10 hours ago
- Cosmopolitan
The Astroworld Tragedy: the true story behind the Travis Scott festival disaster where 10 people died
It was meant to be the festival of a lifetime; Travis Scott was performing on the large, mountain-esque 'Chills' stage, a lauded homecoming at the third Astroworld festival. Launched in 2018 and named after Scott's third album, the two-day music festival was planned as the ultimate celebration of Houston's hip-hop culture, and Scott's love of his hometown. While the festival had been gaining in popularity, no-one could have predicted that its latest (and which soon proved to be final) outing would have resulted in one of the worst US concert tragedies in history. Now Netflix's latest series, Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy, speaks to witnesses and emergency responders who were there on the day and looks to examine how an exciting evening became a living nightmare, resulting in 10 deaths, and over 300 causalities. Astroworld Festival was the brainchild of psychedelic rapper Travis Scott, and took place annually. It was based in NRG Park in Houston, Texas, and named after a former theme-park that locals enjoyed going to in their childhoods. Since launching in 2018, the festival had steadily grown in popularity, and was set to be bigger than ever in 2021; the event was now spanning two days, and had artists such as Tame Impala, Sza and Bad Bunny on the line-up. Tickets sold out in just 30 minutes. Astroworld was now also comprised of two stages: the 'Thrills' stage for supporting artists, and the 'Chills' stage, which was specifically for Scott's headline performance. It was at the Chills stage where the crowd crush occurred. Scott is a 34-year-old rapper, known for his psychedelic and intense performances, who has had five tracks hit number one in the United States. As well as working with huge hip-hop goliaths such as Kid Cudi, Scott is also known for dating Kylie Jenner between 2017 and 2023. The pair share two children together. While 50,000 people were thought to be in attendance, there were reports of people trying to rush the gates as early as 2pm, with eyewitnesses reporting people being trampled on. However, it wasn't until later in the evening that casualties began to happen. A timer appeared on stage counting down the 30 minutes before Scott performed. It was when Scott appeared, slightly later than scheduled at 9pm (he was reportedly meant to start at 8.45pm) that members of the crowd pressed forward and surged from the sides, causing a crush. Many people fell and others struggled to breathe as it was so tightly packed. Describing the carnage, festival survivor Ayden Cruz remembers being pushed over by the crowds. In the documentary Astroworld: Countdown to Tragedy, he recalls climbing up to a camera operator and begging them to 'stop the show' as people were becoming increasingly crushed. While Scott did stop performing numerous times to flag that people in the crowd had passed out and needed medical assistance, his show continued on until between 10.10pm and 10.15pm, according to witnesses, after he performed with Drake. However, a mass casualty incident was called from 9.38pm. Numerous festivalgoers tried to halt proceedings, however, none succeeded in getting Scott to stop. Eight people died on the night in hospital, while a further two people died in hospital. The youngest person who passed away was just nine, while the oldest was 27. Two high schoolers are listed as victims. It was ruled that all 10 people died from 'compression asphyxia' – this is where external force limits the ability of the chest to expand, cutting off oxygen. The list of victims are as follows. It wasn't until many of the 50,000 festivalgoers went home that they realised there had been fatalities in the crowds. In the immediate aftermath, people were looking to see who was responsible for the deaths. Scott took to X to say he was 'absolutely devastated' at learning of the incident following the concert. He also claimed that he was not aware of what was happening below the stage at the time. 'I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need,' he wrote. 'Thank you Houston PD, Fire Department and NRG Park for their immediate response and support.' Then-girlfriend Kylie Jenner also deleted Instagram stories from the event, and sent 'thoughts and prayers' to those impacted. A Texas state task force looked into what happened at Astroworld, which emphasised the need for adequate training for security and event staff. Astroworld organisers were criticised for a lack of preparedness among security contracted to work the event. Meanwhile, the head of safety at Astroworld, Seyth Boardman, wrote to the Texas festival's operations director expressing concern about the size of the stage. Per documents seen by the BBC, Boardman wrote: 'I feel like there is no way we are going to fit 50,000 people in front of that stage.' Numerous lawsuits were filed by victims and survivors' families, alleging a lack of adequate safety protocols and emergency response to Scott, Live Nation and other defendants. However, by June 2024, all 10 wrongful death lawsuits had been settled out of court by Live Nation, Travis Scott, and other defendants for undisclosed amounts. Scott was amongst six individuals who faced criminal charges related to the deaths of 10 people at the 2021 Astroworld Festival – however, a Texan grand jury found no single individual was criminally responsible for the death. 