A new generation may learn how to paint happy trees and create happy accidents thanks to a TV series that teaches the Bob Ross painting approach and features previously unseen works by the prolific artist.

Before dying of cancer in 1995, Ross had finished seven works for “The Joy of Painting” season 32.

Bob Ross’ Legacy Carries On With The New ‘The Joy Of Painting’ Series.

“He was so sick, but he was still working on his next series so he could keep going,” said Joan Kowalski, president of Bob Ross Inc. Her parents, Annette and Walt Kowalski, launched the company alongside Ross.

Those works had been held for nearly 30 years. Nicholas Hankins, a certified Bob Ross instructor, studied those seven paintings and painted them from scratch on camera in “The Joy of Painting with Nicholas Hankins: Bob Ross’ Unfinished Season,” which premiered this spring in some regions on American Public Television. Some episodes are available on the PBS website.

The ability to “take these paintings and do what Bob ultimately wanted done with them, (to) have them out in the world making people happy is gratifying,” Hankins said recently via Zoom. He teaches at the Bob Ross Art Workshop and Gallery, about 15 miles from Daytona Beach, Florida, and handles instructor certification. Hankins also incorporates six of his paintings into the new “Joy of Painting,” recorded and produced at WDSC-TV Daytona State College.

Bob Ross’ Legacy Carries On With The New ‘The Joy Of Painting’ Series.

“I think that Bob would be incredibly proud of how we’re doing this,” stated Kowalski. “There aren’t many situations that present us with the question of what we should do. Bob was extremely explicit about how he intended this whole thing to unfold in the future.”

Hankins is a familiar face among Ross enthusiasts. His educational films on the Bob Ross YouTube channel received upwards of 300,000 views before the television concept was even considered.

Kowalski is interested in the online reactions to Hankin’s videos. “People notice that Nick is not at all trying to be Bob, and he’s delivering naturally as himself and yet there’s still that same sort of feeling you get watching Bob.”

The pandemic sparked a boom of interest in Bob Ross as people stayed home and sought ways to pass the time. With so many distractions, it can feel like there need to be more hours in the day to unwind and rest. If viewers don’t want to learn how to paint, Hankins thinks his 30-minute “Joy of Painting” episodes will help them relax as the originals did.

“I hope I can carry that part of the legacy on,” he stated. “I want to create an environment in which people will come in, spend half an hour, and simply switch off the world. “We need it right now.”

Bob Ross’ Legacy Carries On With The New ‘The Joy Of Painting’ Series.

According to Kowalski, people used to tell Ross “all the time” that they would fall asleep during his programs, but he didn’t mind. “He said, ‘I love hearing that you’ve never watched a full episode of me.'”

Hankins recommends basic painting supplies such as oil colors, an easel, canvas, and brushes. “But if they’re just watching, all they need is a tall glass of iced tea. That was Bob’s thing,” he continued, “get some iced tea, kick back, and watch.”

SOURCE – (AP)

Malmö, Sweden – Scores of musicians, hundreds of journalists, and thousands of music enthusiasts have converged in Malmo, Sweden, as the Eurovision Song Contest prepares for Saturday’s jubilant, glitter-drenched finale.

But even Eurovision cannot avoid the world’s divisions. Thousands of pro-Palestinian protestors are expected in the city to call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict and criticize Israel’s participation in the event.

Here’s an introduction to what Eurovision is, how it operates, and what to look for.

What is Eurovision?

The short answer is that Eurovision is a music competition in which performers from around Europe and beyond compete under their national flags for the title of continental champion. Consider these the pop music Olympics.

The longer explanation is that Eurovision is an event that combines pop, partying, and politics, resembling a music festival, an awards show, and a United Nations Security Council meeting. It’s a crazy joyful festival that celebrates music’s unifying power, but it’s also a venue for politics and regional rivalries.

How does it work?

This year, the tournament will be held over many days in the Swedish coastal city of Malmo, which has entries from 37 countries. The country is hosting after Swedish singer Loreen won the competition last year in Liverpool, England.

After two semifinals, the artists have been reduced to 25, and they will compete in Saturday’s final in front of thousands of fans in the Malmo Arena and a global broadcast audience estimated at 180 million.

In an unusual move, the 26th finalist, Joost Klein of the Netherlands, was removed from the competition on Saturday due to “a complaint made by a female member of the production crew” that is being probed by police, according to organizers.

Nations may enter a solo act or a band. They can perform in any genre or language, but the regulations require them to sing live and limit their songs to three minutes. Staging has become increasingly extravagant, with spectacular pyrotechnics and sophisticated dance. This year is very great for topless male dancers.

After all of the acts have been performed, the winner is determined by a notoriously complex combination of phone and online votes from all around the world and rankings by music-industry juries in each Eurovision country. As the results are announced, countries move up and down the standings, and tensions rise. Ending up with “nul points,” or zero, is considered a national shame.

Eurovision’s musical style has evolved drastically since its inception in 1956. The early years of crooners and ballads gave way to cheery pop, as exemplified by possibly the greatest Eurovision song of all time, ABBA’s “Waterloo,” which won 50 years ago.

Euro-techno and power ballads are popular nowadays, but viewers choose rock, folk rap, and odd, unclassifiable music.

According to bookies, Swiss singer Nemo is a top contender, delivering “The Code,” a beautiful, operatic ballad. Nemo would be the first nonbinary performer to win the contest with a large LGBTQ+ following. A quarter century ago, Dana International became the contest’s first transgender winner.

