Janice, 31, has been fighting an aggressive sarcoma since 2021. Earlier this year, she received the devastating news that the rare form of cancer would take her life. 

With an uncertain timeline left to live, Janice decided to release a special song she had in her “vault”, writing on Instagram that she “knew this was the one”. 

Despite the incredibly sad diagnosis, the song Janice gifted to the world Dance You Outta My Head is a groovy, upbeat dance hit that, since being released on January 19th, has gone viral on TikTok and charted top 10 worldwide. Here in Australia, the song hit #1 in the charts. 

“I want to leave behind smiles, grooves and joy for you and I know this is the right song for that,” Janice wrote to her followers on Instagram upon its release.

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A mother’s gift to her son

Probably the most heartfelt part to Janice’s incredible story is that she’s signed over all the song’s royalties to her 7-year-old son, Loren, so that she can leave him with support after her passing. 

“I am leaving all proceeds to my son who is very musically inclined, hoping to give him the boost in music he will need later in life,” Janice said.

She’s asked people to stream/watch the song as much as possible.

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The song itself was born out of inspiration from a car ride she’d had with her son, Janice told the Washingtonian. The two were “grooving” and singing along to one another when they landed on the line, “dance until you love me”. 

Janice said this eventually turned into “Dance You Out of My Head”  when she began to write the labor of love. 

All over the world, people have resonated with the song, creating their own videos dancing to the catchy beat and leaving comments on Janice’s videos about how much her story has meant to them. 

Aussie musician, Jack River commented on one of her posts, saying: “Sending infinite love from Australia ~ from one music making mother to another xxx”.

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“I’m just honestly so blown away by everyone’s love and how they’ve support me through this and shared this story,” Janice told the Today Show. “I really do believe it’s a miracle to be able to witness this. I’m just very happy to be here.”

Even before her tragic diagnosis, Janice would update her social media with her journey battling cancer. She grew up around the Washington DC area and was recently married to her partner, Kyle Higginbotham. 

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Along with her prowess for music, Janice has worked as a geospatial information scientist, loves playing soccer and is known for organising neighbourhood cleanups, according to her little sister, Meredith, who set up a  GoFundMe page to help with Janice’s medical expenses. 

“Catherine (Cat) is one of the coolest, smartest and most loving people you will ever meet”, writes Meredith.

The post Leaving behind joy: Cat Janice tops music charts from a hospice bed, gives all proceeds to her son appeared first on Women's Agenda.

At the half-way mark of his speech, he changed tuned and took a swipe at the Recording Academy’s failure to award his wife Beyoncé, a 32-time Grammy winner, with the most prestigious prize at the Grammys: Album of the Year.

“We want you all to get it right,” he said. “We love you all, at least get it close to right. And obviously it’s subjective, because it’s music, it’s opinion-based, but you know, some things — I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year,” he said, looking at Beyoncé. 

“So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that. The most Grammys, never won album of the year. That doesn’t work.”

A few audience members cheered. He continued, addressing the wider crowd. 

“Some of you are going to go home tonight and feel like you’ve been robbed. Some of you may be robbed. Some of you don’t belong in the category.”

This last snark garnered the loudest jeers. He responded by saying, “When I get nervous, I tell the truth.”

He ended his speech with some advice, taking hold of his daughter Blue’s hands, who was standing beside him throughout his speech.

“Just in life, you’ve got to keep showing up, forget the Grammys, you’ve got to keep showing up, until they give you all those accolades you feel you deserve. Until they call you chairman, until they call you a genius, until they call you the greatest of all time.”

Users on social media responded to Jay-Z’s speech, with one user writing: “JAY-Z is 100% correct. The fact that Beyoncé has never won Album of the Year for Self-titled, Lemonade, and RENAISSANCE is shameful. The LAST Black woman to win AOTY was Lauryn Hill, and that was over 25 YEARS AGO. The Recording Academy is telling us that no Black woman has created an album worthy of that honor in all this time, and I find that to be very offensive.”

The post garnered over 72K likes. 

Beyoncé has been nominated for Album of the Year four times. In 2010, for I Am… Sasha Fierce, in 2015 for Beyoncé, in 2017 forLemonade and last year, for Renaissance. 

In 2010, she lost to Taylor Swift’s Fearless. In 2015, she lost again to Swift, this time to her fifth album, 1989. In 2017, the year Lemonade was tipped to be the winner, she lost to Adele, who won for her third album 25.

