DUBAI: US actress Avantika Vandanapu, known mononymously as Avantika, hit the red carpet at Gold House’s 2024 Gold Gala in Los Angeles in a gown by Lebanese designer Geyanna Youness.

The event honored leaders in the Asian-Pacific community and saw Hollywood star Lucy Liu honored with the Legend award.

Liu — whose credits include “Ally McBeal,” “Elementary,” “Kill Bill Vol. 1,” “Charlie’s Angels” and Steven Soderbergh’s “Presence” — spoke on stage about having to make casting decisions “because of limitations,” according to Variety magazine. She added: “I love that we are all here tonight because there is no ceiling, and I’ve never seen that for myself. I want us to all collectively understand how special this moment is that we are together as a community. I share this award with you because you have lifted me up, you have given me strength, you have made me so proud. I feel like it’s been very lonely.”

For her part, Avantika kicked off her career by being cast in several films in India’s Telugu film industry and went on to score her first Hollywood lead role in the Disney Channel original movie “Spin” before starring in Netflix’s “Senior Year.” Avantika also nabbed a lead role in the 2024 “Mean Girls” reboot.

The actress showed off a peach-and-blue gown by fashion label Geyanna Youness, complete with structured detailing at the waist and a floral ruffle on one shoulder.

The beaded gown was created by Youness, a Beirut-born-and-raised designer who launched her own brand in 2017 with a focus on bridal, couture, and accessories collections.

Avantika has garnered attention for building a career in both Hollywood and India — she continues to promote her Indian show “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and her horror film “Tarot” while also developing an adaptation of “A Crown of Wishes,” author Roshani Chokshi’s Young Adult fantasy, for Disney+.

 

 

 

 

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“The Western fantasy genre is dominated by a Western mythology, or Nordic mythology. It just feels repetitive and redundant. And Indian mythology is so rich and so fascinating. After ‘Black Panther’ came out, I thought we needed to find a way to showcase Indian mythology on a bigger, grander, commercial scale,” she told Cosmopolitan magazine in May of the adaptation project.

 

 

 

 

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 She also spoke to the magazine about the challenges of being an actress of South Asian heritage, saying: “The pressure is so high because in a room full of a hundred people, Hollywood is now offering spots to maybe three women of South Asian descent.”

Bambie Thug, Ireland’s entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, claims to have cried  after Israel qualified for the final to be held on Saturday. 

“It is a complete overshadow of everything, goes against everything that Eurovision is meant to be,” Bambie Thug told journalists ahead of the event at Malmo Arena in Sweden. “I cried with my team.”

The 31-year-old singer and songwriter wore a keffiyeh and carried Irish flags while urging the European Broadcasting Union to show “conscience” and “humanity.”
 
The artist will perform “Doomsday Blue” in the final.

Israel’s performer, Eden Golan, will present her song “Hurricane” at the competition. The track underwent revisions after the initial version, “October Rain,” was deemed too political by the EBU.

Although the contest’s motto is “united by music,” this year’s event has attracted protests from Palestinians and their supporters, who say Israel should be excluded because of its conduct of the war in Gaza.

Thousands of people are expected to march for a second time this week through Sweden’s third-largest city, which has a large Muslim population, to demand a boycott of Israel and a ceasefire in the seven-month conflict. 

In Finland, a group of about 40 protesters stormed the headquarters of public broadcaster YLE on Saturday, demanding it withdraw from the song contest because of Israel’s participation.

Venues across England are canceling their gigs after Palestine protest groups instructed their followers to pressure pubs showing the contest - leading some venues to close due to staff safety concerns.

The Duke of York cinema in Brighton called off its Eurovision event this week, telling ticket holders it was doing so “due to safety concerns for our staff and customers,” the Guardian reported. The Brighton Palestinian Solidarity Campaign called the decision a “massive win.”