Author: JD
Tiesto, Steve Aoki & David Guetta Reveal Their “EDM Mission”
Tiesto, Steve Aoki and David Guetta are arguably the most iconic names in mainstream EDM. Their appeal to the commercialized demographic has allowed them to take their sounds to a massive audience that has not been achieved by more focused and niche DJs. One could say that these artists are the entry point into EDM, bringing new fans to the genre before they later diversify into more refined taste. CNN sat down with these artist to talk to them about their “EDM Mission” and what got them into the genre. All 3 DJs played a role in the scene at the end of the “Disco Era” when modern dance music was just being born. When Disco died, clubs and venues were desperately searching for music to dance to, which saw the rise of the modern DJ. “Back then, we had special stations who played our music, but never on national radio” says Tiesto. “It was all underground” After the revolution had begun, the rest was history. The scene exploded in Europe ushering in a new era of dance music which say the scene switch from live performances to DJs. As the scene was growing, David Guetta saw it take shape with all the right ingredients for a healthy movement: “What I love about EDM is that the values are all positive.” David Guetta explains. “Its not just about the music, but also the experience” The video goes on to describe in depth the three DJs’ involvement in creating a global movement. CNN does not allow for embed videos, but you can watch the video here: Guetta, Tiesto, Aoki: Our EDM Mission Photo Credit: Rukes
Dish Network finally launches Sling TV, its $20/month streaming TV service
Satellite TV company Dish Network today debuted its long-awaited online TV service called Sling TV, which allows you to get a linear TV experience without the television set. Dish first laid out its plans for an over-the-top (OTT) online TV service over a year ago, and spent the bulk of that time negotiating licensing contracts with major broadcast and cable TV networks. Sling TV will cost $20 per month and will offer subscribers access to a video stream that’s identical to the linear broadcast you’d get from a cable TV provider. Sling TV isn’t giving you access to the full lineup of channels offered on its satellite TV service, but there is a decent crop of networks people actually care about, like ESPN, ESPN2, Food Network, Travel Channel, CNN, Cartoon Network, HGTV, ABC Family, TBS, and TNT. The company said it plans to offer additional networks for an added monthly fee further down the road. This is an exciting move for the TV industry because it could theoretically force cable providers to make it easier to access relatively new on-demand TV content on a variety of devices. Of course, big cable providers like TWC and Comcast will say that this is already possible, but in my experience it’s such a pain in the ass to get it working that it’s usually not worth the effort. (TWC in particular gives you on-demand streaming on a variety of devices, but you have to be using your home Wi-Fi connection from an approved or TWC-issued router.) But while Sling TV is cool, there are a few setbacks that might annoy consumers, such as not being able to watch more than one concurrent stream at a time, as Re/codepoints out. I doubt Sling TV will usher in the end of the cable channel “bundles,” but it’s definitely a good first step. Via Re/code
Miami Gets Marriage Equality Before The Rest Of Florida After Zabel Lifts Stay
Today Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Sarah Zabel has lifted a stay on her decision to invalidate Florida’s prohibition of gay marriage. The decision, in a case called Pareto v Ruvin, means Miami-Dade County is the first place in the state to have marriage equality. The first marriage will likely take place at 1:30 p.m. today. Among the plaintiffs are Vanessa and Melanie Alenier, who were overjoyed that they would be allowed to apply for their marriage license today. “I feel amazing!” Said Vanessa. “I can’t wait I apply right now with Melanie! We get to apply for a marriage license today, that is the most amazing thing!” When Riptide spoke with them, the two were on their way to the clerk’s office, where they and the other co-plaintiffs wil apply for licenses. “I’m so excited we’re going to be married!” said Melanie. Row lliescu from Equality Florida was also delighted by Zabel’s decision. “I’m elated, said lliescu. “There’s so much pent-up emotion coming out in streams. Florida, other organizations and these couples had waited so long for same-sex marriage to come to the state! This is the best way to start the year!” Todd and Jeff Delmay will be married today by Zabel herself. “There are no words right now except elation, said Todd. ” I feel like I’m floating,” said Jeff, holding Todd’s hand as the pair headed to the clerk’s office. Gay marriage will be allowed in most of the rest of Florida at midnight tonight, though some North Florida counties have ceased marrying people to sidestep the controversy. U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle of Tallahassee declared the state ban unconstitutional in August, but stayed his decision through today. Both the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to extend the stay. Zabel was the second state judge — after a Florida Keys magistrate — to declare the the 2008 amendment to Florida’s Constitution invalid. Two more judges, in Broward and Palm Beach, joined them. Zabel ruled in favor of six same-sex couples and Equality Florida Institute. They sued last Jan. 21. Other plaintiffs included Jorge Isaias Diaz and Don Price Johnston of Miami; Dr. Juan Carlos Rodriguez and David Price of Davie; Vanessa and Melanie Alenier of Hollywood; Todd and Jeff Delmay of Hollywood; Summer Greene and Pamela Faerber of Plantation.
