title: Swan Lake

text: Tchaikovsky drew on previous compositions for his "Swan Lake" score. According to two of Tchaikovsky's relatives – his nephew Yuri Lvovich Davydov and his niece Anna Meck-Davydova – the composer had earlier created a little ballet called "The Lake of the Swans" at their home in 1871. This ballet included the famous "Leitmotif", the "Swan's Theme" or "Song of the Swans". He also made use of material from "The Voyevoda", an opera he had abandoned in 1868. Another number which included a theme from "The Voyevoda" was the "Entr'acte" of the fourth scene and the opening of the Finale (Act IV, No. 29). The "Grand adage" (a.k.a. the "Love Duet") from the second scene of "Swan Lake" was fashioned from the final love duet from his opera "Undina (Tchaikovsky)", abandoned in 1873.


title: Swan Lake

text: By April 1876 the score was complete, and rehearsals began. Soon Reisinger began setting certain numbers aside that he dubbed "undanceable." Reisinger even began choreographing dances to other composers' music, but Tchaikovsky protested and his pieces were reinstated. Although the two artists were required to collaborate, each seemed to prefer working as independently of the other as possible.


title: Swan Lake

text: Tchaikovsky's excitement with "Swan Lake" is evident from the speed with which he composed: commissioned in the spring of 1875, the piece was created within one year. His letters to Sergei Taneyev from August 1875 indicate, however, that it was not only his excitement that compelled him to create it so quickly but his wish to finish it as soon as possible, so as to allow him to start on an opera. Respectively, he created scores of the first three numbers of the ballet, then the orchestration in the fall and winter, and was still struggling with the instrumentation in the spring. By April 1876, the work was complete. Tchaikovsky's mention of a draft suggests the presence of some sort of abstract but no such draft has ever been seen. Tchaikovsky wrote various letters to friends expressing his longstanding desire to work with this type of music, and his excitement concerning his current stimulating, albeit laborious task.


title: Swan Lake

text: The première on Friday, 4 March 1877, was given as a benefit performance for the ballerina Pelageya Karpakova (also known as Polina Karpakova), who performed the role of Odette, with "première danseur" Victor Gillert as Prince Siegfried. Karpakova may also have danced the part Odile, although it is believed the ballet originally called for two different dancers. It is now common practice for the same ballerina to dance both Odette and Odile.


title: Swan Lake

text: The Russian ballerina Anna Sobeshchanskaya was originally cast as Odette, but was replaced when a governing official in Moscow complained about her, claiming she had accepted jewelry from him, only to then marry a fellow danseur and sell the pieces for cash.


title: Swan Lake

text: The première was not well received. Though there were a few critics who recognised the virtues of the score, most considered it to be far too complicated for ballet. It was labelled "too noisy, too 'Wagnerian' and too symphonic." The critics also thought Reisinger's choreography was "unimaginative and altogether unmemorable." The German origins of the story were "treated with suspicion while the tale itself was regarded as 'stupid' with unpronounceable surnames for its characters." Karpakova was a secondary soloist and "not particularly convincing."


title: Swan Lake

text: On 26 April 1877, Anna Sobeshchanskaya made her début as Odette/Odile in "Swan Lake", and from the start, she was completely dissatisfied with the ballet. Sobeshchanskaya asked Marius Petipa—"Premier Maître de Ballet" of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres—to choreograph a "pas de deux" to replace the "pas de six" in the third act (for a ballerina to request a supplemental "pas" or variation was standard practice in 19th-century ballet, and often these "custom-made" dances were the legal property of the ballerina they were composed for).


title: Swan Lake

text: Petipa created the "pas de deux" to music by Ludwig Minkus, ballet composer to the St Petersburg Imperial Theatres. The piece was a standard "pas de deux classique" consisting of a short "entrée", the "grand adage", a variation for each dancer individually, and a "coda".


title: Swan Lake

text: Tchaikovsky was angered by this change, stating that whether the ballet was good or bad, he alone should be held responsible for its music. He agreed to compose a new "pas de deux", but soon a problem arose: Sobeshchanskaya wanted to retain Petipa's choreography. Tchaikovsky agreed to compose a "pas de deux" that would match to such a degree, the ballerina would not even be required to rehearse. Sobeshchanskaya was so pleased with Tchaikovsky's new music, she requested he compose an additional variation, which he did.


title: Swan Lake

text: Until 1953 this "pas de deux" was thought to be lost, until a repétiteur score was accidentally found in the archives of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre, among orchestral parts for Alexander Gorsky's revival of "Le Corsaire" (Gorsky had included the piece in his version of "Le Corsaire" staged in 1912). In 1960 George Balanchine choreographed a "pas de deux" to this music for Violette Verdy and Conrad Ludlow, performed at the City Center of Music and Drama in New York City as "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux", as it is still known and performed today.


title: Swan Lake

text: Julius Reisinger's successor as balletmaster was Joseph Peter Hansen. Hansen made considerable efforts to salvage "Swan Lake" and on 13 January 1880 he presented a new production of the ballet for his own benefit performance. The part of Odette/Odile was danced by Evdokia Kalmykova, a student of the Moscow Imperial Ballet School, with Alfred Bekefi as Prince Siegfried. This production was better received than the original, but by no means a great success. Hansen presented another version of "Swan Lake" on 28 October 1882, again with Kalmykova as Odette/Odile. For this production Hansen arranged a "Grand Pas" for the ballroom scene which he titled "La Cosmopolitana". This was taken from the European section of the "Grand Pas d'action" known as "The Allegory of the Continents" from Marius Petipa's 1875 ballet "The Bandits" to the music of Ludwig Minkus. Hansen's version of "Swan Lake" was given only four times, the final performance being on 2 January 1883, and soon the ballet was dropped from the repertory altogether.


title: Swan Lake

text: In all, "Swan Lake" was performed 41 times between its première and the final performance of 1883 – a rather lengthy run for a ballet that was so poorly received upon its première. Hansen became Balletmaster to the Alhambra Theatre in London and on 1 December 1884 he presented a one-act ballet titled "The Swans", which was inspired by the second scene of "Swan Lake". The music was composed by the Alhambra Theatre's "chef d'orchestre" Georges Jacoby.


title: Swan Lake

text: The second scene of "Swan Lake" was then presented on 21 February in Prague by the Ballet of the National Theatre in a version mounted by the Balletmaster August Berger. The ballet was given during two concerts which were conducted by Tchaikovsky. The composer noted in his diary that he experienced "a moment of absolute happiness" when the ballet was performed. Berger's production followed the 1877 libretto, though the names of Prince Siegfried and Benno were changed to Jaroslav and Zdeňek, with the rôle of Benno danced by a female dancer "en travestie". The rôle of Prince Siegfried was danced by Berger himself with the ballerina Giulietta Paltriniera-Bergrova as Odette. Berger's production was only given eight performances and was even planned for production at the Fantasia Garden in Moscow in 1893, but it never materialised.


title: Swan Lake

text: During the late 1880s and early 1890s, Petipa and Vsevolozhsky discussed with Tchaikovsky the possibility of reviving Swan Lake. However, Tchaikovsky died on 6 November 1893, just when plans to revive "Swan Lake" were beginning to come to fruition. It remains uncertain whether Tchaikovsky was prepared to revise the music for this revival. Whatever the case, as a result of Tchaikovsky's death, Drigo was forced to revise the score himself, after receiving approval from Tchaikovsky's younger brother, Modest. There are major differences between Drigo's and Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake score. Today, it is Riccardo Drigo's revision of Tchaikovsky's score, and not Tchaikovsky's original score of 1877, that most ballet companies use.


title: Swan Lake

text: In February 1894, two memorial concerts planned by Vsevolozhsky were given in honor of Tchaikovsky. The production included the second act of "Swan Lake", choreographed by Lev Ivanov, Second Balletmaster to the Imperial Ballet. Ivanov's choreography for the memorial concert was unanimously hailed as wonderful.


title: Swan Lake

text: The revival of "Swan Lake" was planned for Pierina Legnani's benefit performance in the 1894–1895 season. The death of Tsar Alexander III on 1 November 1894 and the ensuing period of official mourning brought all ballet performances and rehearsals to a close for some time, and as a result all efforts could be concentrated on the pre-production of the full revival of "Swan Lake". Ivanov and Petipa collaborated on the production, with Ivanov retaining his dances for the second act while choreographing the fourth, with Petipa staging the first and third acts.


title: Swan Lake

text: Modest Tchaikovsky was called upon to make changes to the ballet's libretto, including the character of Odette changing from a fairy swan-maiden into a cursed mortal woman, the ballet's villain changing from Odette's stepmother to the magician von Rothbart, and the ballet's finale: instead of the lovers simply drowning at the hand of Odette's stepmother as in the original 1877 scenario, Odette commits suicide by drowning herself, with Prince Siegfried choosing to die as well, rather than live without her, and soon the lovers' spirits are reunited in an "apotheosis". Aside from the revision of the libretto the ballet was changed from four acts to three—with act 2 becoming act 1, scene 2.


title: Swan Lake

text: All was ready by the beginning of 1895 and the ballet had its première on Friday, 27 January. Pierina Legnani danced Odette/Odile, with Pavel Gerdt as Prince Siegfried, Alexei Bulgakov as Rothbart, and Alexander Oblakov as Benno. Most of the reviews in the St. Petersburg newspapers were positive.


title: Swan Lake

text: Unlike the première of "The Sleeping Beauty", "Swan Lake" did not dominate the repertory of the Mariinsky Theatre in its first season. It was given only sixteen performances between the première and the 1895–1896 season, and was not performed at all in 1897. Even more surprising, the ballet was performed only four times in 1898 and 1899. The ballet belonged solely to Legnani until she left St. Petersburg for her native Italy in 1901. After her departure, the ballet was taken over by Mathilde Kschessinskaya, who was as much celebrated in the rôle as was her Italian predecessor.


title: Swan Lake

text: Throughout the performance history of "Swan Lake", the 1895 edition has served as the version on which most stagings have been based. Nearly every balletmaster or choreographer who has re-staged Swan Lake has made modifications to the ballet's scenario, while still maintaining much of the traditional choreography for the dances, which is regarded as virtually sacrosanct. Likewise, over time the rôle of Siegfried has become more prominent, due largely to the evolution of ballet technique.


