Kuwait- Perry bids to end bad blood with rival Swift - Sunwoo wins competition


(MENAFN- Arab Times) LOS ANGELES, June 12, (Agencies): Katy Perry is ready to bury the hatchet on her long-running feud with pop rival Taylor Swift, calling her a 'fantastic songwriter' and saying she thinks both can be examples of strong women in the music industry.

But Swift, 27, had yet to respond to the olive branch on Sunday and end the bad blood between two of pop music's biggest female singers.

'I am ready to let it go,' Perry said in a global podcast on Saturday to promote her new album 'Witness.'

'I forgive her (Swift) and I'm sorry for anything I ever did, and I hope the same from her. I love her, and I want the best for her. And I think she's a fantastic songwriter,' Perry, 32, added.

The feud, which started as a dispute over back up dancers, has dominated the personal and professional lives of the two singers for more than three years and played out in their songs.

Released

Swift on Friday released her back catalog to streaming services, after eschewing most such platforms for three years, on the same day that Perry released her new album 'Witness' in what was widely seen as a bid to steal Perry's thunder.

Swift's 2014 single 'Bad Blood' was believed to be directed at Perry. Perry described her new single, 'Swish Swish,' released last month, as 'a great anthem for people to use whenever somebody's trying to hold you down or bully you.'

In her Saturday podcast, Perry said she hoped both she and Swift 'can be representatives of strong women that come together despite their differences.'

'I just really truly want to come together in a place of love and forgiveness and understanding and compassion,' Perry said.

Swift, who has not released an album since 2014's best-selling '1989' and has adopted a low public profile in recent months, stayed silent on her social media accounts at the weekend.

Perry opened up about having suicidal thoughts during a marathon weekend livestream event.

Also:

FORT WORTH, Texas: South Korea's Yekwon Sunwoo has won the 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which is one of the top showcases for the world's best pianists.

The 28-year-old Sunwoo emerged from 30 competitors to claim the $50,000 award and a gold medal Saturday in the competition held every four years in Fort Worth, where Cliburn lived. The contest was founded in the famed pianist's honor in 1962. He died in 2013.

Sunwoo is the first South Korean to win.

The competition began May 25 with pianists from 12 countries and Hong Kong. In the finals round, each of six finalists performed with a string quartet and then with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

American Kenneth Broberg, a Minneapolis native, was second. Another American, Daniel Hsu, of San Francisco, finished third.

MENAFN1306201700960000ID1095557400


Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.