Singer Charli XCX wins top prizes at BRIT Awards
Singer Charli XCX, whose album Brat inspired a cultural phenomenon last summer, was the big winner at the BRIT Awards, Britain's pop music honors, in London on Saturday, picking up five prizes.
Brat, which inspired fans to film themselves dancing to its tracks and whose lime green cover look was adopted by U.S. presidential hopeful Kamala Harris' campaign on social media after the singer referenced her in a post, won the coveted album of the year category.
Charli XCX, who had led nominations, was also named artist of the year and best dance act. Her single Guess, featuring Billie Eilish, won song of the year, beating tracks including the Beatles' Now and Then.
The 32-year-old pop star won her first BRIT, songwriter of the year, earlier this week.
"I've always felt like an outsider in the industry but particularly in the British music industry and so it feels really nice to be recognized on this album," she said as she received the album of the year award.
"I would just like to share this with all artists who have ever felt that they need to compromise to be recognized and to have their moment in the sun because I think I'm living proof that maybe it takes a long time, but ... you don't need to compromise your vision."
Jazz quintet Ezra Collective was named group of the year.
"This moment right here is because of the great youth clubs and great teachers and the great schools that support young people playing music," drummer Femi Koleoso said in one of several of the night's acceptance speeches that called for more support for young musicians and grassroots venues.
U.S. singer Chappell Roan won international artist of the year while her track Good Luck, Babe! won international song of the year.
Espresso singer Sabrina Carpenter was named as the first international recipient of the global success award, which recognizes artists with "phenomenal global sales," following in the footsteps of One Direction, Adele, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith.
The ceremony also featured a tribute dedicated to late One Direction singer Liam Payne, who died in October after falling from a third-floor hotel room balcony in Buenos Aires, shocking fans of the boy band, one of the most popular of all time.
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Voice of America
02-03-2025
- Voice of America
Singer Charli XCX wins top prizes at BRIT Awards
Singer Charli XCX, whose album Brat inspired a cultural phenomenon last summer, was the big winner at the BRIT Awards, Britain's pop music honors, in London on Saturday, picking up five prizes. Brat, which inspired fans to film themselves dancing to its tracks and whose lime green cover look was adopted by U.S. presidential hopeful Kamala Harris' campaign on social media after the singer referenced her in a post, won the coveted album of the year category. Charli XCX, who had led nominations, was also named artist of the year and best dance act. Her single Guess, featuring Billie Eilish, won song of the year, beating tracks including the Beatles' Now and Then. The 32-year-old pop star won her first BRIT, songwriter of the year, earlier this week. "I've always felt like an outsider in the industry but particularly in the British music industry and so it feels really nice to be recognized on this album," she said as she received the album of the year award. "I would just like to share this with all artists who have ever felt that they need to compromise to be recognized and to have their moment in the sun because I think I'm living proof that maybe it takes a long time, but ... you don't need to compromise your vision." Jazz quintet Ezra Collective was named group of the year. "This moment right here is because of the great youth clubs and great teachers and the great schools that support young people playing music," drummer Femi Koleoso said in one of several of the night's acceptance speeches that called for more support for young musicians and grassroots venues. U.S. singer Chappell Roan won international artist of the year while her track Good Luck, Babe! won international song of the year. Espresso singer Sabrina Carpenter was named as the first international recipient of the global success award, which recognizes artists with "phenomenal global sales," following in the footsteps of One Direction, Adele, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith. The ceremony also featured a tribute dedicated to late One Direction singer Liam Payne, who died in October after falling from a third-floor hotel room balcony in Buenos Aires, shocking fans of the boy band, one of the most popular of all time.
