Despite criticism, civil rights road-trip drama ‘Green Book’ has been named best picture at this year’s Academy Awards in Los Angeles. German nominees went home empty-handed.

Hollywood’s biggest stars converged on the red carpet Sunday for the 91st Academy Awards, with the 7,900-odd voting Academy members faced with a broad array of choices. In a night where no single movie was favored to win, the civil rights drama “Green Book” came out on top. 

“We made this movie with love, tenderness and respect,” producer and director Peter Farrelly said, standing with the cast on the Dolby Theatre stage in Los Angeles. The film tells the story of a friendship between a black musician and his white driver and at its core, Farrelly said, it was “about loving each other despite our differences.”  

For the first time in three decades, no one hosted the Oscars this year. The Academy took the risk after comedian Kevin Hart withdrew from the gig amid controversy over past tweets that were slammed as homophobic. 

In the absence of a host, the show balanced itself on a flow of actors and personalities, which included tennis star Serena Williams, veteran actors like Helen Mirren and Julia Roberts, singers Bette Midler and Barbra Streisand, Congressman John Lewis and comedian Trevor Noah, among many others.

Best leading role

The top awards for acting went to Olivia Colman and Remi Malek. Though Glenn Close had been considered the favorite to win for “The Wife,” Colman took home the Oscar for her performance in “The Favourite.” The award was the biggest surprise of the night, shocking even Colman herself, who jokingly said she hoped her children were watching because “this is not going to happen again.”

Malek earned his first Oscar for his performance as the legendary singer Freddy Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Malek was the favorite for the top nod, following trophies at the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild and British BAFTA awards for the role.

The 37-year-old actor dedicated his win to all young people struggling to find their identity, emphasizing his story as a first-generation American, born to Egyptian parents, and the character he portrayed in the film who was gay and a son of immigrants.

Regina King won the first Oscar of her career

“To be standing here, representing one of the greatest artists of our time, James Baldwin, it’s a little surreal,” King said of the American writer whose novel the movie was based on.

Ali took home his second Oscar, having also won for his supporting role in “Moonlight” in 2017. This year, Ali was awarded for his performance in the interracial road-trip drama “Green Book.”

Best foreign-language film: “Roma”

Director Alfonso Cuaron’s black-and-white cinematic remembrance of his childhood in Mexico, “Roma,” took away the Oscar in the foreign-language category, in a field that included films from Poland, Lebanon, Japan and Germany (“Werk ohne Autor”/”Never Look Away”).

Actors Angela Bassett and Javier Bardem presented the award, with Bardem speaking entirely in Spanish, his native tongue. 

On receiving the Oscar, the Mexican director reflected on the impact that “foreign-language films” in English and French had on his career and work. Cuaron also picked up top honors in directing and cinematography for the film. 

By Daniel Arkin

Anything could happen at the Oscars. It just snowed in Los Angeles, after all.

Hollywood, coming off the rockiest and most blunder-prone awards season in recent memory, heads into the 91st Academy Awards on Sunday night (8 p.m. ET on ABC) without a best picture frontrunner and without a host.

The producers of the telecast have insisted everything is in “very good shape.” But the stakes are high and the pressure is on. The film academy, rattled after last year’s record-low ratings, needs to draw a bigger audience to stay relevant in an increasingly fractured media landscape.

In these final hours before the big show, here’s a guide to some of the key storylines that might give shape to the most unpredictable Oscars in years. (We’ll have live coverage throughout the night, so stick around.)

‘The Favourite,’ but no favorite

The fight for best picture is usually a two- or three-way race. But this year, all eight nominees for the top prize are in the mix. Variety has said we’re in “uncharted territory.”

Oscar oddsmakers favor Alfonso Cuarón’s black-and-white drama “Roma” and Peter Farrelly’s road trip comedy “Green Book.” And yet Spike Lee’s docudrama “BlacKkKlansman,” a fiery commentary on race in America, and Ryan Coogler’s superhero smash “Black Panther,” the big winner at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, ride into the show with late-breaking momentum.

Celebrations on the Feast of Saint Sarkis the Captain started at St. Sarkis Church in capital Yerevan today. Divine Liturgy was offered in the church, a special ceremony of blessing of young people for St. Sarkis the Captain and his 14 soldiers-companions who were martyred for the sake of Christian faith.

Following the Liturgy, the members of the Araratian Patriarchal Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, students of military and police academies marched through Mashtots and Baghramyan avenues. The participants gathered in the Park of Lovers where a festive concert is planned.

In Armenia it is accepted to celebrate the Feast of St. Sarkis not only according to church rites and prayer, but also according to various folk traditions. St. Sarkis the Captain is considered the patron of youth. Many miracles happen thanks to his intercession. On the day of the feast, young people pray the saint asking him to make their prayers audible to God. St. Sarkis is the realizer of the love longings.

• The Winter at Tantora festival runs until February 23
• The cultural festival is the first event of its kind to be held at the UNESCO World Heritage Site

JEDDAH: Greek musician Yanni is returning to Saudi Arabia for a concert at the Winter at Tantora festival, where he will perform to a sold-out crowd on Friday in the dramatic surroundings of Al-Ula.

He has a devoted following in the Kingdom, featuring in the country’s first-ever live gigs with shows in Riyadh and Jeddah in Dec. 2017.

