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Why why WHYYYY Tom Jones' biggest hit is ‘cancelled’

<p>Choirs have been informed that they are no longer allowed to perform Welsh singer Tom Jones’ classic “Delilah” during international rugby matches at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.</p> <p>The announcement, made on Wednesday, came after allegations of misogyny, sexism, racism, and homophobia within the Welsh Rugby Union. Prior to banning the song, claims of a toxic culture within the WRU’s governing body were made public during a TV documentary, and chief executive Steve Phillips issued his resignation. </p> <p>Previously in 2015, the WRU had removed “Delilah” from its Test match playlists and half-time entertainment, but now guest choirs have been asked not to perform it. </p> <p>“‘Delilah’ will not feature on the playlist for choirs for rugby internationals at Principality Stadium,” a spokesperson for the stadium confirmed. </p> <p>“Guest choirs have also more recently been requested not to feature the song during their pre-match performances and throughout games,” he continued, “the WRU condemns domestic violence of any kind.</p> <p>"We have previously sought advice from subject matter experts on the issue of censoring the song and we are respectfully aware that it is problematic and upsetting to some supporters because of its subject matter."</p> <p>The lyrics of concern, written in the 1960s, reference a woman’s murder at the hands of her jealous partner. </p> <p>“I crossed the street to her house and she opened the door. She stood there laughing,” the song goes, “I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more.” </p> <p>The decision to ban the song has been met with mixed response, with many unsure that it was the right step towards tackling the WRU’s issues - or if it was even a step at all. </p> <p>“All the things they need to do,” tweeted WRU wing Louis Rees-Zammit, in what is believed to be a comment on the situation, “and they do that first…”</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">All the things they need to do and they do that first….😶</p> <p>— Louis Rees-Zammit ⚡️ (@LouisReesZammit) <a href="https://twitter.com/LouisReesZammit/status/1620804107392155654?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p>“Wrongheaded,” was what Welsh Conservative shadow sport minister Tom Giffard said of the decision. “One that amounts to simple virtue signalling, designed to ease the pressure the WRU are currently under. Calls to ban the song span at least the last decade, yet the WRU have chosen now to act.”</p> <p>He went on to state that people would rather see “institutional change” within the WRU, with better working practices and a refined complaint process. </p> <p>But, as he put it, “instead they are choosing to ban a much loved Tom Jones song. This action will solve nothing."</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

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AI declares National Gallery’s Samson and Delilah almost certainly a fake

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A painting previously attributed to Peter Paul Rubens, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Samson and Delilah</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, has long been suspected of not actually being an authentic work by the Baroque artist, and <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/national-gallery-london-rubens-samson-and-delilah-ai-authentication-1234604957/" target="_blank">new research</a> has provided more proof for the claim.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The work, which currently hangs in London’s National Gallery, was recently authenticated using artificial intelligence (AI) by Swiss-based tech company Art Recognition.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The company concluded that the painting has a 91 percent probability of being fake, according to a report in the </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Guardian</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though Rubens did paint a scene of </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Samson and Delilah</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, depicting the moment when Delilah cut Samson’s hair, it disappeared after his death in 1640.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The suspicious painting re-emerged in 1929, when it was attributed to Rubens by Ludwig Bruchard, an expert on the artist.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, following Bruchard’s death it was revealed that he provided certificates of authenticity for money, with 60 works authenticated by him since being identified as fakes.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Since the London gallery purchased the work for a then-record of £2.5 million in 1980, several critics have questioned its authenticity.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Euphrosyne Doxiadis is one of said sceptics, who has claimed in several papers that the National Gallery’s painting differed from studies that Ruben made for the work.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The most recent findings using AI technology adds further doubt to the painting’s authenticity.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Art Recognition used a database of fake and authentic Ruben paintings to teach an AI bot to identify minute details found in authentic Rubens works.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Then, the bot analysed the National Gallery’s </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Samson and Delilah</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by dividing the canvas into a grid and examining it square by square.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We repeated the experiments to be really sure that we were not making a mistake and the result was always the same,” Carina Popovici, the leading scientist behind the analysis, told the </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Guardian</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Every patch, every single square, came out as fake, with more than 90 percent probability.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, it is unclear whether the bot takes into account varieties in style that might result from the help of studio assistants.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: National Gallery of London</span></em></p>

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