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The Eurovision Song Contest returned tonight for the first semi-final of the competition but things didn’t seem to go to plan for host Switzerland’s act Zoë Më in a performance

A performance in tonight’s semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest was hit with technical problems live on air. The situation prompted reaction from viewers and commentators after the performance ended.

The first semi-final of this year’s music contest is underway in Basel, Switzerland, following the country’s win last year. They are already through to Saturday’s grand final as the host, but are allowed to showcase their entry ahead of that.

Zoë Më, 24, who is representing Switzerland, took to the stage to perform her entry Voyage this evening. She was one of the last acts to perform in tonight’s semi-final, in which other acts are competing for a place in the final.

It was noted before Zoë’s performance that the routine would include one continuous shot. The ballad opened with Zoë stood on the stage and the camera kept focus on her for much of the routine. At one point though, it appeared to freeze during several moments when it was moving quickly.

Following the performance, BBC commentators Rylan Clark, 36, and Scott Mills, 52, addressed the situation. The pair suggested to viewers that it “doesn’t matter” because Switzerland wasn’t competing for a place in the grand final, as the country has automatically qualified this year.

Rylan brought up the apparent technical issue after his initial comments following the performance. The commentator told viewers: “I think there was a couple of little tech problems with that one single-shot camera.”

Scott then told fans: “Doesn’t matter though because you can’t vote for her because she’s [in the grand final].” Rylan went on to add: “It doesn’t matter. But we know, we know for Saturday to charge that battery don’t we?”

Fans also reacted on social media, with some sharing confusion over the incident. One person wrote on X: “Was that meant to happen during the Swiss performance? The camera froze, and we got a wide shot of the arena!”

Another said: “Was it me, my tv or the staging is supposed to be frozen? Oh Switzerland.” A third commented: “I’d say that wasn’t what they were planning to do.” One viewer wrote: “Cameras mess up for anyone else for Switzerland?”

Someone else said: “Not the Switzerland camera breaking down.” Another reacted to the performance: “Omfg I thought my stream was just lagging for Switzerland.”

One fan said: “Oh dear the one continuous shot being messed up for #Switzerland.” Sharing their thoughts, another viewer wrote: “Well that didn’t go well for Switzerland.” Someone said: “Soooo relieved that wasn’t during the final for Switzerland! Pray it gets fixed on Saturday.”

Despite the situation, there was praise for the country over the performance overall. One person said: “Oh no the camera glitch but an absolutely beautiful performance from Zoe. Let’s just stay in Switzerland next year?” Another said: “Switzerland could win again, that was beautiful.”

Oscar-winning filmmaker Robert Benton has died at the age of 92. The co-creator of Bonnie And Clyde is said to have helped to “reset” the rules in Hollywood during his successful career.

His death was confirmed by his son John. He said his died died at home in Manhattan of “natural causes”.

Robert’s career spanned over 40 years. He bagged six Oscar nominations during that time, winning on three occasions. His victories came for writing and directing Kramer Vs Kramer and for writing Places In The Heart.

Robert directed Oscar-winning performances by the likes of Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Sally Field in his career. While he had severe dyslexia which left him unable to read more than a few pages at a time as a child, he went on to write and direct film adaptations of novels by Philip Roth, EL Doctorow and Richard Russo, among others.

Robert and the then-Esquire editor David Newman drafted a treatment about the lives of Depression-era robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker in the 1960s. In it, they imagined them as prototypes for 1960s rebels.

The project took years to complete as Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard were among the directors who turned them. Eventually, Warren Beatty agreed to produce and star in the movie.

Bonnie and Clyde, directed by Arthur Penn and starring Beatty and Faye Dunaway went on to became one of the touchstones of 1960s culture. It then began to open the door for a more creative era in Hollywood.

After his Bonny and Clyde success, he continued to have critical and commercial success, despite not reaching the heights of the iconic film,

Other writing credits went on to include Superman and What’s Up, Doc? He also directed and co-wrote other works such as Bad Company, which was a revisionist western featuring Jeff Bridges.

In 1979, his career took off again thanks to his adaptation of the Avery Corman novel Kramer Vs Kramer.

The film about a self-absorbed advertising executive who becomes a loving parent to his young son after his wife walks out, only to have her return and ask for custody, left Robert with huge praise.

The flick, starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep was very well received by fans and critics alike.

