Latest news with #multimedia
The Guardian
24 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Noticeable booing' – is the ‘atrocious' Elvis Evolution this summer's Willy Wonka experience?
Name: Elvis Evolution. Age: New this week. Appearance: Up to 12 shows a day at Excel London, until December. What is it? A 'first of its kind' production, according to its creators, 'celebrating the life and work of Elvis Presley.' Celebrating it how? With a 'walk-through experience' combining 'cutting-edge digital technology, live actors and musicians, mind-blowing multimedia and heart-pounding music'. So is it holograms of Elvis and that? Not exactly, no. Can you be more specific? You really have to see it to describe it, and that will set you back at least £75. At least? VIP tickets are more like £300. And what have the people who have seen it said? Different things. Like what? 'Absolutely atrocious,' was the assessment of one attender. Not quite two thumbs up, then. 'It was a shambles from start to finish, there was no Elvis; it was just a video of him that you could watch on YouTube,' a VIP ticket holder told the BBC. Oh dear. Then again, some fans seem to have really enjoyed it, with one saying she 'loved every minute'. What about the reviews? Decidedly mixed. The Telegraph gave it one star and described it as 'a limp assembly of video, actors, a live band and indifferently recreated sets'. Time Out was much more positive, giving it three stars, but also alluding to 'a noticeable amount of booing'. How do you explain the discrepancy? It appears to be a matter of expectations. When the show was announced last year, the creators, Layered Reality, suggested it would use AI and holographic projection to create a lifesize digital Elvis, leading to obvious comparisons with the hugely successful virtual reality extravaganza Abba Voyage. But it's nothing of the kind? 'We ultimately took the creative decision not to mimic Elvis's performances,' said a company spokesperson. 'Instead, we use AI to upscale archive footage.' What does that mean? Reviews suggest they have dressed up some footage from Elvis's 1968 comeback TV special and built a show around it (which includes visits to three separate themed bars selling expensive drinks). Sounds more like an escape room. Some visitors have drawn comparisons to that Willy Wonka experience fiasco in Glasgow last year. Is it really that bad? They certainly have a problem on their hands. On Sunday, the show had to be stopped after an audience member who allegedly kept shouting 'This is bollocks!' was dragged from the venue by security. Do say: 'We're caught in a trap – we can't walk out.' Don't say: 'Elvis has left the building.'
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Politicians targeted by ads, ministers' multimedia handouts
media politics 20 minutes ago Campaigns targeting politicians in the media are getting more intense - and politicians are getting more multimedia with their own messages for the press. Are these the same old tactics using new tech? Or a new push to dodge media scrutiny and shape the story? Podcast (MP3) Oggcast (Vorbis)
Phone Arena
5 days ago
- Phone Arena
Flagship tablet, fair price: Doogee Tab E3 Max
This story is sponsored by Doogee. PhoneArena's opinions in this article have not been affected in any way! Disclaimer Device manufacturer Doogee recently launched three new series of tablets. The value offer Doogee Tab A, the office assistant Doogee Tab G, and the top-performer — Doogee Tab we will take a look at the new Doogee Tab E3 Max — the tablet in the range that can do everything, with its big screen, quad speakers, and more powerful hardware. All at a fair price! The Doogee Tab E3 Max features a 14' screen with a 2160 x 1440 resolution. You may quickly notice that's a 3:2 aspect ratio. This gives the tablet extra vertical space to work with, which is handy for tasks like browsing the Web, or working with apps that have extra it's time to wind down, the Tab E3 Max can still be the perfect companion to watch a movie or play games. The tablet has four speakers in stereo setup for immersive sound and does have a headphone jack for the late hours! The huge IPS panel has a 1500:1 contrast ratio to ensure more dynamic and engaging content. Eye protection mode and dark mode included, to make sure the fun doesn't stop when the sun goes down. All Tab series use code KOLE320 for 20% off The Tab E3 Max is currently the most decked-out tablet Doogee is producing. This includes a MediaTek Helio G100 processor. It's a chipset that has been specifically designed for gaming applications, with the proprietary MediaTek Hyperengine inside — a system that minimizes lags and optimizes system resources (e.g. battery life).It's an octa-core procesor with a 2.2 GHz speed, and it's paired with 8 GB of RAM plus 256 GB of storage. Out of the box, you get Android 15 installed, plus its full Gemini AI features. Dive in with Gemini Deep Research, converse with Gemini Live, or use it as a helper to develop code. A large body allows for a large battery, and Doogee took that opportunity. The cell inside the Tab E3 Max has a capacity of 13,500 mAh. It can last you almost 10 hours for continuous video watching, and charges up with an 18 W to charge your phone? The Doogee Tab E3 Max also allows reverse charging via its USB C port — plug the two devices in and it'll provide 10 W of power back to your phone, sort of doubling as an emergency power bank. The Doogee Tab E3 Max comes in a special VIP Edition Kit, which includes everything you need to transform the tablet into your working machine on the go. A stylus, a keyboard, a mouse, protective cover, and a tempered glass protector to make sure nothing happens when you carry it around a lot!And yes, with 4G LTE connectivity on board, you can definitely take it anywhere to work its 8 MP front camera, it can easily be your station where you take meeting calls. And its 16 MP back camera will give you enough resolution to scan documents with.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Viral Comedian Courtney Michelle Is Taking Her Autobiographical Sketch Show on Tour: ‘If You're a Comedian, You Need to Hear a Chuckle to Survive'
