English Entertainment
Grammy choices show innovation and thought
MUMBAI: The grim Grammys? Not quite so drastic but hot bods of pop Beyonce Knowles and Christina Aguilera, both big winners at this year’s Grammy, “demurely” attired during their acts certainly says something about the Jackson effect on pop music’s biggest night.
That of course does not take anything away from the 46th Grammy Awards which still managed to highlight an eclectic year of brazen recordings that took music to some great highs. In India the awards aired live this morning on Star World. Those who missed the action can catch a repeat at 8 pm this evening.
The awards were nicely divided showing that there was a great deal of deliberation that took place among the jury. Coldplay took the award for record of the year for Clocks, beating out Beyonce and Outkast. Frontman Chris Martin dedicated the trophy to the late Johnny Cash and presidential hopeful John Kerry. Album of the year went to OutKast for the genre-busting double CD Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. OutKast’s Andre 3000 didn’t have much to say except a “Thank you” which is probably the shortest acceptance speech in the events history. The song of the year trophy went to singer cum writer Luther Vandross for Dance With My Father.
Beyonce was a multiple winner picking up five awards including one for her contemporary R&B album Dangerously in Love. There was some positive news for Justin Timberlake. The singer who got mired in the Janet Jackson expose won two awards one of which was for male pop vocal for Cry Me a River. He shows a lot of class in the light of the controversy saying, ” “I know it’s been a rough week on everybody, What occurred was unintentional, completely regrettable, and I apologise if you guys are offended.”
The Jackson controversy was an undercurrent theme and affected the mood of the show which was fairly conservative and toned down. During the pre-show awards ceremony, Grammy-winning producer Pharrell Williams blamed the media for overhyping the incident. The sentiment was shared by alternative rocker Dave Matthews who said that the incident did not warrant so much attention. He was cited in the male rock vocal performance category for Gravedigger.
As far as tame acts go how was this from pop vixen Aguilera. Known for her album “Stripped” and its song “Dirrty,” Aguilera performed her tamer single “Beautiful” clad in a suit and tie. In a surprise, she didn’t rip it off to expose more skin.
Aguilera received a Grammy for female pop vocalist after she had changed into an extremely low-cut white dress, but she walked to the stage with her arms pressed demurely against her chest.
“I don’t want to have the same thing happen that Janet had done … if I can keep it together,” she said, holding the straps of her gown in place during her acceptance speech.
The camera stayed tight on her face and neck — zooming in close enough to avoid dwelling on her cleavage.
Beyonce was no less “demure” decked up in a blue shimmering ball gown in her final song rendition belting out a love ballad in a manner that would have done “her li’ll ole grandmammy proud”.
Hey, if music took centrestage for once, it can’t be all bad.
English Entertainment
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approve Paramount deal
Investors wave through a $111 billion megamerger but deliver a stinging, if toothless, rebuke over half-a-billion-dollar goodbye packages
NEW YORK: The shareholders said yes to the deal. They said no to the cheque. At a virtual special meeting on Thursday that lasted barely ten minutes, Warner Bros. Discovery investors voted overwhelmingly to approve Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion acquisition of the company — and then turned around and voted against the lavish exit pay packages lined up for chief executive David Zaslav and his fellow outgoing executives.
Not that it will make much difference. The compensation vote is purely advisory and non-binding. The Warner Bros. Discovery board can, and almost certainly will, pay out as planned.
But the symbolism stings. It is the second consecutive year that WBD shareholders have voted against the executive compensation packages, and this time they had good reason. Zaslav’s exit deal is, by any measure, extraordinary. Under the terms filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, he is set to receive $34.2 million in cash severance, $517.2 million in equity in the combined company, and $44,195 in continued health coverage — a total of at least $550 million. On top of that, Warner Bros. Discovery has agreed to reimburse Zaslav up to $335 million for taxes assessed by the Internal Revenue Service on his accelerated stock vesting, though the company says that figure will decline depending on when the deal closes. As of March 11, Zaslav also held $115.85 million in vested WBD stock awards — and last month sold a further $114 million worth of WBD shares.
Shareholder advisory firm ISS recommended voting against the compensation measure, citing “problematic” tax reimbursements to Zaslav and the full vesting of his stock awards.
Zaslav will be bound by a two-year non-competition covenant and a two-year non-solicitation of customers and employees after the deal closes.
His lieutenants are not walking away empty-handed either. J.B. Perrette, chief executive and president of global streaming and games, is in line for $142 million, comprising $18.2 million in cash severance and $123.9 million in equity. Bruce Campbell, chief revenue and strategy officer, will receive an estimated $121.5 million, including $18.8 million in severance and $102.7 million in equity. Chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels is set for $120 million, made up of $6.6 million in cash severance and $113.1 million in equity. Gerhard Zeiler, president of international, will get $82.6 million, including $11.9 million in severance and $70.7 million in equity.
The deal itself, clinched in February after Netflix declined to raise its bid for Warner Bros., still needs regulatory clearance from the Justice Department and European authorities. Several state attorneys general are also weighing legal action to block it.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, was unsparing. “The Paramount-Warner Bros. merger isn’t a done deal,” she said after the shareholder vote. “State attorneys general across the country are stepping up to stop this antitrust disaster. We need to keep up this fight.”
If it does go through, the combined entity would be a formidable beast, bringing together Paramount Skydance’s stable — CBS, CBS News, Paramount Pictures, Paramount+, BET, MTV and Nickelodeon — with WBD’s portfolio of HBO, Max, Warner Bros. film and TV studios, DC, CNN, TBS, TNT, HGTV and Discovery+. Paramount has said it expects $6 billion in cost savings from the merger, which is Wall Street shorthand for mass layoffs on a significant scale.
The ten-minute meeting was presided over by chairman Samuel Di Piazza Jr., with Zaslav, Campbell, Wiedenfels and chief communications officer Robert Gibbs in virtual attendance. Di Piazza was bullish. “We appreciate the support and confidence our stockholders have placed in us to unlock the full value of our world-class entertainment portfolio,” he said. “With Paramount, we look forward to creating an exceptional combined company that will expand consumer choice and benefit the global creative talent community.”
Zaslav echoed the sentiment. “Over the past four years, our teams have transformed Warner Bros. Discovery and returned the company to industry leadership,” he said. “Today’s stockholder approval is another key milestone toward completing this historic transaction that will deliver exceptional value to our stockholders.”
Paramount Skydance struck a similar note. “Shareholder approval marks another important milestone towards completing our acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery,” it said in a statement, adding that it looked forward to “closing the transaction in the coming months.”
The shareholders have spoken on the merger. On the pay, they were ignored before the vote was even counted.
