Dancing with the Stars’ Finale: Was Something Fishy With the Voting?

 The "Dancing With the Stars" Season 16 results are in -- country singer Kellie Pickler and her pro partner Derek Hough were crowned the champions -- but this season's mirrorball win didn't come without controversy. 
While the blonde dancing duo nailed their all-important freestyle dance and were worthy contenders for the title all season -- alternately trading leaderboard top spots with Disney star Zendaya Coleman and her partner Val Chmerkovskiy -- a voting glitch for the show's finale put a slightly scandalous spin on their win. 
During Monday's live East Coast broadcast, host Tom Bergeron announced that the ABC.com website was down. Viewers in that time zone were instructed to vote for their favorite couple via texting, calling, or on Facebook. 
When the website was eventually restored later that night, viewers clamored online to log their votes. Frontrunner Zendaya Coleman even tweeted to her fans, "Facebook and abc.com are back online. Don't forget to vote that way too…u register with email then u will get 5 votes!!" 
But on Tuesday night's finale show, Tom Bergeron announced that due to the East Coast voting glitch, in fairness to all of the finalists, none of the ABC.com votes would count. 
According to Today.com, pro dancer Val Chmerkovskiy's reaction to the news of the voting snafu was: "That's bull----! Well, good luck to everybody." 
While the timing of the technical difficulty couldn't have been worse, East Coast viewers were ultimately given instructions on how to log their votes. In fairness to voters, those who later got through to the ABC.com website and were able to log votes that way should not have been discounted. There were alternate ways for everyone to vote, so why did the network scrap the website votes? 
With this season's tight race in particular, every viewer vote mattered, especially since Kellie and Zendaya were neck in neck on the judges' leaderboard. (The Disney star scored one point higher than the "American Idol" alum on the finale night dances.) 
The Hollywood Reporter noted that not all of the finalists seemed concerned by the voting glitch, reporting that backstage at the show, gymnast Aly Raisman was overheard saying that she was pretty sure that all of her fans had voted on Facebook. The Olympic gold medalist was the first one eliminated from the competition on Tuesday night. 
After the finale results were revealed, Val Chmerkovskiy tweeted, "It was always about the dancing. First and foremost. And always will be Win or lose. Tnx to @Zendaya you got a small taste of what its about."

New generation of Arab singers

Nancy Ajram

Arab music has a long tradition of Oud — a local variety of lute — and soulful longing. It is the foundation of classical Arab music. Umm Kulthum of Egypt was phenomenally popular throughout the Arab world. Many regard Al-Atlal (The Ruins) as her best song. She died in 1975.
Nouhad Wadi Haddad a Lebanese female singer popularly known as Fairuz or Turquoise closely followed her in eminence. While classical songs were Umm Kulthum’s forte Fairuz excelled in modern Arabic songs also projecting the Lebanese heritage. Her all time popular song A’tini al-Nay is cherished by every Arab.
They are followed by new bunch of talented and popular young singers, both male and female. They are Amr Diab, Nancy Ajram, Tamer Hosny, Mohammed Hamaki, Elissar Zakaria Khouri, Sherine Ahmed Abdul Wahab, Kadim Al Sahir, Cairokee a band group and Wael Kfoury.
Among the lot, Amr Abdel Basset Abdel Azeez Diab (Amr Diab) of Egypt is a versatile performer; Diab is both a singer and composer. He has received many awards as the best-selling Arab recording artist. Music connoisseurs commend Diab for blending a Mediterranean Music style combining Arab sound and diction with Western cadence and instruments.
Amr Diab’s 1996 album “Nour El Ain” (Light of the Eye-Sight) became a sensation in the music world. “Habibi” from the album drew music lovers like infatuation worldwide in countries like Pakistan, India (performed by Nachiketa in Bengali with lyrics of his own), Afghanistan, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. The album sold 3 million copies! In 1998, he received the World Music Award from the Prince of Monaco. Diab became a living legend. His album “Amarain” (Two Moons) of 1999 is rated as his best. Amarain featured Diab in a duet “Qalbi” with Algeria’s “Didi” famed Khaled based in France.
Nancy Nabil Ajram (Nancy Ajram) of Lebanon is an immensely popular pop star in Arab music. Nancy came into the limelight in 2003 with the big success of her lead single “Akhasmak Ah”. With her fourth album “Ah w Noss” (Yes, and a half)) she became the pop icon of Arab world. Coca Cola made Nancy their official celebrity spokesperson. The commercial was a hit — “Oul Tany Kida?” (Say that again?). The success continued and her fifth album “Ya Tabtab Wa Dalla” is believed to be her best. Ajram’s crowning moment came when her best-selling album “Betfakkar Fi Eih” won the first World Music Award .as the best-selling Middle Eastern Artist.
Tamer Hosny Abbas Farghaly (Tamer Hosny) of Egypt is idolized as the Star of Generation. He is a highly endowed talent – singer, actor, composer, director and songwriter. In 2004 his second album “Hob” (Love) a romantic one featured a catchy solo “Arrab Habibi”. Its success earned him the nickname “King of Generation”. The solo song kept on running in music channels. The 8th album “Elly Gai Ahla” (2011) found great popularity and he found his bride in his fellow Moroccan singer Bassma Boussil.
Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed El-Hamaki (Mohammed Hamaki) of Egypt is known as the Master of Pop Music. He is in his thirties. His virtuosity extends to musical instruments; he can play both guitar and piano. He shot into fame with his album “Kheles El Kalam” (All The Words Have Finished!). The song “Wahda Wahda” (One by One) became very popular.
Elissar Zakaria Khouri (Elissa) is a Lebanese pop singer. Elissa became a phenomenon with her W’akherta Ma’ak. It included a popular duet “Betghib Betrouh”. The video clip of her equally successful album “Ayshalak” was done in France by French Director Fabrice Begotti.
The popularity of this new generation of singers shows that Arab world has great love for music and has a wealth of talents to keep it alive. The legacy of Umm Kulthum and Fairuz continues.