Following his death, fans took to social media to pay their respects. On Twitter/X one user wrote: “Robert Benton had an amazing career as a filmmaker (KRAMER VS KRAMER, etc) & writer (BONNIE & CLYDE, etc) but for me he’s primarily the guy behind one of the all-timer detective pictures, THE LATE SHOW (1977). If you love THE LONG GOODBYE or say POKER FACE, it’s a much-watch.”

Another added: “In memory of Robert Benton, along with a number of images from his hit productions.”

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Sean “Diddy” Combs’s former partner Casandra Ventura told jurors at the music mogul’s sex trafficking trial Tuesday how he subjected her to “disgusting” marathon group sex sessions.

Ventura’s bombshell testimony underpins much of the prosecution’s case against Combs, who is alleged to have used violence and blackmail to manipulate women over many years.

Ventura said of the so-called “freak-off” sex parties that she was “just in love and wanted to make (Combs) happy — to a point I didn’t feel like I had much of a choice.”

She described Combs urinating on her, or him instructing one of the numerous sex workers he engaged to do so, and paying the escorts, almost always men, thousands of dollars cash after encounters.

“It was disgusting. It was too much. It was overwhelming,” she said, adding that the hotel rooms used for the marathon sex sessions were often trashed, with establishment’s charging sizable cleaning and repair bills.

Asked if she enjoyed anything about the curated encounters that Combs allegedly instructed her to coordinate, Ventura wept openly, answering that “the time spent with (Combs)” was enjoyable.

“Sean would want me to clarify if the person was a cop,” she said of screening male escorts to evade law enforcement on Combs’s behalf.

Combs’s defense team said they would seek to emphasize that Ventura took drugs of her own free will, and behaved erratically.

Ventura said that during the encounters she took ecstasy or cocaine, and that the “drugs honestly helped” her stay awake for days on end as demanded by Combs.

“Sean controlled a lot of my life — whether it was (my) career, the way I dressed,” she said.

‘He would mash me’

Ventura, who is heavily pregnant and will take regular breaks from her graphic testimony that could last several days, said “Sean controlled a lot of my life — whether it was (my) career, the way I dressed.”

“He would mash me in my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me on the head if I was down,” she said, her voice shaking at points.

In a hotel surveillance clip from March 2016 shown to jurors Monday, Combs is apparently seen brutally beating and dragging Ventura — widely known as “Cassie” — down a hallway.

Former security officer at a Los Angeles InterContinental hotel, Israel Florez, told the court Monday that he was first on the scene after the incident and that Combs sought to pay him off.

Florez’s testimony provided the foundation for the prosecution to introduce the security footage that was published by CNN last year.

The panel of 12 jurors and six alternates responsible for determining Combs’s fate heard of the famed artist’s explosive outbursts and an attempt to preserve his own reputation and celebrity through bribery.

But the 55-year-old’s defense team insisted while some of his behavior was questionable — at times constituting domestic abuse — it did meet the evidence needed to prove racketeering and sex trafficking charges.

Combs has pleaded not guilty on all counts, including the racketeering charge that the hip-hop pioneer led a sex crime ring that included drug-fueled sex parties by use of force, threats and violence.

Prosecutor Emily Johnson told jurors Combs used a web of companies and employees to attend to his desires — a key plank of the racketeering allegations.

Combs’s defense lawyer Teny Geragos told jurors the “case is about love, jealousy and infidelity and money.”

Geragos called Combs’s accusers “capable, strong adult women,” and said his situation with Ventura was a “toxic relationship” but “between two people who loved each other.”

“Being a willing participant in your own sex life is not sex trafficking,” she said, adding that the defense would admit there was domestic violence — but that Combs is not charged with such crimes.

Florez’s testimony was followed by a male dancer who engaged in a sexual relationship, often in exchange for money, with Combs and Ventura from 2012 to approximately the end of 2013. He concluded his testimony Tuesday.

If convicted, the one-time rap producer and global superstar, who is often credited for his role in bringing hip-hop into the mainstream, could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Kim Kardashian was left shocked when she discovered the age of the group of men who are accused of breaking into her Paris hotel and stealing expensive jewels

A group of pensioners who were dubbed the ‘grandpa robbers’ by French media are currently on trial in Paris charged with stealing Kim Kardashian’s expensive jewels during Paris Fashion Week in 2016. The alleged incident left the reality star, now 44, in a state of “serious terror”.

It’s said a group of armed gunmen burst into the SKIMS founder’s hotel suite in 2016. The robbery allegedly saw the group, whose ages range from 35 to 78, bound and gag Kardashian before stealing £7.5 million of jewellery, which was never recovered.