In her acceptance speech, Adele said, “I can’t possibly accept this award. And I’m very humbled and I’m very grateful and gracious. But my artist of my life is Beyoncé. And this album to me, the Lemonade album, is just so monumental.”

Perhaps Jay-Z’s comments were enlivened by the fact that Taylor Swift won her fourth Album of the Year, for Midnights on Sunday night. 

Among the 32 Grammys Beyonce has won, only one award was in a “big four” category: Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. In 2010, Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) won Song of the Year. Most of her wins have been in genre categories, including Best Dance/Electronic Album, Best R&B Performance, Best Music Video and Best Rap Song. 

As arguably one of the most iconic and influential experimental and innovative artists of our generation, perhaps Jay-Z had a point when he called out his wife’s lack of recognition in the most coveted award. 

The post Jay-Z’s shout out to his wife: Why has Beyoncé never won Album of the Year at the Grammys? appeared first on Women's Agenda.

The 59-year-old singer performed the song at the 66th Grammys award ceremony as a duet with country singer Luke Combs, who was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance for his cover of the tune.

The pair sung lines from the verse back and forth with one another and harmonised in the chorus, as Chapman plucked the iconic guitar riff. Whenever Chapman was singing, Combs mouthed the words along with her. 

The performance of the song was met with a standing ovation from several attendees of the Grammys, including Taylor Swift, Oprah and Kelly Clarkson.

Following the duet, Chapman’s original version of Fast Car reached number one on the US iTunes charts. Combs’ cover sits at number four.

Fast Car, Chapman’s version, peaked at number one of the US Billboard 200 when it was first released 36 years ago. The song became popular when she last-minute stepped in for Stevie Wonder to perform at Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday concert.

Chapman won a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1989 for Fast Car. It was also nominated for Song of the Year, and the self-titled parent album, Tracy Chapman, was nominated for Record of the Year.

When Luke Combs covered Fast Car and released it as a single in his 2023 album, Gettin’ Old, the song shot up in popularity once again. His cover of the hit peaked at number one of Billboard Hot Country Songs and was named Country Music Awards (CMA) Song of the Year last year. 

The CMA’s accolade, however, went to Chapman, and she became the first Black woman to win the award.

Criticism

Combs’ cover of Fast Car and the fame he acquired from its release received significant backlash from music critics.

The criticism was founded on the idea that a white man was benefitting disproportionately from a song that originated from a Black, queer woman.

Emily Yahr, writer for The Washington Post, penned a piece that argued the chart-topping success of Fast Car, Combs’ version, was “clouded by the fact that, as a Black queer woman, Chapman, 59, would have almost zero chance of that achievement herself in country music”.

Likewise, Courtney Smith, music critic and author of Record Collecting for Girls, said she was “surprised that a white man in country music would have connected with a song that was released two years before he was born”.

“And even more surprised that he recorded it, and his label made it a single,” she said.

But Chapman reaching number one on US iTunes shows people still recognise her incredible work and know she is the reason the song exists.

Luke Combs pays tribute to Chapman

It’s not the first time Fast Car has been covered. In 2015, Swedish record producer Tobtok released a tropical house version of the tune, with vocals by British singer River. The same year, a similar version by British record producer Jonas Blue was released.

But unlike the house music versions, Combs’ version retained Chapman’s original lyrics, tempo and acoustic style, only adding his signature country flare.

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Combs also acknowledges Chapman as a huge musical influence in his life and credits the success of the song to her songwriting.

“Tracy has written one of the best songs for a few generations,” Combs said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.

“You hear (the guitar riff) – and it’s already iconic before you’ve even heard the words.

“Tracy is such an icon and one of the best songwriters I think any of us will ever be around to see.”

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“I have something to say about women,” Bridgers said, standing alongside her Boygenius bandmates Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. 

“The ex-president of the Recording Academy, Neil Portnow, said that if women want to be nominated and win Grammys that they should step up. He’s also being accused of sexual violence. And to him I’d like to say I know you’re not dead yet, but when you are, rot in piss.”

The 29-year old’s remarks were in response to comments made by former Recording Academy CEO Neil Portnow in 2018, who was attempting to speak out about the “brick walls” faced by female musicians and the mounting #GrammysSoMale controversy, only to end up blaming them for their lack of recognition in the industry. 

“I think it has to begin with women who have the creativity in their hearts and their souls who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, who want to be producers, who want to be part of the industry on an executive level, to step up,” Portnow said in 2018. 

