title: Basingstoke

text: Basingstoke has a football club, Basingstoke Town F.C., the Basingstoke Rugby Football Club and the Basingstoke Bison ice hockey team. Basingstoke also has a swimming team, known as the Basingstoke Bluefins and an American Flag Football Team known as the Basingstoke Zombie Horde. Further sporting organisations in the area include Basingstoke Demons Floorball Club, Basingstoke Volleyball Club, Basingstoke Bulls Korfball Club and Lasham Gliding Society. The home ground of Basingstoke & North Hants Cricket Club, Mays Bounty, was until 2000 used once a season by Hampshire County Cricket Club. As of 2011, Basingstoke has a roller derby league and team, the Basingstoke Bullets. Due to difficulty finding a suitable venue, the team practice in nearby Whitchurch. Basingstoke is also the home of Rising Phoenix Cheer, a successful competitive Allstar Cheerleading programme for athletes from age 5 upwards, training at Aldworth school.


title: Basingstoke

text: Basingstoke has a wide diversity for musical groups ranging from brass bands to symphony orchestras. The Basingstoke Concert Band is a traditional wind band which has now been in existence for more than 35 years. The band was started in 1977 by Lawrie Shaw when Brighton Hill Community School opened, where he was the first headteacher. Shaw formed the band as an evening class for amateur wind players and it was then known as the Brighton Hill Centre Band.


title: Basingstoke

text: There are two local newspapers – the "Basingstoke Gazette", and the "Basingstoke Observer". The town is also covered by the broadsheet newspaper "Hampshire Chronicle".


title: Basingstoke

text: Local TV coverage is provided by BBC South and ITV Meridian, with BBC London and ITV London also received in the town.


title: Basingstoke

text: Basingstoke is served by two regional radio stations. Greatest Hits Radio Berkshire & North Hampshire, serving North Hampshire and parts of Surrey and Sussex, and Heart South, broadcast from Reading. BBC Berkshire is available in the town. The town has coverage from digital radio; the BBC, Independent National and Now Reading multiplexes can be received in the town, and the outskirts can receive London and South Hampshire stations as well. The BBC national stations and DAB coverage is enhanced by a small relay just south of the town centre.


title: Basingstoke

text: The local radio Station is HHCR - Basingstoke's Community Radio, an internet-based broadcaster opened on 3 June 2019 by Cllr Diane Taylor Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane.


title: Basingstoke

text: The Holy Ghost School (subsequently Queen Mary's School for Boys) was a state funded grammar school operating in Basingstoke for four centuries, from 1556 until 1970, producing nationally recognised alumni such as Revd. Gilbert White (1720-1793), a pioneer naturalist, and the famed cricket commentator, John Arlott (1914-1991).


title: Basingstoke

text: In modern times education in Basingstoke has been co-ordinated by Hampshire County Council. Each neighbourhood in the town has at least one primary school, while secondary schools are distributed around the town on larger campuses. Basingstoke has two large further education colleges: a sixth form college, Queen Mary's College (QMC) and Basingstoke College of Technology (BCoT). The University of Winchester had a campus in Basingstoke (Chute House Campus) which closed in July 2011; it had offered full-time and part-time university courses in subjects including childhood studies, various management pathways, community development and creative industries. Bournemouth University's health and social care students can work on placement at the North Hampshire Hospital. The hospital only caters for midwifery students.


title: Basingstoke

text: Basingstoke is situated close to junctions 6, 7 and 8 of the M3 motorway, which skirts the town's south-eastern edge, linking the town to London, and to Southampton and the south-west. The central area of the town is encircled by The Ringway, a ring road constructed in the 1960s, and is bisected east to west by the A3010 (Churchill Way). The A33 runs north-east to Reading and the M4 motorway, and south-west to Winchester. The A30 runs east to Hook and west to Salisbury. The A303 to Wiltshire and the West Country begins a few miles south-west of Basingstoke, sharing the first few miles with the A30. On the M3, there is a flyover, which passes over the slip road to A303, near Junction 8. The A339 runs south-east to Alton and north-west to Newbury.


title: Basingstoke

text: The South West Main Line runs east and west through the centre of the town and Basingstoke railway station, linking Basingstoke to London Waterloo, Winchester, Southampton, Bournemouth and Weymouth. The West of England line links Basingstoke to Salisbury and to Exeter. The Reading–Basingstoke line runs north-east to Reading and is part of an important through route for longer distance services to Birmingham and the North.


title: Basingstoke

text: Current rail services from Basingstoke are operated by South Western Railway, CrossCountry and Great Western Railway. The Reading-Basingstoke Line runs parallel to Chineham Business Park, Vyne Park, the suburb of Chineham and Taylors Farm.


title: Basingstoke

text: Most bus services in the town operate from Basingstoke bus station. Bus 3 and 8 no longer serve the bus station. The majority are provided by the Stagecoach Group through their Stagecoach in Hampshire sub-division. Basingstoke Community Transport and Communities First Wessex run some smaller routes.


title: Basingstoke

text: A peak-time service is provided by Thames Valley Buses between Chineham Business Park and the railway station. National Express offers direct coach services to London and Southampton from the bus station.


title: Basingstoke

text: Separating cyclists from other road traffic was not part of the remit of the 1960s town redevelopment and, in 1996, the perception of provision for cyclists was very poor. Following the Basingstoke Area Cycling Strategy in 1999 an extensive cycle network was developed, mainly utilising on-road routes or off-road routes that run parallel with and directly alongside roads. Basingstoke was linked to Reading on the National Cycle Network route 23 in May 2003; the route was extended south to Alton and Alresford in April 2006.


title: Basingstoke

text: The Basingstoke Canal started at a canal basin, roughly where the cinema in Festival Place is located. From there the canal ran alongside the River Loddon following the line of Eastrop Way. The old canal route passes under the perimeter ring road and then follows a long loop partly on an embankment to pass over small streams and water meadows towards Old Basing, where the route goes around the ruins of Basing House and then through and around the eastern edge of Old Basing. It followed another loop to go over small streams near the Hatch public house (a lot of this section was built over when constructing the M3) and headed across fields on an embankment towards Mapledurwell. The section of the canal from Up Nately to the western entrance of the Greywell Tunnel still exists and is a nature reserve; there is water in the canal and the canal towpath can be walked. A permissive footpath at the western entrance to the tunnel allows walkers to access public footpaths to get to the eastern entrance of the tunnel. The limit of navigation is about 500m east of the Greywell Tunnel. The renovated sections of the canal can then be navigated east towards West Byfleet where it joins the Wey Navigation, which itself can be navigated to the River Thames at Weybridge.


title: Basingstoke

text: Aims to reconnect Basingstoke with the surviving sections of the Basingstoke Canal have been beset with difficulties, and actual restoration of a canal link is impossible. The Basingstoke Canal Society aspire to re-establish the route of the lost section of the canal as closely as possible with a footpath and cycleway.


title: Basingstoke

text: The Anglican church of St. Michael's is located west of Festival Place. The chancel dates from 1464, and the south chapel may be older. The nave and aisles were added fifty years later by Richard Foxe, Bishop of Winchester. The Memorial Chapel at the north-east corner of the church was completed in 1921. The ruined Chapel of the Holy Ghost, north of the railway station, has not been a place of worship for four centuries, an effect of the Reformation. It was built by the first Lord Sandys, beginning in 1524, when King Henry VIII issued a charter of incorporation. The west tower of a 13th-century building also survives. It is surrounded by an ancient (as well as a more modern) cemetery; William, Lord Sandys himself lies buried in the chapel with his wife. In 1902, the Catholic Holy Ghost Church was built by Alexander Scoles, named after the old chapel. It is a Grade II listed building. The Church of St Mary, Eastrop is an old church, enlarged in 1912. All Saints' Church was built in 1915, designed by Temple Moore. St Peter's Church was built in 1964-5 designed by Ronald Sims and is in a housing estate built in the 1960s. In 2014 a group named Basingstoke Community Churches covered an area of six churches in the town. There are also an Assemblies of God church called Wessex Christian Fellowship, two Roman Catholic churches, St. Bede's and St. Joseph's, and churches of other denominations.


title: Basingstoke

text: In 2019 Gateway Church Basingstoke began a partnership with Christians Against Poverty (CAP) to launch a Debt Centre in Basingstoke.


title: Basingstoke

text: "Basingstoke" is a code word in Gilbert and Sullivan's 1887 comic opera "Ruddigore", used by the "bad baronet" after he reforms, to remind his bride "Mad Margaret" of their plan to live lives of boring respectability. In 1895, Thomas Hardy referred to Basingstoke as "Stoke Barehills" in "Jude the Obscure".


title: Basingstoke

text: Basingstoke's North Hampshire Hospital was one of two hospitals used for the filming of Channel 4's hit comedy "Green Wing". George Formby's film, "He Snoops to Conquer" was partly shot in the town in 1944 and in 1974 the National Film Board of Canada produced a documentary here called "Basingstoke – Runcorn: British New Towns". The former Park Prewett Mental Hospital was the setting for the novel "Poison in the Shade" (1953), by Eric Benfield, a local author and sculptor who worked as an art therapist at that hospital.


title: Basingstoke

text: Patrick Wilde's 1993 play, "What's Wrong with Angry?" is set in Basingstoke. It was later adapted into the 1998 film, "Get Real", which was filmed at various locations around Basingstoke.


title: Short Term 12

text: Short Term 12 is a 2013 American independent drama film written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. It is adapted from Cretton's short film of the same name, produced in 2009. The film stars Brie Larson as Grace Howard, a young supervisor of a group home for troubled teenagers. The film was the first leading performance of Larson's career.


title: Short Term 12

text: Cretton based "Short Term 12" on his own experience working in a group facility for teenagers. He wrote and produced a short film exploring this and later adapted it into a feature-length screenplay. While Larson and John Gallagher, Jr. won their roles after auditioning through Skype, most of the children featured in the film were cast through open casting calls. Filming took place over twenty days in Los Angeles, California in September 2012.