'In this instance, the grand jury of the 228th district court of Harris County found that no crime did occur,' county District Attorney Kim Ogg told reporters in 2023. 'That no single individual was criminally responsible.' The festival was cancelled following reports of deaths. It has not been revived since. Speaking about the event, Scott told GQ in 2023: '[I want people] to know I have pain too. I have concerns, things that I think about, and the things I see on a day-to-day basis I think about them. And every day I want to find change in the things, to make things better, make myself better. It's just like: I go through things like everyone else.' Scott also launched Project HEAL, aimed at supporting community-based programs and enhancing safety measures at large-scale events. Kimberley Bond is a Multiplatform Writer for Harper's Bazaar, focusing on the arts, culture, careers and lifestyle. She previously worked as a Features Writer for Cosmopolitan UK, and has bylines at The Telegraph, The Independent and British Vogue among countless others.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
Pippa Scott, Actress in ‘The Searchers' and ‘Auntie Mame,' Dies at 90
Pippa Scott, who played one of abducted daughters alongside Natalie Wood in John Ford's The Searchers and the secretary of Rosalind Russell's title character in Auntie Mame, has died. She was 90. Scott died peacefully May 22 of congenital heart failure at her home in Santa Monica, her daughter Miranda Tollman told The Hollywood Reporter. More from The Hollywood Reporter Arthur Hamilton, "Cry Me a River" Songwriter, Dies at 98 Enzo Staiola, Child Star in Vittorio De Sica's 'Bicycle Thieves,' Dies at 85 Jason Constantine, Lionsgate Co-President, Dies at 55 Scott's film résumé also included Gower Champion's My Six Loves (1963), Richard Lester's Petulia (1968), Norman Lear's Cold Turkey (1971) and Michael Lindsay-Hogg's The Sound of Murder (1982). On television, the redhead portrayed the wife of a Broadway actor (Brian Aherne) transported back in time in the 1960 Twilight Zone episode 'The Trouble With Templeton'; was the wife of a rabbi helping Morey Amsterdam's character with his very belated bar mitzvah on the 1966 Dick Van Dyke Show installment 'Buddy Sorrell: Man and Boy'; and played a nursery school teacher and love interest of Jack Warden's detective on the 1976 NBC drama Jigsaw John. Scott's career got off to a rousing start with she portrayed the ill-fated Lucy Edwards, older sister of Wood's Debbie Edwards, in the John Wayne-starring The Searchers (1956). And in Auntie Mame, she starred as Pegeen, who winds up falling for Roger Smith's Patrick Dennis. Philippa Scott was born in Los Angeles on Nov. 10, 1934. Her mother was stage actress Laura Straub, and her father was Allan Scott, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals Top Hat (1935) and Swing Time (1936). Her uncle, writer-producer Adrian Scott, was blacklisted during the McCarthy era as one of the Hollywood Ten. (She would appear in a 1964 film written by him, The Confession.) Educated at Radcliffe and UCLA and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Scott made her Broadway debut in 1956 in Jed Harris' Child of Fortune, and in 1958, she starred as a teacher who is kidnapped in As Young as We Are. Scott guest-starred on lots of TV shows, with appearances on Mr. Lucky, The Virginian, Maverick, Thriller, Have Gun — Will Travel, Dr. Kildare, The Fugitive, Wagon Train, Ben Casey, Perry Mason, Wagon Train, F Troop, I Spy, Family Affair, Medical Center, Gunsmoke, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mission: Impossible, Barnaby Jones, Columbo, The Waltons, Ironside, The Streets of San Francisco, Mannix and Remington Steele. On stage, she appeared in the New York company of 1959's Look Back in Anger and 1984's Isn't It Romantic and collaborated with John Houseman at UCLA in a 1973 production of Three Sisters in preparation for the start of the Center Theatre Group. In 1964, Scott married Lee Rich, producer and founding partner of Lorimar Productions, the company behind such acclaimed shows as The Waltons, Dallas, Falcon Crest, Knots Landing, Eight Is Enough and The Blue Knight. They divorced in 1983 but reconnected in 1996 and remained together until his death in 2012. As a child whose family experienced the consequences of persecution, Scott in 1993 founded The International Monitor Institute, a nonprofit that gathered evidence to assist the prosecution of war crimes in the Balkans, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Congo, Cambodia and Iraq and the systemic use of rape and child soldiers in genocide. The work of the IMI continues to assist war crime prosecution to this day through the Human Rights department at Duke University. Scott also founded Linden Productions to further illuminate human rights violations, and her work includes projects commissioned by the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and the International Rescue Committee. In 1998, she produced for PBS' Frontline the documentary The World's Most Wanted Man, about the hunt for Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. And in 2006, she produced another doc, King Leopold's Ghost, about the exploitation of the Congo by the king of Belgium. After two decades behind the camera, she made her last acting appearance in the indie feature Footprints (2009). Survivors include her daughters, Miranda and Jessica, and five grandchildren. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now
