Euphoria

• The newest addition to the city’s festival scene, Rising replaced the much-loved White Night festival and the much-celebrated Melbourne International Arts Festival.
• Led by artistic directors Hannah Fox and Gideon Obarzanek, Rising 2023 was an eclectic mix of local and international work.
• But I found the highlight of Rising to be the significant and thrilling work created by First Nations artists across dance, visual art, theatre and music.

Jacky

• Jacky’s well-intentioned white boss (Alison Whyte) engages in culturally incompetent behaviour when she requests Jacky pretend he is from a local family group.
• Jacky’s sex work client, Glen (Greg Stone), requests that Jacky participate in an act of racist role-play.
• Titled in reference to Jacky Jacky, an Aboriginal guide who was awarded medals for his service to NSW, the play troubles ideas of subservience and collaboration within white and First Nations relationships.

Shadow Spirit

• The exhibition Shadow Spirit brings together 30 contemporary First Peoples artists and collectives from across the country into an immersive exhibition, including 14 specially commissioned works.
• Curated by Kimberley Moulton, Shadow Spirit weaves throughout the decaying and compelling site of the rooms above Flinders Street Station.
• There is a giant sculptural bandicoot spirit animal; works that map the spirits and energies of Country, waterways and skies and speak to how ancient knowledges protect land and children; and works that directly address the space between what is known and tangible, and what is felt and intuited.
• Shadow Spirit invites you to linger, to witness and absorb the breadth and depth of knowledge and culture and story threaded through each room in the space.

Tracker

• A co-production between Australian Dance Theatre and Ilbijerri Theatre, Tracker is a remarkable piece of storytelling about Wiradjuri elder Alec “Tracker” Riley.
• Blending contemporary dance, text, live music and a simple but effective 270-degree rotating set design of scenic painted curtains and greenery rigged around a circular ring, Tracker takes us deep into ancestral Country in the middle of the night.
• As the remarkable stories of Tracker Riley’s success in finding missing children and bringing criminals to justice are revealed, three spirit guides appear (Tyrel Dulvarie, Rika Hamaguchi and Kaine Sultan-Babij).
• Read more:
  60 years of The Australian Ballet and 90 years of 'Australian' ballet: Identity asks us to reflect on Australian dance today

• iHeartMedia and London Audio, the podcast division of Paris Hilton’s next-gen media company 11:11 Media , today announced “The History of the World’s Greatest Nightclubs,” the latest show in their ongoing iHeartPodcasts partnership.
• This addition will mark London Audio and Hilton’s third podcast in the slate joining “ I am Paris ” and “ Trapped in Treatment ,” which are available now for listeners.
• The first two episodes of the company’s newest podcast will debut July 13, with new episodes released weekly on Thursdays.
• “The History of the World’s Greatest Nightclubs” is executive produced by Hilton, Bruce Gersh and Bruce Robertson for London Audio, Jonathan Hirsch for Neon Hum Media and Ultra Naté.

• This comes as Darktrace's AI observed 74% of active customer deployments have employees using generative AI tools in the workplace[1].
• In one instance, in May 2023 Darktrace detected and prevented an upload of over 1GB of data to a generative AI tool at one of its customers.
• "Since generative AI tools like ChatGPT have gone mainstream, our company is increasingly aware of how companies are being impacted.
• [1] Based on data obtained on June 2nd, 2023, from active customer deployments with Call Home enabled, where Darktrace detected generative AI activity at some point.

• As the 2022 runners-up, the United Kingdom stepped in to assist with hosting duties.
• It was the eighth time Eurovision has not been hosted by the winner, and the fifth time the UK has helped out.
• It is, however, the first time the contest has not been hosted by the winner due to an active conflict situation.
• Read more:
  Ukraine's Eurovision win shows us that despite arguments to the contrary, the contest has always been political

The politics of the non-political contest

• According to reports, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s request to address the audience was denied by the European Broadcasting Union because it would contravene their policy that the contest not be used for political ends.
• The Eurovision production didn’t ignore the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but focused on framing it through the more acceptable values-based politics of humanitarianism, empathy and solidarity.
• Read more:
  Ukraine's Eurovision win shows us that despite arguments to the contrary, the contest has always been political

But what about the performances?

• Schmetterlinge’s Boom Boom Boomerang in 1977 mocked the commercialisation of the European music industry.
• Reigning champions Ukraine placed sixth with Tvorchi’s Heart of Steel, while their co-hosts placed second-last – a reversal of fortunes from last year’s second-place finish.
• While this vote isn’t enough to shift the contest’s outcome, it is a welcome recognition of the contest’s global reach and audience.
• (It was reported anecdotally many Finnish supermarkets sold out of piña colada ingredients this weekend.)

Eurovision powerhouses

• Loreen is now the second person to win Eurovision twice, the first woman to win twice, and the first LGBTQIA+ artist to win twice.
• Somewhat auspiciously, the 2024 Eurovision marks the fiftieth anniversary of ABBA’s iconic first win for Sweden in 1974 – again, at a Eurovision hosted by the UK.

Australia’s highest ever finish

• It is also the end of Australia’s five-year participation agreement with the European Broadcasting Union.
• Western Australian prog-synth band Voyager made a strong case for the continuation with Promise.