Keshia Knight Pulliam Fired From Celebrity Apprentice for Not Talking to Bill Cosby
DAMN !! By Abraham Riesman Keshia Knight Pulliam — best known for her role as adorable little Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show — just made her debut as a contestant on reality-TV toxic-waste barge The Celebrity Apprentice … and hoo boy, did things get uncomfortable when Bill Cosby came up as a topic. The season premiere was filmed about a year ago, months before mounting rape allegations irrevocably ruined Cosby’s reputation. So when the cast found out they needed to contact rich friends in order to raise money for a bake sale, it’s understandable that Pulliam’s teammates leaned on her to call up her (as-of-then-relatively-untarnished) former TV dad. Pulliam (who was her team’s project manager) awkwardly declined, cryptically saying she opted instead to reach out to “people I felt can deliver the quickest.” Cosby went unmentioned for much of the rest of the episode. Then came the boardroom. The two teams were summoned to appear before Donald Trump and co-judges Ivanka Trump and Piers Morgan. Pulliam’s team had come up short in their fund-raising, and her teammates took aim at her. What followed was an excruciating three minutes for anyone even vaguely aware of the Cosby rape scandal. The Trumps, Morgan, and Pulliam’s team took her to task for not calling Bill Cosby and asking him for money. “Did you call Bill?” the elder Trump asked her. “I did not,” Pulliam said, crying. “I have not talked to Bill Cosby on the phone in I don’t know how long. So for me to pick up the phone, having not talked to you for five years, except for when we run into each other for a Cosby event — I feel that’s not my place to do.” That defense wasn’t good enough for Trump, who went on to fire her, specifically because she refused to call Cosby. “I really believe, if you’d called that gentleman, he would’ve helped you, even if you hadn’t spoken to him in years,” Trump said, “because you were an amazing team with one of the most successful shows ever. So I think it would’ve been a very good call to make for charity. But you have to take responsibility. I think you agree with that.” What’s truly baffling here is why the show’s producers didn’t edit this stuff out, trim it down, or make some kind of statement about it beforehand. Sure, Cosby wasn’t a big topic a year ago, but he’s easily one of the most loathed celebrities in America right now. In light of everything we’ve heard in the past few months, it’s kind of insane to have an extended sequence where a female acquaintance of Bill Cosby gets fired from a job because she didn’t beg Cosby to help her get ahead.
Joey Bada$$ Charged With Assault Following Altercation In Australia
Joey Bada$$ was charged with assault this weekend following an altercation at the Falls Music and Arts Festival near Byron Bay, Australia that allegedly left a security guard with a broken nose. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Brooklyn rapper, born Jo-Vaughn Jalani Virginie, was getting ready to hit the stage for a performance before he was approached by the guard around 8:30 p.m. Bada$$ allegedly retaliated after he was provoked by the guard. “A 20-year-old man was allegedly punched in the face by a man while working as a security guard at the festival,” stated a Byron Bay Police spokeswoman to Sydney Morning Herald. “The man was treated for a broken nose and other facial injuries.” The Pro Era leader was arrested by Byron Bay Police after his performance and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Bada$$ was bailed after a court appearance on Saturday (January 3) and is scheduled to appear at Byron Bay Local Court on March 19. The “Curry Chicken” rapper’s debut B4.DA.$$ is still scheduled for a January 20 release.