Another nonbinary singer gaining traction is Ireland’s Bambie Thug, whose song “Doomsday Blue” is Gothic, passionate, over-the-top, and a true crowd-pleaser. They are the only contestants to bring a “scream coach” to Malmo.

Other acts expected to perform well include operatic Slovenian singer Raiven, Ukrainian rap-pop combo Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil, and Spain’s Nebulossa, whose song “Zorra” sparked controversy because its title can be translated as an anti-female slur.

The performer with the most traction is Croatian vocalist Baby Lasagna. His song “Rim Tim Tagi Dim” is classic Eurovision: joyful, humorous, slightly emotional, and immensely catchy. It is already a major fan favorite.

WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE PROTESTING?

Eurovision’s tagline is “united by music,” its organizer, the European Broadcasting Union, works to keep politics out of the competition. But it frequently intrudes.

Belarus was kicked out of Eurovision in 2021 for its government’s crackdown on opposition, while Russia was kicked out in 2022 for its full-fledged invasion of Ukraine.

This year, there have been requests for Israel’s exclusion due to its actions in the conflict against Hamas.

Israel is competing but was forced to change the title of its song, which was previously titled “October Rain,” in an apparent reference to Hamas’ October 7 cross-border raid. Eden Golan, a 20-year-old vocalist, now performs the song “Hurricane.”

Thousands of pro-Palestinian activists marched through Malmo hours before Golan performed in Thursday’s semifinal, and another is planned for Saturday. Swedish police have launched a large security operation, with officers from throughout the country joined by reinforcements from Denmark and Norway.

SOURCE – (AP)

Sean “Diddy” Combs asked a federal judge on Friday to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him and two co-defendants of raping a 17-year-old girl at a New York recording studio in 2003, calling it a “false and hideous claim” filed too late under the law.

The legal action is the latest counterattack from the 54-year-old hip-hop entrepreneur and his legal team following many similar cases and a related criminal sex-trafficking investigation.

“Mr. Combs and his companies categorically deny Plaintiff’s decades-old tale against them, which has caused incalculable damage to their reputations and business standing before any evidence has been presented,” the complaint said, naming Combs-owned corporations as defendants. “Plaintiff cannot allege what day or time of year the alleged incident occurred, but miraculously remembers other salacious details, despite her alleged incapacitated condition.”

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Asks Judge To Dismiss ‘False’ Claim That He, Others Raped 17-Year-Old Girl

The case was launched in December and amended in March by a lady who now lives in Canada but whose name was not revealed in the court filing. She claimed she was in 11th grade at a high school in a Detroit suburb in 2003 when Harve Pierre, then-president of Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment record label, flew her to New York on a private jet and took her to a recording studio, where she was given drugs and alcohol until she was unable to consent to sexual activity. Then, according to the lawsuit, Pierre, Combs, and an unknown male raped her one after the other.

The lawsuit contained images of the woman sitting on Combs’ lap, which she claimed were shot on the night in question.

The defense brief requests that the action be “dismissed now, with prejudice”—which means it cannot be refiled—”to protect the Combs Defendants from further reputational injury and before more party and judicial resources are squandered.”

Michael J. Willemin, one of the plaintiff’s attorneys, stated in a statement in reaction to the filing: “At this point, no one should take anything ‘Diddy’ or his lawyers say seriously. Today’s motion is Combs’ desperate attempt to dodge accountability for Ms. Doe’s allegations of gang rape and sexual abuse. “It will not work.”

The arguments are procedural rather than factual at this early stage of the action.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Asks Judge To Dismiss ‘False’ Claim That He, Others Raped 17-Year-Old Girl

Some of the lawsuits filed against Combs involve decades-old allegations, and they are among the more than 3,700 legal claims filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which temporarily suspends certain legal deadlines to give sexual assault victims one last chance to sue for abuse that occurred years or even decades ago.

The new deadlines imposed by that statute have expired, but the suit against which Combs filed the petition on Friday was filed under a separate law, New York City’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection statute. That local legislation also allows accusers to file civil lawsuits alleging sexual assault after the statute of limitations has expired.

However, Combs’ motion claims that the action was filed too late since the city law is preempted by state law, which requires the lawsuit to be submitted by August 2021 to be timely.

“New York State law trumps New York City law, without exception,” the lawsuit states.

The updated version of the complaint filed in March attempted to resolve some of these flaws, but Combs’ lawyers claim it did not go far enough.

The judge has ordered that if the action proceeds following this challenge, the woman must give her name.

The Associated Press does not normally name anyone who claims to have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as several of Combs’ accusers have.

Friday’s defense filing also faults the suit for containing “a bolded, legally irrelevant ‘trigger warning’ calculated to focus attention on its salacious and depraved allegations.”

The singer Cassie, who was once Combs’ protege and lover, filed a lawsuit in November alleging beatings, rape, and other forms of abuse from 2005 to 2018. The complaint, submitted by the same attorneys who brought the challenged suit on Friday, was settled the following day. Combs rejected the charges through his lawyer before the settlement.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Asks Judge To Dismiss ‘False’ Claim That He, Others Raped 17-Year-Old Girl

Combs faced further lawsuits in the months that followed. Then, on March 25, Homeland Security Investigations served search warrants on his Los Angeles and Miami houses as part of a sex trafficking probe. His lawyer described it as “a gross use of military-level force.” The investigation is continuing. Combs hasn’t been charged.

Last month, Combs moved to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Joi Dickerson, who said she was a 19-year-old college student when Combs drugged and sexually abused her.

SOURCE – (AP)