It's a long, hard journey from a poor childhood in West Virginia to internet virality, but Courtney Michelle stuck the landing. And now the comedian, actress and macro-influencer is preparing to take her act to the next level: a five-city tour of her semi-autobiographical, multimedia live show, Girlwind. Beginning in August, Michelle, three friends and a pianist will perform Girlwind in Nashville, which she now calls home, Chicago, Atlanta, Austin, TX and Los Angeles. More information on the tour can be found here. More from Billboard These BabyMonster & Enhypen-Used Skincare Products are the Key to Glass Skin & They're Up to 38% Off for Prime Day How to Stream 5 Seconds of Summer's 'Feeling of Falling Upwards' Concert Live From Royal Albert Hall - For 1 Day Only These Enhypen-Approved Wireless Earbuds Are Currently 34% Off For Amazon Prime Day : Shop Here 'It's a sketch show that tells the story of one girl-slash-woman, but it's a bunch of multimedia things,' says Michelle, who has amassed more than 900,000 followers across her social media platforms — nearly 680,000 on TikTok alone. 'It's vulnerable as well as fun and goofy, and it's a lot of my life,' although she adds, 'I have a little opening thing in the beginning where I say, if it's really sad and pathetic it's totally made up. If it's funny and cool, it's part of my life.' The show also includes snippets of 17 songs — seven of which Michelle sings — including Meredith Brooks' 'Bitch,' Green Day's 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' and Smash Mouth's 'All Star.' Via Zoom, she speaks with Billboard about her love of millennial girl pop, how she developed Girlwind, and why comics who made their bones on social media still crave live performance. For those who aren't familiar with your background, tell us a little about yourself and how you got into comedy. Oh, my goodness gracious. Where to begin. I am from West Virginia. Grew up an only child in a small town. I grew up really poor, and all those things made me want to please people and wanting them to like me. That combination manifested into, I'll make you giggle. I did musical theater. I was a total ham. I went to college and after graduating, I started acting in Miami of all places. Then I moved to L.A, and did a good stint there — had an incredible time. I live in Nashville now. Like most people during the pandemic I was like, I'm not auditioning. I can write but where do put it? So, I thought, the Tok of the Tik, and took off from there. I'm still slowly building and trying new things to make people laugh without completely disobeying my parents and making them hate me. Were you doing standup before you embraced TikTok? No, I never did standup. I did improv classes and stuff like that. It's funny. When I started acting, I wanted to be a serious actor. Then I'd be talking to people, and they'd tell me, oh, you're funny. And I'd be like, 'Yeah, I'm funny in conversation, but I want people to perceive me as very cool and serious — and hot, quite frankly.' Then you get older, and you start getting more cellulite, and you're like, 'This is not doing it for me.' So, I said, 'Let's lean into this comedy thing. It makes me feel whole. And that's a nice feeling.' I started doing standup when I moved to Nashville, and it's a whole different world. It's so scary. How would you describe your comedy to someone who has not seen your work? 'Observational' is how I describe it to most people, which is so vague. In your videos, you often portray annoying people who, I'm guessing, you've encountered in your life. Yeah, and a lot of those people are me. I've been in situations where I've done something, and after I've left the room, I think, 'That was awful that I did that. I'm going to make that a character and relive that.' When I first started making content, I was just throwing spaghetti at the wall. And at some point, I realized what was working, an,d what I liked best doing, was making people feel seen — either a situation where they felt like the other person was awful to them or, like a Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm moment where you're like what is happening? What TV show am I in right now? And that has been the most fun ride. I'm trying now to expand that. Who are your comedic heroes? When I was young, my family didn't watch standup comics or SNL. I didn't do any of that until later in life. We watched Reba. My mom loves Reba. It's a great show. But when I was young, my comedic inspirations were the people around me who changed the energy in the room, who had a commanding presence by being funny. My mom and my dad are divorced, and they dated a bunch of different people. There were always these different people and families coming in and out of my life, and they were essentially doing standup telling me about their lives. They had punchlines, and this presence that made everyone else in the room release tension and laugh. Back then, I thought they were just cool — but they were being comedians. The formation of my inspiration