Latest news with #TheForum
Courier-Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Courier-Mail
‘Black-listed': Anastacia reveals the moment she realised she'd never achieve success in America
Don't miss out on the headlines from Music. Followed categories will be added to My News. Anastacia has one of the most recognisable voices in the music industry, but heartbreakingly an entire continent never got the chance to experience it. Breaking out in the early 2000s with iconic banger I'm Outta Love, Anastacia quickly became one of the biggest pop stars in the world and she's enjoyed success ever since, and will soon be bringing her sell out NTK25 tour down under. But one place the American's tour won't be visiting is North America, and it's all because record label politics meant that one of the biggest music industry markets on earth never got the chance to get to know Anastacia's vocal talents. 'I'm at that age where I'm fine with what I've got. My resume is beautiful and I'm proud of it,' the feisty singer told 'At the beginning, I felt like what's wrong with me, because I didn't know the reason why.' Anastacia. Picture: Jason Edwards As she prepared to go into the promotional tour for her second record, Anastacia finally realised the incredible success she was experiencing around the world was never going to happen in her home country. 'Then I kind of got an idea of what happened between the radio station and the record company, that it was like a power struggle thing,' she continued. 'And the radio stations made you. The record company made the radio station upset and I was the black-listed name.' 'So it wasn't that I was this rejected artist in America. It was like, they never actually knew me.' She'll be playing four shows later this year in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Picture:. While she was never given the chance to show off her talents in the US, thankfully the rest of the world immediately embraced her powerhouse vocals and ear for a banger. After performing to sell out crowds in Europe, Anastacia has announced that she's bringing her latest tour to Australia later this year. She'll be performing in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney in September, with just a handful of tickets left remaining for fans to snap up ahead of the shows. Anastacia's Not That Kind 25 tour starts at The Forum in Melbourne on September 24, before heading to the Coliseum Theatre in Western Sydney on September 26, the Sydney's Enmore Theatre on September 27, before a final show at Brisbane's Eatons Hill Hotel on September 29. Tickets are available here. Originally published as 'Black-listed': Anastacia reveals the moment she realised she'd never achieve success in America
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CEO Melissa Sobolik to leave Great Plains Food Bank
May 19—FARGO — The Great Plains Food Bank is starting a search for a new leader as CEO Melissa Sobolik announced she will be leaving the organization in July. In an email Monday, May 19, Sobolik announced she will be leaving the Great Plains Food Bank to be the CEO of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank in Providence. Sobolik's final day at the Great Plains Food Bank will be Friday, July 11. The Great Plains Food Bank is North Dakota's only food bank. It serves a network of 196 partners, like food pantries and shelters, in 100 communities across North Dakota and Clay County, Minnesota. In the email, Sobolik reflected on her work at the food bank. "Serving as the CEO and working at the Great Plains Food Bank for the past 18 years has been the honor of my life," she wrote. "I am immensely proud of the work we have done together to end hunger and nourish hope across North Dakota and beyond." Sobolik started at the Great Plains Food Bank in 2007, working with food bank members. In 2016, she started its Ending Hunger 2.0 program, which focuses on hunger prevention. She served as the president of the organization from 2019 to 2021, when she was named CEO. Sobolik is the organization's second CEO. Sobolik told The Forum she was not looking for a new job, but was approached about the opportunity at the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. "When I actually went out to Providence, I fell in love with the community, and really saw it as the next professional growth opportunity for myself," she said. Great Plains Food Bank Board of Directors Chair Jasper Schneider said Sobolik helped the stature of the organization and increased its reach. In the past five years, the food bank expanded to tribal areas in North Dakota and has increased the amount of food distributed to communities. "This has all been done in the backdrop of a pretty complicated last five years, right, when you look at a worldwide pandemic, global inflation, supply chain issues, workforce challenges," Schneider said. "Under Melissa's leadership, she's persevered through all of that." Sobolik said the most rewarding part of the job has been helping people. "Some of my proudest moments are getting to see the faces and the smiles of the people that you get to help, and hearing their stories and hearing them say 'thank you,' " she said. Another highlight of the job was a recent $5 million appropriation from the North Dakota Legislature, the largest financial gift in the food bank's history, Sobolik said. Great Plains Food Bank Chief Operating Officer Kate Molbert will serve as interim CEO as the nonprofit's board of directors searches for a new CEO, the email said. Sobolik is confident in her team's ability to continue working through the transition. "One of the things I've prided myself on is hiring people smarter than me, and so there's an amazing team to step in and do this job without me and keep the organization running and keeping people fed," she said. Schneider said the board plans to conduct a nationwide search for its next leader and is evaluating different firms to help guide that search.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Barack Obama coming to Connecticut this spring