title: Short Term 12

text: "Short Term 12" premiered on March 10, 2013 at South by Southwest, where it won the Grand Jury and Audience Awards for a Narrative Feature. The film was theatrically released in the United States on August 23, 2013, by Cinedigm. Critics praised its realism and intimacy, and especially Larson's performance and Cretton's screenplay and direction. The film is considered one of the best of 2013, appearing on several critics' year-end lists. It was listed by the National Board of Review as one of the of 2013. It earned three Independent Spirit Award nominations, including Best Female Lead for Larson.


title: Short Term 12

text: Grace Howard is the young supervisor of Short Term 12, a group home for troubled teenagers. She lives with her long-term boyfriend and coworker, Mason, but finds it difficult to open up to him emotionally. When Grace finds out she is pregnant, she schedules an appointment for an abortion; she eventually tells Mason about the pregnancy; he is overjoyed. She does not tell him she plans to have an abortion. At their facility, Grace and Mason focus their efforts on Marcus, a resident who is about to turn 18 and is struggling with the prospect of leaving the facility.


title: Short Term 12

text: Grace bonds with Jayden, a recent arrival at Short Term 12 who has a history of self-harm. Jayden distances herself from the other teenagers, as she does not intend to stay at the facility for long. When her father fails to pick her up on her birthday, she reacts violently toward the staff. After her outburst, she sits in the "cool-down room" with Grace, who shows Jayden her own scars from cutting herself. That night, Jayden leaves the facility in the middle of her birthday celebrations. Unable to force her to return, Grace follows Jayden to her father's house. After finding the house empty, they return to Short Term 12. When Jayden reads Grace a cryptic story she has written, Grace begins to suspect that Jayden was abused by her father.


title: Short Term 12

text: At a party hosted by Mason's foster parents, he proposes to Grace, who accepts. The following morning, Grace is upset by a phone call that reveals her father is being released from prison. She refuses to be consoled by Mason. She arrives at Short Term 12 to discover that Jayden has been picked up by her father overnight. She is angry at the decision to send Jayden back to her father, but her boss maintains that Jayden denied that she was abused by him. Later that day, Grace finds that Marcus has attempted to commit suicide after the death of his fish.


title: Short Term 12

text: While waiting at the hospital as Marcus is being treated, Grace breaks down. Mason becomes upset for her refusing to talk to him about how she feels; instead, she tells him that she no longer wants to marry him and that she plans to have an abortion. She returns to Jayden's father's house and breaks in, intending to kill him while he sleeps, but she is interrupted by Jayden, who suggests that they smash his car instead. Grace tells Jayden that she was sexually abused by her own father. After Jayden shows Grace bruises from blows by her father, they return together to Short Term 12, where Jayden reports her father for physical abuse. Grace goes home to apologize to Mason, who tells her that Marcus will recover.


title: Short Term 12

text: Several weeks later, Grace starts seeing a therapist. She is shown viewing an ultrasound of her fetus with Mason. Mason tells the rest of the staff about running into Marcus, who is doing well and has a girlfriend.


title: Short Term 12

text: "Short Term 12" was originally conceived by Destin Daniel Cretton as a short film based on his experiences as a line staff worker at a group facility for teenagers where he had worked for two years; it served as his thesis project for his master's degree in film at San Diego State University. The short film ran for 22 minutes and premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking. After graduating from film school, Cretton decided to adapt the short into a feature-length screenplay, which won one of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' five Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting in 2010. The largest change Cretton made when adapting the short film into a longer screenplay was changing the lead character's gender: Denim, a man loosely based on Cretton himself (played by Brad William Henke), became Grace, a young woman and the facility's supervisor. Cretton researched similar facilities and interviewed former employees for the film, noting that the script featured stories directly told by children in these facilities from his interviews.


title: Short Term 12

text: Brie Larson auditioned for the role of Grace via Skype after the script had been sent to her; John Gallagher, Jr. also won his role after a Skype conversation with Cretton, calling the screenplay "probably the best script that I've been sent, ever". Larson and Gallagher prepared for their roles by shadowing line staff at a group home similar to that in the film, and collaborated to create backstories for their characters. Lakeith Stanfield was the only actor from the original short film to reprise his role in the feature. Cretton struggled to contact Stanfield when casting the film in 2012—Stanfield had stopped acting, left his managers, and did not own a cell phone—but Cretton was eventually able to reach him by email to tape an audition. Most of the children featured in the film were cast through open casting calls, and most had no prior acting experience. Alex Calloway, who played Sammy, found a casting call through Craigslist and won the role after sending in a cell phone video audition.


title: Short Term 12

text: The film was shot over 20 days in September 2012 (filming began on 9 September 2012). Filming took place in Los Angeles, and scenes set at the group home were shot at a former short-stay facility located near the neighborhood of Sylmar. The film was edited by Nat Sanders as it was filmed. Both the original cut of the film and the shortened director's cut were over 2 hours long, whereas Cretton wanted the final cut to be under 100 minutes. Sanders said that the original cut of the film felt too heavy and "made you feel pretty depressed about humanity", so a number of scenes were deleted or trimmed to "lighten up" the film's mood, with a final running time of 96 minutes.


title: Short Term 12

text: "Short Term 12" premiered in March 2013 at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, where it won the Grand Jury and Audience Awards in the Narrative Feature category and was purchased for distribution by Cinedigm. Its international premiere was held at the Locarno Film Festival in August 2013, where it received a standing ovation.


title: Short Term 12

text: In theaters, the film was given a platform release: on August 23, it was released in Los Angeles and New York City, expanding the next weekend to Phoenix, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Boston and Berkeley, and progressively expanding to more cities until its widest release on September 13.


title: Short Term 12

text: The film grossed $56,206 in its opening weekend, playing in four theaters, with a per-theater average of $14,052. Overall, it earned a total of $1,013,100 in North America over a total of 26 weeks in theaters, with a widest release of 75 theaters, and $632,064 outside the United States for a total of $1,645,164.


title: Short Term 12

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 98% based on 172 reviews, with an average rating of 8.36/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Short Term 12" is an emphatic, revealing drama that pulls audiences into the perspective of neglected youths."


title: Short Term 12

text: On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: Short Term 12

text: Germain Lussier of "Slashfilm" wrote of the film, "The whole thing just feels perfect or magical, a shining example of what cinema is all about", adding, "The performances are mindblowing, the writing sharp, and the direction beautiful. It's a very special movie." In "Variety", critic Peter Debruge wrote, "the stunning SXSW fest winner puts the recent Park City competition lineup to shame ... this compelling human drama finds fresh energy in the inspirational-teacher genre, constantly revealing new layers to its characters." In a review for the "Los Angeles Times", Kenneth Turan described "Short Term 12" as "a small wonder", "a film of exceptional naturalness and empathy", and "moving and intimate", offering particular praise to the film's honesty and plausibility. Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian", on the other hand, criticized the film's credibility, describing it as "well intentioned, but somehow inauthentic" with a "too-cute-to-be-true ending".


title: Short Term 12

text: "The Hollywood Reporter" John DeFore called the film "genuinely moving" and "effortlessly balanced ... Brett Pawlak's handheld camerawork and Cretton's unsentimental direction have a frankness that acknowledges the dramatic extremes in these lives without needing to parade it before the audience." Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" also praised Cretton's direction, saying he "brings you into this coed group home and the lives of its inhabitants casually, with images and scenes that, no matter how transparently considered, feel as if they had been caught on the fly."


title: Short Term 12

text: Brie Larson's performance as Grace was singled out for praise by critics. Katie Walsh of Indiewire wrote, "[Larson] manages to convey her character as someone fierce and strong and steely, and also utterly fragile, delicate, scared and broken ... It's an incredible emotional and physical performance, and she's a whirlwind." "Empire" critic Ian Freer felt that Larson gave "a whirling dervish of a performance ... She, like the film, breaks your heart and raises your spirit in one fell swoop."


title: Short Term 12

text: The Writers Guild Foundation listed Cretton's screenplay as one of the best in 2010s film and television. The script was praised as "loaded with genuine emotion and nonstop empathy. [...] it's such a great script to read for guidance in how characters grow to open-up and bond with each other. Many of the characters, including Grace, begin the story abrasive, defensive or close-off, but slowly pivot to reveal the trauma and pain underneath, which is the first step toward healing from it."


title: Short Term 12

text: Despite the universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike, "Short Term 12" was completely shunned by every major industry awards organization from receiving a nomination, especially at the Academy Awards. Major criticism was drawn towards the perceived snub of Brie Larson, whose performance was widely acclaimed and was cited by various critics and publications as one of the best performances of the year. While "Forbes" called her snub "shocking", "The Atlantic" called it "disappointing" but "hardly shocking", considering it had not garnered many awards leading up to the Academy Awards.


title: Sanjay Raut

text: Sanjay Rajaram Raut (Marathi pronunciation: ]; born 15 November 1961) is an Indian politician from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) party. He is a member of the Parliament of India representing Maharashtra in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament. He is the Executive Editor of Marathi newspaper "Saamana", published by Uddhav Thackeray, the Shiv Sena party leader.


title: Sanjay Raut

text: Sanjay Raut is also the writer of "Thackeray", a biopic about Bal Thackeray, the founder of Shiv Sena, released in 2019.


title: Sanjay Raut

text: After the arrest of the two girls who posted and liked a comment on Facebook about their view of Mumbai shutting down after the death of Bala Saheb Thackeray, he justified saying "We support the police's action, the Facebook comments could have led to a law and order situation."


title: Sanjay Raut

text: In April 2015, he made controversy by saying the voting rights of Muslims should be revoked for some years to ensure the community is not used for vote bank politics. In the newspaper "Saamna", he wrote in a column, "Till Muslims are used as vote-banks, they have no future. This is why Bal Thackeray had demanded that Muslims' voting rights be taken away." Raut was taken into custody and detained by the ED in the Patravala Chaal scam case.