“Because I think they would be welcome. I don’t have personal experience of those kinds of brick walls that you face, but I think it’s really a combination. Us as an industry making the welcome mat very obvious, creating mentorships, creating opportunities not only for women but all people who want to be creative and really paying it forward and creating that next generation of artists who feel like they can do anything, they can say anything.”

Although he later issued an apology (“I regret that I wasn’t as articulate as I should have been”) the damage had been done. Female artists and executives, including Kelly Clarkson and Vanessa Carlton, campaigned to have Portnow step down from his role.

On Sunday, Bridgers was among the several female artists who took home multiple awards, including SZA, Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish. Bridgers took home four awards — three with her three-piece group Boygenius.

Boygenius won Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for their song Not Strong Enough, as well as the award for Best Alternative Music Album for their debut record, The Record. Bridgers also won a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for featuring in SZA’s song Ghost in the Machine.

Portnow’s comments from 2018 were made in a year when almost no female artists won in the top categories. Lorde was the only woman nominated for album of the year, and even attended the awards that year wearing a poem on her gown about political dissenters. 

During the height of #GrammysSoMale, Pink penned a note and shared it on X (formerly Twitter). 

“Women in music don’t need to ‘step up’ — women have been stepping since the beginning of time,” she expressed. “Stepping up, and also stepping aside women OWNED music this year. They’ve been KILLING IT. And every year before this.”

Portnow stepped down from his Academy position in 2019, after holding the title as the longest-serving president in Recording Academy history. 

Last November, an unnamed female musician filed a lawsuit against Portnow, accusing him of a sexual assault in 2018 in New York City, and against the Recording Academy for negligence. A spokesperson for Portnow responded to the accusations, saying in an email that they were “completely false”. 

The post ‘Rot in piss’: Phoebe Bridgers takes aim at former Recording Academy CEO over remarks about women appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Women also took home awards across key categories including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Best New Artist and Song of the Year, while some legends of the music industry were recognised by the awards show.

Here’s our favourite moments for women.

Taylor Swift wins best Pop Vocal Album and announces new album

Taylor Swift used her acceptance speech for best Pop Vocal Album to unexpectedly announce a new album, The Tortured Poets Department, out April 19.

“I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I have been keeping from you for the last two years,” Swift said, before going backstage and posting the details of the album to her socials.

Taylor Swift takes home the big award, Album of the Year

Taylor Swift took out the final award of the show, becoming the first person to win Album of the Year four times at the Grammys, for her album Midnights. She has previously won the award for her albums Fearless, 1989 and Folklore. She overtakes the record previously held by Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and Frank Sinatra.

She thanked her producer Jack Antonoff, who she described as a “once in a generation producer” and co-writer Lana Del Rey, who she said was a “legacy artist who’s in her prime”.

“The award is the work, and all I want to do is to keep being able to do this,” she said. “Mind. Blown.”

Seven of the 8 nominees for the album of the year were women artists, including Swift, Lana Del Rey, Olivia Rodrigo, Miley Cyrus, boygenuis, Janelle Mo and SZA.

Joni Mitchell makes her Grammys live debut

Music legend Joni Mitchell has made her live performance debut at the Grammys. The 80-year-old performed Both Sides Now alongside Brandi Carlile. Her performance was met with a standing ovation. Mitchell also took home the award for Best Folk Album. 

Billie Eilish wins Song of the Year

Billie Eilish and Finneas won Song of the Year for their song What Was I Made For? It was a song that featured on the Barbie soundtrack. “Damn, that’s stupid, guys!” Eilish exclaims onstage. “I’m shocked out of my balls.”

Tribute to Sinead O’Connor

Annie Lenox sung the iconic song Nothing Compares 2 U in tribute to Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor at the awards show.

O’Connor, who rose to fame in the 1990s, died last year at age 56. The singer is remembered for her outspoken social commentary and activism, particularly her criticism of the Catholic Church and views on feminism, sex and religion.

The post The Grammys was all about women this year appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Padam Padam, released in 2023, took out the award in the inaugural Grammy category for Best Pop Dance Recording.

It was Minogue’s sixth Grammy nomination of her career, 21 years after her first nomination with Love At First Sight in the running for Best Dance Recording in 2003.

The 55-year-old Aussie pop star was not on stage to accept the Grammy, but the song’s producer and co-writer Peter Rycroft accepted the award on her behalf.

“She is such a powerhouse, she recorded her own vocals in her hotel room and sent me the project – she is very hands-on and very collaborative,” Rycroft said of Minogue.

