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Tony Awards 2009 Winners

'Billy Elliot' leads with 10 Tonys - 3 'Billys' share lead actor award. David Alvarez, Kiril Kulish and Trent Kowalik celebrate their big win for 'Billy Elliot, The Musical' on Sunday night.

London imports had a big night at the Tonys."Billy Elliot the Musical," an underdog story about a boy who dreams of dancing, and "God of Carnage," an acid-tinged social satire, took top honors at the 63rd annual theater awards show Sunday night. "The Norman Conquests" won for Best Revival. All three shows are from hit runs across the pond.

The all-American "Hair" won as Best Musical Revival.

"Billy Elliot" won 10 Tonys, including the coveted Best Musical, the most of any show in the three-hour celebration of Broadway excellence.

"God of Carnage," a dark comedy of middle-class liberals by French author Yasmina Reza, author of the award-winning "Art," won Best Play.

"Carnage" also spelled Tony triumph for best actress Marcia Gay Harden and director Matthew Warchus, a double nominee who was also up for "Conquests."

Warchus said backstage, "I usually think of best directors winning for long plays and moving lots of scenery around, not orchestrating invisible emotions."

Geoffrey Rush took home Best Actor Tony for his portrayal of a dying monarch in the tragicomic "Exit the King."

The evening's first acting award, Featured Actor in a Play, went to Roger Robinson for August Wilson's stirring drama of black Americans in 1911 Pittsburgh, "Joe Turner's Come and Gone."

"Joe Turner," the play Barack and Michelle Obama chose for their date night in New York a week ago, also won for lighting design.

Angela Lansbury took home the Tony for Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as a psychic medium in a revival of Noel Coward's comedy "Blithe Spirit," about a writer bedeviled by the ghost of his late wife.

It was her fifth win, tying her with Julie Harris, and had the Radio City crowd on its feet.

Featured performances in musicals brought emotional speeches from Karen Olivo, who won for her fiery take on Anita in "West Side Story," and Gregory Jbara, who plays the dedicated dad in "Billy Elliot."

Stephen Daldry won for his direction of "Billy Elliot," and called the three rotating Billys "three great gifts to Broadway."

That teenage trio - David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish - danced off with Best Actor in a Musical honors, the first time three actors were nominated for one role.

The show, based on the 2000 film about a ballet-obsessed kid, also danced away with awards for book, choreography, sets, lights and sound. It tied with "Next to Normal" for best orchestrations.

In one of the night's surprises, Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's "Normal" score beat Elton John and Lee Hall's songs in "Billy Elliot."

source : www.nydailynews.com
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New Software, New iPhone, New Steve? Liveblogging the Apple Extravaganza

In the pantheon of corporate hooplas, Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer’s Conference lies somewhere between the TV-network upfronts and a model-railroading convention. Every year since 1983, Apple has invited its software developers to preview the company’s upcoming technologies and get personal guidance from Apple engineers on how to navigate its code base.

But recently the WWDC, held in San Francisco, has become more high-profile, as it has become Apple’s venue of choice to introduce to the world the latest version of its hottest product, the iPhone.

There has been a tad more drama this year than most. Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, is expected back at the company later this month after a six-month medical leave, and some have wondered if he will make a surprise appearance today. Apple is also expected to announce the release date of its new OS 3.0 software for the iPhone, demonstrate the latest version of the Mac operating system, OS X Snow Leopard, and—oh yeah—unveil the third generation iPhone.

The keynote presentation that kicks off this three day confab will begin at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time and will be lead by Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing. We will be covering the news and developer response right here on Bits as the presentation unfolds. Stay tuned.

source : bits.blogs.nytimes.com
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Kobe Bryant and Paul Gasol took a 2-0 Lakers lead over the Magic.

Bryant scores 29, Gasol adds 24 in OT win as L.A. takes 2-0 NBA finals lead

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Lakers have won taken a 2-0 in the NBA finals, beating the Orlando Magic 101-96 in overtime Sunday night.

Kobe Bryant scored 29 points, and Pau Gasol had a big overtime and finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds as the Lakers moved within two wins of their 15th championship.

Rashard Lewis had 34 points and 11 rebounds, and Hedo Turkoglu had 22 points. But rookie Courtney Lee missed a layup at the buzzer that would have won it in regulation for the Magic, who have still never won a finals game.
Hedo Turkoglu blocked a shot by Bryant and Courtney Lee missed what would have been the winning layup in the closing seconds of regulation.

Dwight Howard leaped with his left arm extended to block Bryant’s final jumper of regulation from the front, while Turkoglu got his hand on the ball from behind. Turkoglu grab the ball and quickly called timeout with 0.6 left. The referees reviewed the play that sent an angry Bryant to the bench.

After the timeout, Lee took a crosscourt inbounds pass from Turkoglu in midair and tried to lay the ball in. The ball sailed across the rim and hit the right side before bouncing away to set up the five-minute overtime.

The Lakers led 84-81 when JJ Reddick hit a 3-pointer — his first field goal of the game — to tie it with 2:21 remaining. Rashard Lewis banked in a shot for an 86-84 lead before Bryant scored to tie it again.