title: Sanjay Raut

text: In 2022, in the middle of the political turmoil in Maharashtra, Raut was served notice by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for interrogation.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: Ilie Theodoriu Năstase (, born 19 July 1946) is a former World No. 1 Romanian tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 in singles from 23 August 1973 to 2 June 1974, and was the first man to hold the top position on the computerized ATP rankings. Năstase is one of the 10 players in history who have won over 100 total ATP titles, with 64 in singles and 45 in doubles.Năstase won seven major titles: two in singles, three in men's doubles and two in mixed doubles. He also won four Masters Grand Prix year-end championship titles and seven Grand Prix Super Series titles (1970–73), the precursors to the current Masters 1000. He was the first professional sports figure to sign an endorsement contract with Nike, doing so in 1972. Năstase wrote several novels in French in the 1980s, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1991.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: At the beginning of his career in 1966, Năstase traveled around the world competing with Ion Țiriac. They represented Romania in the Davis Cup competition, being runners up in 1969, 1971, and 1972.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: In singles, Năstase won his first tournament at Cannes on 16 April 1967. His first victories against top players happened in 1969 in Stockholm, where he defeated Tony Roche and Stan Smith.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: Năstase became one of the best players in 1970, with many experts ranking him as the sixth-best player in the world at that time, behind the Australians Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe, and Tony Roche and the American Arthur Ashe. Năstase's high ranking resulted from his success at the Italian Open in Rome and at the U.S. Indoor Open in Salisbury, Maryland. With Tiriac, Năstase won the men's doubles title at the French Open.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: In 1971, Năstase was the runner-up at the French Open, where he lost the final in four sets to Jan Kodeš. In December, Năstase won his first Masters Grand Prix title, finishing in front of Stan Smith in a round robin competition.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: In 1972, he became the No. 2 in the world, owing to his winning the US Open in a five-set final over Arthur Ashe. This tournament was the only event of the year in which all the best players participated. Two months before, at Wimbledon, Năstase narrowly lost to Stan Smith in an epic five-set final, one of the more exciting championship matches. In the Davis Cup, Năstase was undefeated in singles until losing to Stan Smith in the final played on clay in his native Bucharest. In December at the year-end tour finals, Năstase defeated Smith, winning his second consecutive Masters Grand Prix title.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: In 1973, Năstase won 17 tournaments, including the French Open, a doubles title at Wimbledon, and a third Masters title. He was the world No. 1 in the ATP rankings that year. He also won the 'Martini and Rossi' Award, voted for by a panel of journalists and was ranked No. 1 by an international poll of 17 tennis writers, "Tennis Magazine" (U.S.), Bud Collins, Rino Tommasi and Rex Bellamy. In the Davis Cup, he won seven of eight singles rubbers. In matches against the other top players, Năstase was 1–0 against Newcombe and 1–1 against Smith. The Romanian won the French Open without dropping a set (a feat repeated by Björn Borg in 1978 and 1980 and by Rafael Nadal in 2008, 2010, 2017 and 2020), and he won the French Open (clay), Rome (clay) and Queen's Club (grass) in succession. Năstase was seeded No. 2 for Wimbledon 1973, behind the defending champion Stan Smith. When the newly formed ATP withdrew its players from the tournament following the suspension by the ITF of Yugoslav Nikola Pilić, only three ATP players (Năstase, Roger Taylor and Ray Keldie) defied the boycott and were fined by the ATP's disciplinary committee. Nastase was promoted to No. 1 seed for the players in the subsequently weakened field and publicly stated his support for the ATP action but insisted that as a serving captain, he was under orders from the Romanian army and government to compete and thus could not boycott the tournament. Some contemporary press speculation and later biographies have suggested Năstase contrived to lose his fourth-round match to American Sandy Mayer, but to have lost any earlier to a considerably less able player would have been too obvious. Năstase never has commented publicly on this speculation.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: In 1974, he was the only player to qualify for both the WCT Finals and the Masters Grand Prix finals. Năstase played well in the Masters, in particular against Newcombe in the semifinals. (Năstase finished his career with a 4–1 record versus Newcombe, losing only their first match in 1969.) The Romanian, however, lost the final to Guillermo Vilas in five sets.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: For the fifth consecutive year, Năstase reached the Masters Grand Prix final in 1975, where he defeated Björn Borg in three straight sets.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: During the first half of 1976, Năstase won four tournaments (Atlanta WCT, Avis Challenge Cup WCT, US Open Indoor, and La Costa), and head-to-head, he led Connors 2–1, Vilas 1–0, Ashe 1–0, and Borg 2–0. Năstase did not enter the Australian Open, which was again avoided by most of the top players. Năstase was prevented from entering the French Open because he participated in World Team Tennis. In the second half of the year, third-seeded Nastase lost in straight sets to Borg in the men's singles final of Wimbledon and in the semifinals of the US Open. Năstase won three other tournaments during the second half of the year, the Pepsi Grand Slam, South Orange, and the four-man tournament of Caracas, Venezuela, in October (not to be confused with the Caracas WCT tournament in March), making seven tournament championships for the year. Năstase was the world No. 3, behind Connors and Borg.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: In 1977, Năstase finished No. 9 in the ATP rankings. He was a quarterfinalist at the French Open and at Wimbledon (losing to Borg), and participated in the WCT Finals. During his quarterfinal match at Wimbledon Năstase had a row with umpire Jeremy Shales. Shales called him "Năstase" when asking him to move to the advantage court, "like a master speaks to a naughty schoolboy." (Năstase has also said Shales asked him to pick up a piece of paper that had blown onto the court, saying, "Năstase, pick up that paper.") Năstase angrily replied "You call me Mr. Năstase!". Since this incident, umpires have always used a courtesy title when addressing the players directly. "Mr. Nastase" later became the title of his autobiography.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: Năstase retired from the tour in October 1985 at the age of 39 after playing in the Grand Prix de Tennis de Toulouse, but he did play the challenger tournament at Dijon in June 1988.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: In October 1977 at the Raquette d'Or tournament, Năstase used a 'spaghetti string' (double-strung) racket to end Guillermo Vilas's 46-match winning streak. The racket was known for creating large amounts of top spin and unpredictable bounces. Vilas quit the match in protest of the racket. A few days later, the ATP banned the use of such racquets.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: During the US Open in 1979, Năstase was defaulted from his match against John McEnroe. The umpire previously docked Năstase a point in third set and then a game in the fourth for arguing and stalling. A near-riot followed as the crowd disagreed with the umpire's decision, throwing beer cans and cups on court. The match was restarted, with the umpire being replaced, before McEnroe won.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: In 1994 Năstase, Davis Cup captain of his country, was banned for an away match against Great Britain, for "'audible obscenities and constant abuse and intimidation of officials'" in a tie against South Africa.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: In 2017, while captaining his country's Fed Cup team against Great Britain, Năstase was overheard commenting about Serena Williams' unborn child, and the 71-year-old asked Britain's Fed Cup captain Anne Keothavong for her room number while posing for photographers. Năstase previously made unfounded comments about Williams allegedly doping. Before Great Britain and Romania began their two-day World Group play-off, Năstase allegedly stormed in to the media centre to confront British journalists over the reporting of his comments the previous day. Năstase could only find Press Association tennis correspondent Eleanor Crook before launching into a tirade about the reporting.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: During the second rubber, after the crowd had been told to respect the players, he said to match umpire Andreas Egli: "It's not the opera, what's your f****** problem?" He was ultimately ejected from the stadium for unsportsmanlike conduct. In a statement the International Tennis Federation (ITF) additionally confirmed that Năstase had his accreditation removed and would take no further part in the tie. The next day, the ITF provisionally suspended Năstase under the Fed Cup Regulations for a breach of the Fed Cup Welfare Policy, meaning that he was banned from the site of any ITF event. When Năstase was ejected from the stadium he met Crook again and, separated by a large number of security guards, verbally attacked her. The next day, despite being banned from the venue, Năstase reappeared and went to have lunch in the onsite restaurant. He additionally sent flowers to the British team. On 21 July 2017, he was suspended by the ITF until 2021.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: Williams released a statement on social media branding the comments about her unborn child as racist, noting that it saddened her that we live in a society where these comments can be made. Năstase then apologised on social media regarding the comments he made about Williams, but made comments about Konta speaking to the umpire which upset him. In a further interview with the BBC, Năstase justified his comments to Konta, stating that he only abused her after being ejected from the court and did so as a fan rather than a captain. Năstase also said that he regretted his behaviour in the incident. Nastase was not invited to the French Open and Wimbledon following his suspension. The Madrid Open, however, invited Nastase to be part of the prizegiving ceremony, which was won by Simona Halep (another Romanian player). This was a move that was deemed irresponsible by the WTA, which had revoked Nastase's privileges while the ITF carried out its investigation.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: Allegations of inappropriate behaviour included Pam Shriver claiming Năstase frequently asked in a joking manner if she was still a virgin. After about 30 occasions of this happening, Shriver asked him to stop asking that, which he did. Dominique Monami, captain of the Belgium team, then mentioned that Năstase had abused her in the round before the match with Great Britain. Monami later added that Năstase was abusive for two games during the match between Elise Mertens and Irina-Camelia Begu.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: Considered one of the more gifted tennis players in history, Năstase was noted for his ability to entertain, amusing spectators with his antics and mimicry. Even during a crucial phase of a match, he was likely to do something bizarre that would entertain the crowd.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: One of the faster players, he is remembered for his magnificent lobs and retrieves. Năstase could apply a discomfiting spin to his shots, being an expert at putting the ball just beyond an opponent's reach. His greatest weakness was a fragile nervous system and erratic temperament.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: Năstase pioneered a distinctive tennis shot, a backward, over-the-shoulder wrist-flick useful as a last resort in recovering lobs. Tennis writer Bud Collins dubbed the shot the "Bucharest Backfire" after Năstase.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: According to "The Independent", Năstase is best remembered for being one of the better players never to win the singles title at Wimbledon, for his tantrums, and his good looks.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: He holds the rank of major general in the Romanian military. He entered Romanian politics in the 1990s, making an unsuccessful run for mayor of Bucharest in 1996. Elected to the Romanian Senate for a Bucharest seat in 2012, he initially sat for the Conservative Party (PC), then subsequently switching to the National Union for the Progress of Romania (UNPR) in July 2015 after the former party ceased to exist.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: Năstase has been married five times: his first wife was Dominique Grazia, a Belgian fashion model, whom he wed at the age of 26 and whom he was married to for 10 years, and with whom he has a daughter, Nathalie. His second wife was American actress Alexandra King, whom he married in 1984, and with whom he adopted two children, Nicholas and Charlotte. His third wife was Romanian fashion model Amalia Teodosescu, whom he married in 2004. They have two children, Alessia and Emma Alexandra. After they split in 2010, he married Romanian fashion model Brigitte Sfăt in 2013; their marriage ended in 2018. In 2019, he married Ioana Simion.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: "Maxim" has placed Năstase at number 6 on its "Living Sex Legends" list, as he is reputed to have slept with over 2,500 women. Năstase's own estimate of 800 to 900 was too low for the writer of his biography who wanted a larger number to improve his reputation. After hearing this, his third wife, Amalia, said that she was happy to have conquered such a man. Năstase met Amalia at a Sting concert and married her in a Greek Orthodox ceremony on 5 June 2004, followed by a civil ceremony in July of the same year. They divorced in February 2010, after six years of marriage.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: On 25 May 2018, Năstase was arrested twice within a six-hour span for drunk-driving and riding a scooter through a red light.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: He also was involved in an animation project, and provides the Romanian voice of the federal agent in the Disney movie “G-Force”.


