Page 14 - aruba-today DEC 14 2020

Monday 14 deceMber 2020 people & Arts
A14

Despite bleak 2020, celebrities make effort to brighten year

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. a "small way of thanking
AP Entertainment Writer you." She also participated
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Yes, in a star-studded benefit
2020 may seem like a virtual concert to honor
complete fail with all the nurses on Thanksgiving.
constant bad news and The concert called Nurse
tragic moments. It's been Heroes Live, which was
filled with gloom and co-produced by Emilio Es-
doom(scrolling), but some tefan, was a benefit that
celebrities and those in- provided money for a va-
spired by them have tried riety of programs including
to brighten a bleak year. scholarships for nurses and
Some like singer Dolly Par- their children.
ton donated money to WALLER-BRIDGE'S SUIT
fight the coronavirus, John "Fleabag" creator and ac-
Krasinski put a spotlight on tor Phoebe Waller-Bridge
good news at a crucial This combination photo shows John Krasinski, from left, Dolly Parton and Christian Siriano. They auctioned off her Golden
time and DJ D-Nice played are among those in the entertainment industry who took the initiative to make the best out of a Globes suit for Australia
music to dance away your challenging year. Associated Press brushfire relief. She placed
anxiousness about the un- her Ralph & Russo pantsuit
folding pandemic. Senechal was back at his eo to the attention of the story balcony, and some up for auction, calling it an
Here are a few examples of window, sharing his strong New York-based American neighbors were brought to "incredible piece of art."
those efforts to make 2020 vocals a couple times a Ballet Theater, who offered tears. He called her perfor- The tuxedo was praised as
a little better for others. week. him a scholarship. mance "absolutely refresh- one of the fashion hits of
___ CLUB QUARANTINE FASHION'S FRONT-LINE ing." the red carpet. She shared
DOLLY'S VACCINE DONA- During the pandemic's GEAR VERZUZ SERIES the news in the press room
TION early stage, DJ D-Nice cre- When COVID-19 initially A friendly competition be- after accepting her award
In April, shortly after the ated a virtual remedy for spread throughout the U.S., tween music producers for best actress in a come-
coronavirus was declared anyone dealing with the it resulted in a face mask Swizz Beatz and Timbaland dy or musical television se-
a pandemic, country music lockdown blues. He hosted shortage. Fashion designer on social media started off ries. An anonymous buyer
icon Dolly Parton donated Homeschool at Club Quar- Christian Siriano met the to entertain homebound bought the suit for $27,000.
$1 million toward research- antine on his Instagram shortage with his own solu- fans during the pandemic. SOME GOOD NEWS
ing the virus at Vanderbilt Live, where he spun popu- tion. After seeing the cases But their platform eventu- John Krasinski wanted to
University Medical Center lar tunes on the turntables skyrocket, the "Project Run- ally evolved into a place create a place where
in Nashville, Tennessee. The at his home. His sets started way" star tweeted New where some of music's people could smile. In late
singer's donation was used with just a few hundred York Gov. Andrew Cuomo biggest stars could com- March, the actor tweeted
to help fund the develop- viewers — mainly friends about doing his part. Siriano pete against each other in to his 2.6 million-plus fol-
ment of Moderna's vac- — then blossomed to hun- and his team pivoted from the same fashion. The two lowers using the hashtag
cine, the second experi- dreds of thousands. An ar- crafting gowns to making Grammy-winning legends #SomeGoodNews, ask-
mental COVID-19 drug to ray of celebs even tuned masks. He reassigned his 10 created the "Verzuz" series, ing them to share feel-
yield extraordinarily strong in: from Rihanna and Janet seamstresses in New York to which faces off two musi- good stories that recently
early results during trials. Jackson to Jimmy Fallon produce thousands daily cians in a song-against- brought a smile to their
Parton didn't stop there. and Mark Zuckerberg. Mi- for health care workers on song battle on Instagram face. He received thou-
She starred in Dolly Parton's chelle Obama and Oprah the frontlines. Separately, Live. sands of heartwarming
"Christmas on the Square," Winfrey popped in for a lis- actors Nicole Ari Parker The series has grown from videos. His idea became
playing an angel in the ten, and even Stevie Won- and her husband Boris Kod- a novel event to bridg- so popular that Krasinski
Netflix musical. She also put der tried to use the "join" joe gave away thousands ing music's past and pres- created a YouTube web
out new holiday music, "A feature to be on screen of face masks to essential ent. Some of the most series, "Some Good News,"
Holly Dolly Christmas" with with D-Nice and interact workers and first respond- epic battles have includ- focusing on positive and
a same-titled TV special with him. ers during the pandemic. ed John Legend vs Alicia inspiring stories. He pro-
where she sang hymns, DANCING IN THE RAIN Parker's apparel company, Keys, Erykah Badu vs. Jill duced eight free episodes
holiday pop classics and Anthony Mmesoma Madu Gymwrap, turned its atten- Scott, Gladys Knight vs Patti including an "Office" re-
tunes from her new album, gained fame through a tion from making head- LaBelle, Gucci Mane vs union, a "Hamilton" perfor-
and shared her personal simple cellphone video of bands to crafting masks for Jeezy, Brandy vs Monica mance, a virtual prom and
and faith-based Christ- him performing the pirou- the couple's Help Our He- and Snoop Dogg vs DMX. online graduations.
mas memories. And if that ette without shoes in the roes campaign. For every An April battle between His channel garnered more
wasn't enough, she had drizzling rain in Nigeria earli- Gymwrap mask sold, they Babyface vs. Teddy Riley than 2.5 million subscribers
time to help Cyndi Lauper's er this year. The 11-year-old donate masks to frontline ended abruptly due to au- before he sold the web se-
annual concert to combat Nigerian boy thought the and essential workers who dio issues but was complet- ries to CBS.q
youth homelessness, too. footage would be used for need them. ed another night.
SERENADE TO NEIGHBORS a common film study ses- SING TO FATHER GLORIA ESTEFAN HELPS Solution Sudoku
In the second week of sion, but the video spread In March, Israeli opera sing- HEALTH WORKERS 12/14 Difficulty Level
France's lockdown, Paris- on social media thanks to er Irit Stark brought comfort Gloria Estefan took action 9 7 5 6 4 2 3 8 1
based opera singer Ste- his trainer, Daniel Ajala, to her father who had been to help those in need. The 4 1 8 5 9 3 6 2 7
phane Senechal serenad- who posted it. By the end of quarantined in his apart- singer and husband Emilio 2 6 3 1 7 8 4 9 5
ed his neighbors with rendi- August, the video garnered ment for two weeks in Tel Estefan's restaurant Estefan 5 4 6 3 1 9 8 7 2
tions of the French national more than 20 million views Aviv. Stark along with her Kitchen served up home- 2020 Conceptis Puzzles, Dist. by King Features Syndicate, Inc. 3 8 1 4 2 7 5 6 9
anthem. He along with on social media including son stopped by her father's made meals for health 7 9 2 8 5 6 1 3 4
musicians — professional by actors Viola Davis and home for an improvised care workers in Miami. For a
and amateur — sang from Cynthia Erivo. Impressed by performance of "Habane- month, the restaurant pre- 1 3 9 2 6 5 7 4 8
their balconies or windows his dancing, Erivo decided ra" from Georges Bizet's op- pared, packaged and de- 8 2 4 7 3 1 9 5 6
to uplift neighbors. During to sponsor Madu's training era "Carmen." Stark's father livered to workers in what 6 5 7 9 8 4 2 1 3
France's second lockdown, and helped bring the vid- looked on from his second- Gloria Estefan said was Puzzle on Page 13