The Week in Light & Sound
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Grammy Awards - Kendrick Lamar and Drake lead the nominations for next year's Grammy Awards, with seven nods each. Cardi B, Lady Gaga, HER, Maren Morris, Childish Gambino, producer Sounwave and engineer Mike Bozzi all have five nominations each.
While male acts dominated the nominations in the main categories last year, five of this year's best album nominees are women, with Cardi B, Brandi Carlile, HER, Janelle Monae and Kacey Musgraves competing against Drake, Post Malone and the Black Panther soundtrack.
In the best new artist category, six of the eight nominees are also women, with British stars Dua Lipa and Jorja Smith nominated alongside HER, Chloe x Halle, Margo Price and Bebe Rexha, as well as Luke Combs and rock band Greta Van Fleet.
Test Site - Controversial plans to redevelop the derelict Dudley Hippodrome into a test site for driverless cars have been approved by the local council. The news comes despite the Theatres Trust and campaigners calling for the theatre to be restored and reopened for an arts use. The trust called it “hugely disappointing”.
A report from officers at Dudley Council last month recommended the local authority accepts proposals submitted by the Dudley Driverless Vehicles Consortium to create a site to test driverless vehicles. The report turned down an expression of interest from a campaign group called Dudley Hippodrome Community Group, which proposes the retention and an estimated £12m refurbishment of the existing building. The Dudley Driverless Vehicles Consortium has now been given 12 months to develop its plans.
Tom Stickland, theatres adviser at the Theatres Trust, said: “This decision is hugely disappointing for everyone who has been working to bring Dudley Hippodrome back into use for the community, but some hope still remains. While it is frustrating the council did not give the campaign group the same opportunity to prove its business plan, this 12-month period does give it the time to strengthen its campaign and continue to build support for Dudley Hippodrome, should the driverless vehicle proposal prove unviable.”
The Empire Strikes Back - A campaign to reopen the derelict Burnley Empire Theatre has taken a major step forward, after the building was sold to a group which has been trying to save it. The troubled building was put up for auction earlier this month by its owners the Duchy of Lancaster, with a starting price of £1. Now the building has been purchased by Burnley Empire Limited, which is a company formed by campaign group Burnley Empire Theatre Trust. Burnley Empire Limited director Sophie Gibson said: “We are excited to finally own the building that we all care about so much.”
(Jim Evans)
11 December 2018