Wearing a striking red dress, perhaps a nod to the music video’s signature, Minogue spoke to reporters about what has inspired her in her nearly 40-year career. 

“I’m very curious, I’m driven,” she said on the red carpet.

“If you are open to it and are willing to look and feel, there’s inspiration everywhere.”

Kylie Minogue #Grammys red carpet interview.
: Recording Academypic.twitter.com/4o8Yfw3Qbn

— Kylie.TWST | fan account (@KylieTWST) February 5, 2024

Minogue’s music has changed drastically from her first few hits in 1988, ‘I Should Be So Lucky’, ‘Locomotion’ and others. Since then, she has had seven songs in the UK No. 1s and 35 songs in the UK Top 10s.

In November 2020, Minogue became the first ever female artist to claim a UK Number 1 album in five consecutive decades with her 15th studio album DISCO.

“I am a chameleon, I like change,” Minogue said on the red carpet at the Grammys. “Not changing is more weird to me than evolving with the times. 

“I’m very thankful I’ve had so many opportunities over the years to keep going.”

Minogue’s Grammy award follows a string of accolades in the past nine months, since ‘Padam Padam’ was released in May 2023. The pop star recently received Billboard’s Women in Music Icon award, and in November last year, she won best pop release at the ARIAs.

Minogue, who was born and raised in Melbourne, is Australia’s top selling female artist of all time. She has sold more than 80 million records globally.

Her Grammy win beat fellow Australian artist Troye Sivan for his 2023 hit Rush.

Sivan, a former YouTube star who grew up in Perth, received two Grammy nominations this year for Best Pop Dance Recording and Best Music Video.

Female artists dominated the Grammy nominations for this year’s 66th Grammy awards, including SZA, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, boygenius and more.

The ceremony continues and more awards will be announced shortly.

The post Kylie Minogue wins second Grammy in four-decade career appeared first on Women's Agenda.

She had just completed a semester-long course titled “Entrepreneurial Musician” where she learned how to present her music to the wider public in interesting fresh ways. 

“The spark of a ‘I can make anything happen’ attitude was ignited,” Junus told Women’s Agenda. She gathered her friends across various art forms and set up concerts to showcase their work.

“We put together themed performances, working with other artistic disciplines such as dance which sparked my interest as different art forms as they have their own different and unique perspectives on music,”  she said. 

The friends held their first concert on Valentine’s Day with a concert called ‘Love: Classical to Contemporary.’ Junus realised that she ultimately wanted to bring overseas trends to audiences in Australia. 

In 2018, Junus officially named her organisation, Artists By Any Other Name. The collaborative entity invites artists from various disciplines to come together and share their ideas. It’s also a registered not-for-profit through the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC) where artists can apply for financial support.

“There aren’t many organisations that serve the needs of artists in the creative industry,” Junus said. “Our focus is on creating unique performances that provides important paid work for performers and has seen us broaden the scope of ABAON.”

This Lunar New Year in February, Junus will bring toward two musical ensembles for a concert titled Legends & Lanterns.  

She will be joined onstage by internationally renowned Chinese-Australian cellist Li-Wei Qin,  and the Odyssey Symphony Orchestra, led by Hong Kong-born Briton and Musical Director of the Australian Ballet Jonathan Lo. The concert will feature a musical fusion of East and West, showing traditional pieces from the classical Chinese repertoire, including the Spring Festival Overture, Galloping Horses, and a special rendition of Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto for Violin and Erhu, featuring Junus on the violin and Fuhua Li on the erhu. 

Junus hopes that by performing popular Chinese music using traditional Chinese instruments like the Erhu, Australian audiences will enrich in their knowledge and perception of Western and Chinese classical music. 

“[These performances] are important because we can bring together world-class artists to produce performances that explore different cultural influences and create unique and enriching performances,” she said. “It encourages artists from various backgrounds to explore and merge their artistic voices in a powerful and harmonious symphony.”

By blending traditional art forms with contemporary expressions, Junus believes that the concerts will have something for everyone.

“[We are] bridging the gap between East and West through music so the audience can feel and experience different parts of the world through music. It is helping to foster connection and greater understanding for all who experience it.” 

Fellow musician, Li-Wei Qin said that the concerts are a way to share the international language of music, with both Australians and Australian migrant audiences.

“Legends & Lanterns is unique because we will largely be playing to a Chinese audience as part of the Lunar New Year celebrations,” he said. 

