Electronic cigarettes, luxury condoms, a choice of Australian resort vacations and Canadian-made maple syrup — that's what Oscar nominees can expect to find in their swag bags Sunday night, a total of $47,000 US in freebies.
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Oscar swag the ultimate consolation prize
Categories: Celebrities
Tags: Academy Awards, Oscar swag bags
Canadian PEN is taking a page from the movie Calendar Girls by recruiting authors who have agreed to pose nude or nearly nude for a 2014 calendar. Judging by their dustjackets, most writers are camera shy, but today, PEN released a list of 12 who have agreed to bare all in the interest of Canadian literature.
25 billion songs downloaded on iTunes, and counting
Categories: Music
Tags: 25 billion downloads, Apple, digital music, itunes
On Wednesday, iTunes hit another milestone in digital music — 25 billion downloads since the online music store opened in April 2003. It took three years to sell the first billion songs, but only five years to reach five billion. Now, according to Apple, we buy 15,000 songs every minute.
CBC Music's Searchlight seeks best new artist
Categories: Music
Tags: CBC Music, contest, new artist, original music, Searchlight
Whether performing rock, hip hop or klezmer, aspiring musicians have a tough time getting heard in today's crowded landscape. Enter the latest initiative from our friends at CBC Music: Searchlight is billed as a hunt for Canada's best new artist - of any musical genre.
Considering Chris Brown and Rihanna
Categories: Celebrities, Music, Social Media
Tags: celebrity, Chris Brown, domestic abuse, image, relationship, Rihanna
Their relationship status may be unclear, but celebrity-watchers couldn't help but notice the very public appearances of singers Chris Brown and Rihanna together over the holiday break. After their high-profile case of domestic abuse, what does it mean when the two parties seem to be getting cozy again?
Girls, Gaga, Oz and Verdi: looking ahead to 2013
Categories: Art & Design, Books, Movies, Music, Television
Tags: 2013, arts and entertainment, lookahead
As a fresh new year begins, CBC Arts takes a glimpse at some arts and entertainment happenings about to unfold. Be they outstanding productions or cringe-inducing wrecks, these are just a few of the shows, books, albums, musicals, films and events we just can't wait to check out in 2013.
5 films to watch before the world ends
Categories: Movies
Tags: apocalypse, end of the world, movies
Even if you believe the Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world on Friday, you still have time to squeeze in a movie marathon to end all movie marathons. If you are planning to witness the end from the comfort of your home -- or from the safety of your bunker, as the case may be -- here are five movies to rock your world, courtesy of CBC arts reporter and film critic Eli Glasner.
With a new album, Live at River Plate, due to come out later this month, Australian rockers AC/DC have accepted that iTunes is the way to reach a young generation. One of the last classic rock groups to hold out against digital music, they announced Monday they would move their back catalogue onto iTunes. That leaves only country singer Garth Brooks to come into the iTunes fold.
South Park takes aim at Lance Armstrong
Categories: Television
Tags: Lance Armstrong, South Park, sports icons
South Park made its place in the TV universe by taking on American stereotypes and stripping away taboos. So it's no surprise that when a sports hero known for beating cancer is knocked from his perch over doping allegations, the animated satire takes the mickey out of him and out of our ridiculous reverence for sports icons.
Rush and the long road to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Categories: Music
Tags: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rush
It's no coincidence that Canadian band Rush is on the long list of potential inductees for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time this year, the first year fans get a vote in the process. Rush has long been snubbed by the influential group of music critics that nominates candidates for the Hall of Fame, but even they must know the Rock Hall risks its relevancy when it ignores a band with such a large and loyal fan base.
Jack White and the restless folks at Radio City
Categories: Music
Tags: Jack White, Radio City Music Hall
Jack White played just 12 songs at his Radio City Music Hall concert Saturday night before walking off the stage, leaving the Twitter-verse fuming. Never one to explain himself, White has not said a word about the incident. A restless audience meets an enigmatic artist and the result is...wait until the next show.