title: Swan Lake

text: In 1922, Finnish National Ballet was the first European company that staged a complete production of the ballet. By the time Swan Lake premiered in Helsinki Finland in 1922, it had only ever been performed by Russian and Czech ballet groups, and only visiting Russian ballet groups had brought it to Western Europe.


title: Swan Lake

text: In 1940, San Francisco Ballet became the first American company to stage a complete production of "Swan Lake". The enormously successful production starred Lew Christensen as Prince Siegfried, Jacqueline Martin as Odette, and Janet Reed as Odile. Willam Christensen based his choreography on the Petipa–Ivanov production, turning to San Francisco's large population of Russian émigrés, headed by Princess and Prince Vasili Alexandrovich of Russia, to help him ensure that the production succeeded in its goal of preserving Russian culture in San Francisco.


title: Swan Lake

text: By 1895, Benno von Sommerstern had become just "Benno", and Odette "Queen of the Swans." Also Baron von Stein, his wife, and Freiherr von Schwarzfels and his wife were no longer identified on the program. The sovereign or ruling Princess is often rendered "Queen Mother."


title: Swan Lake

text: The character of Rothbart (sometimes spelled Rotbart) has been open to many interpretations. The reason for his curse upon Odette is unknown; several versions, including two feature films, have suggested reasons, but none is typically explained by the ballet. He is rarely portrayed in human form, except in act 3. He is usually shown as an owl-like creature. In most productions, the couple's sacrifice results in his destruction. However, there are versions in which he is triumphant. Yury Grigorovich's version, which has been danced for several decades by the Bolshoi Ballet, is noted for including both endings: Rothbart was defeated in the original 1969 version, in line with Soviet-era expectations of an upbeat conclusion, but in the 2001 revision, Rothbart plays a wicked game of fate with Siegfried, which he wins at the end, causing Siegfried to lose everything. In the second American Ballet Theatre production of "Swan Lake", he is portrayed by two dancers: a young, handsome one who lures Odette to her doom in the prologue, and a reptilian creature. In this version, the lovers' suicide inspires the rest of Rothbart's imprisoned swans to turn on him and overcome his spell.


title: Swan Lake

text: Odile, Rothbart's daughter usually wears jet black (though in the 1895 production, she did not), and appears only in act 3. In most modern productions, she is portrayed as Odette's exact double (though the resemblance is because of Rothbart's magic), and therefore Siegfried cannot be blamed for believing her to be Odette. There is a suggestion that in the original production, Odette and Odile were danced by two different ballerinas. This is also the case in some avant garde productions.


title: Swan Lake

text: "Swan Lake" is generally presented in either four acts, four scenes (primarily outside Russia and Eastern Europe) or three acts, four scenes (primarily in Russia and Eastern Europe). The biggest difference of productions all over the world is that the ending, originally tragic, is now sometimes altered to a happy ending.


title: Swan Lake

text: Some productions include a prologue that shows how Odette first meets Rothbart, who turns Odette into a swan.


title: Swan Lake

text: [Scène: Allegro giusto] Prince Siegfried is celebrating his birthday with his tutor, friends, and peasants [Waltz]. The revelries are interrupted by his mother, the Queen [Scène: Allegro moderato], who is concerned about his carefree lifestyle. She tells him that he must choose a bride at the royal ball the following evening (some productions include the presentation of some possible candidates). He is upset that he can't marry for love. His friend, Benno, and the tutor try to lift his troubled mood. As evening falls ["Sujet"], Benno sees a flock of swans flying overhead and suggests they go on a hunt [Finale I]. Siegfried and his friends take their crossbows and set off in pursuit of the swans.


title: Swan Lake

text: Siegfried has become separated from his friends. He arrives at the lakeside clearing, just as a flock of swans land [Scène. Moderato]. He aims his crossbow [Scène. Allegro moderato], but freezes when one of them transforms into a beautiful maiden named Odette [Scène. Moderato]. At first, she is terrified of him. When he promises not to harm her, she explains that she and her companions are victims of a spell cast by the evil owl-like sorcerer named Rothbart. By day they are turned into swans and only at night, by the side of the enchanted lake – created from the tears of Odette's mother – do they return to human form. The spell can only be broken if one who has never loved before swears to love Odette forever. Rothbart suddenly appears [Scène. Allegro vivo]. Siegfried threatens to kill him but Odette intercedes – if he dies before the spell is broken, it can never be undone.


title: Swan Lake

text: As Rothbart disappears, the swan maidens fill the clearing [Scène: Allegro, Moderato assai quasi andante]. Siegfried breaks his crossbow, and sets about winning Odette's trust as they fall in love. But as dawn arrives, the evil spell draws Odette and her companions back to the lake and they are turned into swans again.


title: Swan Lake

text: Guests arrive at the palace for a costume ball. Six princesses are presented to the prince [Entrance of the Guests and Waltz], as candidates for marriage. Rothbart arrives in disguise [Scène: Allegro, Allegro giusto] with his daughter, Odile, who is transformed to look like Odette. Though the princesses try to attract Siegfried with their dances [Pas de six], he has eyes only for Odile. [Scène: Allegro, Tempo di valse, Allegro vivo] Odette appears at the castle window and attempts to warn him, but he does not see her. He then proclaims to the court that he will marry Odile before Rothbart shows him a magical vision of Odette. Grief-stricken and realizing his mistake (he vowed only to love Odette), he hurries back to the lake.


title: Swan Lake

text: Odette is distraught. The swan maidens try to comfort her. Siegfried returns to the lake and makes a passionate apology. She forgives him, but his betrayal can't be undone. Rather than remain a swan forever, she chooses to die. He chooses to die with her and they leap into the lake, where they will stay together forever. This breaks Rothbart's spell over the swan maidens, causing him to lose his power over them and he dies. In an apotheosis, they, who transform back into regular maidens, watch as Siegfried and Odette ascend into the Heavens together, forever united in love.


title: Swan Lake

text: Prince Siegfried, his friends, and a group of peasants are celebrating his coming of age. His mother arrives to inform him she wishes for him to marry soon so she may make sure he does not disgrace their family line by his marriage. She has organized a ball where he is to choose his bride from among the daughters of the nobility. After the celebration, he and his friend, Benno, spot a flock of flying swans and decide to hunt them.


title: Swan Lake

text: Siegfried and Benno track the swans to a lake, but they vanish. A woman wearing a crown appears and meets them. She tells them her name is Odette and she was one of the swans they were hunting. She tells them her story: her mother, a good fairy, had married a knight, but she died and he remarried. Odette's stepmother is a witch who wanted to kill her, but her grandfather saved her. He had cried so much over her mother's death, he created the lake with his tears. She and her companions live in it with him, and can transform themselves into swans whenever they wish. Her stepmother still wants to kill her and stalks her in the form of an owl, but she has a crown which protects her from harm. When she gets married, her stepmother will lose the power to harm her. Siegfried falls in love with her but she fears her stepmother will ruin their happiness.


title: Swan Lake

text: Several young noblewomen dance at Siegfried's ball, but he refuses to marry any of them. Baron von Rothbart and his daughter, Odile, arrive. Siegfried thinks Odile looks like Odette, but Benno doesn't agree. He dances with her as he grows more and more enamored of her, and eventually agrees to marry her. At that moment, Rothbart transforms into a demon, Odile laughs, and a white swan wearing a crown appears in the window. Siegfried runs out of the castle.


title: Swan Lake

text: In tears, Odette tells her friends Siegfried did not keep his vow of love. Seeing him coming, they leave and urge her to go with them, but she wants to see him one last time. A storm begins. He enters and begs her for forgiveness. She refuses and attempts to leave. He snatches the crown from her head and throws it in the lake, saying, "Willing or unwilling, you will always remain with me!" The owl flies overhead, carrying the crown away. "What have you done? I am dying!" Odette says, and falls into his arms. The lake rises from the storm and drowns them. The storm quiets, and a group of swans appears on the lake.


title: Swan Lake

text: Tchaikovsky's original score (including additions for the original 1877 production), which differs from the score as revised by Riccardo Drigo for the revival of Petipa and Ivanov that is still used by most ballet companies. The titles for each number are from the original published score. Some of the numbers are titled simply as musical indications, those that are not are translated from their original French titles.


title: Joel Madden

text: Joel Rueben Madden (né Combs; March 11, 1979) is an American singer best known as the lead vocalist for the pop punk band Good Charlotte. He is also part of the pop rock collaboration the Madden Brothers with his identical twin brother Benji Madden.


title: Joel Madden

text: Joel Rueben Combs was born on March 11, 1979, in Waldorf, Maryland, to Robin Madden and Roger Combs. He has an identical twin, Benji Madden, who plays guitar and sings backing vocals in their band, Good Charlotte. He also has an older brother named Josh Madden who also works in the music industry, and a younger sister named Sarah Madden. Madden attended La Plata High School in La Plata, Maryland.


title: Joel Madden

text: In 1995, at the age of 16, Madden, his brother Benji, and a friend started their own band. The band was short-lived and the Maddens eventually recruited fellow high schoolers Paul Thomas, Aaron Escolopio, and Billy Martin to form their band Good Charlotte. They took the name Good Charlotte from the children's book "Good Charlotte: Girls of the Good Day Orphanage" by Carol Beach York.


title: Joel Madden

text: In the 2001 film "Not Another Teen Movie", Madden and the other Good Charlotte members made a cameo appearance as the band at the school's prom. He later had a cameo role in the 2004 film "Fat Albert" and in the 2006 film "Material Girls" with his brother Benji. He also had a guest appearance in the hit Nickelodeon musical comedy series "The Naked Brothers Band", in which he joined the band for a performance.


title: Joel Madden

text: Madden started a clothing line called MADE Clothing along with his brothers Benji and Josh. The line is now defunct. In early 2006 MADE Clothing became DCMA Collective. The line is owned by Joel, his brothers Benji Madden, Josh Madden, and friend Tal Cooperman. The Madden brothers also front a production team called Dead Executives.