title: Ilie Năstase

text: During the second season of "Masked Singer România", Năstase appeared as "Bufnița" on 9 September 2021. He sang "My Way" by Frank Sinatra, unmasking himself before the audience vote for elimination.


title: 2009–10 NBA season

text: The 2009–10 NBA season was the 64th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 1,230-game regular season (82 games for each of the 30 teams) began on October 27, 2009, and ended on April 14, 2010. The season ended when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics four games to three to win their second consecutive NBA championship in the 2010 NBA Finals.


title: 2009–10 NBA season

text: The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, and Blake Griffin was selected first overall by the Los Angeles Clippers. The Dallas Mavericks hosted the 59th Annual All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on February 14, 2010.


title: 2009–10 NBA season

text: For the second time in NBA history, all eight Western Conference playoff teams won at least 50 games, and only 7 wins separated the Western Conference No. 1 seed from No. 8 seed. Both of these events first occurred in 2008.


title: 2009–10 NBA season

text: Cleveland's league-leading 61 wins was the lowest win total to lead the league since the Indiana Pacers won 61 games in 2003–04.


title: 2009–10 NBA season

text: The 2010 NBA All-Star Game was played at Cowboys Stadium, in Texas, on February 14, 2010, with the East winning in a closely contested game, 141–139, and the Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade being named the MVP. The game had record-breaking attendance, with 108,713. In the Rookie Challenge game, the Rookies defeated the Sophomores. Tyreke Evans was named the game's MVP. This is the first time the Rookies won the Rookie Challenge since 2002. During the NBA All-Star Weekend, Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks won the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest for the third time in his career; Kevin Durant, who also won the inaugural event, won this year's H.O.R.S.E Competition and Boston's Paul Pierce beat rookie Stephen Curry to win the Three-Point Shootout. Steve Nash won the Skills Challenge for the second time in his career. Team Texas, which represented Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, won the Shooting Stars Competition. In a miscellaneous note, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic set a Guinness World Record for the longest basketball shot while sitting down, at 52 ft 6 in, during Jam Session.


title: 2009–10 NBA season

text: Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.


title: 2009–10 NBA season

text: On July 7, 2009, the NBA announced that the salary cap for the 2009–10 season would be $57.70 million and would go into effect on July 8 as the league's "moratorium period" had ended and teams could begin signing free agents and making trades. The tax level for the season was set at $69.92 million, with each team paying a $1 tax for each $1 by which it exceeds $69.92 million. The mid-level exception was $5.854 million for the season and the minimum team salary, which was set at 75% of the salary cap, was $43.275 million.


title: 2009–10 NBA season

text: For the 2008–09 season, the salary cap was set at $58.68 million ($0.98 million), while the tax level was $71.15 million ($1.23 million). Although the league-wide revenue increased by 2.5% in the previous season, the decrease in the salary cap and tax level was the result of the formula used to set the cap and tax under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.


title: 2009–10 NBA season

text: The 2009–10 NBA season was broadcast in the United States by ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBA TV. A number of games were nationally televised by ABC, ESPN and TNT, while some games were televised by NBA TV. Four teams, the Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets, New Jersey Nets and Charlotte Bobcats had not have any national TV appearances on ABC, ESPN and TNT. ABC had air several Sunday games and a double-header on Christmas day. ESPN has mainly televised the regular season games on Wednesdays and Fridays, while TNT has mainly televised the Thursday games. TNT has also broadcast the 2010 NBA All-Star Game and the NBA All-Star Saturday Night Events in February.


title: Amy Lippman

text: She is perhaps best known as the co-creator of "Party of Five" with her writing partner, Christopher Keyser. She is politically conscious as a donor to Democratic candidates and causes. She also worked on the television series "Sisters", "In Treatment" and the "Party of Five" spin-off "Time of Your Life".


title: Amy Lippman

text: She is married to American actor, writer, director and producer Rodman Flender. Her son is Haskell Flender. Her nephew is Academy Award-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet.


title: Ramsha Khan

text: Ramsha Khan (; born ) is a Pakistani actress. She has established a career in television and appeared in several notable serials including "Mah-e-Tamaam" (2018), "Khud Parast" (2018), "Kaisa Hai Naseeban" (2019), "Ishqiya" (2020), "Ghisi Piti Mohabbat" (2021) and "Hum Tum" (2022) . She made her acting debut with a coming-of-age drama film "Thora Jee Le" (2016).


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was planned to be the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It would have taken place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the with the song "Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The contest was cancelled on 18 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making the first time in the contest's 64-year history that an edition was not held.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The contest was scheduled to be held at Rotterdam Ahoy and would consist of two semi-finals on 12 and 14 May, and a final on 16 May 2020. Forty-one countries would have participated in the contest; and would have returned after their absence from the 2019 contest, while and had confirmed their non-participation after taking part in the previous edition. All 41 competing artists and songs were confirmed by the relevant broadcasters by early March 2020.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: Following the cancellation, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) began discussions of potential carryovers for the , such as the host city and participating artists, with various parties. In place of the cancelled contest, the EBU and its Dutch members NPO, NOS and AVROTROS organised a replacement show, "", to showcase the selected entries on 16 May, the day of the planned final. Rotterdam remained host of the 2021 contest on 18, 20 and 22 May 2021; however, the songs selected for the 2020 contest were not eligible for the competition.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The 2020 contest was to be held at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, following the country's victory at the 2019 edition with the song "Arcade", performed by Duncan Laurence. It would have been the fifth time that the Netherlands had hosted the contest, having previously done so in , , and . Rotterdam Ahoy had previously hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: Preparations for the 2020 contest began on 19 May 2019, immediately after the Netherlands won the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. Jon Ola Sand, the executive supervisor of the contest on behalf of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), handed AVROTROS, the Dutch participating broadcaster, a stack of documents and a USB drive with tools to begin the work needed to host the next contest. AVROTROS was co-organising the event with sister broadcaster (NOS) and their parent public broadcasting organisation, (NPO).


