Berry Gordy Motown musical set for Broadway - BBC News
A musical based on the life of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy is set to open on Broadway next year.
Producers said Motown the Musical would feature songs made famous by artists who found fame with the label including Stevie Wonder and the Jackson Five.
Gordy will write and co-produce the show, which will open next spring.
The 82-year-old mogul said the production was "a challenging and exciting opportunity to tell my story and share the magic of Motown".
"I can't wait to feel that same Motown spirit come alive on stage every night," he added.
Producers described the show as "a gripping story about the proteges and stars of a uniquely talented musical family who, under Gordy's guidance, began as the Sound of Young America and went on to become some of the greatest superstars of all time".
Other songs to feature in the musical include those made famous by Diana Ross and the Supremes, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations and Marvin Gaye.
Producer Doug Morris said: "This is an amazing opportunity for everyone to experience the Motown phenomenon through the eyes of the man who lived it."
Casting for the show has yet to be announced.
Muse unveil official Olympic song - BBC News
British rock band Muse have announced their new single Survival will be the official song for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Writing on their website, the Devon band said they were "excited" and "honoured" to have been chosen.
Frontman Matt Bellamy "wrote the song with the Olympics in mind".
The song, which premieres on Radio 1 later, will be played throughout the games when athletes enter the stadium and in the run-up to medal ceremonies.
Bellamy said the track "expresses a sense of conviction and determination to win".
Survival will also be used by international broadcasters covering the games, and spearheads a programme of music called London 2012 Rock The Games.
Special singles from Elton John vs Pnau, Dizzee Rascal, Chemical Brothers and Delphic will also be released during July and August.
More details are also due to be announced about a series of surprise live concerts at London 2012 venues, featuring Scissor Sisters, Rizzle Kicks and Soft Focus.
The Muse track will get its first radio play on Radio 1's Zane Lowe show after 19:00 BST on Wednesday, along with an interview with the band.
The song will then go on sale to the general public online.
Last month, thousands of people turned out to see the rock band carry the Olympic flame through their home town of Teignmouth, on day two of the 70-day relay.
Since forming in 1994, Bellamy and bandmates Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme have sold in excess of 15 million albums worldwide.
The band, best known for tracks such as Supermassive Black Hole, Uprising and Knights of Cydonia, release their forthcoming studio album The 2nd Law in September.
Muse announced earlier this month that they will play five UK arena dates in October as part of a European tour.
With a month to go until the London 2012 Games, organisers have also unveiled plans for other performances at Games venues.
They include leading dancers from the English National Ballet, award-winning street dance crews and cheerleaders.
Music will also be provided by military bands and DJs, while short films will be shown on games days, explaining the rules of upcoming events.
A "goodbye" video, featuring safety and travel advice, has also been filmed, with contributors including Simon Pegg, Daley Thompson and Dame Helen Mirren.
UPDATE 2-Nomura CEO taken to task over insider probe, keeps job - Reuters UK
* Both CEO and chairman re-elected
* Watanabe bows, makes public apology
* Nomura shares gain 2.2 pct, beat Nikkei gain
* Squat-loo proposal voted down
* Watanabe was paid $1.6 mln last year, incl options (Adds fresh detail, quotes, story links, updates shares)
By Emi Emoto and Nathan Layne
TOKYO, June 27 (Reuters) - Kenichi Watanabe was re-elected as CEO of Nomura Holdings on Wednesday, but faced a series of tough questions from shareholders about the Japanese broker's slumping share price and his handling of a protracted insider trading probe.
The 59-year old bowed in apology at the annual shareholders' meeting in central Tokyo's Hotel Okura and vowed to shore up compliance in the wake of the third insider trading scandal to rattle the broker since he took the helm in April 2008.
"We have caused worry and trouble, and for that I would like to humbly apologise," Watanabe said in his first public appearance since the first of three insider trading cases linked to Japan's largest investment bank was announced in late March.
Watanabe said he would publish an internal investigation into the matter by the end of the month. That report will be followed by a penalty from the regulator ranging from an order to improve compliance to a more damaging suspension of some operations for weeks, sources with knowledge of the situation have said.
Shareholders voiced their discontent on a range of issues - from a near-30 percent drop in the stock price over the past year to progress on Nomura's overseas expansion following its purchase of Lehman Brothers' Asian and European operations in 2008.
Some of the harshest criticism was reserved for management's handling of the insider trading scandal, which has dragged on for months as the broker struggles to come to a consensus with the regulator on how widespread the problems were.
One shareholder drew applause from a packed banquet hall when he said management's stated emphasis on compliance "rang hollow", adding that not completing the internal investigation in time for Wednesday's meeting was an "underhanded" move.
A second shareholder took aim at the broker's sales tactics, which have come under scrutiny. One salesman, for instance, entertained a client 39 times over nine months and showered him with expensive gifts, according to a report commissioned by an asset management firm implicated in the probe.
"The quality of the Nomura salesman is in decline. What happened to the pride of being No.1?," the shareholder said, triggering more applause.
Shareholders voted in all 13 directors on the slate, including board chairman Nobuyuki Koga, who along with Watanabe had been opposed by proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services, which argued the two leaders should take responsibility for the insider trading scandal.
The voting percentages will not be available until Thursday, Nomura said.
Earlier this month, Nomura confirmed regulators' findings in admitting it was the source of leaks on planned share offerings by energy firm Inpex, Mizuho Financial Group and Tokyo Electric Power. In all three cases, employees at its institutional sales department tipped off clients who profited by selling the shares short ahead of the offering and then buying them back at a lower price.
BETTER ETHICS
Watanabe said he would make improving professional ethics awareness one of three key focus areas of the firm's strategy - along with expanding in Asia and bolstering cooperation between operations in Europe, the United States and Japan.
In a regulatory filing, Nomura said Watanabe was paid 128 million yen ($1.6 million) in the business year to end-March, including stock options. Takumi Shiabata, the company's chief operating officer, received 113 million yen.
Early in the meeting, Watanabe offered the floor to the unnamed shareholder who had managed to place 18 mostly frivolous proposals on the AGM docket - including a call for Nomura to switch its toilets to squat-down Japanese style units to improve staff physique and discipline, and ultimately boost the stock price. The shareholder did not respond, and the proposals were dismissed.
Nomura shares closed up 2.2 percent, outperforming a 0.8 percent gain on the benchmark Nikkei average. Nomura has lost nearly half its market value since Watanabe took the helm, roughly in line with the performance of global rivals Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. (Reporting by Emi Emoto and Nathan Layne; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Ian Geoghegan)
My Media Week: Louise Gaynor - Media Week Online
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This week, Target Media chief operating officer Louise Gaynor gets the lowdown from the E3 gaming show, breaks her non-drinking vow when she bumps into Nigel Almond, and is taught about out-of-home by Posterscope. Mondays always start with me thinking of ...
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