title: Joel Madden

text: In November 2007, Nicole Richie and Madden created The Richie Madden Children's Foundation. The charity will create and promote an online registry to inspire the purchases of items for moms and their families in need. He is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In 2010, with his brother, Madden contributed to "We Are the World 25 for Haiti," a remake of the song "We Are the World" by USA for Africa, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.


title: Joel Madden

text: On November 23, 2011, Madden was confirmed as one of the four vocal coaches in the first season of the Australian version of the reality singing competition "The Voice". His brother, Benji Madden was later his mentor on the show. Joel continued on as a coach in seasons two and three with Benji joining Joel as a coach on seasons 4 & 5 in 2015 and 2016. Because of his commitments to "The Voice Australia", he relocated to Sydney.


title: Joel Madden

text: Madden is featured in Blood on the Dance Floor's fifth studio album on the track "Incomplete and All Alone" released on June 19, 2012. The track was available for free download with pre-orders of the album.


title: Joel Madden

text: In 2012, Madden joined the 11th annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to assist independent musicians' careers.


title: Joel Madden

text: In 2013, Madden also provided songwriting and production assistance to the Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer on their first album. He has also helped write songs with them again for their later album "Sounds Good Feels Good".


title: Joel Madden

text: Madden was in a pop rock duo with his brother Benji called The Madden Brothers. They released the record "Greetings from California", on September 16, 2014. The album title "Greetings from California" comes from a conversation that the brothers had over breakfast one morning where they were reminiscing over how far they had come since the days of making music in their bedrooms.


title: Joel Madden

text: From the beginning of the show in 2012 to 2014, he was a solo coach on "The Voice Australia". He teamed up with his brother Benji for "The Voice Kids" in 2014 and on the main series in 2015-2016. In 2013, Joel won the Logie Award for Most Popular New Male Talent for his role as coach on the program.


title: Joel Madden

text: In July 2004, 25-year-old Madden began dating teen idol Hilary Duff when she was 16. After a long period of tabloid speculation, Duff's mother Susan announced their relationship in a June 2005 interview for "Seventeen". In November 2006, Madden and Duff broke up. Writing for "Paper" in 2015, Abby Schreiber noted that this and similar instances of famous men dating teenage girls had largely been ignored or even defended by tabloids at the time, something she attributed to changing public attitudes as well as tabloids and publicists having more control of information prior to the rise of social media.


title: Joel Madden

text: Madden started dating Nicole Richie in December 2006. They have two children: a daughter born in 2008 and a son born in 2009. The couple confirmed their engagement in February 2010, and married on December 11, 2010. Joel's brother Benji is married to actress Cameron Diaz. Madden has residences in both Los Angeles and Sydney. Good Charlotte were particularly popular in Australia, and Madden has since labelled the country his "home away from home."


title: Joel Madden

text: Madden has a trademark habit of chewing toothpicks to help reduce the number of cigarettes he smokes a day.


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: Rush Hour (Chinese: 火拼時速) is a 1998 American buddy action comedy film directed by Brett Ratner and written by Jim Kouf and Ross LaManna from a story by LaManna. It stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as mismatched police officers who are assigned to rescue a Chinese diplomat's abducted daughter. Tzi Ma, Tom Wilkinson, Ken Leung, Mark Rolston, Elizabeth Peña, and Rex Linn play supporting roles. Released on September 18, 1998, the film grossed over $244 million worldwide. The film's box office commercial success led to two sequels: "Rush Hour 2" (2001) and "Rush Hour 3" (2007).


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: On the last day of British rule of Hong Kong on July 1, 1997, Detective Inspector Lee of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force leads a raid at the wharf, hoping to arrest the unidentified, anonymous crime lord Juntao. He finds only Sang, Juntao's right-hand man, who escapes in a boat. Lee recovers numerous Chinese cultural treasures stolen by Juntao, which he presents as a farewell victory gift to his departing superiors, Chinese consul Solon Han and British police commander Thomas Griffin. Two months later, after Han takes up his new diplomatic post in Los Angeles, his daughter Soo Yung is kidnapped by Sang while on her way to school. Han calls Lee to assist in the case, but the FBI, afraid Lee's involvement could cause an international incident, pawns him off on the LAPD. Detective James Carter is tricked into "babysitting" Lee as punishment for botching a sting operation; when he finds out, he decides to solve the case.


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: Carter takes Lee on a sightseeing tour, keeping him away from the embassy while contacting informants about the kidnapping. Lee makes his own way to the Chinese Consulate, where Han and the FBI await news about his daughter. While arguing with Special Agent-in-charge Warren Russ, Carter unwittingly negotiates with Sang, arranging a $50 million ransom drop. The FBI traces the call to a warehouse, where a team of agents are killed by plastic explosive. Spotting Sang nearby, Lee and Carter give chase but he escapes, dropping the detonator. Carter's colleague, LAPD bomb expert Tania Johnson, traces it to Clive, a man previously arrested by Carter. Lee presses Clive into revealing his business relationship with Juntao, whom he met at a restaurant in Chinatown, earning Carter's trust. Carter goes to the restaurant alone and sees a surveillance video of Juntao carrying Soo Yung into a van. Lee arrives and saves Carter from Juntao's syndicate, but they are taken off the case as the FBI blames them for the botched ransom drop, with Lee sent back to Hong Kong.


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: However, Carter refuses to give up and appeals to Johnson for assistance to sneak on board Lee's plane, where he persuades the Hong Kong detective to help stop Juntao together. Griffin later involves himself in the case, revealing more about the HKPF's past with Juntao's syndicate, and implores Han to pay the ransom to avoid further bloodshed. At the opening of a Chinese art exhibition at the Los Angeles Convention Center, overseen by Han and Griffin, the now $70 million ransom is delivered, and Carter, Lee, and Johnson enter disguised as guests. Carter orders the guests to evacuate for safety, angering the FBI, but Lee catches Griffin accepting a remote for the detonator from Sang. Lee and Johnson realize Griffin is Juntao when Carter recognizes him from the Chinatown surveillance tape.


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: Griffin threatens to detonate a bomb vest attached to Soo Yung and demands that the ransom be paid in full, as compensation for the priceless Chinese artifacts which Lee recovered in his raid. Carter sneaks out, locates Soo Yung in the van, and drives it into the building within range of Griffin, preventing him from setting off the vest. Johnson gets the vest off Soo Yung, while Griffin heads to the roof with the bag of money. Lee takes the vest and pursues Griffin, while Carter shoots Sang dead in a gunfight. Lee has a brief altercation with Griffin that culminates in both dangling from the rafters. Griffin, holding on to the vest, falls to his death when its straps are torn, but when Lee falls, Carter catches him with a large flag. Han and Soo Yung are reunited, and Han sends Carter and Lee on vacation to Hong Kong as a reward. Before Carter leaves, agents Russ and Whitney offer him a position in the FBI, which he mockingly refuses. Carter boards the plane with Lee, who annoyingly starts singing Edwin Starr's "War" off-key.


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: "Rush Hour" began as a spec script written in 1995 by screenwriter Ross LaManna. The screenplay was sold by LaManna's William Morris agent Alan Gasmer to Hollywood Pictures, a division of the Walt Disney Company, with Arthur Sarkissian attached as producer. After attaching director Ratner and developing the project for more than a year with producers including Sarkissian, Jonathan Glickman and Roger Birnbaum, Disney Studios chief Joe Roth put the project into turnaround, citing concerns about the $34 million budget, and Chan's appeal to American audiences. At the time, Martin Lawrence was attached to the project. Several studios were interested in acquiring the project. New Line Cinema was confident in Ratner, having done "Money Talks" with him, so they made a hard commitment to a budget and start date for "Rush Hour".


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: Wesley Snipes, Eddie Murphy and Dave Chappelle were considered for the role of Detective James Carter; Murphy turned down the role to do "Holy Man" instead.


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: After the success of "Rumble in the Bronx", Brett Ratner wanted to put Jackie Chan in a buddy-cop movie, not as a co-star or sidekick but on equal footing with an American star. Ratner flew to South Africa where Chan was filming and pitched the film. A few days later Chan agreed to star in the film and not long after flew to Los Angeles and met Chris Tucker.


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: Ratner credited Tucker with getting his first feature film "Money Talks" and thought Tucker and Chan would make a great team.


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: "Rush Hour" opened at No. 1 in September 1998 at the North American box office, with a weekend gross of $33 million. "Rush Hour" grossed over $140 million in the US and $103 million in the rest of the world, for a total worldwide gross over $244 million.


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 61% based on 74 reviews with an average score of 6.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A kick-ass addition to the cop-buddy film genre." On Metacritic, the film received a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: Roger Ebert praised both Jackie Chan, for his entertaining action sequences without the use of stunt doubles, and Chris Tucker, for his comical acts in the film, and how they formed an effective comedic duo. Joe Leydon of "Variety" called it "a frankly formulaic but raucously entertaining action comedy". Leydon is critical of the editing, saying that it "works against Chan by breaking up the flow of his frenzied physicality." Charles Taylor of Salon.com is critical of Hollywood misusing Jackie Chan: "Chan is a one-of-a-kind performer: Bruce Lee crossed with Donald O'Connor in the "Make 'em Laugh" number from "Singin' in the Rain". Hollywood needs to stop treating him as if he were one of those fondue sets given as wedding gifts in the '70s: a foreign novelty shoved in a closet due to absolute cluelessness about what to do with it."


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: Michael O'Sullivan of "The Washington Post" calls the film a "misbegotten marriage of sweet and sour" and says, "The problem is it can't make up its mind and, unlike Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, the sharply contrasting flavors of these ingredients only leave a bad taste in the customer's mouth." O'Sullivan says Tucker is miscast, the script "perfunctory and sloppy", and the direction "limp, lethargic". Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a grade "C−" and was critical of the buddy comedy, saying, "The two characters barely even have a relationship; they're a union of demographics—the "urban" market meets the slapstick-action market."


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: Chan has expressed dissatisfaction with the film: "I didn’t like the movie. I still don’t like the movie." Chan continued: "I don’t like the way I speak English, and I don’t know what Chris Tucker is saying". Although he respects the box-office success of "Rush Hour", Chan said he preferred the films he made in his native Hong Kong because they delivered more fight scenes: "If you see my Hong Kong movies, you know what happens: Bam bam bam, always Jackie Chan-style, me, 10 minutes of fighting."