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: Already prior to the 2019 contest, when bookmakers expected Duncan Laurence to win, several Dutch cities, including Amsterdam, The Hague and Maastricht, announced their intent to host the contest should the Netherlands win. A spokesperson for NPO also stated that the broadcaster had a rough plan for how they would select the host city in the event of a Dutch victory. When Laurence won the contest, mayors of various municipalities immediately began lobbying Mark Rutte, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, through text messages. Public figures, including Laurence, Esther Hart, Getty Kaspers and André Rieu, voiced their support for their respective favourite host cities.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The hosting broadcasters launched the bidding process on 29 May 2019. In the first phase of this process, cities were to formally apply to bid. Nine cities—Amsterdam, Arnhem, Breda, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Hague, Leeuwarden, Maastricht, Rotterdam, and Utrecht—did so and received a list of criteria they and their venues needed to meet on 12 June 2019. Initially, Zwolle had also considered launching a bid to host the event but the city ultimately decided against doing so because it deemed its venue, the IJsselhallen, to have unsuitable proportions. Enschede could have been a potential host city as Enschede Airport Twente considered bidding to host the event in its eleventh hangar, however, it later learned that Enschede's municipality executive board had decided against financially supporting such a bid.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: From this point on, these nine cities had until 10 July 2019 to compile their bid books to demonstrate their capabilities to host the contest. Further cities were still able to join in on the bidding race by applying prior to the deadline. During this period, four cities withdrew. Amsterdam could not host the contest because it was preoccupied with hosting other events during the contest's time frame. Breda dropped out due to financial concerns. Leeuwarden ceased bidding due to the insufficient height of the ceiling of its WTC Expo. The Hague dropped its bid because both of its potential venues were unsuitable for the event. The local Cars Jeans Stadion football stadium would have been large enough but lacked a roof, and installing such a roof would have made the bid financially unviable. Its other option would have been spanning a tent over the Malieveld field, but after reviewing the hosting conditions, this option fell out of favour. Following its withdrawal, The Hague turned to support Rotterdam's bid instead.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The five remaining cities—Arnhem, 's-Hertogenbosch, Maastricht, Rotterdam, and Utrecht—delivered their finished bid books to a ceremonial event held in Hilversum on 10 July 2019. The hosting broadcasters reviewed the bids presented and on 16 July 2019 announced that it eliminated those for Arnhem, 's-Hertogenbosch and Utrecht, shortlisting only Maastricht and Rotterdam. Utrecht was specifically eliminated because its proposal to span a tent over its Jaarbeurs offered limited possibilities for testing on location and had a questionable suitability for events like the Eurovision Song Contest, while 's-Hertogenbosch was dropped due to an insufficient ceiling height in its Brabanthallen and too few hotel rooms blocked for potential visitors of the contest.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: To review and discuss the location, venue and surrounding events for the remaining bids, NPO visited Maastricht on 17 July 2019 and Rotterdam on the following day. By late July, additional visits to the two shortlisted cities were deemed necessary to review production logistics. The EBU did not pay visits to either city. Maastricht and Rotterdam were to hand in revised versions of their bid books by 9 August 2019 to add details involving the cities' social programmes, side-events and programme licensing. A "concept agreement" was put before the organisers in both Maastricht and Rotterdam in August 2019. While Rotterdam signed this agreement, the city council of Maastricht discussed and rejected it. Within the same council session, it was also clarified that the MECC would not receive additional renovations. On 30 August, Rotterdam was announced as the host city during a special broadcast on NPO 1 and NPO 2.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The Eurovision Village would have been erected to serve as the official Eurovision Song Contest fan and sponsors' area during the events week. There, it would have been possible to watch performances by local artists, as well as the live shows broadcast from the main venue. The Binnenrotte was the planned location for the Village. The Binnenrotte is one of the largest open spaces in the centre of Rotterdam. It is located in the heart of the city, next to some of Rotterdam's most famous architectural marvels, such as the Markthal.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The EuroClub would have been the venue for the official after-parties and private performances by contest participants. Unlike the Eurovision Village, access to the EuroClub would be restricted to accredited fans, delegates, and press. It would have been located at the Maassilo. Maassilo is located on Rotterdam's waterfront at Maashaven Zuidzijde, a 10-minute drive from Rotterdam Ahoy.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The "Golden Carpet" and Opening Ceremony events, where the contestants and their delegations present themselves in front of the accredited press and fans, would have taken place at the Rotterdam Cruise Terminal on 10 May 2020.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 would have been a co-production between three related Dutch television organisations — (NPO), (NOS) and AVROTROS — of which each assumed a different role. Sietse Bakker and Inge van de Weerd would have served as executive producers, while Emilie Sickinghe and Jessica Stam would have served as deputy executive producers. In August 2019, Marnix Kaart and Marc Pos were announced as the directors of the three live shows, as well as Gerben Bakker as head of show. Cornald Maas would have been creative advisor. Jon Ola Sand, executive supervisor of the contest, would keep his role as he had done since 2011, though he planned to step down following the 2020 contest.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The contest's slogan, "Open Up", was unveiled on 24 October 2019. The official logo and branding was unveiled on 28 November 2019. Designed by Clever°Franke, it is "an abstract representation of the flag colours of the 41 countries participating in 2020 by first appearance to the contest".


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The contest would have been hosted by three presenters: actress and television host Chantal Janzen, singer and commentator for the contest Jan Smit, and singer Edsilia Rombley, who represented the Netherlands in the and contests. Beauty vlogger Nikkie de Jager (NikkieTutorials) would have been the presenter of the contest's online content, including a behind-the-scenes YouTube series to be recorded with the participating artists. She would have also reported from the "Golden Carpet" during the opening ceremony and was scheduled to make an appearance in all three live shows. Roos Moggré and would have moderated the contest's press conferences.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The stage design for the 2020 contest was revealed on 2 December 2019. The design was inspired by the slogan "Open Up" and the typical Dutch flat landscape. The Eurovision stage was designed by German stage designer , who also designed the stages for the contests in 2011–12, 2015, and 2017–19. Unlike the previous contest, the green room was placed inside the main performance venue.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The second semi-final would have opened with a performance by breakdancer Redo. The final would have been opened with the traditional flag parade, introducing all twenty-six finalists, accompanied by music produced by 15-year-old DJ Pieter Gabriel. A symphony orchestra of sixty-five young musicians from across the Netherlands, specifically formed for this occasion, was scheduled to perform in the final, together with DJ Afrojack and singer Glennis Grace, the latter of whom represented the Netherlands in the 2005 contest. This interval act would have also featured forty dancers and a twenty-five-piece gospel choir.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: Furthermore, the final was scheduled to include performances from eight former Eurovision winners: Gigliola Cinquetti would have performed "", Lenny Kuhr would have performed "", Getty Kaspers (of Teach-In) would have performed "Ding-a-dong", Sandra Kim would have performed "", Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan would have performed "Rock 'n' Roll Kids", Alexander Rybak would have performed "Fairytale", and Duncan Laurence would have performed "Arcade" once again.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The Spanish Head of Delegation revealed on 22 October 2019 that the EBU was consulting with delegations on potential changes to the voting system. The Greek Head of Delegation revealed on 30 October 2019 that the majority of delegations (80%) voted in favour of maintaining the current voting system.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The draw to determine the participating countries' semi-finals took place on 28 January 2020 at 16:10 CET, at the Rotterdam City Hall. The thirty-five semi-finalists were divided over five pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the contest's official televoting partner Digame. The purpose of drawing from different pots was to reduce the chance of "bloc voting" and to increase suspense in the semi-finals. The draw also determined which semi-final each of the six automatic qualifiers – host country the Netherlands and "Big Five" countries France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom – would broadcast and vote in. The ceremony was hosted by contest presenters Chantal Janzen, Jan Smit and Edsilia Rombley, and included the passing of the host city insignia from Zippi Brand Frank, deputy mayor of Tel Aviv (host city of the previous contest) to Ahmed Aboutaleb, mayor of Rotterdam.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The concept of the 2020 postcards was based on the "Open Up" theme of the contest. Each artist would have visited a different part of the Netherlands and connected with locals by participating in a Dutch activity, tradition or hobby.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The EBU announced on 13 November 2019 that forty-one countries would participate in the contest, with Bulgaria and Ukraine returning after their absence from the 2019 contest, with Hungary and Montenegro withdrawing mostly due to financial reasons. Following the cancellation of the contest, artists who would have participated in this edition may be chosen to participate in the following year, but they have to enter with new songs in accordance to the Eurovision rules.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: Three artists which had previously competed as lead vocalists for the same countries had been selected to compete again. Natalia Gordienko had previously represented in with Arsenium and Connect-R; Senhit had represented in ; and Sanja Vučić, a member of Hurricane, had previously represented in in a solo performance.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: A number of other acts had previously performed as backing vocalists in other years, but had been selected as the lead artist for the 2020 contest. Ksenija Knežević, a member of Serbia's group Hurricane, had previously served as backing vocalist in for 's entrant Knez; Destiny provided backing vocals for 's Michela in ; Vincent Bueno backed 's Nathan Trent in ; and Vasil and the Mamas were present at the , providing backing vocals for 's Tamara Todevska and 's John Lundvik respectively. In addition, two of the lead vocalists had previously competed in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest; Destiny won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 for and Greece's Stefania had competed in the for the as member of the group Kisses.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The first semi-final would have taken place on 12 May 2020 at 21:00 (CEST). Seventeen countries would have participated in the first semi-final. These countries, plus , and the , would have voted in this semi-final.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The second semi-final would have taken place on 14 May 2020 at 21:00 (CEST). Eighteen countries would have participated in the second semi-final. These countries, plus , and the , would have voted in this semi-final.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The final would have taken place on 16 May 2020 at 21:00 (CEST). Twenty-six countries would have participated in the final, composed of the host country, the "Big Five", and the ten best-ranked entries of each of the two semi-finals. All forty-one participating countries would have voted in the final.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: Eligibility for potential participation in the Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active EBU membership that will be able to broadcast the contest via the Eurovision network. The EBU issued an invitation of participation in the contest to all active members. In contrast to previous years, associate member did not need an invitation for the 2020 contest, as it had previously been granted permission to participate at least until 2023.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: Before the contest's cancellation, countries had started confirming their broadcasting plans and who would provide commentary either on-location or remotely at the broadcaster during the contest. The role of the commentators was to add insight to the participating entries and the provision of voting information.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: In January–February 2020, the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (known as COVID-19) from Wuhan, China to other countries around the world raised concerns and the potential impact over staging the Eurovision Song Contest. On 6 March, the Dutch broadcaster NPO stated: "Eurovision organisers would follow the advice of health authorities in deciding what form the event, due to be held on 12–16 May, would take." In March, authorities in Denmark urged the cancellation of events with more than 1,000 spectators to limit the spread of the virus. This resulted in the being held with no live audience. Representatives from Sweden, Finland, Israel, Switzerland, Italy and Greece attended the Heads of Delegation meeting on 9 March remotely. The contest's executive supervisor Jon Ola Sand also attended the meeting remotely, due to travel restrictions being placed on EBU staff until 13 March after an employee contracted the virus.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: Several pre-parties – promotional events which are held across Europe in the lead up to the contest weeks – were also impacted due to the emerging pandemic. These included the "PrePartyES", planned for 10–11 April in Madrid and was eventually modified to an online-only format, where artists performed at home in a YouTube concert; and three pre-parties that were cancelled: "Israel Calling", a pre-party planned in Tel Aviv; "Eurovision in Concert," a pre-party planned in Amsterdam; and the "London Eurovision Party". The pandemic also affected pre-contest activities of several competing artists. Eden Alene, the Israeli representative, revealed that she would not travel to the Netherlands to film her postcard as a precautionary measure; the broadcaster noted they would try to find another way to film her postcard. The Lithuanian representatives The Roop also cancelled both the travel plans to film their postcard and their participation in the London and Amsterdam pre-parties. The Bulgarian representative Victoria also cancelled her participation in the London and Amsterdam pre-parties.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: Ultimately, the contest itself was cancelled as a result of the pandemic and the uncertainty surrounding it, which was announced on 18 March 2020. On the same day, the EBU explained the reasons for which the alternative options that had been considered – postponement of the show, show without audience and remote show – were discarded. Postponement was impossible because at that time it was unknown when the pandemic would end and also because the winning country would not have enough time to organise the event the following year. The idea of staging a show without a live audience was also impracticable because, regardless of audience participation, the presence of production crews, delegations and relevant personnel was needed, which would constitute a breach of social distancing guidelines. Finally, a remote show was also off the table because it would have undermined the tradition and the spirit of the event, in which all contestants have an equal opportunity by performing on the same stage. By then, the Dutch government had decided to prohibit all gatherings with more than 100 attendees until further notice. The contest's Reference Group explored the option of letting the artists selected for 2020 compete in the following year instead. A decision was made on 20 March 2020 that, in accordance with the contest's rules, which disqualify songs released publicly before 1 September of the preceding calendar year, none of the 2020 songs would be eligible to compete in the 2021 contest.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The Ahoy Arena itself, with most events and gatherings in the Netherlands prohibited until at least 1 September 2020, served as a temporary care facility to cover the nationwide shortage of hospital beds. Construction of the stage would have started on 6 April.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The EBU and the host broadcasters worked on a replacement show, "", after the contest's cancellation. From Hilversum's Studio 21, the show was broadcast live on 16 May 2020, the date the contest's final was planned to take place, with Chantal Janzen, Jan Smit and Edsilia Rombley serving as hosts. Forty-six countries broadcast the show, including all of the countries that would have participated.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The EBU announced on 30 April 2020 that "Eurovision Song Celebration 2020" would be released as a replacement for the semi-finals on the contest's official YouTube channel. The shows, presented by Janouk Kelderman and premiered on 12 and 14 May, honoured all 41 participants and their songs in a non-competitive format.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The first episode showcased the participants of the first semi-final, as well as those of host country the Netherlands and two of the "Big Five", Germany and Italy, who would also have voted in this semi-final. The second episode featured the participants of the second semi-final, as well as those of France, Spain and the United Kingdom, who would also have voted in this semi-final.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The running order was determined by the producers of the show as if the contest were actually held, while fans were asked to contribute to the show by sending videoclips of their favourite entries.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: The contest's official YouTube channel broadcast "Eurovision Home Concerts" every Friday from 3 April 2020, featuring planned and past artists performing their Eurovision hits, as well as one of their favourite other entries from their homes. For their cover, the act gave a shortlist of 2-4 entries for fans to choose in a poll on Twitter or Instagram, and covered the song (or songs if there was a tie) that won the poll.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: Upon hearing about the contest's cancellation, journalist Rob Holley launched an initiative to watch a past contest on YouTube every week, eventually giving it the title "EurovisionAgain". The initiative quickly became popular, so the EBU itself decided to partake. Every Saturday at 21:00 CEST, the Eurovision YouTube channel would re-broadcast a final of a previous contest, revealed by the "EurovisionAgain" team 15 minutes before the start. Contests prior to 2004 are available for a limited time. The initiative was generally received as a welcome distraction for fans. On Twitter, #EurovisionAgain regularly became a trending topic and received positive reactions from past participants. As part of the initiative, Holley collected over £24,700 for charity.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: From 18 July 2020, a second run of "EurovisionAgain" began with a replay of the , and aired every third Saturday of the month leading up to the 2021 selection season. The season ended with a special edition where the 26 most popular songs that did not qualify for the final, one from each country, as chosen via the official Eurovision social media handles, were streamed and put to a fan-vote. Iceland's 2016 entry, "Hear Them Calling" by Greta Salóme, won the fan-vote.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: Besides the Europe-wide replacement show, broadcasters were left to make plans to fill the rest of the gaps themselves. Most broadcasters provided their television audience with Eurovision-related replacement programming. Examples include holding an alternative contest by offering people the chance to listen to the 2020 entries and vote for their favourites, with some countries holding a ranking of (their own) songs throughout Eurovision history, and re-broadcasts of pre-existing Eurovision specials and previous contests which are significant for their country, such as the contest they last won.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: Big Night In was organised and broadcast by the Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) and aired on 16 May 2020. Australians voted online for their favourite 2020 song (minus Montaigne's "Don't Break Me"), and over three hours, the songs was counted down from 40 to 1, with the top twenty songs being playing in full. Iceland's Daði og Gagnamagnið were crowned winners with "Think About Things".