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Junus credits Qin with helping her expand her musical spectrum. 

“I see music as a process of constantly learning and I’m quite methodical in my practise and studies. Being methodical many would say is a Chinese trait, that commitment to discipline and perfection. But sometimes I know myself I trust everything on the page a little too much, what’s written there must be done! I have to remind myself to let myself go and let the music flow through me.” 

“This is something I am learning more and more through collaborations with the prodigious talent of cellist Li-Wei Qin who is playing in our upcoming Legends & Lanterns performances. It is little wonder Li-Wei Qin is so acclaimed as his technique is flawless, yet the beautiful tones and intonations capture the emotions within the pieces and bring them to fore in the audience.” 

Junus hopes to take her concerts to regional Australia in 2024. 

“[We hope to] develop our education partnerships and programs to continue to inspire and support the next generation of musicians.” 

Legends & Lanterns are holding two upcoming concerts: The Concourse, Chatswood on 11 February 2024 at 3pm AND Sydney Town Hall on 14 February 2024 at 7pm.

The post Sydney violinist Harmonnia Junus brings musical fusion this Lunar New Year appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Since the 34-year old singer began her high-profile relationship with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce in September last year, conspiracy theories spouted by prominent MAGA figures have circulated online. They started off rather innocently — the misinformation accused the pair of entering a ‘fake’ relationship to boost their public profile (like Taylor needs that?).

Earlier this week, the accusations turned insidious and political, with a handful of influential right-wing personalities calling Swift an “election interference psyop” set on manipulating November’s presidential election. 

Swift has attended over 13-games to cheer on her boyfriend’s team and each time, a parade of cameras and commentaries descend on her every reaction. As their relationship played out publicly, some conspiracy theorists couldn’t help but slump into misogynistic trappings. 

On Monday, Jack Posobiec, a Trump supported who has been found to have “collaborated with white supremacists, neo-fascists and antisemites for years”, accused Swift of being “used”, though he failed to clarify whom she was being used by. 

“I think – and I’ve said this, I’ve taken a lot of crap for this online – I think they’re using Taylor Swift right now,” he said in a video posted on Truth Social. 

“They’re gearing up for an operation to use Taylor Swift in the election against everything: against Trump, for Biden, they’re gonna get her and all you know they call them the Swifties they’re going to turn those into voters, you watch.”

Former actor-turned controversial rightwing figure Roseanne Barr appeared alongside Posobiec in the video, saying, “I think that’s what they’re doing too, she’s definitely somebody who’s consented to speak the way the establishment wants to be spoken of.” 

“She has a lot of young girls…I think that’s gonna be the way they’re going to try to get on top of the next election.” 

The 71-year old former Nanny star and 2012 presidential nominee of the Peace and Freedom Party is a Trump supporter, appearing at a rally in Florida in November, calling the Former President the “Magador-in-Chief.”

Former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy responded to Posobiec’s post, writing on X: “I wonder who’s going to win the Super Bowl next month. And I wonder if there’s a major presidential endorsement coming from an artificially culturally propped-up couple this fall. Just some wild speculation over here, let’s see how it ages over the next 8 months.”

Ramaswamy has spread harmful misinformation about a number of issues in the past, including his claim that the January 6 insurrection was “an inside job” and that the 2020 election was stolen by “big tech.” 

Self-described Islamophobe and conservative Laura Loomer said “The Democrats’ Taylor Swift election interference psyop is happening in the open.”

“It’s not a coincidence that current and former Biden admin officials are propping up Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. They are going to use Taylor Swift as the poster child for their pro-abortion GOTV Campaign.”

Meanwhile, comedians have come out to ridicule these rightwing theories. On Tuesday night, Jimmy Kimmel opened his show with a monologue calling the theorists “a couple of nuts.”

Reading out a number of tweets, including one from Ramaswamy, Kimmel quibbed: 

“So let me get this straight: The same people who think Joe Biden has dementia and has Kamala Harris feed him butterscotch tapioca every night, also believe that he has somehow planned and executed a diabolically brilliant scheme to fix the NFL playoffs so the biggest pop star in the world can pop up on the jumbotron during the Super Bowl in between a Kia and a Tostitos commercial to hypnotize her 11-year-old fans into voting for Joe Biden?” he said on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

“I mean, it makes sense… These people think football is fake and wrestling is real.”

Swift has not yet issued an endorsement in the upcoming presidential race, though she is reported to be on Joe Biden aides’ “wish lists of potential surrogates”. 