Five days after his release from a Syrian prison, filmmaker and artistic director Orwa Nyrabia has sent a thank you to artists and supporters around the world who called for his freedom. Nyrabia disappeared Aug. 23, as he prepared to board a plane to Egypt, but walked free last Wednesday after being held at an undisclosed location. His letter is an impassioned plea for freedom in his homeland.
A Malaysian writer has been shortlisted for this year's Booker Prize, celebrating the best in English-language books. Tan Twan Eng's inclusion signals a coming-of-age in literature for the country whose arts scene has been long overlooked.
7 films where the bike is king
Categories: Movies
In this car-centric world, we seldom get to see the bicycle showcased in movie story-telling. The release of Premium Rush, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a bike messenger making every move he shouldn't as he evades the bad guys, gives us the perfect excuse to look back at a host of films that provide the humble bicycle the attention it deserves.
Is Drake planning an Aaliyah album without her family's blessing?
Categories: Celebrities, Music, Social Media
Tags: Celebrities, Music, Social Media, Toronto
More than a decade after her death, Aaliyah's smooth voice reverberates throughout a freshly released track Enough Said, featuring Toronto rapper Drake. Although some love the collaboration, others are critical of Drake's involvement in what is potentially one song in a posthumous album.
Cultural Olympiad tries to dovetail with sport
Categories: Featured
Tags: 2012, Brixton, Cultural Olympiad, London Games, Olympics
The three pillars of the Olympic movement are sport, education and culture and Britain has put a lot of resources into a 12-week cultural festival in addition to the splashy opening and closing ceremonies. As Jordan Wade reports for CBC, the Cultural Olympiad plays second fiddle to the sports events, but also enhances the Olympic experience for visitors from around the world.
Memories of Maurice Sendak's Really Rosie
Categories: Books, Live Performance, Music, Television
Tags: Carole King, children, Maurice Sendak, musical, Really Rosie, song, stage
You know those songs, movies or stories that take you right back to being a kid? Those invoking the tastes, the feelings, the smells of that precise time and place in your life when you first heard, watched or read them? For arts producer Ilana Banks, it's Maurice Sendak and Carole King's musical Really Rosie that sparks that nostalgia.
Our reviewer Anna Asimakopulos was in the audience with high expectations for the debut of Cirque du Soleil's Amaluna in Montreal. Amazons, flying bats, a singing moon goddess, a charming Miranda and a juggling pet lizard enliven the heavily female production, but there are a few sloppy moments and some segments should be dropped altogether. Send out the clowns!
A trailer for the movie musical Sparkle was released Monday, giving us a glimpse of Whitney Houston's last project. The late singer plays the mother of Jordin Sparks, an aspiring singer in the 1960s who rises with a girl group similar to the Supremes. Sparkle will be released in August.
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About the Authors
Deana Sumanac (10)
CBC News arts reporter, lit lover and music geek.
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Archives »
- 2013 (24)
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February (8)
- Oscar swag the ultimate consolation prize
- Oscar predictions: the shoo-ins and the should-have-beens
- Authors bare all for PEN Canada
- Anoushka Shankar and the One Billion Rising campaign
- Beyoncé's Life Is But a Dream a curated peek behind the curtain
- Drake gets wild in the street over Grammy win
- 25 billion songs downloaded on iTunes, and counting
- CBC Music's Searchlight seeks best new artist
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January (16)
- 6 bone-crushing football films
- FILM REVIEW: Warm Bodies
- Justin Timberlake's musical comeback
- Argo moves to the fore in Oscar best picture race
- FILM REVIEW: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
- FILM REVIEW: Knife Fight
- FILM REVIEW: Parker
- Kroll Show parodies Degrassi with "Wheels, Ontario"
- FILM REVIEW: The Last Stand
- FILM REVIEW: Gangster Squad
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