Latest news with #FatherChristmas
Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
The luxury of a cheery welcome
The very best job in the world must be being an AA man. Yes, you may spend much of your working life in the cold, wind, rain, darkness and millimetres from certain death or maiming by collision with speeding cars on the very edge of a motorway — but everyone is unequivocally delighted to see you. Can you imagine going to work, knowing that every single person you encounter will greet you beaming, pathetically grateful that you simply turned up for work today? Others I'm reliably elated by the appearance of:• Any masseur• An airline stewardess barrelling down the aisle with the snack trolley• Father Christmas• A waiter, ready to take the food order. I can't relax unless I know the order is in the kitchen and the process is under way. (With the caveat that he or she is holding a pad and pen — this is not the memory Olympics.) • A plumber or electrician• The Tube passenger who vacates their seat just as I board, allowing me a small win in the furtive, silent game of musical chairs that is a feature of every rush-hour Underground journey• The Ocado delivery driver. I've never met a grumpy one, their recruitment policy must be dazzling • My cleaner. Once a week, when I see those sparkly taps, I experience the thrilling little frisson of feeling as though I live in a hotel• When I have a hangover and my resolve is as thin as a layer of nail varnish, the Deliveroo driver bearing enough highly processed food to sink a battleship. • Read more luxury reviews, advice and insights from our experts But even better than any of the above coming into view is the luxury of being on the receiving end of a cheery welcome. The legendary London restaurateur Jeremy King, proprietor of The Park and Arlington, is the master of the dignified, elegant welcome, leading to a smug certainty that one is in the right place at the right time, and almost certainly wearing the right clothes. See also: the explosive joy of all dogs, always. And think of the quiet glee with which a self-opening Japanese lavatory seat seems to greet one.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lights, cameras, action at Eurovision Song Contest final
In a blaze of laser lights, artists from 26 countries were preparing to rip the roof off at Saturday's Eurovision Song Contest final, the world's biggest live music television event. An estimated 160 million people across Europe and beyond are expected to tune in for the TV spectacle, where kitsch, drama and pyrotechnics take centre stage. Sweden has long been the bookmakers' hot favourite to win the 69th edition of the glitzy contest with the comedy trio KAJ's "Bara Bada Bastu" song on the delights of sweating it out in a sauna. But Austria, France, Finland, the Netherlands and Israel are eyeing the chances of an upset at the St Jakobshalle arena in Basel. And there could always be a surprise in store, with Estonia, Albania and host Switzerland all thought to have an outside chance when viewers' votes come in. Mystery also surrounds whether Canadian star Celine Dion -- who won Eurovision in 1988 when competing for Switzerland -- might make an emotion-drenched return, despite concerns around her struggles with Stiff Person Syndrome, a painful autoimmune disorder. "Father Christmas exists, and you'll have to wait and see," Eurovision director Martin Green said, just hours before the show. - Divas, beats and awe - Hardcore fans snapped up the 6,500 highly coveted tickets for Saturday's showpiece final. Dressed in sequinned jackets and with flags painted on their faces, Eurovision lovers queued outside hours in advance to secure a prime spot on the arena floor. Green said the excitement had built was palpable. "It will be really entertaining, world-class television," he said. "The creative direction in some of those acts is extraordinary. "I am just in awe of this thing for making a really profound, beautiful statement to the rest of the world," he said. The 26 songs in contention are a showcase of Europe's different musical scenes. They include a Portuguese guitar ballad, a Maltese diva, Lithuanian alternative rock, Austrian operatics, an Italian singalong, a Greek power ballad, ethereal Latvian choral folk and German booming beats. With KAJ the heavy favourites, punters are betting on aspects such as the winning language, a top five finish or the best performers from a given region. "Sweden are priced so short, punters are looking for value elsewhere," Ladbrokes betting chain spokesman Alex Apati told AFP. - Flames and hot coffee - The youngest finalist at 19, Norway's Kyle Alessandro opens the show with flame bursts, followed by Luxembourg's Laura Thorn in an LED dolls' house, and Estonia's wobbly-legged Tommy Cash, with his light-hearted Italianesque "Espresso Macchiato". After a whirlwind tour around the