The musician has been tweeting images from Al-Ula, which is 300 km north of Madinah city, including videos of the concert venue and his camp.

He tweeted fans on Sunday, telling them he would keep them updated about his trip and share details with them. 

He thanked Saudi fans for welcoming him back to their country and raved about the natural scenery.

“The desert, the stars, the landscape and the lit monuments is something amazing! It is the first time in my life that I have experienced this type of immense beauty!” he tweeted.

Winter at Tantora runs until Feb. 23.

It has so far included Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli and a virtual performance from the late Egyptian entertainer Umm Kulthum.

Iraqi musicians Ilham Al-Madfai and Kazem Al-Saher perform on Feb. 15. 

There are shows from Bahrain’s Rashed Al-Majid and Iraqi artist Majed Al-Mohandes on Feb. 23, when there will also be a ceremony to honor Kuwait’s Abdul Karim Abdul Qader.

The cultural festival is the first event of its kind to be held at the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The leaderships of Google, Amazon and Facebook are going to participate in the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) which will be held in Armenia on October 6-9, 2019, Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan said during the conference on “Digital Agenda in the Globalization Era: Eurasian Innovative Ecosystem”, Sputnik Kazakhstan reports.

The Deputy PM is participating in the session of the Eurasian Inter-governmental council in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

“I want to invite all those who have a desire to this major event: the World Congress on IT will take place in Yerevan from October 6 to 9. The executives of Google, Amazon, Facebook and other companies will attend the Congress. That will be an interesting platform for our regular meeting”, he said.

An Engineering Town will also be built in Yerevan which will be ready in February 2020.

The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) is the largest and the most reputable international event among worldwide IT leaders.

It brings together high-level officials from different countries, heads of multinational organizations, universities and scientific research centers, non-governmental organizations’ representatives and many more.

The event includes discussions of legal, political and economic trends affecting IT business processes, presentations of innovative solutions, B2B meetings and so on.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

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Reserve a Table

Maria Elena Infantino

Cover: $25 // Show: 7:30pm

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Maria Elena will be presenting her new song for this show. Her father was the world renowned Opera singer Luigi Infantino, and she will be releasing a remixed duet with him with a modern twist, made possible by DJ Riccardo de Benedetto.

Maria Elena Infantino is an international singer and actress who graduated  from ALRA (Academy of live and recorded arts )in London. Her first job was , singing at the Royal Albert hall ( London) in front of 5.250 people , for the 50th Beatles Anniversary along with Dame Shirley Bassey. 

In 2011 she was nominated as best international singer for the LA Music Awards . 

She subsequently created her one woman show on legendary French icon Edith Piaf , which toured in Europe and USA. She was invited to inaugurate the Miles Davis and Piaf forever stamp with the USPS postal services , at the Rubin museum in NYC.

That experience led her to perform for legendary Mike Stoller’s 80th anniversary star studded celebration at the 92Y off broadway , along with Ben E KingTommy Tune , and the Coasters , just to name a few. 

Her most recent credits include :

-Singing in Rome at the Vatican Tribunal, with Maestro Andrea Morricone.
-CBS studios LA. 
– 3 films as associate producer and actress, one of which along with Eric Roberts.

Website: http://www.mariaelenainfantino.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maria-Elena-Infantino-FAN-CLUB/277896822271825
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3495695/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t10

Bohemian Rhapsody, the biopic about British rock band Queen and its frontman Freddie Mercury, has won the Golden Globe for best film drama. The motion picture beat out favorite A Star is Born.

Bohemian Rhapsody pulled off a major upset at the 76th annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, taking home two top prizes — best drama film and best actor for Rami Malek.

The film won over early favorite A Star Is Born, starring Lady Gaga, superhero smash hit Black Panther, Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman and If Beale Street Could Talk. Sunday’s winners are seen as a predictor to which films will win the all-important Academy Awards (Oscars) on February 24.

The awards were hosted by actors Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg, who opened the ceremony with a comedy skit. During her routine, Oh made fun of white actors performing Asian roles.

“Crazy Rich Asians is the first studio film with an Asian American lead since Ghost in the Shell and Aloha,” Oh joked. An unscripted “I’m sorry” from fellow actress Emma Stone, who was the lead in Aloha, had the audience laughing and Oh looking relieved.

Sandra Oh won an award herself, snatching best actress in a TV drama for “Killing Eve,” and in a moving speech, thanked her parents in Korean. The win was the third Golden Globe in her career.

Malik: ‘I tried to find the humanity in him’

The best actor win was the first Golden Globe for Rami Malek, who had been twice nominated for his role on the television drama “Mr. Robot.”

Malik thanked Queen band members Brian May and Roger Taylor, as well as Freddy Mercury for providing the role of a lifetime. “I tried to find the humanity in him,” Malik said.

“I related it to him being an immigrant struggling to discover his identity. I tried to take everything he was struggling with, his complication, his chaos, his turmoil and this beauty inside of him. He lifted me up to be everything I could be in this film,” the 37-year-old said.

Glenn Close encourages women to dream

Veteran actress Glenn Close won the Golden Globe for her role in The Wife, beating the favorite Lady Gaga for her role in A Star is Born. 

Close was pleasantly shocked hearing her name called out and expressed her gratitude on stage with an emotional speech about female empowerment. She said the film role and the moment made her think of her mother.