Voice of America
12-02-2025
- Voice of America
Paul McCartney rocks the Bowery - Inside his surprise NYC concert
Paul McCartney's previous New York-area performance took place three years ago at MetLife Stadium, capacity 82,500. His surprise show Tuesday night at the Bowery Ballroom fit, at most, 575. It was probably less than that since McCartney's sound board and gear — too much to fit backstage — occupied a portion of the floor space at the venerable downtown theater. The whole thing felt like, and was, a lark. McCartney announced the show just hours before taking the stage. Like an echo of Beatlemania, the news swept through Manhattan and beyond earlier in the day, sending New Yorkers sprinting down Delancey Street for a chance to snag one of the few tickets at the Bowery. Most in attendance, including McCartney, himself, could hardly believe it was happening. 'So, here we are,' McCartney said, grinning. 'Some little gig. New York. Why not?' Later, before launching into 'Let Me Roll It,' he added: 'I can't quite believe we're here, doing this. But we are here, doing this.' It was not McCartney's first impromptu concert. The Beatles famously performed in 1969 atop the roof of their Apple Corps headquarters at 3 Savile Row in London. Since then, he's made something of a habit of it on trips to New York. In 2009, McCartney returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater, site of the Beatles' famous U.S. debut, and performed above the marquee. In 2018, he popped up in Grand Central Terminal to promote the release of his 'Egyptian Station.' With temperatures in the low 30s on Tuesday, McCartney, 82, this time opted for an intimate, indoor show. Tickets were sold only physically at the venue, one per person. All were snapped up within about 30 minutes. For those quick enough, it was like hitting the lottery. Amy Jaffe, 69, was at home about 30 blocks north when she saw the announcement on Instagram. 'I thought: I can do this,' Jaffe said before the show. 'I put on jeans, grabbed a coat, called a Lyft.' Jaffe has seen McCartney many times before, including with the Beatles in 1964 in Forrest Hills, Queens. But she was still incredulous, smiling and shaking her head: 'I don't actually believe it.' Phil Sokoloff, 31, was on his way to work nearby when he saw the news. He ran in and told his co-worker, Mat Fuller, and they rushed over to the Bowery Ballroom. 'We just got lucky,' Sokoloff said. 'I'm always learning about these things the day after.' McCartney took the stage roughly on time at 6:30 p.m. with his regular band, along with a three-member horn section. They had only rehearsed once, the day before, McCartney said. Someone shouted: 'You don't need to rehearse!' If the location was stripped down, the former Beatle didn't come with a minimized show, packing in a blistering tour through his entire catalog, from Beatles classics to Wings hits. He began with 'A Hard Day's Night' and also performed 'Got To Get You Into My Life,' 'Maybe I'm Amazed,' 'Lady Madonna,' 'Jet,' 'Get Back,' 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,' 'Let it Be' and 'Hey Jude.' 'Blackbird' was a solo number on acoustic guitar, and afterward McCartney reflected on how he wrote it for the Civil Rights Movement, a memory that brought back his first trips to the United States. 'We were just kids,' McCartney said. 'I've got grandchildren older than that now.' In the early days, he said, he and John Lennon were always writing for the audience, and the songs were all about reaching out: 'I Want to Hold Your Hand,' 'From Me to You.' 'It had everything to do with the fans, really,' McCartney said. Before playing the Wings song 'Mrs. Vanderbilt,' McCartney spoke of playing it in front of 350,000 people in Kyiv, when Ukraine was exuberant with a newfound freedom. 'Let's hope it gets back to that soon,' he said. Conversation, mixed with shouts from the audience, peppered the set. After one particularly shrill scream, McCartney responded. 'That was a Beatles scream.' Then he asked for more, saying, 'OK, let's get it out of the way. Girls, give me a Beatles scream.' All in attendance obliged. McCartney also performed the so-called last Beatles song, 'Now and Then,' a ballad penned by Lennon in the late '70s but only released in 2023 with the help of the some of the technology used in Peter Jackson's 2021 documentary, 'The Beatles: Get Back.' The song made McCartney wistful for his songwriting partner, whom he noted loved New York. 'Let's hear it for John,' he said. McCartney, who was spotted Sunday at the Super Bowl in New Orleans chatting with Adam Sandler, was in New York for the upcoming 'Saturday Night Live' 50th anniversary festivities. He's to be a guest on the star-studded television special Sunday. It was unclear if McCartney was playing a single show or preparing for something more. He wrapped the Got Back Tour in December and has said he's hoping to finish a new album this year. For now, though, it was a one-night-only event. One crowd member asked McCartney if it could go all night. 'Some of us need to get some sleep, you know,' he replied.