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: "Rush Hour" was the catalyst for the creation of the review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. Senh Duong, the website's founder and a Jackie Chan fan, was inspired to create the website after collecting all the reviews of Chan's Hong Kong action films as they were being released in the United States. In anticipation of "Rush Hour", Chan's first major Hollywood crossover, he coded the website in two weeks and the site went live shortly before the film's release.


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: A sequel, "Rush Hour 2", which was primarily set in Hong Kong, was released in 2001. A third film, "Rush Hour 3", which was primarily set in Paris, was released on August 10, 2007. Tucker earned $25 million for his role in the third film and Chan received the film's distribution rights in Asia.


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: In 2007, before the release of "Rush Hour 3", Ratner was optimistic about making a fourth film and potentially having it set in Moscow. In 2017 Chan agreed to a potential script for "Rush Hour 4" after years of turning down scripts.


title: Rush Hour (1998 film)

text: The film's soundtrack features the hit single "Can I Get A..." by Jay-Z, Ja Rule and Amil, as well as tracks by Flesh-n-Bone, Wu-Tang Clan, Dru Hill, Charli Baltimore and Montell Jordan.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: Blue Sky Studios, Inc. was an American computer animation studio based in Greenwich, Connecticut. It was founded on February 22, 1987 by Chris Wedge, Michael Ferraro, Carl Ludwig, Alison Brown, David Brown, and Eugene Troubetzkoy after their employer, MAGI, one of the visual effects studios behind "Tron", shut down. Using its in-house rendering software, the studio created visual effects for commercials and films before dedicating itself to animated film production. Its first feature, "Ice Age", was released in 2002 by 20th Century Fox. It produced 13 feature films, the final one being "Spies in Disguise", released on December 25, 2019.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: Blue Sky Studios was a subsidiary of 20th Century Animation until its acquisition by Disney, as part of their acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets in 2019. In February 2021, Disney announced that Blue Sky would be shut down in April 2021 citing the economic impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns on its business operations. The studio ceased all operations on April 10, 2021.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: "Ice Age" and "Rio" were the studio's most commercially successful franchises, while "Robots" (2005), "Horton Hears a Who!" (2008), "The Peanuts Movie" (2015), and "Spies in Disguise" were among its most critically praised films. Scrat, a character from "Ice Age", was the studio's mascot.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: In the late 1970s, Chris Wedge, then an undergraduate at Purchase College studying film, was employed by Mathematical Applications Group, Inc. (MAGI). MAGI was an early computer technology company which produced SynthaVision, a software application that could replicate the laws of physics to measure nuclear radiation rays for U.S. government contracts. At MAGI, Wedge met Eugene Troubetzkoy, who held a Ph.D in theoretical physics and was one of the first computer animators. Using his background in character animation, Wedge helped MAGI produce animation for television commercials, which eventually led to an offer from Walt Disney Productions to produce animation for the film "Tron" (1982). After "Tron", MAGI hired Carl Ludwig, an electrical engineer, and Mike Ferraro transferred to the film division from the Cad Cam division of MAGI. As MAGI's success began to decline, the company employed David Brown from CBS/Fox Video to be a marketing executive and Alison Brown to be a managing producer. After MAGI was sold to Vidmax (Canada), the six individuals—Wedge, Troubetzkoy, Ferraro, Ludwig, David Brown, and Alison Brown—founded Blue Sky Studios in February 1987 to continue the software design and produce computer animation.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: At Blue Sky, Ferraro and Ludwig expanded on CGI Studio, the studio programming language they started at MAGI and began using it for animation production. At the time, scanline renderers were prevalent in the computer graphics industry, and they required computer animators and digital artists to add lighting effects in manually; Troubetzkoy and Ludwig adapted MAGI's ray tracing, algorithms which simulate the physical properties of light in order to produce lighting effects automatically. To accomplish this, Ludwig examined how light passes through water, ice, and crystal, and programmed those properties into the software. Following the stock market crash of 1987, Blue Sky Studios did not find their first client until about two years later: a company "that wanted their logo animated so it would be seen flying over the ocean in front of a sunset." In order to receive the commission, Blue Sky spent two days rendering a single frame and submitted it to the prospective client. However, once the client accepted their offer, Blue Sky found that they could not produce the entire animation in time without help from a local graphics studio, which provided them with extra computer processors.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Blue Sky Studios concentrated on the production of television commercials and visual effects for film. The studio began by animating commercials that depicted the mechanisms of time-release capsules for pharmaceutical corporations. The studio also produced a Chock Full O' Nuts commercial with a talking coffee bean and developed the first computer-animated M&M's. Using CGI Studio, the studio produced over 200 other commercials for clients such as Chrysler, General Foods, Texaco, and the United States Marines. They made a cartoon bumper for Nicktoons that features an orange blob making a dolphin, a dinosaur, and a walking person.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: In 1996, MTV collaborated with Blue Sky Studios on the film "Joe's Apartment", for which Blue Sky animated the insect characters. Other clients included Bell Atlantic, Rayovac, Gillette and Braun. The Braun commercial was awarded a CLIO Award for Advertising. Recalling the award, Carl Ludwig stated that the judges had initially mistaken the commercial as a live action submission as a result of the photorealism of the computer-animated razor. In August 1997, 20th Century Fox's Los Angeles-based visual effects company, VIFX, acquired majority interest in Blue Sky Studios to form a new visual effects and animation company, temporarily renamed "Blue Sky/VIFX". Following the studio's expansion, Blue Sky produced character animation for the films "Alien Resurrection" (1997), "A Simple Wish" (1997), "Mouse Hunt" (1997), "" (1998) and "Fight Club" (1999).


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: Meanwhile, starting in 1990, Chris Wedge had been working on a short film named "Bunny", intended to demonstrate CGI Studio. The film revolves around a rabbit widow who is irritated by a moth. The moth subsequently leads the rabbit into "a heavenly glow, reuniting her with her husband." At the time, Wedge had been the thesis advisor for Carlos Saldanha while Saldanha was a graduate student at the School of Visual Arts; Wedge shared storyboard panels for "Bunny" with Saldanha during this time. After Saldanha's graduation, Blue Sky Studios hired him as an animator, and he later directed a few commercials. It was not until 1996 when Nina Rappaport, a producer at Blue Sky Studios, assigned Wedge to complete the "Bunny" project, which required CGI Studio to render fur, glass, and metal from multiple light sources, such as a swinging light bulb and an "ethereal cloudscape". In the initial stages of the "Bunny" project, Carl Ludwig modified CGI Studio to simulate radiosity, which tracks light rays as they reflect off of multiple surfaces. Blue Sky Studios released "Bunny" in 1998, and it received the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. "Bunny"'s success gave Blue Sky Studios the opportunity to produce feature-length films.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: In March 1999, Fox decided to sell VIFX to another visual effects house, Rhythm & Hues Studios, while Blue Sky Studios would remain under Fox. According to Chris Wedge, Fox considered selling Blue Sky as well by 2000 due to financial difficulties in the visual effects industry in general. Instead, Wedge, film producer Lori Forte, and animation executive Chris Meledandri presented Fox with a script for a comedy feature film titled "Ice Age". Studio management pressured staff to sell their remaining shares and options to Fox on the promise of continued employment on feature-length films. The studio moved to White Plains NY and started production on "Ice Age". As the film wrapped, Fox feared that it might bomb at the box office. They terminated half of the production staff and tried unsuccessfully to find a buyer for the film and the studio. Instead, "Ice Age" was released by 20th Century Fox on March 15, 2002, and was a critical and commercial success, receiving a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards in 2003. The film established Blue Sky as the third studio, after Pixar and DreamWorks Animation, to launch a successful CGI franchise.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: In January 2009, the studio moved from White Plains, New York to Greenwich, Connecticut, taking advantage of the state's 30 percent tax credit and having more space to grow. The studio stated in April 2017 that it intended to stay in Connecticut until 2025.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: In 2013, Chris Wedge took a leave of absence to direct Paramount Animation's live-action/computer-animated film "Monster Trucks". He then returned to Blue Sky Studios and worked on multiple projects for the company, such as serving as an executive producer.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: Ownership of Blue Sky Studios was assumed by The Walt Disney Company as part of their 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox, which concluded on March 20, 2019. On March 21, Disney announced that Blue Sky Studios and its parent company 20th Century Fox Animation (now 20th Century Animation) would be integrated as units within the Walt Disney Studios with co-presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird continuing to lead the studio, while reporting to Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn. In July 2019, Miloro announced that she would be stepping down from her role as co-president, thus leaving Baird as sole president.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: In August 2019, former Walt Disney Animation Studios head Andrew Millstein was named as co-president of Blue Sky Studios alongside Baird, while Pixar Animation Studios president Jim Morris would also be taking a supervising role.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: "Spies in Disguise" was released by 20th Century Fox on December 25, 2019. It ended up as the final feature film released under the Blue Sky name, and the only feature film produced by Blue Sky that Disney released.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: On February 9, 2021, Disney announced that it was closing Blue Sky Studios in April 2021. A spokesperson for the company explained that in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic's continued economic impact on all of its businesses, it was no longer sustainable for them to run a third feature animation studio. In addition, production on a film adaptation of the webcomic "Nimona", originally scheduled to be released on January 14, 2022, was cancelled as a result of its closure. The studio's film library and intellectual properties are retained by Disney. Although Disney did not give an exact date as to when the studio would be closing down initially, former animator Rick Fournier confirmed on April 10 it was their last day of operation, three days after co-founder Chris Wedge released a farewell letter on social media.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: On May 4, 2021, fan site Disney Television Animation News reported that it was rumored that a short series produced by Blue Sky known as "" would be coming to Disney+. The series would follow the titular Scrat, who discovers that he has a son. Footage of the series was later leaked onto YouTube, with former Blue Sky animators revealing that the series would be coming to Disney+ in 2022 after "The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild". On February 22, 2022, Disney officially announced the series, with a release date for April 13, 2022.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: A sixth film in the "Ice Age" franchise, titled "The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild", was produced by Walt Disney Pictures, and without the involvement of Blue Sky Studios. Although Blue Sky was not involved with the film before closure, the film was originally produced by 20th Century Studios and 20th Century Animation before being moved to Walt Disney Pictures during production for unknown reasons. It was animated by Canadian animation studio Bardel Entertainment and was released on Disney+ on January 28, 2022 to negative reception.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: Additionally, in January 2022, a third film in the "Rio" franchise was revealed to be in development for Disney+.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: Days after the release of "The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild", it was reported that Disney had lost the rights of Scrat to fashion designer and artist Ivy Supersonic. She was said to have originally created Scrat under the name "Sqrat" and pitched the character to Fox, only to get turned down by the studio. Supersonic claims the studio's own documents actually identified the character in "Ice Age" as "Sqrat", though her creation was not saber-toothed. Supersonic was offered a $300,000 settlement by Fox, but she turned it down and subsequently lost in court. The case later went to appeal (Case # 04401 Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, NYC). Supersonic still had hopes of receiving damages for her claimed infringement, later winning a partial summary judgment from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in a reverse suit, Fox Entertainment Group and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation v. Ivy Silberstein (her real name), in which Fox had tried to prevent her from registering the trademark "SQRAT". Rumors originally circulated in 2020 that Disney lost the rights to the character following the trademark dispute and later circulated as Scrat was not featured in "The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild". However, after the unveiling of "Scrat Tales", it was revealed that Disney did not lose the rights to Scrat.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: In March 2022, amid the controversy of Disney's involvement in Florida House Bill 1557, referred to by some as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, and lack of criticism from CEO Bob Chapek until after the bill had passed, "Insider" reported that three former Blue Sky staff members stated "Nimona" received pushback from Disney leadership in mid-2020, centered around the film's LGBT themes and a same-sex kiss. Initially, Blue Sky leadership removed the same-sex kiss from "presentations to Disney, despite hoping to ultimately include it in the film, the sources said. [...] Blue Sky leadership eventually showed reels to staffers that included the kiss, the sources said, but the studio was shut down soon after". "Nimona" would be picked up by Annapurna Pictures in early 2022, with DNEG Animation taking over production, for release on Netflix in 2023.


