After a movie year often light on crowds, the Academy Awards named an unabashed crowd-pleaser, the deaf family drama “CODA,” best picture Sunday, handing Hollywood’s top award to a streaming service for the first time. The feel-good moment came after one of the most shocking moments in Oscars history: Will Smith slapped Chris Rock onstage…
Deaf Actor Kotsur Makes Oscars History, Debose Wins Supporting Actress
Troy Kotsur made history on Sunday as the first deaf man to win an Oscar for his role in “CODA,” and Ariana DeBose took the supporting actress trophy for “West Side Story” as Hollywood returned to all-out glitz at this year’s Academy Awards. In “CODA,” an acronym for “child of deaf adults,” Kotsur played Frank…
Ukrainian Students Overseas Fret About Relatives, the Future
At a boarding school in the Rocky Mountains, a group of Eastern European teenagers made crepes to raise money for the millions of people whose lives have been uprooted by Russia’s war on Ukraine. The students, studying at a pine-dotted campus in northern New Mexico, worry from a world away about their relatives in the…
Oscars Set for Return to Normal, Except All the Changes
For the first time in two years, the Academy Awards are rolling out the red carpet at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre for what the film academy hopes will be a back-to-normal Oscars. Except for all the stuff that’s changed. The telecast for the 94th Academy Awards will begin, as usual, at 8 p.m. EDT on…
Drugs Found in Taylor Hawkins System; Investigation Continues
Taylor Hawkins, for 25 years the drummer for Foo Fighters and best friend of frontman Dave Grohl, has died during a South American tour with the rock band. He was 50. There were few immediate details on how Hawkins died, although the band said in a statement Friday that his death was a “tragic and…
Foo Fighters Drummer Taylor Hawkins Dead at 50
Taylor Hawkins, for 25 years the drummer for Foo Fighters and best friend of frontman Dave Grohl, has died during a South American tour with the rock band. He was 50. There were no immediate details on how Hawkins died, although the band said in a statement Friday that his death was “tragic and untimely…
‘CODA,’ ‘Audible’ Spread Awareness of Deaf Culture
Two films, CODA and Audible, have received multiple Oscar nominations. Whether they will nab the coveted statuettes remains to be seen, but their real victory is that both have made the hearing world more aware of Deaf culture. VOA’s Penelope Poulou spoke with Audible filmmaker Matthew Ogens, Audible executive producer Nyle Dimarco, and faculty members…
Oscar Preview: 5 Big Questions Ahead of Sunday’s Awards
The Academy Awards have always loved a comeback story. This year, the Oscars are attempting to star in one, too. On Sunday, the Academy Awards will try to bounce back from a 2021 ceremony that was plagued by pandemic restrictions, a botched ending and record-low ratings. The 94th Academy Awards will return to their usual…
Beyoncé, Billie Eilish to Sing Nominated Songs at Oscars
Beyoncé, Billie Eilish and other nominees for best original song will perform at Sunday’s Oscars, the show’s producers announced Tuesday. Beyoncé will perform her nominated song “Be Alive” from “King Richard,” and Eilish and her brother and co-writer Finneas will perform “No Time To Die” from the James Bond film of the same name. Sebastián…
Russian, Belarusian Swimmers Banned from World Championships
Russian and Belarusian swimmers, divers, water polo players and artistic swimmers will no longer be able to compete in the upcoming world championships over the war in Ukraine, swimming’s governing body announced Wednesday. Soon after the invasion, swimming’s governing body, FINA, said it would allow the swimmers to compete, but as neutral athletes who didn’t…
Rachel Zegler Invited to Present at Oscars, Report Says
“West Side Story” star Rachel Zegler may get her Oscars moment after all. The 20-year-old actor has been invited to be a presenter at the ceremony, according to a report in The Hollywood Reporter. The gesture came two days after Zegler, who plays Maria, posted on social media that she had not been invited to…
Surprise Hit ‘Flee’ Tells Human Story of Refugees
An Oscar-nominated Danish documentary chronicling a gay Afghan refugee’s perilous journey to Europe tries to show that being a refugee is what happens to you, not who you are, its director told AFP. “Flee,” an animated film which is up for three Academy Awards, is in the spotlight ahead of Sunday’s Oscars ceremony as the…
Nicaraguan Entrepreneur in LA Joins Aid Effort for Ukraine
As the war unfolds in Ukraine, the owner of Amazing Piñatas in Los Angeles, has found a creative way to help Ukrainian refugees. Originally from Nicaragua, Lorena Robletto tells VOA’s Verónica Villafañe why she wants to help. …
Paris Olympics Sets $26 Rate For 1 Million Tickets
One million tickets for the 2024 Paris Olympics will be sold for $26.50 (24 euros) each with availability for all 32 sports, organizers said Monday. The Paris proposal to the International Olympic Committee sets the basic price lower than that of the 2012 London Olympics, where the tickets cost more than $31. “This is something…
Everything You Need to Know About the 2022 Oscars