continent, France, San Marino and Albania have the final slots. The show starts at 1900 GMT, with two hours of performances before the nail-biting drama begins as the votes come in from around the continent. Separate jury and viewer votes from each of this year's 37 participating countries -- with equal weight -- plus an extra vote from the rest of the world combined, will decide who wins the coveted microphone-shaped trophy. The juries' votes are already in, based on Friday's untelevised full dress rehearsal. Eurovision voting supremo Thomas Niedermeyer said this week's semi-finals -- when 20 countries progressed and 11 were eliminated -- had been "really close". "It has been an exciting race and it's going to be a close race for the winner." - 'United by music' - Finland's leather-clad Erika Vikman has been gaining momentum during Eurovision week with the orgasmic "Ich Komme" -- finishing with the singer hoisted in the air on a spark-emitting golden microphone. Israel's participation in Eurovision 2025 has drawn small-scale protests in Basel over the war in Gaza. Israel's entrant Yuval Raphael, singing "New Day Will Rise", survived the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war, hiding beneath bodies as Hamas gunmen attacked a music festival, killing hundreds. A pro-Palestinian rally is scheduled in Basel two hours before the competition begins. Some 36,000 partygoers will watch a live transmission of the show at the football stadium opposite the arena. Basel said more than 500,000 people had turned out during Eurovision week. "Everyone (is) united by music," host city project leader Beat Lauchli said. rjm/nl/rmb
France 24
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- France 24
Eurovision says 'wait and see' on Celine Dion
"Father Christmas exists, and you'll have to wait and see," Eurovision director Martin Green told a press conference, when asked directly if Dion might show up. At both of Friday's dress rehearsals for the final, as at Tuesday's semi-final, a video message from Dion was played, with the presenters announcing that she could not be with them in Basel, Switzerland for the world's biggest televised live music event. But Eurovision 2025 co-executive producer Moritz Stadler said on Saturday that the show was still being adapted. "There are constant changes. Our team has been working overnight until very late," he said. "We continue changing it for the grand final." BBC television reported that Dion's private plane was in Basel, but did not know if she was on it. And Swiss newspaper Blick said that selected staff with printed schedules for the final "can see that the recorded greeting from the rehearsals and the first Eurovision semi-final is no longer included". "This indicates that the clip played during rehearsals has been replaced," the tabloid added. Dion's health 'top priority' Dion, 57, is now a global music icon. But she has never forgotten the role the song contest played in launching her on the international stage. Dion was 20 and little-known outside her native French-speaking Quebec province in Canada when she won Eurovision in 1988, representing Switzerland with the song "Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi". Switzerland duly hosted Eurovision 1989, where Dion opened the TV extravaganza with her winning French-language song. She then premiered the single "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" -- heralding her career switch into English, which set her on the path to global chart domination. With Eurovision 2025 returning to Switzerland, organisers reached out to Dion. However, the singer is now battling a debilitating health condition and rarely appears in public. "We are still in contact with Celine Dion. As always, her health remains our top priority," a Eurovision 2025 spokeswoman told AFP on Friday. 'Music unites us' Dion first disclosed in December 2022 that she had been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, a painful autoimmune disorder which is progressive and for which there is no cure. She was forced to cancel a string of shows scheduled for 2023 and 2024, saying she was not strong enough to tour. But she gave a surprise, show-stopping performance from the Eiffel Tower at the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony. "I'd love nothing more than to be with you in Basel right now," Dion said in her video clip. "Winning the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland in 1988 was a life-changing moment for me. "Music unites us -- not only tonight, not only in this wonderful moment. It is our strength, our support, and our accompaniment in times of need." © 2025 AFP
Spectator
01-05-2025
- Spectator
AI killed the Easter Bunny