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: "Ice Age: Scrat Tales", the last official Blue Sky production, was released as scheduled on April 13, 2022. The final episode of the series, "Nut The End", concluded its ending credits with a parting message from the company:


title: Blue Sky Studios

text: On the same day, a short video was uploaded to YouTube by an unlisted channel known as Finale, titled "The End," which featured Scrat finally capturing his acorn and eating it before scurrying away. The description revealed this was the final piece of animation made by Blue Sky Studios, done in their final days of operation by a small team of artists as "a farewell, a send-off, on our own terms."


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine and Literature. Since March 1901, it has been awarded annually (with some exceptions) to those who have "done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: In accordance with Alfred Nobel's will, the recipient is selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, a five-member committee appointed by the Parliament of Norway. Since 2020 the prize is awarded in the Atrium of the University of Oslo, where it was also awarded 1947–1989; the Abel Prize is also awarded in the building. The prize was previously awarded in Oslo City Hall (1990–2019), the Norwegian Nobel Institute (1905–1946), and the Parliament (1901–1904).


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: Due to its political nature, the Nobel Peace Prize has, for most of its history, been the subject of numerous controversies. The most recent prize for 2022 was awarded to human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights organisation Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organisation Centre for Civil Liberties.


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who in the preceding year "shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses". Alfred Nobel's will further specified that the prize be awarded by a committee of five people chosen by the Norwegian Parliament.


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: Nobel died in 1896 and he did not leave an explanation for choosing peace as a prize category. As he was a trained chemical engineer, the categories for chemistry and physics were obvious choices. The reasoning behind the peace prize is less clear. According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, his friendship with Bertha von Suttner, a peace activist and later recipient of the prize, profoundly influenced his decision to include peace as a category. Some Nobel scholars suggest it was Nobel's way to compensate for developing destructive forces. His inventions included dynamite and ballistite, both of which were used violently during his lifetime. Ballistite was used in war and the Irish Republican Brotherhood, an Irish nationalist organization, carried out dynamite attacks in the 1880s. Nobel was also instrumental in turning Bofors from an iron and steel producer into an armaments company.


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: It is unclear why Nobel wished the Peace Prize to be administered in Norway, which was ruled in union with Sweden at the time of Nobel's death. The Norwegian Nobel Committee speculates that Nobel may have considered Norway better suited to awarding the prize, as it did not have the same militaristic traditions as Sweden. It also notes that at the end of the 19th century, the Norwegian parliament had become closely involved in the Inter-Parliamentary Union's efforts to resolve conflicts through mediation and arbitration.


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: The Norwegian Parliament appoints the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which selects the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: Each year, the Norwegian Nobel Committee specifically invites qualified people to submit nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. The statutes of the Nobel Foundation specify categories of individuals who are eligible to make nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. These nominators are:


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: The working language of the Norwegian Nobel Committee is Norwegian; in addition to Norwegian the committee has traditionally received nominations in French, German and English, but today most nominations are submitted in either Norwegian or English. Nominations must usually be submitted to the committee by the beginning of February in the award year. Nominations by committee members can be submitted up to the date of the first Committee meeting after this deadline.


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: In 2009, a record 205 nominations were received, but the record was broken again in 2010 with 237 nominations; in 2011, the record was broken once again with 241 nominations. The statutes of the Nobel Foundation do not allow information about nominations, considerations, or investigations relating to awarding the prize to be made public for at least 50 years after a prize has been awarded. Over time, many individuals have become known as "Nobel Peace Prize Nominees", but this designation has no official standing, and means only that one of the thousands of eligible nominators suggested the person's name for consideration. Indeed, in 1939, Adolf Hitler received a satirical nomination from a member of the Swedish parliament, mocking the (serious but unsuccessful) nomination of Neville Chamberlain. Nominations from 1901 to 1967 have been released in a database.


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: Nominations are considered by the Nobel Committee at a meeting where a shortlist of candidates for further review is created. This shortlist is then considered by permanent advisers to the Nobel institute, which consists of the institute's Director and the Research Director and a small number of Norwegian academics with expertise in subject areas relating to the prize. Advisers usually have some months to complete reports, which are then considered by the committee to select the laureate. The Committee seeks to achieve a unanimous decision, but this is not always possible. The Nobel Committee typically comes to a conclusion in mid-September, but occasionally the final decision has not been made until the last meeting before the official announcement at the beginning of October.


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: The Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee presents the Nobel Peace Prize in the presence of the King of Norway and the Norwegian royal family on 10 December each year (the anniversary of Nobel's death). The Peace Prize is the only Nobel Prize not presented in Stockholm. The Nobel laureate receives a diploma, a medal, and a document confirming the prize amount. , the prize was worth 9 million SEK. Since 1990, the ceremony has taken place at Oslo City Hall.


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: From 1947 to 1989, the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony was held in the Atrium of the University of Oslo Faculty of Law, a few hundred meters from Oslo City Hall. Between 1905 and 1946, the ceremony took place at the Norwegian Nobel Institute. From 1901 to 1904, the ceremony took place in the "Storting" (Parliament).


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: , the Peace Prize has been awarded to 110 individuals and 27 organizations. 18 women have won the Nobel Peace Prize, more than any other Nobel Prize. Only two recipients have won multiple Prizes: the International Committee of the Red Cross has won three times (1917, 1944, and 1963) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has won twice (1954 and 1981). Lê Đức Thọ is the only person who refused to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: Some commentators have suggested that the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded in politically motivated ways for more recent or immediate achievements, or with the intention of encouraging future achievements. Some commentators have suggested that to award a peace prize on the basis of the unquantifiable contemporary opinion is unjust or possibly erroneous, especially as many of the judges cannot themselves be said to be impartial observers. Further criticism holds that the Nobel Peace Prize has become increasingly politicized, in which people are awarded for aspiration rather than accomplishment, which has allowed for the prize to be used for political effect but can cause perverse consequences due to the neglect of existing power politics.


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: In 2011, a feature story in the Norwegian newspaper "Aftenposten" contended that major criticisms of the award were that the Norwegian Nobel Committee ought to recruit members from professional and international backgrounds, rather than retired members of parliament; that there is too little openness about the criteria that the committee uses when they choose a recipient of the prize; and that the adherence to Nobel's will should be more strict. In the article, Norwegian historian Øivind Stenersen argues that Norway has been able to use the prize as an instrument for nation-building and furthering Norway's foreign policy and economic interests.


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: In another 2011 "Aftenposten" opinion article, the grandson of one of Nobel's two brothers, Michael Nobel, also criticised what he believed to be the politicisation of the award, claiming that the Nobel Committee has not always acted in accordance with Nobel's will.


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: Nobel Peace Prize controversies often reach beyond the academic community. Criticisms that have been leveled against some of the awards include allegations that they were politically motivated, premature, or guided by a faulty definition of what constitutes work for peace. The awards given to Mikhail Gorbachev, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat, Lê Đức Thọ, Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama, Abiy Ahmed, and the European Union have all been the subject of controversy.


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: "Foreign Policy" has listed Mahatma Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, U Thant, Václav Havel, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Fazle Hasan Abed and Corazon Aquino as people who "never won the prize, but should have".


title: Nobel Peace Prize

text: The omission of Mahatma Gandhi has been particularly widely discussed, including in public statements by various members of the Nobel Committee. The committee has confirmed that Gandhi was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947, and, finally, a few days before his assassination in January 1948. The omission has been publicly regretted by later members of the Nobel Committee. Geir Lundestad, Secretary of Norwegian Nobel Committee in 2006 said, "The greatest omission in our 106-year history is undoubtedly that Mahatma Gandhi never received the Nobel Peace Prize. Gandhi could do without the Nobel Peace prize, whether Nobel committee can do without Gandhi is the question". In 1948, following Gandhi's death, the Nobel Committee declined to award a prize on the ground that "there was no suitable living candidate" that year. Later, when the Dalai Lama was awarded the Peace Prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that this was "in part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi".


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: Bachchhan Paandey is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Farhad Samji and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. The film stars Akshay Kumar, Kriti Sanon, Jacqueline Fernandez and Arshad Warsi. It is an official remake of the 2014 Tamil film "Jigarthanda" which itself was inspired by the 2006 South Korean film "A Dirty Carnival".