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The report on gender equality in the music industry in the United States found that women’s recognition in music has improved across various metrics over the past decade. 

Last year, 35 per cent of the artists on Billboard’s Hot 100 Year-End Charts were women artists — a 12-year high. Just over forty per cent of the total number of spots on the charts were held by individual women artists – an almost 6 per cent increase from the previous year. 

The study’s lead researcher, Dr. Stacy L. Smith, attributes the improving numbers on work of advocacy groups championing female musicians, songwriters and producers. 

“The changes for songwriters are doubtlessly due to the work of numerous groups working to support women in music,” Dr. Smith said in a statement. 

“Whether She Is The Music, Spotify Equal, Moving the Needle, Women’s Audio Mission, Be the Change, Keychange, Girls Make Beats, or others, there has been a groundswell of support for women across the last several years. This advocacy and activism is propelling change in the industry. While there is work to be done, these groups are well-positioned to keep fighting for change.”

Working with a team at USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, Dr. Smith examined 1,200 songs from the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Charts from the past 12 years, analysing the artists, songwriters and producers to find that female songwriters are also gaining ground. Last year, 56 per cent of songs included at least one woman songwriter — the highest figure since 2011. 

The number of solo women songwriters also increased in 2023, jumping to 19.5 per cent —a five per cent increase from the previous year. 

Artists from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups dominated last year’s Hot 100 Year-End Charts, representing 61 per cent of the 164 artists. 

The most popular genre for women artist is pop (34.7 per cent) followed by Dance/Electronic (21.2 per cent), R&B/Soul (20 per cent) and country (17.3 per cent). The least popular genre for women artists is Alternative and hip-hop (13.4 per cent).

For women in production, the figures are less inspiring. In 2023, just 6.5 per cent of producers were women. Out of a total number of 1,756 producer credits from the last 12 years, only 13 went to women of colour. 

These figures sadly represent the nominees at the country’s biggest music awards. In 2024, for the fifth consecutive year, no women were nominated for producer of the year at the Grammys.

However, nearly a quarter of nominations across six categories went to women this year. Dr. Smith believes these wins are positive for women, as they “…show us how women’s contributions to the industry are received.” 

“The increases in nominations this year are a positive step in recognising the creative work that women did last year in competitive fields,” she said. “The Recording Academy has clearly taken inclusion seriously and worked to increase the diversity of its membership, particularly its voting members.”

However, she admits there is still too little recognition for women producers and songwriters in those categories.

“There are too few women of colour nominated for their work. For music industry honours to truly reflect the creative workforce and the audience they serve, there must be a place for women and particularly women of colour in these awards.” 

The post Female artists gaining ground at Grammys and Billboard’s Hot 100 appeared first on Women's Agenda.

In this last category, she is among six other female nominees within a total group of ten nominees. Last year, every nominee in the Artist of the Year category (which merged the male and female categories into one award in 2022) was male. 

Reacting to her record number of nominations on the Bring On The BRITs 2024 nominations livestream, Raye said “it’s too much…my eyes fill with tears when we talk about this.”

“The only way I can describe it is as a miracle.”

Responding to a question from host Yinka Bokinni about the most “mind-blowing” moment in her career so far, Raye said, “A year and a half ago, as far as the industry was concerned, I was down and out. Never in my wildest dreams would I think that trying again would mean seven Brit nominations.”

In 2021, Raye accused her record label Polydor of withholding the release of her debut album since 2014. She was subsequently released from the contract before she went on to release the TikTok-topping Escapism as an independent artist. 

Noting this is not her first Brit Award nominations, the singer said seven nominations is “a whole different thing.” 

Her latest accomplishment breaks the previous record of six nominations in a single year held by Robbie Williams, Gorillaz and Craig David.

Raye will compete for this year’s Artist of the Year award alongside Little Simz, Arlo Parks, Jessie Ware, Olivia Dean, Dua Lipa, Dave, Central Cee, J Hus and Fred Again.

Female artists also dominated the list of nominees in the award for International Artist of the Year, with eight of the ten nominees being female, including Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Caroline Polachek and Kylie Minogue. 

Last August, Raye released her long-awaited debut record, My 21st Century Blues, which will compete for Album of the Year at this year’s Brit Awards alongside Little Simz’s No Thank You, J Hus’ Beautiful and Brutal Yard, Young Fathers’ Heavy Heavyand and Blur’s The Ballad of Darren.

