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Tuesday May 22, 2018 16 x ENtertainment

THE 2018 Billboard Music Awards kicks off Sunday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, where some of the biggest names in music came out to honor the year’s most cel-ebrated and successful artists.

Hosted by Kelly Clarkson, the star-studded annual show features tons of jaw-dropping live performances from Demi Lovato, Shawn Mendes, Ariana Grande, Janet Jackson, Camila

Cabello and Kesha, just to name a few.

However, for the musicians in attendance, the night really came down to who took home the awards show’s coveted Golden Microphones.

Going into the show, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar were tied for most BBMA nominations with 15 apiece — and all three went head-to-head in the night’s big

Top Artist category. Meanwhile, Post Malone found himself toward the front of the pack with 13 nominations, followed by Imagine Dragons with 11.

Also duking it out in the coveted Top Artist category were Drake — who nabbed nine nominations — and Taylor Swift, with a total of fi ve nominations for her most recent album, “Reputation.”

(SD-Agencies)

The 2018 Billboard Music Awards kicks off

JAMEELA JAMIL has said she was told she was “too old, too ethnic and too fat” to launch a career in the U.S.

The former BBC Radio 1 presenter landed a part in sitcom “The Good Place” in her fi rst audition, despite being “actively discouraged” from moving to Hollywood by some in the U.K.

The 32-year-old said she moved to Los Angeles without a job or even a plan.

“I was literally starting again and I was actively discouraged by everyone in England,” she told BBC Radio 5 live’s Anna Foster.

“Everyone said I was being mad, throwing away an eight-year career, and that I was too old, too ethnic, and too fat to come over to Los Angeles.” She admitted she exaggerated her acting experience to win a role in “The Good Place” alongside

Ted Danson and Kristen Bell.“I lied in my audition. I said

I’d mostly done theater because it’s harder to track down,” Jamil explained.

“Technically it’s not a lie because when I was 6 I played Oliver’s mother in my school play. I was creative with the truth.”

In the show, Jameela plays Tahani Al-Jamil, a wealthy Brit-ish philanthropist whose name translates as “Congratulations Beautiful.”

It’s been praised by critics and has been renewed for a third season.

“I didn’t even have time to get an acting coach, so I basically had to learn how to act from Ted Danson.

“I’m a fast learner and I have an amazing group of people around me. I’m not De Niro, but I’m getting there.”

(SD-Agencies)

FAMED Chinese fi lmmaker Zhang Yimou on Sunday was greeted with cheers and applause of an enthusiastic crowd after he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Boston University at its 145th Commencement ceremony.

“It’s my greatest honor to present Zhang Yimou for the Boston University honorary degree,” said Boston University President Robert Brown at the 2018 ceremony.

Zhang’s fi lms “offer not only a perspective on the people and culture of China, but also a window into the universal qualities of human nature and yearning,” he told about 7,000 graduating students and their parents.

He also praised Zhang’s other works including ballet, opera and especially Olympic ceremonies.

“The opening and closing of the 2008 Beijing games left the world in awe at their unparal-leled beauty and magnifi cence. Earlier this year, you dazzled once again with the Winter Olympics handover ceremony,” he continued.

“Boston University is proud to confer upon you (Zhang) the degree Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa,” the university president announced amid students’ big and warm rounds of applause.

“I’m honored. This is a recog-nition of my work and creation personally, and moreover, it demonstrates the big infl uence of fi lms which can be seen as

the visiting card of a country,” the world famous director told Xinhua on Sunday.

Zhang is one of China’s leading directors in the movie industry. His fi lms, which include “Raise the Red Lan-tern,” “House of Flying Dag-gers” and “The Great Wall,” have won prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, and the Berlin Interna-tional Film Festival, and six of his fi lms have been nominated for Academy Awards, according to an introduction posted on the Boston University’s website.

More recently, Zhang directed the Beijing portion of the handover ceremony at the close of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Other recipients of honor-ary degrees from the private research university founded in 1839 include U.S. civil rights icon John Lewis and U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases direc-tor Anthony S. Fauci.

(Xinhua)

Zhang Yimou receives Boston University honorary degree

Zhang YimouZhang Yimou

Jameela Jamil is told she is ‘too ethnic’ to make

it in the US

Ed Sheeran (L), Taylor Swift (C) and Bruno Mars. SD-Agencies