NORWAY: Denzel Washington and Anne Hathaway hold news conference ahead of Nobel Peace Prize concert

Record ID: 349224

  • Title: NORWAY: Denzel Washington and Anne Hathaway hold news conference ahead of Nobel Peace Prize concert
  • Date: 13th December 2010
  • Summary: OSLO, NORWAY (DECEMBER 11, 2010) (REUTERS) LOGO FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. ARTIST, BARRY MANILOW, SAYING "But for me personally I have this song that I have been waiting to sing in an event like this since I wrote it back in the seventies. I told everybody I wrote it in a dream, and it's called "One Voice". And it's about standing up for what you b
  • Embargoed: 28th December 2010 12:00
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  • Location: Norway, Norway
  • Country: Norway
  • Topics: International Relations,Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVATI04LIGZ3C34CQHFJQ82Z4S4
  • Story Text: Denzel Washington and Anne Hathaway held a news conference in Oslo on Saturday (December 11) ahead of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Concert for imprisoned Chinese laureate Liu Xiaobo.
    "We are really just honoured and privileged to share in this event and to be a part of this day in his life," Washington said referring to China's most prominent dissident Liu.
    A Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony was held on Friday (December 10), in which the focus of attention was not a proud laureate but his empty chair.
    "I was first of all struck by the tragedy of Liu Xiaobo's absence. Every moment had extra poignance because he was not there to hear it and he was the reason we were all there," Hathaway told reporters at the news conference.
    Liu has been a thorn in the government's side since 1989 when he joined student protesters on a hunger strike days before the army crushed the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement. Liu was jailed for 11 years last year on Christmas Day for campaigning for political freedom.
    China called the award in Oslo a "political farce". Authorities tightened a clampdown on dissidents. Liu's wife has been put under house arrest.
    "He is a son, he is a husband, he is a friend. And all those people in his life are affected. And when I heard his words, his extraordinary poetic, beautiful words to his wife. I became overwhelmed with the tragedy of his situation and how very unfair it is, not just to him, but to all the people he love and all the people that matter to him," Hathaway said.
    Washington and Hathaway will be joined on stage by U.S. artists, Barry Manilow, Colbie Caillat, Herbie Hancock and India.Aria, Swedish pop sensation Robyn, and British singers Florence and the Machine, and Jamiroquai.
    "I have this song that I have been waiting to sing in an event like this since I wrote it back in the seventies. It's about standing up for what you believe in and if you do the rest of the world will follow. For me personally to be able to sing that song in this setting is the biggest thrill I could think of," Manilow said.
    Jamiroquai said despite Liu's absence, it was important to forge ahead to celebrate the Nobel peace laureate.
    "And the world needs to change and we need to make sure that these incredibly brave people who put their lives on the line and endanger themselves all the time to see that they get their voice heard and the empty chair it's well worth writing a song about," he said.
    Organisers say the concert is sold out. Also on stage on Saturday is Norwegian singer Sivert Hoeyem and Academy Award winning Indian composer A.R. Rahman, known for his work on the Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire", who has recently launched the A.R Rahman Foundation aiming at eradicating hunger and poverty.
    The concert starts at 1900GMT and rounds off the Nobel festivities in the Norwegian capital.
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