NFL drama: Dallas Cowboys’ wild win feeds conspiracy theorists
I DONT THINK I HAVE EVER SEEN A FOOTBALL TEAM, MORE HATED THAN THE COWBOYS,SMH Mix the NFL playoffs’ Wild Card round, America’s most divisive team and an epic botch job by game officials. What do you get? Sunday night’s, um, eventful Dallas Cowboys win over the Detroit Lions, replete with a heaping side dish of outraged, the-fix-was-in conspiracy cries. SEE ALSO: Stuart Scott: Cool as the other side of the pillow During the fourth quarter of the Cowboys vs. Lions NFC Wild Card game, Dallas linebacker Anthony Hitchens appeared to interfere with Detroit tight end Brandon Pettigrew on a third-down pass play intended for Pettigrew. A flag was thrown and the game’s referee announced a pass-interference penalty. The Lions, up 20-17 with eight minutes to play, would have gained a critical first down while looking to all but put the game away with a touchdown drive. Here’s a screenshot from the play: Seemed simple enough. But wait! Seconds later, the referee picked up the flag and the apparent penalty was not enforced. No one knew why and no explanation was immediately offered by the NFL or game officials. During the confusion, Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant ran from the sideline onto the field to protest the call — which should have been a personal foul penalty. Officials miss calls all the time — ragging on referees is a favorite pastime of NFL fans — but this? This was super weird. To have a call made, then mysteriously ignored — as opposed to simply missed in the first place — mystified longtime NFL players, coaches and observers: Instead of continuing on their potential scoring drive, the Lions were forced to punt. Dallas would go on to win the game 24-20. Detroit blew its lead for a variety of reasons, including plenty of mistakes of their own, but the “wait, never mind” pass interference non-call was the game’s pivotal moment. Former NFL officials were baffled: Even Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin was angry! He wrote on his personal LiveJournal blog (yes, he has a personal LiveJournal blog) that “If I was a Detroit Lions fan, I’d be screaming for referee blood about that.” After the Cowboys sealed the deal, this tweet from the NFL’s official account seemed to beg for bitter responses: The game’s ultimate result sets up a playoff matchup next week between the Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers — arguably the NFL’s two most iconic franchises clashing in a game that’s sure to draw monstrous ratings. Was the fix actually in? Cowboys owner Jerry Jones talks to star running back DeMarco Murray before Sunday’s game. IMAGE: BRANDON WADE/ASSOCIATED PRESS The #fix hashtag was full of venom toward the NFL after the controversial play, but an actual fixed result is a heady, heady charge that would need much, much more supporting evidence for anyone to come anywhere near proving. Of course, it’s already a problem that NFL referees are held in such low regard, so much so that a suggestion of a tampered result can gain traction. The moment was, in every way, awful for the league. It’s also worth mentioning that the past few months plagued by domestic violence scandals have done anything but give the NFL an appearance of transparency and credibility. Here’s how referee Pete Morelli explained the sequence of events after the game: “The back judge flew his flag for pass interference. We got other information from another official from a different angle that thought the contact was minimal and didn’t warrant pass interference. He thought it was face-guarding.” Face-guarding is a penalty in college football, but not in the NFL. In the NFL, penalty calls are not reviewable. Now, for the truly conspiracy-minded, there is a juicy little nugget from this past August: Executives from around the NFL were peeved when footage emerged appearing to show Dean Blandino, the NFL’s head of officiating, carousing with several women and the son of Dallas owner Jerry Jones aboard a bus adorned with the Cowboys’ logo. As one amateur detective once said:
ESPN Anchor Stuart Scott Has Died
ESPN anchor Stuart Scott has passed away at the age of 49. Here’s the statement from ESPN. Stuart Scott, a dedicated family man and one of ESPN’s signature SportsCenter anchors, has died after a courageous and inspiring battle with cancer. He was 49. Scott is survived by his two daughters, Taelor, 19, and Sydni, 15; his parents, O. Ray and Jacqueline Scott; and his three siblings Stephen Scott, Synthia Kearney, Susan Scott and their families. His girlfriend, Kristin Spodobalski, was with Stuart and cared for him every step of the way and along with support from his loving family, close friends and colleagues, he went through several surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation and clinical trials to stay strong and ward off cancer for as long as humanly possible. “ESPN and everyone in the sports world have lost a true friend and a uniquely inspirational figure in Stuart Scott,” said