Raissa's Blog - Best of Sports, Culture, and Entertainment

Shakira's tour promoter says the Grammy award winning pop star was never scheduled to perform in Israel. Live Nation took to Twitter to dismiss the false rumors of Shakira being scheduled to perform in Tel Aviv, Israel. Live Nation wrote: " The media has incorrectly reported that Shakira will be performing in Tel Aviv this summer. While no dates this summer will work, Shakira and Live Nation hope to bring a show to her fans in Israel in the future. "  Supporters of the BDS boycott of Israel celebrated the news on social media. PACBI posted on their Twitter handle: " We welcome news that Shakira will not be performing in Tel Aviv, dashing Israel’s hopes to use her name to art-wash its latest massacre in Gaza. Artists, especially UN Goodwill Ambassadors, have a moral duty not to be complicit in covering up human rights violations & apartheid. ” Shakira's fans responded positively to the PACBI's official statement. They thanked the artist for ...

Aron Lee Ralston, is the US climber who cut his arm off to free himself from a boulder after 5 days of entrapment underneath a 360kg chockstone boulder. This happened on the 1st of May 2003. He amputated his lower right arm with a dull knife to set himself free. This is the story he had to tell GQ Sport's James Mullinger. photo credit: Telegraph "My plan was to climb all of Colorado's peaks that were over 14,000 feet high. On the canyoneering trip in Blue John Canyon in Utah, a boulder fell and pinned my right forearm, crushing it. It was the third day of the planned 5-day trip. It was four days later that my mother sent a helicopter to rescue me, the same day that I cut my arm off. I was trapped there for six days and during that time didn't get a wink of sleep. I was going through very extreme transformations. I was in an altered state of consciousness from sleep deprivation, blood loss and lack of oxygen to my brain, dehydration, hypothermia and starv...

Rita Ora performing at BBC'S Biggest Weekend Festival Rita Ora paid a poignant tribute to late EDM producer, Avicii, as she performed at BBC's Biggest Weekend festival in Swansea. Her performance was the opening act of the third day of the Biggest Weekend festival. Ora sang their collaboration "Lonely Together", which happens to be the last single Avicii released before he passed away. Avicii's name boldly flashed-up on the video screens as Ora sang. Ora thanked the crowd for singing along at the end of the song. She said, "Thank you for singing that with me. It's always hard for me to sing that, so thank you for singing along." "Lonely Together" was the centerpiece of her performance . Rita Ora had earlier paid a tribute to Avicii as she performed "Lonely Together" at Netherlands Festival, on the 27th of April 2018. She began her tribute with a minute of silence, and then went on to say, "It's gonna be hard for ...

Photo credit: Getty Images Mohamed Salah, Liverpool forward, had a tearful Champions League exit barely 30 minutes into the game. Salah sustained a shoulder injury after his tussle with Real Madrid captain and veteran defender, Sergio Ramos. This was a highly controversial tangle as Ramos locked Salah tight before inter-linking his arm with Salah's and falling on top of his left shoulder, after the ball had rolled free. Ramos was not given a yellow card. Salah was treated after the fall but he fell to the ground 4 minutes later, with tears flowing from his eyes. He was forced to leave the field 30 minutes into the game due to excruciating pain. Neither Real nor Liverpool had scored by the time he left. Salah was replaced by Adam Lallana, who had only recently recovered from a hamstring industry. Real Madrid went on to win the game 3 goals to 1. Mohamed Abuela, Egypt's team doctor contacted Liverpool's medical team who told him Salah's shoulder would be x-raye...

Shakira rehearsing for the El Dorado World Tour Grammy Award winning pop sensation Shakira is being urged by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) to cancel her show scheduled for July 9 in Israel. Dozens of Palestinian cultural organizations and local administrators stand by PACBI in urging Shakira to cancel her Israeli performance. On the 24th of May, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) released a letter to that effect. It read: Occupied Palestine, 24 May 2018 Dear Shakira, We, Palestinian cultural institutions operating in the occupied Palestinian territory and in exile and Palestinian municipalities, appeal to you to cancel your performance in Tel Aviv,  scheduled  for 9 July, 2018. Performing in an apartheid state, whether South Africa in the past or Israel today, in defiance of the voices of the oppressed always undermines the popular struggle of the oppressed to end op...

"Without You" is a single by Avicii featuring Sandro Cavazza, from the EP  Avīci (01) . The song was released on the 11th of August as the lead single from Avicii's Extended Play,  Avīci (01) . Avicii played the song during his Ultra Miami set in March 2016. Avicii had launched a remix contest for the song in 2017. The song was produced by Carl Falk and Tim Bergling (Avicii), and written by: Carl Falk, Tim Bergling, Vincent Pontare, Dhani Lennevald, Alessandro Cavazza, and Salem Al Fakir. The winners of the contest, Tokima Tokio and Notre Dame had their remixes feature in the official remix EP, released on October 13, 2017. Remixes from Otto Knows and Rob Adans also featured. Extended Play Digital download – remixes 1.       "Without You" (Otto Knows remix) – 3:33 2.     "Without You" (Merk & Kremont remix) – 4:20 3.     "Without You" (Notre Dame remix) – 4:05 4.     "Without You" (Tok...

Avicii's family made an announcement today, May 22nd, regarding Avicii's funeral. His family made a statement to Billboard, the family explained: "There have been many inquiries regarding the funeral arrangements for Tim Bergling, known by music fans as Avicii. The Bergling family has now confirmed that the funeral will be private, in the presence of the people who were closest to Tim. They kindly ask media to respect this. There is no additional information forthcoming."  According to sources, Avicii had close to 200 finished songs. Avicii planned on releasing another Extended Play (EP) . According to Swedish magazine  Aftonbladet , Avicii's family will be releasing his album before the end of the year. The family has met with record company representatives and partners to this effect. Avicii was honored at the Billboard Music Awards that held on May 21. The Chainsmokers and Hasley took a few minutes to honor Avicii, before presenting the award for the T...

In line with worldwide tributes to the late Swedish EDM producer, Avicii - born Tim Bergling, here's an article on his homeland, Sweden. Tim Bergling passed away on the 20th of April, 2018, in Muscat, Oman.  Sweden is located in Northern Europe, bordered by Norway and Finland, and connected to Denmark via a land bridge. Stockholm is the country's capital, and is home to approximately 871,990 people.  Although Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union by area, it has one of the lowest population densities in Europe - Sweden is home to only 9.5 million people. The official language spoken in Sweden is Swedish, and their currency since 1873 is the Swedish krona. Herewith 20 astonishing facts about Sweden. 1. Sweden became the first European country to establish national parks, in 1910. This is due to the Swede's love for nature. 2. Sweden has one of the world's highest life expectancies - 80.4 years for men, and 84 years for women. 3....