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: OGAE, an organisation of over forty Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs across Europe and beyond, conducts an annual voting poll. After all votes were cast, the top-ranked entry in the 2020 poll was Lithuania's "" by The Roop; the top five results are shown below.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2020

text: Eurovision: A Tribute to the Artists and Songs 2020 is the official compilation album of the contest, put together by the European Broadcasting Union and contains all 41 songs that would have taken part in the competition. It was originally scheduled to be released by Universal Music Group physically and digitally on 17 April 2020 but was delayed to 8 May, and later to 15 May.


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: Enlightened is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on HBO on October 10, 2011. The series was created by Mike White, who wrote every episode, and Laura Dern. As signaled by its tagline "About a woman on the verge of a nervous breakthrough", "Enlightened" follows the story of Amy Jellicoe (Dern), a self-destructive executive, who, after the implosion of her professional life and a subsequent philosophical awakening in rehabilitation, tries to get her life back together.


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: In 2012, Dern won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her role in the series. The show was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: After the completion of two seasons, HBO canceled the show in March 2013, partly due to low ratings, despite critical acclaim.


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: Amy Jellicoe is a 40-year-old woman who returns home to Riverside, California, after a two-month stay at a holistic treatment facility, a result of having a mental breakdown at work after finding herself demoted, which was triggered by her self-destructive ways (including heavy drinking and an affair with her married boss who likely demoted her as a way to keep the affair a secret), which in turn was triggered by a miscarriage and a rather bitter divorce. Amy returns to her old life with a new cultivated approach and perspective, which includes daily meditation and exhorting the power of self-help and inner healing. Though Amy wants to be an "agent of change" in the world, the people who know her best are skeptical of her latest intentions. She moves in temporarily with her somewhat-estranged mother, Helen (Diane Ladd, Dern's real-life mother), and reconnects with her ex-husband Levi (Luke Wilson), who is struggling with his own demons and addictions.


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: While trying to heal Levi and mend her relationship with Helen, Amy also re-enters work at Abaddonn Industries. This is due in large part to the head HR representative Judy Harvey (Amy Hill) discovering that with her diagnosis with bipolar disorder Amy could possibly sue Abaddonn for discrimination on the basis of illness/medical condition. Once a buyer in the company's Health and Beauty department, Amy is rehired, but assigned to a demeaning position in data processing, a department run by the flaky Dougie (Timm Sharp). Amy views the transfer as an attempt to hasten her departure and keep her away from her former co-workers, including former assistant Krista (Sarah Burns), who now has Amy's old job, and Damon (Charles Esten), her former boss and ex-lover. However, while in this new position, Amy uncovers a range of corporate abuse and corruption occurring at Abaddonn, which ultimately fuels her quest to make a change in the lives of others, as well as validating her own change.


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: The series appeared on HBO's development slate in August 2009 with Laura Dern set to star as the lead, Amy Jellicoe. On September 9, 2009, HBO placed a pilot order. Mike White wrote and directed the pilot, as well as co-starring in the series as Tyler. The series is executive produced by White and Dern and co-executive produced by Miguel Arteta and Edward Saxon. David Bernad and Jason Weinberg are producers for the series.


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: Casting announcements began in November 2009, with Sarah Burns cast as Krista Jacobs, Amy's workplace friend. Diane Ladd, Luke Wilson and Amy Hill then joined the series, with Ladd (who is Laura Dern's mother) playing Helen Jellicoe, Amy's mother. Luke Wilson is cast in the role of Levi, Amy's ex-husband and Amy Hill plays Judy, the head of human resources at Amy's workplace. Mos Def was cast in the role of Dougie, Amy's boss; however, he subsequently withdrew from consideration due to a dispute regarding the deal, and the role was recast with Timm Sharp.


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: On April 10, 2010, HBO picked the pilot up to series, with a ten episode order. The series premiered on October 10, 2011. On December 20, 2011, HBO announced they renewed the series for a second season.


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: In its first season, the critical reaction to "Enlightened" was largely positive, scoring 74 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "Generally favorable reviews", based on 22 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a 79% approval rating with an average rating of 7.5/10 based on 29 reviews, with a critics consensus of, ""Enlightened" is an outstanding and brave show, exemplifying how a television series can successfully present different elements of the human psyche." "Time"s James Poniewozik wrote a piece titled "Enlightened: The Best New Show No One But You, If You Are Bothering to Read This Post, Is Watching". In it he writes that: ""Enlightened", I guess, is the Velvet Underground of this TV season: that handful of people who are into the show are really into it. So here's one more effort to get you to consider watching this weird, perceptive show. And when I say 'you,' I'm talking about that guy over there. If you've read this far, I assume that you already watch it." In "Entertainment Weekly"s Melissa Maerz piece "Contrarian Corner: Why 'Enlightened' is the best show nobody's watching" she writes about the state of television and where "Enlightened" fits in: "There's a general feeling among cable TV fans that television needs to be dark in order to be taken seriously. And I get that. Most of my all-time favorite shows are about meth dealers and undertakers and stylishly dressed alcoholics. So there's something pretty brave about a show that's not cynical or sarcastic or defeatist, one that's not set on a street corner in Baltimore or inside Al Qaeda's torture barracks, and still manages to be absolutely heartbreaking. HBO's Enlightened is the most genuinely moving TV show that's debuted this fall. And none of the characters get cancer." The show appeared on several "best of" lists at the end of 2011, with some critics citing its ninth episode, "Consider Helen", as a standout.