ESPN president John Skipper. “Who engages in mixed martial arts training in the midst of chemotherapy treatments? Who leaves a hospital procedure to return to the set? His energetic and unwavering devotion to his family and to his work while fighting the battle of his life left us in awe, and he leaves a void that can never be replaced.” On July 16, 2014, Scott accepted the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at the ESPYs. During his speech, he expressed the following sentiment about his two daughters: “Taelor and Sydni, I love you guys more than I will ever be able to express. You two are my heartbeat. I am standing on this stage here tonight because of you.” During his ESPY speech, Scott shared his approach to fighting cancer. “I also realized something else recently,” he said. “I said, I’m not losing. I’m still here. I’m fighting. I’m not losing. But I’ve got to amend that. When you die, that does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and the manner in which you live. So live. Live. Fight like hell.” For 21 years, years Scott was one of ESPN’s and ABC Sports’ most recognizable and quotable personalities and one of the most popular sportscasters around the world. His catchphrases, including his most famous “Boo-ya” and “As cool as the other side of the pillow,” have become an integral part of pop culture. While Scott became instantly known for his enthusiasm and colorful descriptions, he was always proud of the facts he would weave into his storytelling, recognizing that every great story is based in fact. After joining the network in 1993 for the launch of ESPN2, Scott became a leading voice on ESPN’s SportsCenter, where he anchored the 11pm show. Over the years, his talent and work ethic led to many additional high-profile assignments including major hosting roles on NFL and NBA programming. During his career with ESPN, Scott covered a slew of major events, including the NBA Finals, Super Bowl, Major League Baseball playoffs and World Series, the NCAA Final Four and more. From 2007-2011 Scott was the host of ABC Sports’ weekly NBA Sunday studio show, ESPN’s NBA studio show, and served as a host during the NBA Finals Trophy presentation each year. Scott also hosted numerous ESPN and ABC series and specials, including Dream Job, Stump The Schwab, ESPN’s 25th Anniversary Special, and The ESPY Red Carpet Show. In addition to this busy TV schedule, Scott had also worked as a regular contributor to ESPN: The Magazine, ESPN Radio, and ESPN.com. Scott was featured in countless This is SportsCenter commercials, which he so enjoyed. Most recently, Scott was in the anchor chair alongside his longtime partner, Steve Levy, when ESPN re-launched SportsCenter on a new set. Scott not only interviewed most of the world’s top athletes, he interviewed top celebrities, newsmakers, and politicians. Stuart interviewed and played a televised game of one-on-one basketball with President Barack Obama, one of his two interviews with the President, and conducted numerous one-on-one interviews with the likes of Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Denzel Washington and President Clinton. Hollywood and Madison Avenue also took notice of Scott’s wide appeal; he was featured in numerous high-profile commercial campaigns. He appeared on many TV shows, sitcoms, feature films and music videos and was parodied in a Saturday Night Live skit. Over the years, Scott earned numerous awards and honors. He was recently honored with the NABJ Award of Merit, received a Rammy Award which pays tribute to superlative performances in athletics, academics and sports from his beloved alma mater, UNC-Chapel Hill, and was a guest of honor at the 14th annual “An Evening with Heroes” celebration in Indianapolis, which benefits the Heroes Foundation. In 2011 he was honored by The V Foundation with “The Spirit of Jimmy V Award.” He was instrumental in raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for The V Foundation, Livestrong, and participated in Stand Up To Cancer campaigns as well donating time to raise awareness and funds for numerous other charities. He always said a personal and professional highlight for him came in 2004, when he was requested by U.S. soldiers to be a part of “ESPN’s SportsCenter: Salute the Troops” effort, in which he and fellow anchors hosted a week of programs originating in Kuwait. Prior to joining ESPN, Scott worked at local stations in Orlando, Florida; Raleigh, North Carolina and Florence, South Carolina. He was graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1987. One of his proudest moments came when he served as the commencement speaker at his alma mater in 2001. At North Carolina he played wide receiver and defensive back for a club football team. He was diagnosed with cancer in November 2007, and dealt with recurring bouts of the disease. He met the challenge as he did everything in his life – with determination, a courageous fighting spirit and an always positive attitude that impacted and inspired everyone who knew him.