and my soul came from those people. How did develop? It's inspired by people you've met over the course of your life? Yes, Girlwind is about the whirlwind of girlhood. I've been wanting to do a live show. Like I said, I started in musical theater. I love the stage. I love an audience. I love that energy. I've built this audience online and that's its own awesome thing. But I want to be in real life with people as well. I had seen a few live shows in various cities and thought, 'Maybe I could do this.' But I had no idea what the hell I wanted to write about. I was like, 'What do I have to offer? I like writing for women. I like making women feel like they're related to.' So, I thought, 'How can I take this experience that I've had being a young lady to this old lady in her 30s? How can I address my relationship with my mother, with men and female friendships in a funny way? How can I break these things down into relatable but funny moments?' I worked with my friend Ollie Osawe and spitballed a bunch of things. And he would give me feedback. You sing in the show. I would use that word lightly. I grew up in the era of Hilary Duff and Ashlee Simpson, when it seemed like any girl with straight teeth and blonde hair should have a singing career. So, I was like, 'That's what I'll do.' I tried that for a little bit, and it just wasn't fulfilling for me. I love music. So, I thought, 'How can I incorporate music into this and make it funny?' We use music to help tell the story — and that's probably my favorite part of the show, because I feel like music helps add another sensory level to the show. It's that sixth sense of being able to feel the emotions through music — or I guess, a seventh sense if you can see dead people. Have you workshopped the show? We did one test run with a handful of people — I could not recommend that less. Doing a comedy show for less than ten people is awful, because you need that energy in the room. I left that little dress rehearsal thinking, well, this sucks, and I went back to do some rewriting and basically gave myself an eye stye for about three weeks. Then we did it for a full sold-out show, and it ended up being really great. We've done the show twice now, before taking it on the road to see how it does with different people. I hope it maintains that same energy, because the one show we did in Nashville was amazing. I'm so proud of it. It's me and some really good friends, Haley Putnam and Ryan Stevens and Ali Alsaleh, who are splitting the role and performing in different cities. And we have one of the most amazing piano players ever, Alex Dolezal. He does piano for a lot of the improv musical people here, so he's just a fricking beast. He also works with country artists. I think we're going to have a blast. So, again, I could talk about this all day because I love it so much, but then I'll start crying and throwing up. Did you use any metrics to route the tour based on where your fans are concentrated? I took a really scientific approach: a Q&A on my Instagram stories that said, 'Where should I go?' And did a literal tally of what people said, and we based it on that. There are a few cities that just make sense location-wise — and I lived in L.A., so I wanted to make sure we took it there. It was a combination of, 'Where can we go where people might want to see my kind of comedy?' and places where my friends can come. A lot of comedians who have blown up on social media are going on tour. You talked earlier about really wanting to have that one-to-one connection with the people. How important is live performance in terms of the career you've established? I don't think anyone is drawn to comedy because they don't care that other people laugh. If you are a comedian in any capacity, you need to hear a literal chuckle to survive. It is protein, It's water. The live component helps you build your brand, helps you learn about your audience, and it helps you get into more markets. But besides all the business mumbo jumbo, there is nothing like doing comedy for a live audience and getting that feedback and that energy. It's life. People who do comedy online — we've spent so many years making jokes to LED screens and ring lights that we're like, is this funny? I don't think anyone gets in the comedy to talk to themselves. Well said. Do you have plans to turn this show into a comedy special for YouTube or one of the streamers? Yeah, who do you know on Netflix? Let's get it going. I would love for this story or some variation of the story to become a TV show or a comedy special or even something that we tour with on a larger scale. That would mean it's resonating. I would love to see where it goes. As a creative person, I'm always thinking, what would the next thing be? But I am also focusing on this tour and making sure that it really, really works. Are you going to have merch? I'm thinking about it. I think it would be fun, but my brain would have to get over the idea that I'm essentially saying people are obsessed with me and want to wear my face on a shirt. That seems crazy. So, if we did merch, it would be something that I think would support what I already like doing — which is making people giggle, making people feel seen. It would have to be merch that is less about me, maybe less about the show, and more about the aspects of the show that are relatable. is such a great title that if you put it on a hat or t-shirt, I think it will sell. It kind of sounds like farts. But we're working through it. I'm thinking more along the lines of force of nature. I like that much better than farts. Since this is , I've got to ask