This year’s rising star prize has already been awarded to The Last Dinner Party, a London-based all-female five-piece indie rock band from London formed in 2021. 

This year’s Brit Awards will take place in London on March 2, with Dua Lipa already confirmed to perform at the event. 

The post Raye breaks record as most nominated Brit Award artist in a single year appeared first on Women's Agenda.

This is the second time Gerwig has been snubbed for Best Director while her movie is nominated for Best Picture — in 2020, she missed out on a Best Directing nomination for Little Women. 

In the last few hours, Ryan Gosling issued a statement expressing his disappointment over his co-star and his director missing out on a nomination for their work on Barbie.

“There is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally celebrated film,” he said. “No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius. To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement.”

Several posts on social media commented on these latest snubs with comedic flair. 

American activist Shannon Watts shared her dismay on X, writing, “Greta Gerwig: Made a critically acclaimed, culturally profound, feminist movie about Barbie and the patriarchy that made a billion dollars at the box office. Oscar nomination goes to … Ken.” 

Author Laura Tisdall wrote, “So Greta Gerwig created one of the most original films of the decade, one that completely blew apart people’s expectations of what a #Barbie movie could be & resonated with millions … yet apparently that’s not *quite* worth a nomination for best director???”

One post from a parody account read: “No Oscar nomination for Greta Gerwig. No Oscar nomination for Margot Robbie. Ryan Gosling gets an Oscar nomination. The is actually the whole plot of “Barbie.”

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The statements made in this last post are not entirely true. Gerwig has received an Oscar nomination – just not for her directing. She shares a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination alongside her husband, Noah Baumbach. And technically, if Barbie wins Best Picture, Robbie will be up on stage accepting the award along with the other producers of the film. 

Other key nominations for women

The good news is that for the first time in Oscars’ 96 years, three movies directed by women scored nominations for Best Picture: Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Celine Song’s Past Lives. 

Nevertheless, Hollywood’s surprising snubs are nothing new. Each year, we lament the lack of female artists nominated in technical categories. Men continue to dominate the awards for Best Directing, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Sound. This year, just one female director has been nominated in the Best Directing category. French filmmaker and writer Justine Triet is nominated for her film, Anatomy of a Fall, which has secured five nominations in total. 

Triet, 45, becomes only the eighth woman in Oscars history to be nominated for Best Director. 

Speaking to Hollywood Reporter after she received news of her nomination, Triet said, “I was surprised because there are no more women beside me. So of course, I’m so, so lucky and very proud of all these things.”

“Most of these [other nominees] since I was a child I’ve admired so much, and of course to be involved in this history, it means a lot for me. It was not a dream because I could not imagine.” 

Lily Gladstone, the female lead in Killers of the Flower Moon, becomes the first Native American acting nominee in Oscars history, nabbing a nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Reflecting on her nod from the Academy, the 37-year old said, “It’s long overdue. I feel like it’s circumstantial that it’s me because there have been so many immense, incredible performances. I stand on the shoulders of some unbelievable talent.” 

Gladstone will compete with Annette Bening (Nyad), Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall), Carey Mulligan (Maestro) and Emma Stone (Poor Things) for the award. If Stone wins – as she is predicted to by some critics, it will be her second Oscars. In 2017, she won Best Actress for her role in La La Land. 

In a statement provided to CNN, Stone said she is “beyond grateful to the Academy for including me as both an actress and producer among this group of exceptional nominees and for recognising our film in so many categories.”

“The team of artists who contributed to ‘Poor Things’ gave it everything and I am forever thankful for the opportunity to play Bella and see the world through her eyes. She has shown me that life is so much more than just sugar and violence.” 

Earlier this month, Stone won Best Female Actor for her role at the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards. Poor Things picked up a total of 11 nominations for this year’s Oscars. 

Gerwig’s Barbie secured a total of eight nominations, including Best Costume Design, Best Original Song and Best Production Design. America Ferrera is nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, going up against fellow first-time nominees Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer), Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple), Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers). 

Jodie Foster (Nyad) is also nominated in the category, marking her third Oscars nod. She has previously won two Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role — in 1989 for The Accused, and in 1992 for The Silence of the Lambs.

Ferrera, 39, told Variety she is still shocked by the nomination.

“I still haven’t really been able to get in my feelings because I’m still on like the top layer of ‘I can’t even believe that this is real,’” she explained. “[My husband] was screaming and emotional. And I just heard my kids in the back, like so confused. ‘What are you screaming about?’”