Turkoglu’s basket put Orlando ahead 88-86 and then Pau Gasol’s layup tied it to force overtime.There were six lead changes and seven ties in the fourth quarter, when neither team led by more than three points.

Game 3 is Tuesday in Orlando.
source : www.msnbc.msn.com
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Roger Federer realizes dream with Grand Slam win

As Roger Federer watched the yellow ball spin into the other side of the net, he sank to his knees, covered his face and knew that the French Open trophy was his at last.

It was meant to be Federer's day and not even a court intruder, gusting winds or rain showers could stop the Swiss from sweeping past Sweden's Robin Soderling 6-1 7-6 6-4 to achieve sporting greatness.

The fulfillment of a double dream for a champion who has few milestones left to conquer was how this murky Sunday afternoon in Paris will be remembered, as Federer carved himself a slice of history in emphatic fashion.

Robin Soderling had put together a spectacular tournament and was a game challenger, but there was no denying the Swiss master his ultimate destiny.

The last time Federer got dewy-eyed on court was after his collapse in the Australian Open final, when he produced a dreadful fifth set to surrender to Rafael Nadal.

After a year in which so many doubts were raised about him and his ability to complete his goals of a career Grand Slam and matching Pete Sampras' 14 Slam titles, now there are still more questions.

Now though, they revolve around his greatness, not his fallibility.

Nadal is the world No.1 and deservedly so, yet can there now be any question that Federer is the greatest of all time?

The legend of Sampras is eternal but his career record was missing one vital cog, that of the French Open. Federer's completion of all four surely elevates him at least half a notch above his idol.

How appropriate it was that Federer's most satisfying triumph at all came in such a hard fought manner.

Soderling was disposed of in three tough sets, yet epic battles against Tommy Haas and Juan Martin Del Potro required the steeliest of inner fortitude.

So what next? Federer is now a married man with a child on the way and there have been suggestions he could walk away from the sport at the end of the current season.

Certainly at times over the past 12 months it appeared he had fallen out of love with the game. Now that passion must have been rekindled.

The chance to go past Sampras will present itself at Wimbledon, a golden opportunity, especially with defending champion Nadal suffering with injury. Then there is the U.S. Open, which he has won the past five years.

Suddenly, a career figure of close to 20 Slams does not look out of the question for the 27-year-old.

But when he finally reaches the end of what will go down as one of individual sport's all-time greatest careers, Federer may look back on this as his most meaningful accomplishment.

source : sports.yahoo.com
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17 bodies found from lost Air France plane

RECIFE, Brazil (June 7) -- Seventeen bodies have been recovered from last week's crash of an Air France jetliner off the South American coast, Brazil's military said Sunday.
A boat from the Brazilian navy picks up debris in the Atlantic on Sunday.

The Brazilian navy and air force said they found nine bodies in the Atlantic Ocean, where the Airbus A330-200 went down. The crew of a French vessel taking part in the search has found eight, military officials told reporters Sunday evening.

Air France 447 disappeared over the Atlantic early Monday. The jet was en route to Paris, France, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with 228 passengers and crew aboard.

The bodies were found floating about 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) from the Brazilian coast. Items found in the same area Saturday were confirmed to have come from the jet, including pieces of the aircraft's wing section, luggage and a leather briefcase containing an airplane ticket with a reservation code for the doomed flight, Brazilian air force spokesman Jorge Amaral told CNN.

The exact location of the crash has not been determined, since ocean currents likely caused the bodies and debris to drift in the six days since the crash. And two key pieces of evidence -- the flight data and cockpit voice recorders -- remain missing, and could lay on the ocean floor.

The part of the ocean where the debris and bodies have been found ranges between 19,685 and 26,247 feet (6,000 and 8,000 meters) deep. The search area covers 77,220 square miles (200,000 square km), an area nearly as big as the country of Romania.

Fourteen aircraft -- 12 Brazilian and two French -- were participating in the recovery efforts, along with five Brazilian ships and one French frigate. In Washington, a U.S. defense official told CNN the U.S. Navy will contribute two high-tech acoustic devices to listen for emergency beacons still operating in deep water.

The "towed pinger locators" help search for emergency beacons on downed aircraft to a maximum depth of 20,000 feet, and will be placed aboard two French tugs that are part of the search efforts, the official said.

Recovery of bodies and debris is significant not only for families, but for crash investigators, said Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

"Even if they don't find anything else they can get some very important clues from the pieces that they do find and from the human remains," Schiavo told CNN Saturday.

She said investigators would be able to discern if there was an explosion from possible residue on the bodies or other items. Or, if water is found in the lungs of victims, investigators would know the plane went down intact, she said.

Investigators in Paris said Saturday that the Air France flight sent out 24 automated error messages lasting about four minutes before it crashed. The error messages suggest the plane may have been flying too fast or too slow through severe thunderstorms it encountered before the crash, officials said.

Schiavo said the four minutes of automated signals sent from the plane "was a very long time."

Investigators also reported the airline failed to replace a part on the aircraft, as recommended by the manufacturer, Airbus.

source : cnn.com
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