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: Myra Devekar, a budding director, is given a task by a producer to come up with a gripping and violent gangster story to produce a film. To satisfy the producer's commercial outlook and her hunger for making a realistic flick, she decides to study the life of a real-life gangster for the script. Her extensive research leads to menacing one-eyed Bachchhan Paandey of Baghwa, a ruthless gangster surrounded by quirky yet scary henchmen.


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: Myra travels to Baghwa where she meets her best friend Vishu and tells him about her film idea on Bachchhan. Vishu gets furious and asks her to leave but is later persuaded to help her with the film. Both Vishu and Myra start to target Bachchhan's henchmen in an effort to get closer to him. Virgin, one of the goons, tells them about his former girlfriend Sophie, who was killed by the former. Vishu and Myra plant a microphone in Virgin's mobile phone to eavesdrop on his conversations with Bachchan.


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: Later, it is revealed that Virgin was betraying Bachchhan for another criminal Rana Lohia, but is caught and killed by him. Vishu and Myra listen to the murder through the microphone, but are caught by Bachchhan's gang. Bachchhan sets out to kill Vishu and Myra, but agrees to spare them when he discovers that Myra is directing a gangster movie, under the condition that he plays the protagonist of the film. Myra initially doesn't accept, but Bachchhan kidnaps her producer, and Myra is forced to listen to his backstory to develop the script.


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: In a flashback, Bachchhan works for a corrupt politician Laalji Bhagat. After a fallout, the politician gets Bachchhan's girlfriend Sophie killed. In retaliation, Bachchhan murders Bhagat in the hospital where he was admitted for a wound.


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: Bachchhan and his goons do not know how to act, so they learn through Bhavesh Bhoplo, an acting coach. Bhavesh hits, threatens, and humiliates Bachchhan and his henchmen, much to their chagrin. Nevertheless, Myra dissuades them from harming Bhavesh for the sake of the movie. Bachchan and Myra soon develop feelings for each other.


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: The film is eventually completed and released in the theatres. Bachchhan and his goons initially get excited and promote the film named "BP," thinking it to be the gritty gangster drama that it was marketed as. To their horror, the film turns out to be a comedy that portrays them negatively. On the other hand, Myra's film is proved to be a blockbuster and gets praise from her media and her director who used to often criticize her a lot. Bachchhan and the goons decide to kill her for making his fear in people vanish but later on, refrain from him as Bachchhan gets evolved by heart and narrates her story that his ears were ringing to hear from her mother calling him and also his fans get impressed by him. Bachchhan, later on, becomes a star, and Kaandi, Bachchhan's close goon, gives up his habit of watching porn films. Vishu gets a lead role in an unnamed film. Bhavesh Bhoplo becomes the best acting teacher, Bachchhan gets recognized as the best comedy actor, and Myra as the best director. He also earns the respect of his mother, who hasn't spoken to him in ten years. He quits being a criminal and becomes an actor.


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: Bachchhan Paandey was initially supposed to a remake of Tamil film "Veeram" but the makers altered the script to come up with an original idea. Later sources, however, report that "Bachchhan Paandey" is a remake of the Tamil film "Jigarthanda".


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: The title derives from a character of the same name, played by Kumar, in the 2008 actioner "Tashan". The title was initially spelled "Bachchan Pandey" but was later changed to "Bachchhan Paandey."


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: Principal photography commenced on 6 January 2020 in Jaisalmer. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the shooting was delayed, filming restarted on 6 January 2021. and was wrapped up in July 2021.


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: The film's music is composed by Amaal Mallik, B Praak, Jaani, Vikram Montrose and Roy while lyrics are written by Kumaar, Jaani, Farhad Bhiwandiwala, Vikram Montrose and Azeem Dayani. The film's background score is composed by Julius Packiam.


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: "Bachchhan Paandey" was earlier scheduled to release on 1 January 2020, but was changed to 22 January 2021 due to Aamir Khan's request. The film finally released theatrically on 18 March 2022.


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: The film is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video from 15 April 2022.The satellite rights are acquired by Zee Cinema.


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: Upon release, "Bachchhan Paandey" received mixed reviews from critics. Taran Aadarsh gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, Soaked in non-stop entertainment...Akshay Kumar is outstanding in action, massy role... Aimed at those looking for hardcore entertainment... Has ample clap-and-whistle moments for masses.


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: Ronak Kotecha of "The Times of India" gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and called it "a chaotic mess of quirky and clichéd characters".


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: "Bachchhan Paandey" earned crore at the domestic box office on its opening day. On the second day, the film collected 12 crore. On the third day, the film collected 12 crore, taking total domestic weekend collection to 37.25 crore.


title: Bachchhan Paandey

text: , the film grossed crore in India and crore overseas, for a worldwide gross collection of crore. The film faced heavy competition from "The Kashmir Files", which was released one week earlier, and caused it to tumble at the box office.


title: Rotterdam

text: Rotterdam ( , , , lit. "The Dam on the River Rotte") is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ""New Meuse"" inland shipping channel, dug to connect to the Meuse first, but now to the Rhine instead.


title: Rotterdam

text: Rotterdam's history goes back to 1270, when a dam was constructed in the Rotte. In 1340, Rotterdam was granted city rights by William IV, Count of Holland. The Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, with a population of approximately 2.7 million, is the 10th-largest in the European Union and the most populous in the country.


title: Rotterdam

text: A major logistic and economic centre, Rotterdam is Europe's largest seaport. In 2020, it had a population of 651,446 and is home to over 180 nationalities. Rotterdam is known for its university, riverside setting, lively cultural life, maritime heritage and modern architecture. The near-complete destruction of the city centre in the World War II Rotterdam Blitz has resulted in a varied architectural landscape, including skyscrapers designed by architects such as Rem Koolhaas, Piet Blom and Ben van Berkel.


title: Rotterdam

text: The Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt give waterway access into the heart of Western Europe, including the highly industrialized Ruhr. The extensive distribution system including rail, roads, and waterways have earned Rotterdam the nicknames "Gateway to Europe" and "Gateway to the World".


title: Rotterdam

text: The settlement at the lower end of the fen stream "Rotte" (or "Rotta", as it was then known, from "rot", "muddy" and "a", "water", thus "muddy water") dates from at least 950 CE. Around 1150, large floods in the area ended development, leading to the construction of protective dikes and dams, including "Schielands Hoge Zeedijk" ("Schieland's High Sea Dike") along the northern banks of the present-day Nieuwe Maas river. A dam on the Rotte was built in the 1260s and was located at the present-day "Hoogstraat" ("High Street").


title: Rotterdam

text: On 7 July 1340, Count Willem IV of Holland granted city rights to Rotterdam, whose population then was only a few thousand. Around the year 1350, a shipping canal (the "Rotterdamse Schie") was completed, which provided Rotterdam access to the larger towns in the north, allowing it to become a local trans-shipment centre between the Netherlands, England and Germany, and to urbanize.


title: Rotterdam

text: The port of Rotterdam grew slowly but steadily into a port of importance, becoming the seat of one of the six "chambers" of the "Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie" (VOC), the Dutch East India Company and one of the five "chambers" of the " West-Indische Compagnie" (WIC), the Dutch West India Company.


title: Rotterdam

text: The greatest spurt of growth, both in port activity and population, followed the completion of the Nieuwe Waterweg in 1872. The city and harbour started to expand on the south bank of the river. The "Witte Huis" or "White House" skyscraper, inspired by American office buildings and built in 1898 in the French Art Nouveau style, is evidence of Rotterdam's rapid growth and success. When completed, it was the tallest office building in Europe, with a height of .


title: Rotterdam

text: During World War I, the city was the world's largest spy centre because of Dutch neutrality and its strategic location between Britain, Germany and German-occupied Belgium. Many spies who were arrested and executed in Britain were led by German secret agents operating from Rotterdam. MI6 had its main European office on de Boompjes. From there the British coordinated espionage in Germany and occupied Belgium. During World War I, an average of 25,000 Belgian refugees lived in the city, as well as hundreds of German deserters and escaped Allied prisoners of war.


title: Rotterdam

text: During World War II, the German army invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. Adolf Hitler had hoped to conquer the country in just one day, but his forces met unexpectedly fierce resistance. The Dutch army was forced to capitulate on 15 May 1940, following the bombing of Rotterdam on 14 May and the threat of bombing other Dutch cities. The heart of Rotterdam was almost completely destroyed by the Luftwaffe. Some 80,000 civilians were made homeless and 900 were killed; a relatively low number since many had fled the city because of the warfare and bombing going on in Rotterdam since the start of the invasion three days earlier. The City Hall survived the bombing. Ossip Zadkine later attempted to capture the event with his statue "De Verwoeste Stad" ('The Destroyed City'). The statue stands near the Leuvehaven, not far from the Erasmusbrug in the centre of the city, on the north shore of the river Nieuwe Maas. In 1941, 11,000 Jews still lived in Rotterdam. Before the war there were 13,000. Between 30 July 1942, and 22 April 1943, 6,790 people were deported in 8 transports via Loods 24. The vast majority of the Jews who were deported via Loods 24 were murdered in Sobibór and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Research in 2000 showed that 144 people survived the deportations. In 2013 the "Jewish Children's Monument" was unveiled.


title: Rotterdam

text: In January 1948, Queen Wilhelmina presented the motto 'Sterker door strijd' (Stronger through effort) as part of the coat of arms of Rotterdam to the city government:


title: Rotterdam

text: "...as a reminder also for posterity of the courage and strength with which the people of Rotterdam bore all the trials of the war and the important part they took in the liberation of the fatherland..."


title: Rotterdam

text: Rotterdam was gradually rebuilt from the 1950s through to the 1970s. Because the city centre was largely destroyed, new spatial infrastructure could be built, making it an open and modern city. In 1953 the Lijnbaan was opened, the first car-free shopping street in Europe. The progressive design attracted a lot of international attention. The new Central Station was completed in 1957, with the Groothandelsgebouw from 1953 next to it. The Euromast was erected in 1960 on the occasion of the Floriade.