you: who are your favorite music artists? I was hardcore Britney Spears, Madonna and all those girls who really owned their sexuality when I was growing up. Not that we've gotten away from it, but I feel like I'm now at an age where it's nice to hear music that I can actually relate to, as opposed to being 12 and wondering, 'What are these nipples on my body?' Girlwind is very millennial, so all of the music is very throwback millennial. As for current music, I'm so basic. I just love pop, and I'm a fairweather country fan in the summer. I want to be on water with a beer listening to some white dude sing about trucks. It just hits the right spot. I'm also enjoying the girl pop resurgence. I love all these different new girls, old girls, being hot and sexy and having fun with that. My mom was visiting me and we watched Daisy Jones and the Six. I love Fleetwood Mac, especially Rumours, and the TV show was based on a book that was inspired by the song, 'Silver Springs' [which was inspired by Stevie Nicks' breakup with Lindsey Buckingham]. The show is so cheesy and beautiful. It's dark, it's light, it's fun, and the music in it, for whatever reason, just gets me going. It has literally been on repeat for three days in my car. Best of Billboard Kelly Clarkson, Michael Buble, Pentatonix & Train Will Bring Their Holiday Hits to iHeart Christmas Concert Fox Plans NFT Debut With $20 'Masked Singer' Collectibles 14 Things That Changed (or Didn't) at Farm Aid 2021
Associated Press
09-07-2025
- Associated Press
Big Release for HitPaw FotorPea V4.7.0: New ‘Old Photo Restoration' and ‘AI Colorize'
- HitPaw FotorPea V4.7.0 Newly Launched AI Old Photo Restoration and Colorize - NEW YORK, N.Y., July 9, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — HitPaw, a leading innovator in multimedia software solutions, today announced the release of a new version of HitPaw FotorPea (originally named HitPaw Photo Enhancer)! The new version brings a new feature: AI old photo restoration and AI colorize for faded photos. Also, it supports uploading PDF document to enhance contents. This update greatly changed the methods of processing damaged and torn photos with cherished memories. WHAT'S NEW IN HITPAW FOTORPEA V4.7.0 1. Old Photo Restoration & Colorization HitPaw FotorPea is excited to unveil its latest update, featuring advanced Old Photo Restoration and Colorization tools. This new functionality, powered by the Flux Kontext, allows users to effortlessly restore aged, damaged photographs and bring black-and-white images to life with rich, authentic colors—preserving precious memories with ease and accuracy. Whether you're a genealogy enthusiast digitizing your family archives, a museum curator working to revive historical records, or even social media managers wanting create eye-catching posts to attract nostalgia-driven audiences, the tool offers a powerful yet accessible solution From personal family albums to institutional archives and classic cinema promotion, HitPaw FotorPea is reshaping the way we preserve, experience, and share the past—one restored photo and film frame at a time. 2. Scanned PDF Feature Boosts Document Clarity HitPaw FotorPea supports uploading PDF documents for picture enhancement. The update offers a powerful PDF Enhancer designed to sharpen and improve the quality of scanned PDF documents. This enhancement ensures clearer, more readable files, streamlining workflows for both personal and professional use. MORE AI-POWERED FEATURES IN HITPAW FOTORPEA Smarter AI Image Generation with Flux AI: Create sharper, more realistic images from text prompts with enhanced detail, lighting, and artistic control. AI Enhancer: Upgrade noise remover, image clarity, color, and detail with intelligent adjustments. AI Background Remover: Remove and replace backgrounds with AI in one click. AI Object Remover: Eliminate distractions and refine image composition. AI Photo Editing: Smart tools for adjusting contrast, color, tone, and effects. COMPATIBILITY AND PRICING HitPaw FotorPea is compatible with Windows 11/10/8/7 (64-bit) and macOS 10.15 and above. Pricing starts at $22.39/Month for Windows and $25.59/Month for Mac. To celebrate this major update, HitPaw FotorPea is offering an exclusive 20% discount on both Yearly and Lifetime subscriptions for a limited time. For more information, visit: Purchase HitPaw FotorPea for Windows Purchase HitPaw FotorPea for Mac ABOUT HITPAW HitPaw is a trusted multimedia software brand dedicated to empowering users with innovative solutions for photo, video, and audio editing. With cutting-edge AI technology and user-friendly design, HitPaw makes creativity accessible to everyone. Learn more at: About HitPaw – All Things About HitPaw CONNECT WITH US NEWS SOURCE: HitPaw Keywords: Software, hitpaw fotorpea, old photo restoration, enhancer, ai colorize, digital imaging, app, software, NEW YORK, N.Y. This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (HitPaw) who is solely responsibile for its accuracy, by Send2Press® Newswire . Information is believed accurate but not guaranteed. Story ID: S2P127585 APNF0325A To view the original version, visit: © 2025 Send2Press® Newswire, a press release distribution service, Calif., USA. RIGHTS GRANTED FOR REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY ANY LEGITIMATE MEDIA OUTLET - SUCH AS NEWSPAPER, BROADCAST OR TRADE PERIODICAL. MAY NOT BE USED ON ANY NON-MEDIA WEBSITE PROMOTING PR OR MARKETING SERVICES OR CONTENT DEVELOPMENT. Disclaimer: This press release content was not created by nor issued by the Associated Press (AP). Content below is unrelated to this news story.