Voice of America
09-01-2025
- Voice of America
Studying Sentence Patterns to Improve Your Writing, Part One
Many English learners have spent a lot of time studying the parts of speech: adjectives, nouns and verbs, for example. But sometimes studying the English sentence from a larger perspective is useful. One way to get a bigger view of English is to study common sentence patterns. The English language has many patterns. In the book Rhetorical Grammar, author Martha Kolln describes seven common sentence patterns. In other writings, she says that 95 percent of sentences in English fit into basic patterns. Understanding and mastering common patterns will not only help you do better on grammar tests, but improve your writing skills, too. For example, here is a passage written by Ernest Hemingway, a famous American author. It comes from the short story 'A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.' The story is one of the most famous ones that Hemingway wrote. "This is a clean and pleasant café. It is well lighted. The light is very good and also, now, there are shadows of the leaves.' Do you notice patterns in these sentences? If you do not recognize them, you will by the end of this report! In this installment of Everyday Grammar, we are focusing on two of the most common patterns in English. Pattern #1: Subject + BE + Subject Complement* Consider a line from the song 'Beautiful,' by Christina Aguiliera: 'I am beautiful.' The line shows the foundation of most sentences in English: A sentence equals a subject, or a noun phrase, plus a predicate, or a verb phrase. A phrase is a group of words that act as a unit. A noun phrase has an important noun, the headword noun, along with words and phrases that give more information about it. The subject of a sentence is the whole noun phrase – not just the noun! The predicate is a verb phrase with a main verb and the words and phrases that give more information about it. If you take the sentence from the Aguilera song, you can analyze it like this: The subject is "I," and the predicate is "am beautiful." In this sentence, the adjective beautiful acts as the subject complement. It describes 'I,' the subject. So, the song lyric is the first important sentence pattern in English. Pattern number one is: subject plus "be," plus subject complement. The subject complement can be either an adjective or a noun phrase. For example, consider this line from the music group Queen. 'We are the champions. We are the champions.' In that line, the subject is 'we.' The predicate, 'are the champions,' contains the "be" verb along with a subject complement, 'the champions.' This noun phrase is describing the subject, 'we.' You might find sentences that appear more complicated but use the same basic structure. Consider this song by the Beatles: Baby, you're a rich man Baby, you're a rich man Baby, you're a rich man At first, the sentence appears complicated, but the basic structure of the sentence remains the same: subject plus "be," plus subject complement. The difference is that the sentence has added information, a noun that is the same as the subject of the sentence. Baby, you're a rich man. Or noun, subject, plus "be," plus subject complement. Pattern #2: Subject + BE + Adverbial The subject plus "be," plus subject complement pattern is not the only pattern you will find with the verb "be." Consider these two sentences: 1) My friends are at the concert. 2) The test was yesterday. In these examples, the subject and the "be" verb are followed by adverbials, which are, in this case, words or phrases that tell where or when. In the first sentence, the adverbial structure is the prepositional phrase 'at the concert.' In the second sentence, the adverbial structure is the adverb 'yesterday.' These examples show another common "be" structure: subject plus "be," plus adverbial. What does this have to do with Hemingway? Think back to the Hemingway passage from the beginning of this story. "This is a clean and pleasant café. It is well-lighted. The light is very good and also, now, there are shadows of the leaves.' The second sentence clearly uses a pattern one structure: Subject BE Subject Complement The subject is "it," the "be" verb is "is," the subject complement is well-lighted. The sentence is: It is well-lighted. But if you look closely, you will see every sentence in the passage uses pattern number one. Two of the sentences use conjunctions, but they still depend on the same basic pattern. Hemingway was famous for his short, declarative style. However, he did not write using basic pattern one and two sentences only! Good writers know how to make their sentences come to life. They do not write the same sentences over and over again! What can you do? To help you start recognizing these patterns, I am going to give you four more sentences written by Ernest Hemingway. Your homework is to identify which of the two basic patterns he is using. Please remember that sometimes Hemingway uses additional words. Just focus on finding the basic structure – pattern one or pattern two. We will give you the answers next week in the comments section and on our Facebook page. Here are the sentences: 1. "He is a good lion, isn't he?" - from The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber 2. "He must be eighty years old." – from A Clean, Well-Lighted Place 3. "He was only in a hurry." – also from A Clean, Well-Lighted Place 4. "The treatment is for tomorrow." – from Great News from the Mainland I'm Jonathan Evans. I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm John Russell. John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. *To learn more about these patterns, read Martha Kolln's Rhetorical Grammar: Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. __________________________________________ Words in This Story adjective – n. a word that describes a noun or a pronoun perspective – n. a way of thinking about and understanding something (such as a particular issue or life in general) phrase – n. a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence predicate – n. the part of a sentence that expresses what is said about the subject analyze – v. to study (something) closely and carefully complement – n. a word or group of words added to a sentence to make it complete champion – n. someone or something (such as a team or an animal) that has won a contest or competition especially in sports additional – adj. more than is usual or expected
