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Grant Park Music Festival begins 2025 season with "Rhapsody in Blue"

Grant Park Music Festival begins 2025 season with "Rhapsody in Blue"

CBS News12-06-2025
The 101-year-old classic "Rhapsody in Blue" filled Chicago's front lawn Wednesday night, during the first performance of the year for the Grant Park Music Festival.
The free concert was held at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.
"Rhapsody in Blue" may make you think of United Airlines and the cascading neon lights of the Sky's the Limit installation at the United Terminal at O'Hare International Airport, or it may inspire you close your eyes imagine Jazz Age New York City.
On Wednesday night, crowds enjoyed George Gershwin's groundbreaking 1924 fusion of classical and jazz to the sight of Chicago's majestic skyline — the Aon Center and One and Two Prudential Plaza to the north, the Diamond Building and the historic buildings of the Michigan Avenue Streetwall to the west.
Conductor and pianist Andrew Litton led the Grant Park Orchestra in the performance of "Rhapsody in Blue" Wednesday night. The program also included "Three Latin Ameriacn Dances" by Gabriela Lena Frank, and Suites from "The Three-Cornered Hat," by Manuel de Falla.
On Friday and Saturday evening this week, Christopher Bell leads the Grand Park Orchestra in Gustav Holst's "The Planets."
On Wednesday of next week, newly appointed Grant Park Music Festival artistic director and principal conductor Giancarlo Guerrero leads the orchestra in a program headlined by Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, featuring Jeremy Black on violin. On Friday, June 20, and Saturday, June 21, Guerrero leads the orchestra in Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 1.
From classics to movie scores and more, the festival is putting on performances just about every week this summer.
The full concert schedule for the summer can be found at the Grant Park Music Festival website.
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Does this look like a real woman? AI Vogue model raises concerns about beauty standards
Does this look like a real woman? AI Vogue model raises concerns about beauty standards

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  • Yahoo

Does this look like a real woman? AI Vogue model raises concerns about beauty standards

There's a new supermodel in town. She's striking, stylish... and not real. In August's print edition of Vogue, a Guess advert features a flawless blonde model showing off a striped maxi dress and a floral playsuit from the brand's summer collection. In small print in one corner, the ad reveals that she was created using AI. While Vogue says the AI model was not an editorial decision, it is the first time an AI-generated person has featured in the magazine. The advert has been met with controversy and raises questions about what this means for real models who have fought for greater diversity, and for consumers - particularly young people - already struggling with unrealistic beauty standards. Seraphinne Vallora is the company behind Guess's controversial advert. Its founders, Valentina Gonzalez and Andreea Petrescu, tell the BBC they were approached by Guess's co-founder, Paul Marciano, on Instagram and were asked to create an AI model as part of the brand's summer campaign. 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The fashion world was making real progress to be more inclusive in the 2010s - the decade saw Valentina Sampaio become the first openly trans model to walk for Victoria's Secret, Halima Aden was the first hijab-wearing model in global campaigns, and brands like Savage x Fenty featured plus-size models on the runway. But in recent years, Hayward believes, the industry has slipped backwards because "these people are just not getting booked any more". And the use of AI models is "another kick in the teeth, and one that will disproportionately affect plus-size models", she warns. Gonzalez and Petrescu are adamant they don't reinforce narrow beauty standards. "We don't create unattainable looks - actually the AI model for Guess looks quite realistic," Petrescu says. "Ultimately, all adverts are created to look perfect and usually have supermodels in, so what we are doing is no different." 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Hayward worries that seeing these unattainable images could have an impact on people's mental health and negatively affect their body image. Concern around unrealistic beauty standards and the damaging effects they can have is nothing new. But unlike traditional airbrushing, which at least began with a real person, these AI models are digitally created to look perfect, free from human flaws, inconsistencies or uniqueness. While some high-profile figures such as Ashley Graham, Jameela Jamil and Bella Thorne have spoken out against image editing and refuse to have their pictures Photoshopped, the use of AI sidesteps such conversations entirely. Vogue's decision to include an AI-generated advert has caused a stir on social media, with one user on X writing: "Wow! As if the beauty expectations weren't unrealistic enough, here comes AI to make them impossible. Even models can't compete." Vanessa Longley, CEO of eating disorder charity Beat, tells the BBC the advert is "worrying". 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Familiar's Nebula Is a Thrusting Dildo That's Scary Powerful
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'Duck Dynasty' star Willie Robertson shares late father Phil Robertson's final message
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'Duck Dynasty' star Willie Robertson shares late father Phil Robertson's final message

"Duck Dynasty" star Willie Robertson revealed the final message that his late father shared with their family before his death. In May, Phil Robertson, famous for founding the Duck Commander hunting company that became the focus of his A&E show, died at the age of 79. The "Duck Dynasty" family patriarch had previously battled multiple health conditions, including Alzheimer's disease. "Phil had been struggling with Alzheimer's for a while," Willie, 53, said. "It was on our mind for sure, his condition. It's part of life." He continued, "Phil had such a strong faith. He told us before, 'Do not cry at my funeral. I know where I'm going.'" 'DUCK DYNASTY' STAR PHIL ROBERTSON FORCES HIMSELF TO EAT AS HE BATTLES ALZHEIMER'S, PLANS TO 'KEEP THE FAITH' "What a life he lived," Willie added. "We heard that from thousands of people, the people he impacted. Phil would have wanted us to do exactly what we're doing. Whatever is a reflection of that faith, and our show is a reflection of our faith." 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"But we are passing on Phil's legacy because his legacy was first about faith," she said. "His whole motto was faith, family, ducks, in that order. His first was faith. All our kids are living that out in really beautiful ways and family." "That's what this show is about," Korie added. "It's about family, inner-generational family living life together and what that might look like. And then ducks. We're still running Duck Commander, the business he started from the duck call he invented years and years ago. That has been really special to carry that legacy on now after his passing." WATCH DUCK FAMILY TREASURE ONLINE | STREAM FOX NATION Phil founded Duck Commander in 1972. The "Duck Dynasty" television show premiered 40 years later, in 2012, before it ended in 2017. During a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Willie and Korie explained how they were coping after losing Phil and how they were touched by the outpouring of support that they received from fans. "I think it's a combination of some sadness, just we miss him, but also joy and happiness from what he believed and where he was going and all the things he was able to accomplish in his life," Willie said. "And so many people that he helped and we were reminded of that at his passing. And just so many people just flooded us with messages of how he had helped change their life, either directly or indirectly through the show or through the podcast or books he has written." CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER While Willie shared that it was "tragic" watching his father suffer during his battle with Alzheimer's, he said it helped prepare the family for his passing. "You're ready," he said. "We knew, he's ready to move on and so yeah, it's kind of mixed. But there was really more joy." "Phil pre-warned us," he added. "We told a lot of funny stories and just brought back all those fun memories," Korie chimed in. "It's a little bit the Robertson way. Even in the hard things, we laugh a lot through it." Korie said they hoped future generations would be inspired by Phil's dedication to his faith and how it transformed his life. "Just in passing down that legacy — one of the things that we've just been reminded of over and over again is just this man who lived down on the river, didn't own a cell phone or a computer — what God did with his life. Because he was just truly passionately sold out for Jesus," she said. Korie continued, "And so I think for all of us, it's brought even more of a boldness to our faith to say like, 'Hey, we follow Jesus, and that's who we are.' And if you want to know more about it, come talk to us because it's brought a full life." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "And a changed life," Willie added. "There would never have been a 'Duck Dynasty' show. There wouldn't have been company had his life not changed. This family would not have stayed together." 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