86th Academy Awards nominees

March 2, 2014

 — Host: Ellen DeGeneres
Best Picture
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Christian Bale (American Hustle)
Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Amy Adams (American Hustle)
Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
Judi Dench (Philomena)
Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)
Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)
Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)
Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine)
Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)
Julia Roberts (August: Osage County)
June Squibb (Nebraska)

Best Animated Feature

The Croods (Chris Sanders, Kirk DeMicco, Kristine Belson)
Despicable Me 2 (Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin, Chris Meledandri)
Ernest & Celestine (Benjamin Renner, Didier Brunner)
Frozen (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Peter Del Vecho)
The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki)

Best Cinematography

The Grandmaster (Philippe Le Sourd)
Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki)
Inside Llewyn Davis (Bruno Delbonnel)
Nebraska (Phedon Papamichael)
Prisoners (Roger A. Deakins)

Best Costume Design

American Hustle (Michael Wilkinson)
The Grandmaster (William Chang Suk Ping)
The Great Gatsby (Catherine Martin)
The Invisible Woman (Michael O'Connor)
12 Years a Slave (Patricia Norris)

Best Directing

American Hustle (David O. Russell)
Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón)
Nebraska (Alexander Payne)
12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen)
The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese)

Best Documentary Feature

The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, Signe Byrge Sørensen)
Cutie and the Boxer (Zachary Heinzerling, Lydia Dean Pilcher)
Dirty Wars (Richard Rowley, Jeremy Scahill)
The Square (Jehane Noujaim, Karim Amer)
20 Feet from Stardom (Nominees to be determined)

Best Documentary Short

CaveDigger (Jeffrey Karoff)
Facing Fear (Jason Cohen)
Karama Has No Walls (Sara Ishaq)
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life (Malcolm Clarke, Nicholas Reed)
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall (Edgar Barens)

Best Film Editing

American Hustle (Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers, Alan Baumgarten)
Captain Phillips (Christopher Rouse)
Dallas Buyers Club (John Mac McMurphy, Martin Pensa)
Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger)
12 Years a Slave (Joe Walker)

Best Foreign Language Film

The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium)
The Great Beauty (Italy)
The Hunt (Denmark)
The Missing Picture (Cambodia)
Omar (Palestine)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Dallas Buyers Club (Adruitha Lee, Robin Mathews)
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (Stephen Prouty)
The Lone Ranger (Joel Harlow, Gloria Pasqua-Casny)

Best Original Score

The Book Thief (John Williams)
Gravity (Steven Price)
Her (William Butler, Owen Pallett)
Philomena (Alexandre Desplat)
Saving Mr. Banks (Thomas Newman)

Best Original Song

Happy (Despicable Me 2)
Let It Go (Frozen)
The Moon Song (Her)
Ordinary Love (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)

Best Production Design

American Hustle (Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler)
Gravity (Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin, Joanne Woollard)
The Great Gatsby (Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn)
Her (K.K. Barrett, Gene Serdena)
12 Years a Slave (Adam Stockhausen, Alice Baker)

Best Animated Short Film

Feral (Daniel Sousa, Dan Golden)
Get a Horse! (Lauren MacMullan, Dorothy McKim)
Mr. Hublot (Laurent Witz, Alexandre Espigares)
Possessions (Shuhei Morita)
Room on the Broom (Max Lang, Jan Lachauer)

Best Live Action Short Film

Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me) (Esteban Crespo)
Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything) (Xavier Legrand, Alexandre Gavras)
Helium (Anders Walter, Kim Magnusson)
Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?) (Selma Vilhunen, Kirsikka Saari)
The Voorman Problem (Mark Gill, Baldwin Li)

Best Sound Editing

All Is Lost (Steve Boeddeker, Richard Hymns)
Captain Phillips (Oliver Tarney)
Gravity (Glenn Freemantle)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Brent Burge, Chris Ward)
Lone Survivor (Wylie Stateman)

Best Sound Mixing

Captain Phillips (Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith, Chris Munro)
Gravity (Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead, Chris Munro)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick, Tony Johnson)
Inside Llewyn Davis (Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff, Peter F. Kurland)
Lone Survivor (Andy Koyama, Beau Borders, David Brownlow)

Best Visual Effects

Gravity (Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, Neil Corbould)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, Eric Reynolds)
Iron Man 3 (Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash, Dan Sudick)
The Lone Ranger (Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams, John Frazier)
Star Trek Into Darkness (Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann, Burt Dalton)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke)
Captain Phillips (Billy Ray)
Philomena (Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope)
12 Years a Slave (John Ridley)
The Wolf of Wall Street (Terence Winter)

Best Original Screenplay

American Hustle (Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell)
Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen)
Dallas Buyers Club (Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack)
Her (Spike Jonze)
Nebraska (Bob Nelson)