Alex North

Alex North (December 4, 1910 – September 8, 1991) was an American composer best known for his many film scores, including A Streetcar Named Desire (one of the first jazz-based film scores), Viva Zapata!, Spartacus, Cleopatra, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. He was the first composer to receive an Honorary Academy Award.

Early life

North was born Isadore Soifer in Chester, Pennsylvania to Russian Jewish parents.

Career

North managed to integrate his modernism into typical film music leitmotif structure, rich with themes. One of these became the famous song, "Unchained Melody". Nominated for fifteen Oscars but unsuccessful each time, North is one of only two film composers to receive the Lifetime Achievement Academy Award, the other being Ennio Morricone. North's frequent collaborator as orchestrator was the avant-garde composer Henry Brant. He won the 1968 Golden Globe award for his music to The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968).

His best-known film scores include A Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, Viva Zapata!, The Rainmaker, Spartacus, The Misfits, Cleopatra, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Dragonslayer and Under the Volcano. His music for The Wonderful Country makes use of Mexican and American motifs.

Sunday

Sunday (ⁱ/ˈsʌndeɪ/ or /ˈsʌndi/) is the day of the week following Saturday but before Monday. For most Christians, Sunday is observed as a day of worship and rest, holding it as the Lord's Day and the day of Christ's resurrection. Sunday is a day of rest in most Western countries, part of 'the weekend'. In some Muslim countries and Israel, Sunday is the first work day of the week. According to the Hebrew calendars and traditional Christian calendars, Sunday is the first day of the week, and according to the International Organization for Standardization ISO 8601 Sunday is the seventh and last day of the week. No century in the Gregorian calendar starts on a Sunday, whether its first year is considered to be '00 or '01. The Jewish New Year never falls on a Sunday. (The rules of the Hebrew calendar are designed such that the first day of Rosh Hashanah will never occur on the first, fourth, or sixth day of the Jewish week; i.e., Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday).

Etymology

Sunday, being the day of the Sun, as the name of the first day of the week, is derived from Hellenistic astrology, where the seven planets, known in English as Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon, each had an hour of the day assigned to them, and the planet which was regent during the first hour of any day of the week gave its name to that day. During the 1st and 2nd century, the week of seven days was introduced into Rome from Egypt, and the Roman names of the planets were given to each successive day.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, often abridged as Last Week Tonight, is an American late-night talk and news satire television program airing on Sundays on HBO in the United States and HBO Canada, and on Mondays (originally Tuesdays) on Sky Atlantic in the United Kingdom. The half-hour long show premiered on Sunday, April 27, 2014, and is hosted by comedian John Oliver. Last Week Tonight shares some similarities with Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where Oliver was previously featured as a correspondent and fill-in host, as it takes a satirical look at news, politics and current events on a weekly basis.

Oliver has said that he has full creative freedom, including free rein to criticize corporations. His initial contract with HBO was for two years with an option for extension. In February 2015, it was announced that the show has been renewed for two additional seasons of 35 episodes each. Oliver and HBO programming president Michael Lombardo have discussed extending the show from half an hour to a full hour and airing more than once a week after Oliver "gets his feet under him".

Sun Is Shining

"Sun Is Shining" is a song by Bob Marley & The Wailers first appearing on the Lee Perry-produced album Soul Revolution in 1971, and then on African Herbsman in 1973. Marley later re-recorded the song for his 1978 album Kaya. In 1999 a reggae fusion remix by "Bob Marley vs. Funkstar De Luxe" reached number one on the U.S. dance chart and number three on the UK Singles Chart and has been widely credited as one of the songs which led to the popularity of reggae fusion.

Although having become one of the most popular Marley songs, "Sun Is Shining" used to be a fairly unknown and seldomly-performed number during Marley's lifetime. Up to date, only two live performances are documented, however both took place under special circumstances. On June 16, 1978, Marley performed at The Music Inn in Lenox, Massachusetts, a concert having been rescheduled twice since 1976, and played an over 2-hour set. "Sun Is Shining" was the opening song, reportedly included spontaneously as it stopped to rain. On July 23, 1978, Marley performed an outdoor concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl that included "Sun Is Shining" as opening song; just before the song, Marley introduced the performance by referring to Haile Selassie's birthday on the same day.

Alexandra Stan

Alexandra Ioana Stan (born 10 June 1989 in Constanța) is a Romanian singer. Her career began in 2009 when native music producers Marcel Prodan and Andrei Nemirschi heard her singing at a Karaoke bar and proposed her a contract with their own management, Maan Studio. She subsequently released her debut recording "Lollipop (Param Pam Pam)" in late 2009. The song and its video were met with bad reviews, being criticised for their eroticism. Her next single, "Mr. Saxobeat", was composed by Marcel Prodan and Andrei Nemirschi, the duo that discovered her at the Mamaia Music Festival. It became her worldwide breakthrough hit, selling 1,000,000 copies in less than a year. The single went to number one in a total of nine countries and reached the top ten in over thirty countries, such as New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Australia. It became a top-thirty hit in Canada and the United States. She released her debut album in August 2011, entitled Saxobeats, which reached the top thirty album charts in several European countries, including Germany, Austria and Finland. The record spawns her next single "Get Back (ASAP)", which gained success in several more countries, notably in Romania, Finland and France.