Final preparations are underway for the 94th Academy Awards and a long awaited return to Hollywood’s glamorous normalcy after a muted ceremony and ratings low last year. Here’s everything you need to know about the 2022 Oscars, including where to watch the live show, who’s expected to win and what the big controversies are this…
Campus Ministries Soothe, Rally Students Shaken Over Ukraine
Entering Yale University’s St. Thomas More Catholic Chapel, Oksana Goroshchuk spotted sunflowers adorning a candlelit altar and thought of the fields full of her country’s national blossom near her grandmother’s home in Ukraine. A mezzo-soprano launched into a traditional folk tune that Goroshchuk used to sing growing up, and the postdoctoral medical researcher broke down…
Iditarod Ends as Last Musher Crosses the Finish Line in Nome
The last musher has arrived in Nome, ending the 50th running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race across Alaska. Musher Apayauq Reitan of Kaktovik, Alaska, crossed the finish late Saturday night, winning the Red Lantern award and $1,000 for being the final sled dog team to reach the Bering Sea coastal community on Alaska’s…
‘CODA’ Gains Oscar Momentum With Top Prize at PGA Awards
“CODA” won the top prize at Saturday night’s Producers Guild Awards, giving momentum to the possibility that the small film could have a big night at next week’s Oscars. The story of three adult family members who are deaf and a fourth who is not and seeks a singing career beat out bigger contenders including…
‘The Batman,’ Still No. 1, Crosses $300 Million
“The Batman” is still going strong three weeks into its theatrical run, with a tight grip on the top spot at the box office. Robert Pattinson’s debut as the Dark Knight earned an additional $36.8 million over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. It also slid past the $300 million mark ahead of projections.…
During Pandemic, Sisters Open Denver’s First Vietnamese Coffee Shop
With many small businesses failing during the economic downturn of coronavirus lockdowns, three sisters in the U.S. state of Colorado chose the pandemic to open Denver’s first Vietnamese coffee shop. VOA’s Scott Stearns went to their café to hear their story. …
Ballet Greats Unite For London Ukraine Benefit Gala
World-famous ballet dancers from Russia and Ukraine, Argentina, Cuba, France and Japan come together Saturday for a gala to raise funds for Ukraine and send a message of peace. “We as artists have talent and we need to use this talent to say what we believe in,” Ukraine’s Ivan Putrov, co-organizer of the event to…
Finland Crowned World’s Happiest Nation for Fifth Year
Finland has been named the world’s happiest country for the fifth year running, in an annual U.N.-sponsored index that again ranked Afghanistan as the unhappiest, followed closely by Lebanon. Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania recorded the biggest boosts in wellbeing. The largest falls in the World Happiness table, released on Friday, came in Lebanon, Venezuela and…
Arnold Schwarzenegger Tells Putin in Video: Stop This War
Film icon Arnold Schwarzenegger told Russians in a video posted on social media Thursday they’re being lied to about the war in Ukraine and accused President Vladimir Putin of sacrificing Russian soldiers’ lives for his own ambitions. Schwarzenegger is hugely popular in Russia, and apparently also with Putin. The President of Russia Twitter account follows…
St. Patrick’s Day Parades in US Turn Pandemic Blues Irish Green
St. Patrick’s Day celebrations across the country are back after a two-year hiatus, including the nation’s largest in New York City, in a sign of growing hope that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic may be over. The holiday served as a key marker in the outbreak’s progression, with parades celebrating Irish heritage among the…
Burkina Faso-born Kere First African to Win Pritzker Architecture Prize
The Pritzker Prize, architecture’s most prestigious award, was awarded Tuesday to Burkina Faso-born architect Diebedo Francis Kere, the first African to win the honor in its more than 40-year history. Kere, 56, was hailed for his “pioneering” designs that are “sustainable to the earth and its inhabitants — in lands of extreme scarcity,” said Tom…
Gangster Film ‘The Outfit’ Resonates With Today’s Grim Realities
“The Outfit,” a film noir by Academy Award winning writer Graham Moore, tells a fictional story of an expert tailor who finds himself caught up in a turf war among dangerous gangsters in 1950s Chicago. Moore, who won an Oscar for the film drama “The Imitation Game,” spoke to VOA’s Penelope Poulou about his interest…
Musher Brent Sass Wins His 1st Iditarod Race Across Alaska
Musher Brent Sass won the arduous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across Alaska on Tuesday as his team of 11 dogs dashed off the Bering Sea ice through a crowd of fans in downtown Nome. Sass mushed down Front Street and across the finish line just before 6 a.m. “It’s awesome, it’s a dream come…
In Ukraine, Female War Reporters Build on Legacy of Pioneers
Clarissa Ward interrupted her live TV report on Ukrainian refugees to help a distraught older man, then a woman, down a steep and explosion-mangled path, gently urging them on in their language. A day later, Lynsey Addario, a photographer for The New York Times, captured a grim image of a Russian mortar attack’s immediate outcome:…