On the grounds of advancing age, I had decided to ignore all the chatter about artificial intelligence and devote my remaining time to things I could properly understand. Then I discovered that one of my own copyrighted properties, the fruit of a year's work, had been scraped into the AI maw without so much as a by-your-leave, and it became personal. I wrote to my MP who responded with template blandishments. This government… committed to blah blah… exciting prospects… safeguarding… potential opt-out system… a close watch, yadda yadda… Feeling impotent and no further forward, I returned to my knitting. It took the murder of the Easter Bunny to rouse me from the torpor of denial. My six-year-old grandson, hanging out with friends who knew how to question Google AI, had been informed there is no rabbit who brings chocolate eggs. It's just your parents, dumbo. They buy the eggs from the supermarket and hide them in the garden. In that moment of brutal AI revelation, I fear Father Christmas also received his P45. Likewise the Tooth Fairy. Whether this myth-busting applies to bogeymen and things that go bump in the night, I'm not sure. I do know, without consulting Google, that the ethics of terrifying today's delicate children are no longer clear. Screen monsters are probably OK but the kind of flesh-and-blood horrors I was threatened with as a child – Flannel Foot the silent burglar, the Man with the Big Stick and, most sinister of all, the Ten O'Clock Horses, who came for you if you were still playing on the street after dark – are now likely considered too horrific for tender ears.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Prince Louis Looks So Grown Up with Notable Appearance Change in 7th Birthday Portrait
The baby of the Wales family is 7 years old (and doesn't look like a baby anymore)! Prince Louis turned another year older on April 23, and the rambunctious, hilarious youngest child of Prince William and Kate Middleton was honored in a tribute from his parents on social media, including a new portrait of the youngster with a notable change in appearance—he is missing his two front teeth! "Wishing Prince Louis a very Happy 7th Birthday!" the Prince and Princess of Wales wrote alongside the photo of their youngest son, including a birthday cake emoji for good measure. In the photo, in addition to his toothless grin, Louis smiles in jeans, a collared shirt, and a sweater, as he sits in an outdoor setting. Though Kate has often taken her children's birthday portraits in the past, this photo of Louis was taken by photographer Josh Shinner in a departure from tradition. Shinner has previously photographed the Wales family of five, notably taking their black-and-white Christmas card photo in 2023. Though this isn't the first time a photographer other than Kate has taken the annual birthday photo of her kids, it's a rare occasion, and Kate actually might not be the only photographer in the family. On February 3, the Princess of Wales shared a post on social media ahead of World Cancer Day, seeing the future queen standing outdoors, arms spread out—in a photo taken by none other than Louis. People shared that Louis took the photo of his mother in Windsor earlier in 2025. Kate was diagnosed with cancer in early 2024, but announced this past January that she is in remission from the disease, four months after she announced in September that her cancer treatment had ended. As for Louis, the younger brother of Prince George and Princess Charlotte likely received gifts today—just as he did on Christmas Day from surely his family, but also the many well-wishers assembled to greet members of the royal family as they walked to church at St. Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham Estate grounds. Louis 'looked visibly excited' by the haul of gifts he received, including Christmas crackers, a box of Cadbury chocolates, bouquets of flowers, and an assortment of stuffed toys, The Daily Mail reported. When offered a Father Christmas headband, Louis happily accepted the gift and 'politely thanked the person who gifted it and returned to his father and siblings,' according to the outlet. The Daily Mail reported that Louis' hands were so full of presents that he 'appeared to struggle to keep hold of everything he received' and at one point turned to William and sweetly asked, 'Papa, can you carry some?' That wasn't his only sweet interaction on Christmas Day—elsewhere in the festivities, Newsweek reported that Louis told his mother Kate, 'We're looking out for each other.' On January 23 of this year, Louis was top of mind for William as he visited a school and was given three envelopes—one for George, one for Charlotte, and one for Louis. Per Hello!, each envelope contained a £10 note and details of a 'Smile Challenge,' where 'the aim was to use the money to make someone smile without handing them the cash,' according to the outlet. 'This one will be a good one for Louis—he needs a challenge,' William cheekily said in response to learning about the challenge. Read the original article on InStyle
