NORWAY/FILE: Denzel Washington and Anne Hathaway host Nobel Peace Prize Concert in honour of jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo

Record ID: 349410

  • Title: NORWAY/FILE: Denzel Washington and Anne Hathaway host Nobel Peace Prize Concert in honour of jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo
  • Date: 13th December 2010
  • Summary: OSLO, NORWAY (DECEMBER 11, 2010) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FILIPINO MAN WORKING IN OSLO, VINCE IGNACIO, SAYING: "This is also quite important because we are Filipinos and we just heard the news that our country boycotted participating in the Nobel Prize awarding, so at least now we are here to represent our country formally." (SOUNDBITE) (English) F
  • Embargoed: 28th December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Norway, China
  • City:
  • Country: Norway China
  • Topics: International Relations,Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA2JHG836AHE8V3MOA1BHMYBV9G
  • Story Text: Jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was honoured at a Nobel Peace Prize concert hosted by Denzel Washington and Anne Hathaway in Oslo, Norway on Saturday (December 11).
    "We are here to honour this year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo. The laureate is not with us tonight, he is serving an eleven year prison sentence in China, and is not scheduled for release before June 21st, 2020. His crime demanding fundamental human rights for all Chinese," Washington said at the beginning of the concert.
    Chinese authorities jailed Liu last Christmas Day for 11 years for subversion of state power and for being the lead author of Charter 08, a manifesto calling for democratic reform in the one-party state.
    The Nobel Peace Prize concert is an annual event that gathers well-known artists to the Norwegian capital. This year, 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 Britain's Jamiroquai.
    British singer Florence and the Machine, and Norway's Sivert Hoeyem kicked off Saturday's show in front of a sold-out venue with 6000 concert-goers.
    China has denounced the awarding of the accolade to pro-democracy activist Liu as an "obscenity" and unleashed a torrent of diplomatic scorn toward host nation Norway. Drawing on its growing economic clout in the world, China mounted campaign to encourage countries to boycott the ceremony.
    The Philippines was one of the nations to boycott Friday's (December 10) ceremony.
    "This is also quite important because we are Filipinos and we just heard the news that our country boycotted participating in the Nobel Prize awarding, so at least now we are here to represent our country formally," Vince Ignacio from the Philippines told Reuters.
    Claudia Brygmann, an American woman living in Germany received concert tickets for her 60th birthday.
    "I think it is wonderful idea, because it seems very international and it's a good way of celebrating and ending the entire ceremony with a very positive, upbeat kind of celebration," she said.
    Also on stage on Saturday is 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.
    From prison Liu has dedicated the award to the "lost souls" of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
    The concert rounds off the Nobel festivities in the Norwegian capital.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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