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Former president Barack Obama is coming to Connecticut this spring to speak at The Connecticut Forum. The event, called An Evening with President Barack Obama, is part of a partnership with the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. Obama is anticipated to speak at The Bushnell Performing Arts Center on June 17 at 7:30 p.m. 'We are honored to host President Barack Obama at The Connecticut Forum,' Mana Zarinejad, executive director of The Connecticut Forum, said in a written statement. 'For more than three decades, The Forum has served a critical role in Connecticut – bringing people together to consider the great challenges and opportunities of our time through thoughtful discussions. In so doing, we hope to bridge the divides that exist between individuals and communities. We cannot think of a better bridgebuilder and leading global statesman to join the Forum stage than President Obama.' During the event, the former president will 'touch upon' his presidency and work with the Obama Foundation. He will also discuss his future outlook and current challenges. For ticket information and to learn more, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Age
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Amazing Gracie: Pop's new superstar kicks off her Australian tour
Not long before taking the stage for the first gig on her Australian tour, Gracie Abrams appears on my Zoom, frantically whirling around her Sydney hotel room like she's in a spin cycle. She's just after a power outlet for her laptop – 'My computer's at 2 per cent, and it's unacceptable,' she says – but as a visual metaphor for the pop star's past 12 months, the frenzied blur couldn't be more apt. The 25-year-old toured here last January with her debut album Good Riddance, performing at mid-size venues like Sydney's Hordern Pavilion and Melbourne's The Forum. On Friday, she returned as a megastar with a sold-out audience at Qudos Bank Arena hanging onto her every word. 'It's crazy because those rooms [on the Good Riddance tour] felt so big at the time,' says Abrams, dressed casually in a black hoodie, her trademark Jane-from- Daria bob in disarray. 'I can't believe any of these people know I exist, let alone spend their money to be here. To be playing these arenas, it's mind-blowing.' Since releasing her second album The Secret of Us last June, Abrams' profile has risen meteorically. Buoyed by hits Close To You and That's So True, a vicious kiss-off that shook the rafters as Friday's encore, the album has surpassed a billion streams and spent 45 weeks and counting near the top of ARIA's albums chart. 'It's just so f---ing bizarre,' Abrams laughs. 'I couldn't have ever anticipated this album doing what it's done. It feels like I've lived 10 lives in the past year.' Last year, Abrams supported Taylor Swift across 50 dates of Swift's record-breaking Eras Tour, where she clearly learnt how to handle her own ever expanding stages. At Friday's gig – dressed in a silver sequined gown, no shoes – her command was obvious, tilting between pained balladry, flirty dance-pop, and random chit-chat with fans who gifted her their own journals and scrapbooks. (Unlike other stan groups, Abrams' haven't yet settled on their own collective noun; Redditors keep trying to make 'Gracelanders' happen.)
Sydney Morning Herald
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Amazing Gracie: pop's new superstar kicks off her tour
Not long before taking the stage for the first gig on her Australian tour, Gracie Abrams appears on my Zoom, frantically whirling around her Sydney hotel room like she's in a spin cycle. She's just after a power outlet for her laptop – 'My computer's at two per cent, and it's unacceptable,' she says – but as a visual metaphor for the pop star's past 12 months, the frenzied blur couldn't be more apt. The 25-year-old toured here last January with her debut album Good Riddance, performing at mid-size venues like Sydney's Hordern Pavilion and Melbourne's The Forum. On Friday, she returned as a megastar with a sold-out audience at Qudos Bank Arena hanging onto her every word. 'It's crazy because those rooms [on the Good Riddance tour] felt so big at the time,' says Abrams, dressed casually in a black hoodie, her trademark Jane-from- Daria bob in disarray. 'I can't believe any of these people know I exist, let alone spend their money to be here. To be playing these arenas, it's mind-blowing.' Since releasing her second album The Secret of Us last June, Abrams' profile has risen meteorically. Buoyed by hits Close To You and That's So True, a vicious kiss-off that shook the rafters as Friday's encore, the album has surpassed a billion streams and spent 45 weeks and counting near the top of ARIA's albums chart. 'It's just so f---ing bizarre,' Abrams laughs. 'I couldn't have ever anticipated this album doing what it's done. It feels like I've lived 10 lives in the past year.' Last year, Abrams supported Taylor Swift across 50-dates of Swift's record-breaking Eras Tour, where she clearly learned how to handle her own ever expanding stages. At Friday's gig – dressed in a silver sequined gown, no shoes – her command was obvious, tilting between pained balladry, flirty dance-pop, and random chit-chat with fans who gifted her their own journals and scrapbooks. (Unlike other stan groups, Abrams' haven't yet settled on their own collective noun; Redditors keep trying to make 'Gracelanders' happen).