Ferrera then jumped on to a Group FaceTime with her The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-stars Blake Lively, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel.

“It was hilarious and funny and emotional and it’s wonderful to be celebrated and held up by my sisters. These women who I’ve had the honour of growing up with in this industry and being loved and cheered on and supported by them. Which we all do for each other. They’re amazing, and such a gift in my life.”

“It’s an overwhelming amount of love and support and congratulations to me,” she continued. “I feel it so deeply and am so grateful for their love and support and in this moment. It’s been a long ‘Barbie’ journey — I mean longer even for Greta and Margot and Noah, it’s been years and years and years — everyone’s really excited that we get to celebrate and to end this journey at the biggest party of the year.”

Ferrera also commented on Gerwig and Robbie’s snubs, saying “I was incredibly disappointed that they weren’t nominated.” 

In a separate statement, she expressed her joy at the increasing diversity of representation in movies. 

 “I’m so proud to get to bring Latiné representation to this year’s Academy Awards, along with my fellow Latiné nominees,” she said.

“May the diversity of voices acknowledged by the Academy continue to grow! I’m thrilled to celebrate my phenomenal Barbie family and all their achievements. Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie made history and raised the bar with Barbie. The cultural and industry impact they’ve achieved will be felt for generations and I’m so thankful to them for asking me to be a part of it.”

Meanwhile, in other major blows, Sofia Coppola’s eighth feature, Pricilla received no nominations at all. Emerald Fennell’s second film, Saltburn, also received no nominations. Both films have been critically acclaimed. 

Although her film, Past Lives is nominated for Best Picture, director Celine Song missed out on a Best Director nomination. She has been nominated for Best Original Screenplay, a nod which she has described as a “tremendous recognition” and “unbelievable honour.”

“I am overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude, and for my first film… crazy,” she said in a statement.

“Some of the experience working on a debut film is secretly questioning if you belong, if people will support your vision. It has been equal parts scary and rewarding to make this film and release it into the world. It is with immense gratitude to those who championed my vision that I now get to be among these giants of screenwriting.”

The indie-darling has been universally adored since it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival almost year ago, picking up countless glowing reviews from both critics and the public. Song’s directorial feature won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best First Film, and the Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Feature. 

The 2024 Academy Awards will be held on the evening of March 10. Australians will be able to watch the live stream starting at 10am on March 11th. 

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Seeing the trailers for the latest adaptation, you’d be forgiven for not knowing it’s a musical. Nothing about the promos gives away the fact that it’s a musical. 

So if you’re not a fan of musicals, you might struggle to embrace the latest version with the same fervour and enthusiasm you gave the original.

Nevertheless, this musical version is packed with the same hilarious lines from the original, and stars the next generation of young, talented actors and singers — including the 23-year old Australian Angourie Rice, who takes on the role of our heroine, Cady Heron, perfectly. Rice is sweet-faced, approachable, docile, yet self-aware. 

The plot is essentially the same as the original — with a few minor tweaks that shouldn’t offend any viewers. The friendships and betrayals feel less convincing, only because the mean girls don’t get to be very mean, and the strongest relationships (such as the one between Cady and outcast Janice) aren’t given the space to breathe. 

Cady’s mother is played by The Office‘s Jenna Fischer, while the iconic Queen Bee Mean Girl Regina George is played by Renee Rap. Rapp first played the role in June 2019 for the stage production on Broadway. Other cast members who were taken directly from their original casting for the Broadway production include Ashley Park (from Emily in Paris, JoyRide and Beef) who plays the French teacher in this screen adaptation. In the original stage production, Park played Gretchen Wieners. 

Because it’s a musical, the entire feel of the film has a different feeling to the original. Some of the numbers (and how it’s shot) made me feel like I was watching an erotic thriller. The songs are tolerably good, though at times felt they were interrupting the flow of the narrative. The high-stakes drama of teen girls lends itself so well to the musical, yet whenever Rapp was singing, I couldn’t help but yearn for Rachel McAdam’s steely cold face.

If anything, this latest version will have you appreciating the genius of the original script. A few characters get some new killer lines — Karen, this time, played by Avantika Vandanapu calls a pimple on Regina’s face “a face breast”. Damien, Janice’s best friend and side-kick, asks Cady if she’s okay when she’s hiding in the girls’ toilets: “We’re concerned you’re either taking drugs or having a toilet baby.” 

Is it worth watching? Certainly. You’ll have a good time and laugh a lot. Even if you’re not a fan of musicals. 

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