title: Rotterdam

text: From the 1980s onwards the city councils began developing an active architectural policy. The harbours were moving westwards and the old environment had to be reshaped. Daring and new styles of apartments, office buildings and recreation facilities resulted in a more 'livable' city centre with a new skyline. In the 1990s, the Kop van Zuid was built on the south bank of the river as a new business centre. Rotterdam was voted 2015 European City of the Year by the Academy of Urbanism. A profile of Rem Koolhaas in "The Guardian" begins "If you put the last 50 years of architecture in a blender, and spat it out in building-sized chunks across the skyline, you would probably end up with something that looked a bit like Rotterdam."


title: Rotterdam

text: Rotterdam is divided into a northern and a southern part by the river Nieuwe Maas, connected by (from west to east): the Beneluxtunnel; the Maastunnel; the Erasmusbrug; a subway tunnel; the Willemsspoortunnel ('Willems railway tunnel'); the Willemsbrug ('Willems Bridge') together with the Koninginnebrug ('Queen's Bridge'); and the Van Brienenoordbrug ('Van Brienenoord Bridge'). The former railway lift bridge De Hef ('the Lift') is preserved as a Rijksmonument (national heritage site) in lifted position between the Noordereiland ('North Island') and the south of Rotterdam.


title: Rotterdam

text: The city centre is located on the northern bank of the Nieuwe Maas, although recent urban development has extended the centre to parts of southern Rotterdam known as Kop van Zuid ('the Head of South', i.e. the northern part of southern Rotterdam). From its inland core, Rotterdam reaches the North Sea by a swathe of predominantly harbour area.


title: Rotterdam

text: Built mostly behind dikes, large parts of the Rotterdam are below sea level. For instance, the Prins Alexander Polder in the northeast of Rotterdam extends below sea level, or rather below Normaal Amsterdams Peil (NAP) or 'Amsterdam Ordnance Datum'. The lowest point in the Netherlands ( below NAP) is situated just to the east of Rotterdam, in the municipality of Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel.


title: Rotterdam

text: The Rotte river no longer joins the Nieuwe Maas directly. Since the early 1980s, when the construction of Rotterdam's second subway line interfered with the Rotte's course, its waters have been pumped through a pipe into the Nieuwe Maas via the Boerengat.


title: Rotterdam

text: Between the summers of 2003 and 2008, an artificial beach was created at the Boompjeskade along the Nieuwe Maas, between the Erasmus Bridge and the Willems Bridge. Swimming was not possible, digging pits was limited to the height of the layer of sand, about . Alternatively, people go to the beach of Hook of Holland (which is a Rotterdam district) or one of the beaches in Zeeland: Renesse or the Zuid Hollandse Eilanden: Ouddorp, Oostvoorne.


title: Rotterdam

text: Rotterdam forms the centre of the Rijnmond conurbation, bordering the conurbation surrounding The Hague to the north-west. The two conurbations are close enough to be a single conurbation. They share the Rotterdam The Hague Airport and a light rail system called RandstadRail. Consideration is being given to creating an official Metropolitan region Rotterdam The Hague ("Metropoolregio Rotterdam Den Haag"), which would have a combined population approaching 2.5 million.


title: Rotterdam

text: On its turn, the Rijnmond conurbation is part of the southern wing (the Zuidvleugel) of the Randstad, which is one of the most important economic and densely populated areas in the north-west of Europe. Having a population of 7.1 million, the Randstad is the sixth-largest urban area in Europe (after Moscow, London, Paris, Istanbul, and the Rhein-Ruhr Area). The Zuidvleugel, situated in the province of South Holland, has a population of around 3 million.


title: Rotterdam

text: Rotterdam experiences a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification "Cfb") similar to all of the coastal areas in the Netherlands. Located near to the coast, its climate is slightly milder than locations further inland. Winters are cool with frequent cold days, while the summers are mild to warm, with occasional hot temperatures. Temperature rises above 30 °C on average 4 days each summer, while (night) temperatures can drop below -5 °C during winter for short periods of time, mostly during periods of sustained easterly (continental) winds. The following climate data is from the airport, which is slightly cooler than the city, being surrounded by water canals which make the climate milder and with a higher relative humidity. The city has an urban heat island, especially inside the city centre.


title: Rotterdam

text: Rotterdam is diverse, with the demographics differing by neighbourhood. The city centre has a disproportionately high number of single people when compared to other cities, with 70% of the population between the ages of 20 and 40 identifying as single. Those with higher education and higher income live disproportionately in the city centre, as do foreign-born citizens. 54% of city centre residents are foreign-born, compared to 45% in other parts of the city, while in the city centre 70% of businesses are run by foreign-born people. Nonetheless, this is not a comment on income, as 80% of homes are rented in the city centre.


title: Rotterdam

text: The municipality of Rotterdam is part of the Rotterdam-The Hague Metropolitan Area which, as of 2015, covers an area of 1,130 km, of which 990 km km is land, and has a population of approximately 2,563,197. As of 2019, the municipality itself occupies an area of 325.79 km, 208.80 km of which is land, and is home to 638,751 inhabitants. Its population peaked at 731,564 in 1965, but the dual processes of suburbanization and counterurbanization saw this number steadily decline over the next 2 decades, reaching 560,000 by 1985. Although Rotterdam has experienced population growth since then, it has done so at a slower pace than comparable cities in the Netherlands, like Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht .


title: Rotterdam

text: Rotterdam consists of 14 submunicipalities: Centrum, Charlois (including Heijplaat), Delfshaven, Feijenoord, Hillegersberg-Schiebroek, Hook of Holland, Hoogvliet, IJsselmonde, Kralingen-Crooswijk, Noord, Overschie, Pernis, and Prins Alexander (the most populous submunicipality with around 85,000 inhabitants). One other area, Rozenburg, does have an official submunicipality status since 18 March 2010. Since the status of a submunicipality was lifted on 19 March 2014, it became an integral part of the municipality of Rotterdam .


title: Rotterdam

text: The size of the municipality of Rotterdam is the result of the amalgamation of the following former municipalities, some of which were a submunicipality prior to 19 March 2014:


title: Rotterdam

text: In the Netherlands, Rotterdam has the highest percentage of foreigners from non-industrialised nations. They form a large part of Rotterdam's multi-ethnic and multicultural diversity. 52.9% of the population are of non-Dutch origins or have at least one parent born outside the country. There are 80,000 Muslims, constituting 13% of the population. The mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, is of Moroccan descent and is a practicing Muslim (mayors are not elected in the Netherlands). The city is home to the largest Dutch Antillean community. The city also has its own China Town at the West-Kruiskade, close to Rotterdam Centraal.


title: Rotterdam

text: Christianity is the largest religion in Rotterdam, with 36.3% of the population identifying. The second and third largest religions are Islam (13.1%) and Hinduism (3.3%), while about half of the population has no religious affiliation.


title: Rotterdam

text: Since 1795 Rotterdam has hosted the chief congregation of the liberal Protestant brotherhood of Remonstrants. From 1955 it has been the seat of the Catholic bishop of Rotterdam when the Rotterdam diocese was split from the Haarlem diocese. Since 2010 the city is home to the largest mosque in the Netherlands, (capacity 1,500).


title: Rotterdam

text: The municipal council consists of 45 members, the largest party is Livable Rotterdam. The municipal executive consists of mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb and nine elderman, belonging to four parties.


title: Rotterdam

text: Rotterdam has always been one of the main centres of the shipping industry in the Netherlands. From the Rotterdam Chamber of the VOC, the world's first multinational, established in 1602, to the merchant shipping leader Royal Nedlloyd established in 1970, with its corporate headquarters located in the landmark building the 'Willemswerf' in 1988. In 1997, Nedlloyd merged with the British shipping industry leader P&O forming the third largest merchant shipping company in the world. The Anglo-Dutch P&O Nedlloyd was bought by the Danish giant corporation 'AP Moller Maersk' in 2005 and its Dutch operations are still headquartered in the 'Willemswerf'. Nowadays, well-known companies with headquarters in Rotterdam are consumer goods company Unilever (since 2020 London), asset management firm Robeco, energy company Eneco, dredging company Van Oord, oil company Royal Dutch Shell (since 2021 London), terminal operator Vopak, commodity trading company Vitol and architecture firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture.


title: Rotterdam

text: It is also home to the regional headquarters of chemical company LyondellBasell, commodities trading company Glencore, pharmaceutical company Pfizer, logistics companies Stolt-Nielsen, electrical equipment company ABB and consumer goods company Procter & Gamble. Furthermore, Rotterdam has the Dutch headquarters of Allianz, Maersk, Petrobras, Samskip, Louis Dreyfus Group, Aon and MP Objects. The City of Rotterdam makes use of the services of semi-government companies Roteb (to take care of sanitation, waste management and assorted services) and the Port of Rotterdam Authority (to maintain the Port of Rotterdam). Both these companies were once municipal bodies; now they are autonomous entities, owned by the city.


title: Rotterdam

text: Being the largest port and one of the largest cities of the country, Rotterdam attracts many people seeking jobs, especially in the cheap labour segment. The city's unemployment rate is 12%, almost twice the national average. Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe, with the rivers Maas and Rhine providing excellent access to the hinterland upstream reaching to Basel, Switzerland and into France. In 2004 Shanghai took over as the world's busiest container port. In 2006, Rotterdam was the world's seventh largest container port in terms of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) handled. The port's main activities are petrochemical industries and general cargo handling and transshipment. The harbour functions as an important transit point for bulk materials between the European continent and overseas. From Rotterdam, goods are transported by ship, river barge, train or road. In 2007, the "Betuweroute", a new fast freight railway from Rotterdam to Germany, was completed.


title: Rotterdam

text: Well-known streets in Rotterdam are the Lijnbaan (the first set of pedestrian streets of the country, opened in 1953), the Hoogstraat, the Coolsingel with the city hall, which was renovated between 2018 and 2021 giving cyclists and pedestrians more space, car traffic was reduced from 4 lanes (2 in each direction) to 2 lanes (1 in each direction). Another mainstreet is the Weena, which runs from the Central Station to the Hofplein (square). A modern shopping venue is the Beurstraverse ("Stock Exchange Traverse"), better known by its informal name 'Koopgoot' ('Buying/Shopping Gutter', after its subterranean position), which crosses the Coolsingel below street level). The Kruiskade is a more upscale shopping street, with retailers like Michael Kors, 7 For All Mankind, Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger and the Dutch well-known men's clothier Oger. Another upscale shopping venue is a flagship store of department store De Bijenkorf. Located a little more to the east is the Markthal, with lots of small retailers inside. This hall is also one of Rotterdam's famous architectural landmarks. The main shopping venue in the south of Rotterdam is Zuidplein, which lies close to Rotterdam Ahoy, an accommodation centre for shows, exhibitions, sporting events, concerts and congresses. Another prominent shopping centre called Alexandrium lies in the east of Rotterdam. It includes a large kitchen and furniture centre.