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: The second season received higher acclaim than the first, with the season receiving a Metacritic score of 95 out of 100, based on 7 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has a 96% approval rating with an average rating of 9.2/10 based on 23 reviews, with a critics consensus of, ""Enlightened" is a must-see, continuing to show Amy Jellicoe as an empathetic, uneasy character who inspires to live positively." Michelle Dean of "The Nation" demands "everybody should be watching HBO's "Enlightened"" writing that it "is one of the few strokes of real, original storytelling left in prestige television right now." Hank Stuever of "The Washington Post" in his review of the second season says "This HBO exercise in exquisite portraiture (I still won't call it a comedy) returns Sunday night, and it is the most hauntingly nuanced and carefully written show currently on TV." Maureen Ryan of "The Huffington Post" wrote in her review, "The show's must-see second season is one of the best stories I've experienced in a long time (HBO sent all eight Season 2 episodes for review). And -- appropriately for a show about a woman who wants to live a more vivid and connected life -- it is an experience."


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: With continuing low ratings, creator Mike White in an interview spoke about the show's uncertain fate, in turn sparking a circle of critics to publish pieces on the show, pleading for more awareness and raving about its tremendous quality. In "The A.V. Club"s review, they called "Enlightened" "TV's best show right now—and it needs more viewers. Jane Hu of Salon.com writes in her piece titled "HBO, please renew "Enlightened"!": "No matter when the tidal wave hits, we'll have had two perfect seasons. Meanwhile, I'm still holding out hope." Maureen Ryan of "The Huffington Post" published her own list of reasons for renewal, titled: 'Enlightened' Renewal: 8 Reasons HBO Must Bring Back This Show.


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: Upon reviewing the season 2 finale, a longtime champion of the show, "Time"s James Poniewozik touched on the renewal prospects, writing: "And in "Enlightened", whether it planned things this way, HBO has the best thing TV is doing right now—a show no other network would probably make, telling a story that the movies couldn't tell, not at such length and depth. Without HBO, this story would not exist, and HBO is a company in the without-us-nothing business. In other words, HBO doesn't owe it to us to keep "Enlightened" on the air; HBO owes it to itself. That's what you get when you bring something amazing into this beautiful, upsetting world."


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: For the 69th Golden Globe Awards, Laura Dern won for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy, while the series received a nomination for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. Dern also received a nomination for Best Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical for the 17th Satellite Awards. For the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, Dern was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, and Molly Shannon was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: Despite the critical acclaim, on March 19, 2013, HBO confirmed that the show would not return for a third season.


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: As envisioned by creators Mike White and Laura Dern, "Enlightened" was to span as a trilogy, "all having a very different moral compass and theme, it kind of being a trilogy of falling apart and then getting it back together." Mike White detailed plans for the story should "Enlightened" have continued. These include:


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: In July 2021, White told "The New Yorker" that HBO has expressed interest over the last two or three years in "a one-off short season or a movie that wraps everything up." While White said he wouldn't rule it out, he noted that "right now, that doesn't feel like a bold decision" because "it would feel like it was pandering to the zeitgeist."


title: Enlightened (TV series)

text: In Canada, the series was simulcast on HBO Canada and debuted on October 10, 2011. In the United Kingdom, the series was broadcast on Sky Atlantic. The first season premiered on December 6, 2011, and the second season on September 26, 2014.


title: Birching

text: Birching is a form of corporal punishment with a birch rod, typically applied to the recipient's bare buttocks, although occasionally to the back and/or shoulders.


title: Birching

text: A birch rod (often shortened to "birch") is a bundle of leafless twigs bound together to form an implement for administering corporal punishment.


title: Birching

text: Contrary to what the name suggests, a birch rod is not a single rod and is not necessarily made from birch twigs, but can also be made from various other strong and smooth branches of trees or shrubs, such as willow. A "hazel rod" is particularly painful; a bundle of four or five hazel twigs was used in the 1960s and 1970s on the Isle of Man, the last jurisdiction in Europe to use birching as a judicial penalty.


title: Birching

text: Another factor in the severity of a birch rod is its size—i.e. its length, weight and number of branches. In some penal institutions, several versions were in use, which were often given names. For example, in Dartmoor Prison the device used to punish male offenders above the age of 16—weighing some , and long—was known as the "senior birch".


title: Birching

text: In the 1860s, the Royal Navy abandoned the use of the cat o' nine tails on boy seamen. The cat had acquired a nasty reputation because of its use in prisons, and was replaced by the birch, with which the wealthy classes were more familiar, having been chastised with it during their schooling. Around the same time, the civilian courts system followed the Navy's example and switched to birches for the judicial corporal punishment of boys and young men, where previously a whip or cat had been used. In an attempt to standardise the Navy's birches, the Admiralty had specimens called "patterned birch" (as well as a "patterned cane"), kept in every major dockyard, as birches had to be procured on land in quantities.


title: Birching

text: The term judicial birch generally refers to the severe type in use for court-ordered birchings, especially the Manx hazel birch. A 1951 memorandum (possibly confirming earlier practice) ordered all UK male prisons to use birches (and cats-o'-nine-tails) from only a national stock at south London's Wandsworth prison, where they were to be 'thoroughly' tested before being supplied in triplicate to a prison whenever required for use as prison discipline.


title: Birching

text: By contrast, terms like ""Eton birch"" are used for a school birch made from smaller birch tree twigs.


title: Birching

text: Only if the recipient was a small child could he or she practicably be punished over the knee of the applicant. Otherwise the child would be bent over an object such as a chair. For judicial punishments the recipient could even be tied down if likely to move about too much or attempt to escape.


title: Birching

text: In some prisons and reformatories, a wooden apparatus known as birching donkey or birching pony was specially constructed for birchings. As there were no detailed rules, prisons and police stations devised, adapted and used many different contraptions under various names that juvenile and adult offenders were bent over for punishment. Some models also allowed a standing or leaning position for other implements.


title: Birching

text: A simple alternative position known from school discipline is horsing, where the person to be punished is held by the arms over the back of another person (e.g. a classmate), or on the shoulders of two or more colleagues. However, at Eton College and schools of similar standing, the recipient was made to kneel on a special wooden block.


title: Birching

text: Another device used to immobilise offenders was a birching table, used in Scotland, with two holes in it through which the offender's arms were inserted but otherwise left free and untied. The offender's feet were tied into position and a strap fastened immediately above the waist.


title: Birching

text: Whatever position is adopted, care must be taken (e.g. by having the recipient's legs kept together) not to strike the back of the genitals.


title: Birching

text: It was the most common school and judicial punishment in Europe up to the mid-19th century, when caning gained increasing popularity. According to some accounts, even the legendary sting of the cat o' nine tails was less feared than the birch in certain prisons. The birch was always applied to the bare buttocks (as also on the Continent), a humiliation usually befalling boys (like the boy's cat, likewise on the naked posterior), the 'adult' cat to the back or shoulders of adults; although in the 20th century, judges increasingly ordered the birch rather than the cat, even for robbery with violence (the only offence for which adult judicial corporal punishment was ordered in the latter decades of its use in mainland Britain).


title: Birching

text: Birching featured in the French Revolution. One leader of the revolution, Anne-Josèphe Théroigne de Méricourt, went mad, ending her days in an asylum after a public birching. On 31 May 1793 the Jacobin women seized her, stripped her naked, and flogged her on the bare bottom in the public garden of the Tuileries.


title: Birching

text: Judicial birching in 20th-century Britain was used much more often as a fairly minor punishment for male juveniles, typically for petty larceny, rather than as a serious penalty for adult men. This was applied to boys aged up to 14 in England and Wales, and up to 16 in Scotland. In this juvenile version, the birch was much lighter and smaller, and the birch was administered privately by a policeman, usually immediately after the magistrate's court hearing, either in a room in the court building or at the nearest police station.


title: Birching

text: In Lewis Carroll's early poem The Two Brothers 1853 one laments: "Oh would I were back at Twyford School, Learning lessons in fear of the birch !" as his sadistic brother uses him as fish bait.


title: Birching

text: Today birching is rarely used as a judicial punishment, and it has also almost completely died out as a punishment for children.


title: Birching

text: In the United Kingdom, birching as a judicial penalty, in both its juvenile and adult versions, was abolished in 1948, but it was retained until 1962 as a punishment for violent breaches of prison discipline. The punishment of Birching and cat o' nine tails continued to be used in Northern Ireland into the 1940s.


title: Birching

text: The Isle of Man caused a good deal of controversy by continuing to birch young offenders until 1976. The birch was also used on offending teenage boys until the mid-1960s on the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey.


title: Birching

text: In Trinidad and Tobago, the Corporal Punishment Act 1953 allows the High Court to order males, in addition to another punishment (often concurrent with a prison term), to undergo corporal punishment in the form of either a 'flogging' with a knotted cat o' nine tails (made of cords, as in the Royal Navy tradition) or a 'whipping' with a 'rod' [i.e. switch] of tamarind, birch or other switches, and it allows the President to approve other instruments; in 2000, the minimum age was raised from 16 to 18, the legal threshold of adulthood. It may now be the only country in the world still officially using the birch.


title: Birching

text: In Scandinavia, the Baltics, Russia and Finland there is a tradition to strike one's own body with soaked birch twigs in the sauna or banya, as a form of massage and to increase blood circulation and open the pores. The twigs are chosen carefully and do not have their leaves removed, and are often softened by keeping them in hot water prior to use. Being struck by the twigs induces a pleasant stinging sensation but very little actual pain.


title: Battle of Attu

text: The Battle of Attu (codenamed Operation Landcrab), which took place on 11–30 May 1943, was a battle fought between forces of the United States, aided by Canadian reconnaissance and fighter-bomber support, and Japan on Attu Island off the coast of the Territory of Alaska as part of the Aleutian Islands Campaign during the American Theater and the Pacific Theater. Attu is the only land battle in which Japanese and American forces fought in snowy conditions, in contrast with the tropical climate in the rest of the Pacific.


