This is a holiday tradition in USA dating back to1923 at The Ellipse, south of the White House, where a Christmas tree, called "The National Christmas Tree" was erected and the president and family will press a button to light it up. Following are the highlights from this year's lighting:
The 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, speaks before the lighting of the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, 4:30am EST, that's 4:30pm on 2nd Dec Singapore time.
First lady Michelle Obama and Kermit the Frog read "The Night Before Christmas"
Just watched this on the local free-to-air channel Okto.
It's a live recording of the 1st Prague Ballet Gala at the Prague State Opera back in 11 January 2006.
I've visited Prague in 2005, and have actually stood in front of the theatre to admire Opera, but thanks to this recording, I get to catch frequent glimpses of the gorgeous Rococo interior.
To someone like me who only appreciates ballet for its beautiful body language, the evening's program offered a diverse and wide range of musical compositions; a perfect blend of classical and modern choreographies; good balance of male and female dancers; a dancer in his 50s and another as young as mid-teen; dancers from different ballet companies across Europe; and dancers of different European nationalities (see if you can spot the half Vietnamese). It also gave the feel of a documentary - the dancers provided commentary during their rehearsal or while behind the curtains just before or after the dance.
4. My Way Choreographer: Stephan Thoss Song: My Way - Frank Sinatra (lyrics by Paul Anka) Dancers: Daniil Simkin (teenage son), Dimitri Simkin (father)
Another favorite, like, how often do one get to watch 2 males perform pas de deux? The perfect synchrony between father and son in this dance alone is enough reason to order the DVD.
5. La Fille du Pharaon Choreographer: Pierre Lacotte Music: Cesare Pugni Dancers: Maria 'Masha' Alexandrova (as Princess Aspicia) and Sergei Filin (as Taor) (The Bolshoi)
Another one of my favorites - what a piece of art - not just the dance, but also perfectly sculpted from head to toe Filin! What presence, what star quality from both dancers!!
6. The Moor's Pavane Choreographer: José Limón Music: Henry Purcell Dancers: Charles Jude (The Moor), Stephanie Roublot (Desdemona), Jean Jacques Herment (Iago), Viviana Franciosi (Emilia)
A 20 min ballet based on the Shakespeare tragedy 'Othello'. Charles Jude got top billing in this gala. However this dance is certainly not my favorite. Jude's make-up was so heavy that he came across as having only one expression throughout the dance.
7. Who Cares? Choreographer: George Balanchine Music: The Man I Love - George Gershwin Dancers: Natalie Hoffmann, Altin Kaftira (Dutch National Ballet)
This is a different footage - from Pompei Viva 2010 - with performance from Mathilde Froustey. I've included it to complete the mood and to give a feel of the diversity in this gala.
8. The Sleeping Beauty - Excerpt/Grand Pas de Deux Choreographer: Charles Jude after Rudolph Nureyev/Marius Petipa Music: Peter Tchaikovsky Dancers: Oksana Kutcheruk, Roman Mikhalev
9. Amsterdam Song:Jacques Brel Choreographer: Ben van Cauwenbergh Dancers: Dmitri Simkin, Marek Tuma
10. Les Bourgeois Choreographer: Ben van Cauwenbergh Song:Jacques Brel Dancer: Daniil Simkin
This was recorded at Helsinki, a different programme, but same dance. 11. Raymonda - Excerpt/Adagio, Act II Choreographer: Marius Petipa Music: Alexander Glazunov Dancers: Maria'Masha'Alexandrova, Sergei Filin (The Bolshoi)
The Nobel Peace Prize Concert was held in the 8,000-seat Oslo Spektrum arena, in honour of President Jimmy Carter being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize just the day before, for his "decades of untiring effort to find peace solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."
Hosted by Sir Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange, other artistes present were Norwegian vocalist Sissel, Lapp singer Mari Boine, British rock band Suede, opera singer Jessye Norman, Italian vocalist Laura Pausini and Spanish dancer Joaquin Cortes, Willie Nelson, Josh Groban, Michelle Branch, Angelique Kidjo, with a spectacular finale by Carlos Santana and his 11-piece band.
Following are excerpts from the night's programme. Note that some performances have been replaced by the same artistes giving the same performance, at different events. They were included to give a more complete experience of the concert, as the originals were not available.
It began with a video recording of Jennifer Lopez singing "Jenny On The Block".
Marie Boine - I Come From The Other Side
Sissel - Over The Rainbow
Laura Pausini
Josh Groban - To Where You Are
Sissel Kyrkjebø and Josh Groban - The Prayer
Santana and his band
Angelique Kidjo and Santana
Michelle Branch
Michelle Branch - The Game of Love
Joaquín Cortés (not sure where this performance was recorded but it sure looked the same)
Willie Nelson- Always On My Mind
Willie Nelson - The Great Divide
Willie Nelson - Georgia on My Mind
Imagine - by all artistes
What's most cool was, I was staying at the Radisson Hotel and at the hotel elevator, I bumped into the very hot Joaquín Cortés and Jimmy Carter's son and grandchildren.
09-Nov-2011:
1) President Carter was awarded after decades of untiring effort. Makes one wonder why the decision to award the same prize to President Barack Obama in 2009 was made barely half a year into his presidency. The 2010 award was no less controversial. Both 2009 and 2010 laureates were absent from the concerts held in honour of them.
That made me really appreciative that President Carter and family were present at the 2002 concert, so that my American colleague could excitedly shout "President Carter!" when he went on stage.
2) I was almost made to attend this concert on 'colleague-pressure', as the ticket price was really hefty. The Belgian and Dutch consultants among us wanted the best seats available, and nobody had a clue who's on the line-up. We were working so hard back then, nobody really cares about the former US President Carter, not even the American colleague. But the whole "Project-Post-Live-Support-Team" felt that it would be a great experience since we were in Oslo.
On hindsight, it was worth every NOK (Norwegian Kroner)! Compare to other years' line-ups, 2002's concert line-up offered the most diverse talents across the world, though I think President Carter might be happy just to have Willie Nelson sang "Georgia On My Mind" upon his request (he was born in the state of Georgia).
3) I will always be grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime experience and my one-month in Oslo will always be the highlight of my 2002.