title: Rotterdam

text: Rotterdam has one major university, the Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), named after one of the city's famous former inhabitants, Desiderius Erasmus. The Woudestein campus houses (among others) Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. In Financial Times' 2005 rankings it placed 29th globally and 7th in Europe. In the 2009 rankings of Masters of Management, the school reached first place with the CEMS Master in Management and the tenth place with its RSM Master in Management. The university is also home to Europe's largest student association, STAR Study Association Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the world's largest student association, AIESEC, has its international office in the city.


title: Rotterdam

text: The Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam's main art school, which is part of the Hogeschool Rotterdam. It is regarded as one of the most prestigious art schools in the Netherlands and the number 1 in Advertising and Copywriting. Part of the Willem de Kooning Academy is the Piet Zwart Institute for postgraduate studies and research in Fine Art, Media Design and Retail Design. The Piet Zwart Institute boasts a selective roster of emerging international artists.


title: Rotterdam

text: The Hoboken campus of EUR houses the Dijkzigt (general) hospital, the Sophia Hospital (for children), (cancer institute) and the medical department of the university. They are known collectively as the Erasmus Medical Center. This center is ranked third in Europe by CSIC as a hospital, and is also ranked within top 50 universities of the world in the field of medicine (clinical, pre-clinical & health, 2017).


title: Rotterdam

text: Three "Hogescholen" (Universities of applied sciences) exist in Rotterdam. These schools award their students a professional Bachelor's degree and postgraduate or Master's degree. The three "Hogescholen" are Hogeschool Rotterdam, Hogeschool Inholland and Codarts University for the Arts (Codarts hogeschool voor de kunsten), a vocational university that teaches music, dance and circus.


title: Rotterdam

text: As there are many international and American schools scattered across Europe such as ASH (American International School of the Hague) Rotterdam also has its own international school by the name NAISR (Nord Anglia International School Rotterdam). At NAISR children receive a multicultural education in a culturally diverse community and it offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme.


title: Rotterdam

text: Unique to the city is the Shipping & Transport College which offers masters, bachelors and vocational diplomas on all levels.


title: Rotterdam

text: Alongside Porto, Rotterdam was European Capital of Culture in 2001. The city has its own orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, with its well-regarded young music director Lahav Shani which plays at a large congress and concert building called "De Doelen". There are several theatres and cinemas, including Cinerama. The Ahoy complex in the south of the city is used for pop concerts, exhibitions, tennis tournaments and other activities. A major zoo called Diergaarde Blijdorp is situated on the northwest side of Rotterdam, complete with a walkthrough sea aquarium called the Oceanium.


title: Rotterdam

text: Rotterdam features some urban architecture projects, nightlife, and many summer festivals celebrating the city's multicultural population and identity, such as the Caribbean-inspired "Summer Carnival", the Dance Parade, Rotterdam 666, the Metropolis pop festival and the World Port Days. In the years 2005–2011 the city struggled with venues for pop music. Many of the venues suffered severe financial problems. This resulted in the disappearance of the major music venues Nighttown and WATT and smaller stages such as Waterfront, Exit, and Heidegger. The city has a few venues for pop music like Rotown, Poortgebouw and Annabel. The venue WORM focuses on experimental music and related subcultural music.


title: Rotterdam

text: There are also the International Film Festival in January, the Poetry International Festival in June, the North Sea Jazz Festival in July, the Valery Gergiev Festival in September, September in Rotterdam and the World of the Witte de With. In June 1970, The Kralingen Music Festival (which featured Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, Canned Heat, It's a Beautiful Day, and Santana) was held and filmed in Rotterdam.


title: Rotterdam

text: There is a healthy competition with Amsterdam, which is often viewed as the cultural capital of the Netherlands. This rivalry is most common amongst the city's football supporters, Feyenoord (Rotterdam) and Ajax (Amsterdam). There is a saying: "Amsterdam to party, Den Haag (The Hague) to live, Rotterdam to work". Another one, more popular by Rotterdammers, is "Money is earned in Rotterdam, distributed in The Hague and spent in Amsterdam". Another saying that reflects both the rivalry between Rotterdam and Amsterdam is "Amsterdam has it, Rotterdam doesn't need it". Bright magazine editor Erwin van der Zande notes that this phrase is on T-shirts in Rotterdam.


title: Rotterdam

text: In terms of alternative culture, Rotterdam had from the 1960s until the 2000s a thriving squatters movement which as well as housing thousands of people, occupied venues, social centres and so on. From this movement came clubs like Boogjes, Eksit, Nighttown, Vlerk and Waterfront. The Poortgebouw was squatted in the 1980s and quickly legalised.


title: Rotterdam

text: Rotterdam is also the home of Gabber, a type of hardcore electronic music popular in the mid-1990s, with hard beats and samples. Groups like Neophyte and Rotterdam Terror Corps (RTC) started in Rotterdam, playing at clubs like Parkzicht.


title: Rotterdam

text: The main cultural organisations in Amsterdam, such as the Concertgebouw and Holland Festival, have joint forces with similar organisations in Rotterdam, via A'R'dam. In 2007 these organisations published plans for co-operation. One of the goals is to strengthen the international position of culture and art in the Netherlands in the international context.


title: Rotterdam

text: On 30 August 2019, it was announced by the European Broadcasting Union and Dutch television broadcasters AVROTROS, NOS and NPO, that Rotterdam would host the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, following the Dutch victory at the contest in Tel Aviv, Israel with the song "Arcade", performed by Duncan Laurence. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the 2020 contest was cancelled, and Rotterdam was later retained as host of the contest. The contest took place at the Rotterdam Ahoy, with the semi-finals taking place on 18 and 20 May 2021, and the final taking place on 22 May 2021. This was the first time that Rotterdam hosted the contest, and the first time that the Netherlands hosted the contest since , when it was held in The Hague.


title: Rotterdam

text: Rotterdam has many museums. Well known museums are the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, the Netherlands Architecture Institute, the Wereldmuseum, the Kunsthal, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art and the Maritime Museum Rotterdam. The Historical Museum Rotterdam has changed into Museum Rotterdam which aims to exhibit Rotterdam as a contemporary transnational city, and not a past city.


title: Rotterdam

text: Other museums include the and the natural history museum. At the historical shipyard and museum , the reconstruction of ship of the line "Delft" can be visited.


title: Rotterdam

text: Since 28 May 1994, Rotterdam has had the phenomenon "Opzoomeren". 15% of Rotterdam residents (about 100,000 residents) say they participate in this phenomenon. At the end of 2020, the city has a record number of 2,503 Opzoomer streets, which is mainly reflected in the construction of facade gardens.


title: Rotterdam

text: The municipality of Rotterdam is encouraging the construction of green roofs. There is an attractive subsidy for roof owners and the city has now provided a number of municipal buildings with a green roof. As of January 1, 2020, the water storage capacity requirement has been increased to 30 liters of water storage capacity per square metre. This reduces the burden on the sewer system during heavy rainfall and reduces the risk of flooding on the street.


title: Rotterdam

text: Rotterdam has become world famous because of its modern and groundbreaking architecture. Throughout the years the city has been nicknamed "Manhattan at the Meuse" and "The architectural capital of the Netherlands" both for its skyline and because it is home to internationally leading architectural firms involved in the design of famous buildings and bridges in other big cities. Examples include OMA (Rem Koolhaas), MVRDV, Neutelings & Riedijk and Erick van Egeraat. It has the reputation in being a platform for architectural development and education through the NAi (Netherlands Architecture Institute), which is open to the public and has a variety of exhibitions on architecture and urban planning issues and prior the Berlage Institute, a postgraduate laboratory of architecture. The city has 38 skyscrapers and 352 high-rises and has many skyscrapers planned or under construction. The top 5 of highest buildings in the Netherlands consists entirely of buildings in Rotterdam. It is home to the tallest building in the Netherlands, the Maastoren with a height of 165 meters. In 2021, the Zalmhaven Tower is completed with a height of 215 meters, and is now the new tallest building in the Netherlands.


title: Rotterdam

text: In 1898, the high-rise office building the White House (in Dutch Witte Huis) was completed, at that time the tallest office building in Europe.


title: Rotterdam

text: In the first decades of the 20th century, some influential architecture in the modern style was built in Rotterdam. Notable are the Van Nelle fabriek (1929) a monument of modern factory design by Brinkman en Van der Vlugt, the Jugendstil clubhouse of the Royal Maas Yacht Club designed by Hooijkaas jr. en Brinkman (1909), and Feyenoord's football stadium De Kuip (1936) also by Brinkman en Van der Vlugt. The architect J. J. P. Oud was a famous Rotterdammer in those days. The Van Nelle Factory obtained the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014.


title: Rotterdam

text: During the early stages of World War II the centre of Rotterdam was bombed by the German Luftwaffe, destroying many of the older buildings in the centre of the city. After an initial crisis re-construction, the centre of Rotterdam has become the site of the ambitious new architecture.


title: Rotterdam

text: Rotterdam is also famous for its Lijnbaan 1952 by architects Broek en Bakema, Peperklip by architect Carel Weeber, Kubuswoningen or cube houses designed by architect Piet Blom 1984.


title: Rotterdam

text: The newest landmark in Rotterdam is the Markthal, designed by architect firm MVRDV. In addition to that, there are many international well-known architects based in Rotterdam like O.M.A (Rem Koolhaas), Neutelings & Riedijk and Erick van Egeraat to name a few. Two architectural landmarks are located in the Lloydkwartier: the STC college building and the Schiecentrale 4b. The construction of the Depot of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen was started in 2003 and was officially opened by king Willem-Alexander on 5 November 2021. It is the world's first fully accessible art depot.