title: Battle of Attu

text: The more than two-week battle ended when most of the Japanese defenders were killed in brutal hand-to-hand combat after a final "banzai " charge broke through American lines.


title: Battle of Attu

text: The strategic position of the islands of Attu and Kiska off Alaska's coast meant their location could control the sea lanes across the Northern Pacific Ocean. Japanese planners believed control of the Aleutians would therefore prevent any possible U.S. attacks from Alaska. This assessment had already been inferred by U.S. General Billy Mitchell who told the U.S. Congress in 1935, "I believe that in the future, whoever holds Alaska will hold the world. I think it is the most important strategic place in the world."


title: Battle of Attu

text: On 7 June 1942, six months after the United States entered World War II, the 301st Independent Infantry Battalion from the Japanese Northern Army landed unopposed on Attu. The landings occurred one day after the invasion of nearby Kiska. The U.S. military now feared both islands could be turned into strategic Japanese airbases from which aerial attacks could be launched against mainland Alaska and the rest of the U.S. West Coast.


title: Battle of Attu

text: In Walt Disney's 1943 film, "Victory Through Air Power," the use of the Aleutian Islands for American long-range bombers to bomb Japan was postulated.


title: Battle of Attu

text: On 11 May 1943, units from 17th Infantry, of Maj. Gen. Albert E. Brown's 7th U.S. Infantry Division made amphibious landings on Attu to retake the island from Japanese Imperial Army forces led by Colonel Yasuyo Yamasaki. Despite heavy naval bombardments of Japanese positions, the American troops encountered strong entrenched defenses that made combat conditions tough. Arctic weather and exposure-related injuries also caused numerous casualties among U.S. forces. After two weeks of relentless fighting, however, American units managed to push the Japanese defenders back to a pocket around Chichagof Harbor.


title: Battle of Attu

text: On 21–22 May 1943, a powerful Japanese fleet assembled in Tokyo Bay in preparation for a sortie to repel the American attempt to recapture Attu. The fleet included the carriers "Zuikaku", "Shōkaku", "Jun'yō", "Hiyō", the battleships "Musashi", "Kongō", "Haruna", and the cruisers "Mogami", "Kumano", "Suzuya", "Tone", "Chikuma", "Agano", "Ōyodo", and eleven destroyers. The Americans, however, recaptured Attu before the fleet could depart.


title: Battle of Attu

text: On 29 May 1943, without hope of rescue, Yamasaki led his remaining troops in a "banzai" charge. The surprise attack broke through the American front line positions. Shocked American rear-echelon troops were soon fighting in hand-to-hand combat with Japanese soldiers. The battle continued until almost all of the Japanese were killed. The charge effectively ended the battle for the island, although U.S. Navy reports indicate that small groups of Japanese continued to fight until early July 1943 and isolated Japanese survivors held out until as late as 8 September 1943. In 19 days of battle, 549 soldiers of the 7th Infantry Division were killed and more than 1,200 injured. The Japanese lost over 2,351 men, including Yamasaki; only 28 prisoners were taken.


title: Battle of Attu

text: Attu was the last action of the Aleutian Islands Campaign. The Japanese Northern Army secretly evacuated its remaining garrison from nearby Kiska, ending the Japanese occupation in the Aleutian Islands on 28 July 1943.


title: Battle of Attu

text: The loss of Attu and the evacuation of Kiska came shortly after the death of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who was killed by American aircraft in Operation Vengeance. These defeats compounded the demoralizing effect of losing Yamamoto on the Japanese High Command. Despite the losses, Japanese propaganda attempted to present the Aleutian Island campaign as an inspirational epic.


title: Battle of Attu

text: US Landing Force Attu (US 7th Infantry Division) – Major-General Albert Brown, Brigadier General Eugene M. Landrum from May 16


title: Band-Maid

text: Band-Maid (stylized as BAND-MAID® until 2016) is a Japanese rock band formed in 2013, consisting of singer Saiki Atsumi, guitarist/singer Miku Kobato, lead guitarist Kanami Tōno, bassist Misa, and drummer Akane Hirose. The band combines a rock sound with a maid image modeled on Japanese maid cafés. They are currently signed to Pony Canyon, and their most recent full-length album "Unseen World" was released in 2021.


title: Band-Maid

text: The band formed in July 2013. Guitarist/singer Miku Kobato, formerly an employee of a Japanese maid café, envisioned forming a band that juxtaposed the maid image with rock music. Kobato recruited lead guitarist Kanami Tōno after an Internet search. Tōno had performed as a singer-songwriter and suggested her occasional backing drummer Akane Hirose for the new band. Hirose in turn suggested bassist Misa, with whom she had attended music school. On July 24, 2013 they had their first live performance at the PP Audition held at Osaka Deep, as a quartet with Kobato on vocals. The band then decided to recruit an additional lead singer and selected Saiki Atsumi during auditions. Their first performance as a five-piece was at the P Festival at Shibuya-AX on August 22, 2013. The band signed to Gump Records (an imprint of the Platinum Passport artist management and talent agency) that year.


title: Band-Maid

text: Early in their history, Band-Maid regularly performed live at various venues around the Tokyo area. The group released their debut mini-album "Maid in Japan" in January 2014, written in collaboration with musicians Masahiko Fukui and Kentaro Akutsu. In August 2014, they released the maxi-single "Ai to Jōnetsu no Matador" (titled "Love, Passion, Matador" internationally).


title: Band-Maid

text: In November 2015 they released their sophomore mini-album "New Beginning". The mini-album was their first chart placement, reaching No. 64 on the Japanese "Oricon" weekly albums chart. The band undertook a tour of Tokyo venues to promote the album through February 2016, culminating in a sold-out concert on February 14.


title: Band-Maid

text: Band-Maid first gained international notice in April 2015 when the English-language Facebook page of internet radio station Jrock Radio promoted the music video for "Thrill", which led to over 1 million views in the following year. In the wake of that video's success, the band decided to abandon the more mainstream pop-rock sound of their debut mini-album and pursue a much more hard rock direction. In March 2016 they had their first overseas performance at Sakura-Con in Seattle, Washington.


title: Band-Maid

text: The group released their third mini-album and major label debut, "Brand New Maid", in May 2016 on the Nippon Crown sub-label Crown Stones and JPU Records in Europe. That album reached No. 19 on the Japanese "Oricon" weekly albums chart. In October and November 2016, they went on their first world tour that took them to Mexico, Hong Kong, and several countries in Europe.


title: Band-Maid

text: In January 2017, Band-Maid released their first full-length album titled "Just Bring It". It was preceded by the single "YOLO", released in November 2016. "Just Bring It" reached No. 16 on the Japanese "Oricon" weekly albums chart. Band-Maid appeared at the 2017 Golden Melody Awards and festival in Taiwan on June 23–24. The maxi-single "Daydreaming/Choose Me" was released in July 2017. They covered "Honey" for the November 2017 Mucc tribute album "Tribute of Mucc -En-".


title: Band-Maid

text: The band released their second full-length album titled "World Domination" on . "World Domination" reached no. 9 on the Japanese "Oricon" weekly albums chart. Also on February 14, 2018, they reissued their 2014 debut album "Maid in Japan" with two bonus tracks. While the original release of that album did not chart, the reissued version reached No. 26 on the Japanese "Oricon" weekly albums chart. On April 1, 2018, they performed at Warped Tour at Makuhari Messe as the first date on a world tour.


title: Band-Maid

text: The CD singles "Glory" and "Bubble" were released simultaneously on January 16, 2019. "Glory" serves as the second ending theme for the second season of the Japanese anime series "Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS", while "Bubble" serves as the theme song for the Japanese drama series "Perfect Crime". Later in 2019, the band signed a new deal with Revolver Records. Under the name Band-Maiko and adopting a maiko image, the band released an EP titled "Band-Maiko" on April 3, 2019, which adapted several previous Band-Maid songs with traditional Japanese musical instruments and lyrics in the Kyoto dialect. In April 2019, the band announced a tour of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Taiwan, and the United States in partnership with Live Nation Entertainment.


title: Band-Maid

text: The band's third full-length album "Conqueror" was released digitally on December 4, 2019, with physical formats following one week later. The album featured one song produced by Tony Visconti. It debuted at no. 9 on Japanese "Oricon" weekly albums chart and debuted at no. 1 on the "Oricon" weekly Rock Albums chart.


title: Band-Maid

text: They released their first standalone concert video "Band-Maid World Domination Tour [Shinka] at Line Cube Shibuya (Shibuya Public Hall)" in April 2020. In late 2020, the band left Revolver Records and signed with Pony Canyon. The non-album single "Different" was released in December 2020; the song also serves as the opening theme for the Japanese anime series "Log Horizon: Destruction of the Round Table". The band's fourth full-length album, "Unseen World," was released digitally on January 13, 2021, with physical formats following one week later. It debuted at no. 8 on Japanese "Oricon" weekly albums chart and debuted at no. 1 on the "Oricon" weekly Rock Albums chart. Guitarist/singer Miku Kobato, under the name Cluppo, released the J-pop solo single "Peace & Love" in April 2021 and the double single "Peace & Love/Flapping Wings" in August 2021.


title: Band-Maid

text: Band-Maid made a cameo appearance in the 2021 Netflix film "Kate", playing themselves in a concert scene. Their songs "Blooming" and "Choose Me" were used in the film. The single "Sense" was released in October 2021; the song also serves as the opening theme for the Japanese anime series "Platinum End". In December 2021, they announced a second US tour, including an appearance at Aftershock Festival, which took place in late 2022. "Choose Me" was used in the US TV series "Peacemaker". In March 2022 Kobato, again under the name Cluppo, released the EP "Hatofull". In July 2022 Kobato released the non-album Cluppo single "With You", which serves as the ending theme for the Japanese anime series "Smile of the Arsnotoria". Band-Maid released an EP titled "Unleash" on September 21, 2022. Band-Maid opened for Guns N' Roses 2020 Tour on November 6.