The Annual Grammy Awards are one of the biggest nights in the music industry where artists are recognized for their exceptional achievements. Last week the Grammy awards ceremony celebrated its 54th anniversary at the Las Angeles Convention Center with host, LL Cool J. With live performances by Bruce Springsteen, Katy Perry, and Adele, America was eager for this year’s Grammy Awards. The 54th Grammys brought in 39.9 million viewers which was the second highest rating since the 1984 Grammys. America, along with the artists, held their breath with anticipation to hear the winners for the 78 awards.
It’s hard to go even a day without hearing the name “Adele” in the music industry. She hit the music scene in 2006, but it wasn’t until 2010 that she seemed to gain fame overnight with her single “Rolling in the Deep.” The young British singer has encountered many obstacles in the past year, from canceling her tour to undergoing vocal surgery in late 2011. “Adele underwent vocal cord microsurgery by Dr. Steven Zeitels to stop recurrent vocal cord hemorrhage (bleeding) from a benign polyp,” said a source at the hospital where her surgery took place. She gave her first post-surgery performance at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards last week, and solidified that she’s still got it. Her worldwide fame reached new levels this year with an amazing 6 Grammy nominations; Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Song of the Year, Best Short Form Music Video, and Best Pop Solo Performance. She won every category in which she was nominated and left the awards ceremony with her arms full of Grammys.
At 23, Adele has more confidence than most females her age. She focuses on her passion for music instead of trying to look like the “ideal” celebrity. She is happy with how she looks and is not pressured to be skinny like her competitors. Despite criticisms of her weight rolling in from the media, Adele prides herself with being a role model for the average woman. Her fame and success prove that talent can overcome looks in today’s society. “I’ve never wanted to look like models on the cover of magazines. I represent the majority of women and I’m very proud of that.” –Adele
-Kelsey Bendig, Andrea Blanton, Brian Burch, Brooke Keller
It’s Super Bowl season and we, as viewers, are ready for the stream of entertaining advertisements that keep us occupied between breaks. I’m sure everyone remembers last years buzz worthy Star Wars inspired Volkswagen commercial. How can one not be enamored with a little boy in a movie quality Darth Vader suit that genuinely startles himself by using “the force” to turn on his dad’s new Volkswagen? Beyond all the cuteness, the commercial relays the push-to-start feature that the affordable (and apparently fun) German car has to offer.
To top its success from the last Super Bowl, Volkswagen has returned with yet another Star Wars inspired ad and the entertainment factor is undeniable. Yet what do barking dogs and Star Wars really have to do with the German automobile company?
Advertisers take full advantage of the hype surrounding the Super Bowl to create innovative, touching, and entertaining commercials. Companies will pay extraordinary amounts of money to ensure that their commercial is seen by the millions of viewers watching the game. After all, this one time of the year advertisers can assume that almost every single American is tuning in. What company wouldn’t want their product showcased at this time? It’s like a black Friday Christmas sale for advertisers. These companies want to bring attention to their product in anyway possible, even if that means their product isn’t even mentioned until the last three seconds.
In the Volkswagen ad, the viewer is unaware of the association between Volkswagen and Star Wars until the very end. This proved to be a very strategic move on VW’s part. Last year, companies were able to monitor which commercials made the biggest impact on viewers via Twitter, FaceBook and other popular social platforms. They measured the ad’s success by the number of times it was mentioned in the digital realm and were able to realize what struck a chord with the vast audience. What once seemed to be a hail marry concept of integrating marketing, advertising, and social media, is now an easy field goal for the IMC commercial championship. Volkswagen is betting that we will remember how fond we were of last year’s Star Wars theme and associate those same feelings with their brand this year as well. You can’t go wrong with puppies and kids, right?
-Alexis Kapczynski, Kacy Cox, Sara Kaloudis, Josh Bowman
Reporting any new information to the public can be risky, especially when it is a headlining topic. As any social media expert, one should always make sure that the information they are providing the public is 100% accurate. Any false information can put you and your company’s reputation at risk.
With overwhelming attention surrounding the football program at Penn State, every tweet, wall post and blog comment brings more and more Internet traffic to the school and community. In a society that completely thrives and relies on Internet access, acquiring information has never been easier or faster. Along with the ability to supply millions with information via Twitter, Facebook or other social media sites, comes the responsibility to maintain an ethical mindset when sharing information.
Joe Paterno, the recently released Penn State head football coach who served for 42 years, passed away at 9:25 am this past Sunday. On Saturday night, several hours before Paterno’s death, Onward State, a student-run news organization, reported through a tweet that the community icon had passed. The Onward State managing editor, Devon Edwards claims the tweet was based on an email hoax and has since resigned.
It is shocking that a student organization (which presumably is more focused than professional organizations on performing tasks “by the book”) that is tied to an institution which has been so heavily shrouded in controversy recently, would fail to perform such a basic and necessary task as confirming information, especially when dealing with such an emotionally charged topic as the passing of Joe Paterno. Unfortunately, this is just the latest occurrence in what seems to be an ongoing problem with many forms of media.
I can remember kindergarten graduation like it was last week. I had on my white dress, frilly socks with my shiny, white shoes (I never understood this style) – big white bow in my curled hair, and lipstick. I remember being incredibly embarrassed when I walked across the stage to get my diploma; simply because when they announced my name and my aspirations of being an ice skater when I grew up: the crowd burst into laughter. My graduating kindergarten class of 1996 was full of future firefighters, doctors, teachers, policemen, and then there was me – the future ice skater. Needless to say, where I am from we do not have ice rinks; we barely even get snow every other year. This experience at an early age, to realize that I was different and had an imagination, paved the way for how I would now approach my life. I branded myself creative. From this point on, I decided that I was going to be me – no matter how many people laughed at me.
Fast-forward 15 years and here I am graduating college.
It honestly feels like just yesterday I was moving into Cornerstone Hall on UNCW’s campus, a ‘fresh’ new student straight out of high school. When people say “time flies when you’re having fun,” they are referring to college. I cannot grasp the fact that in 10 days I will be a college graduate; time has definitely flown by. Before this semester began, I thought I had it all figured out, and that I was “ready” to graduate. However, I had it all wrong! My current feelings are similar to Peter Pan’s in that all I want to do is scream “I will not grow up! You cannot make me!” But, I realize that I am not Peter Pan and I do not live in Neverland; I am a Communication Studies student who is about to step foot into the real world. It may be scary, and I might not like it at first, but its life. I shouldn’t worry though – I am prepared for it. I have taken so many different classes at UNCW, have experienced so many different things, and have learned from all of them. I have dealt with my share of “crazy” roommates, the difficult realization that UNCW will never have a football team, and also a climate that is all but predictable. As I am about to graduate, I can honestly say that I am a better person after my time spent as a Seahawk. Although I am not 100% sure what I want to do with the rest of my life, I know that UNCW has prepared me for anything.
An excerpt from Robert Fulghum’s book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, is the list of things learned in kindergarten – with the insight I have gained over the past 15 years in parentheses:
Share everything. (but write your name on it, roommates sometimes steal from you!)
Play fair.
Don’t hit people. (it is against the law when you get older)
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess. (if you don’t, no one will)
Don’t take things that aren’t yours. (you will get caught)
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat. (getting sick in college is not fun- your mom can’t make you soup!)
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. (but you should probably visit the Rec Center too)
Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. (especially when you ‘go out’ downtown)
Be aware of wonder.
Remember the little seed in the styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.
And then, remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.
The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living. Take any of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm.
Think what a better world it would be if all – the whole world – had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had a basic policy to always put thing back where they found them and to clean up their own mess. And it is still true, no matter how old you are – when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.
Some things change and some things stay the same but in the end we all have to grow up. But for the next week and a half that I have left as a student, and for everyone else that has time left here, and for the future Seahawks – I suggest we listen to the lesson that Jay-Z and Alphaville live by and stay “Forever Young.”