Her engagement ring from her then-husband, Kanye West, was among the items taken in the heist. In court on Tuesday, Kardashian was joined by her mum, Kris Jenner.

Kardashian told the court how she thought one of the alleged robbers who tied her up during the raid appeared to be a father. She said they wanted her to know she would be unharmed if she remained quiet.

She told the court: “The guy who tied me up saw how frantic I was he whispered to me ‘shhh’. I felt he was a father. It felt like he wanted me to know I would be ok if I shut up.”

The reality TV star went on to admit she was “surprised” at how old the group appeared after she was shown potential images of them by French officials. She said: “I thought they were younger. It was the way he carried me.

“I’m not saying that older people cannot carry, but I was just surprised when I saw the photos of them.”

Hotel receptionist, Abderrahmane Ouatiki, 48, who was handcuffed and forced at gunpoint to lead two armed robbers to Kim’s hotel room, also told the court on Monday: “She was terrified, in a state of hysteria.”

Ouatiki said that when the men burst into the star’s bedroom Kardashian began screaming that she was a mother. “She was in serious terror; it was unbearable to see a woman in that type of distress,” he told the Paris court.

Ouatiki, who is Algerian, was working on his own on the night the robbery took place. He was on the reception desk of an exclusive apartment building in the French capital, known as a ‘no address’ site, where the rich and famous who visit Paris often rented one of its swanky suites.

Ouatiki said that after 2am he saw three masked men “with police jackets on” approach the glass door to reception and gesture to him to open up. Thinking they were police officers, he opened the door.

He said: “They pushed me to my knees and said: ‘We’re here for the money’”. He then claimed they handcuffed him and held another gun to his neck as they asked: “Where is the rapper’s wife?” He revealed he knew that meant Kim.

He went on to explain his version of the events to the court. Ten suspects, whose ages range from 35 to 78, are on trial until 23 May. Some are accused of aiding in the organisation of the robbery. Eight of the accused deny any involvement.

They include Aomar Aït Khedache, 69, and the alleged ringleader, who has publicly admitted kidnapping and robbing Ms Kardashian.

James ‘Arg’ Argent attacked his model girlfriend Nicoline Artursson while on holiday in Spain. The former TOWIE star, 37, was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence by the Spanish Civil Guard in Costa del Sol and taken into custody on Sunday, May 5.

Onlookers that witnessed the incident earlier told the Mirror “heard an aggressive man yelling” and “throwing objects from the terrace of a nearby house”. Argent admitted “mistreating” Nicoline in the Court of Violence Against Women in Fuengirola, according to The Sun.

The publication reports the reality TV star received a suspended jail sentence. and must carry out a “resocialisation course in the field of gender violence.” He was also reportedly given a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting Ms Artursson.

When approached by the Mirror today, the Guardia Civil confirmed the arrest, saying: “We can confirm Mr Argent was arrested by ‘Policia Local’ of Mijas for an alleged crime of domestic violence on 5th May.”

“We were frightened by his shouts,” an onlooker told us. “We couldn’t believe what we were seeing,” they added before stating that Nicoline “appeared to be physically and emotionally devastated.”

The Mirror understands Nicoline’s mother arrived at the scene to aid her daughter and police transported them both to a hospital.

A source close to Argent told The Sun that TOWIE star is “remorseful about what happened but is insisting he never meant any harm.”

Argent rose to fame as an original cast member on The Only Way Is Essex, appearing on the ITV series from 2010 until 2018. Over the years, the 37-year-old singer has taken part in a number of reality TV shows, including Celebrity Super Spa, The Jump, Sugar Free Farm and Celebs Go Dating.

TOWIE suspended Argent from filming in October 2014 when he failed a drug test. He later attended rehab before returning to the series. The reality TV star has regularly been an inpatient at centres due to his issues with drug addiction.

Speaking in 2023, Argent said: “I battled with [drug addiction] for a number of years. But I’ve got through it and I’m doing alright. I’m doing well. I’m clean, sober, and I have been for a long time now.”

Argent, who also works as a wedding singer, underwent a sleeve gastrectomy procedure in April 2021, after his weight reached 27 stone.

“I had a bad relationship with food. I would either do no exercise at all and binge eat or I would starve myself and train three times a day,” told GB News two years on from the surgery.

“I was either morbidly obese or slim. I was constantly yo-yo ing.I now have a great relationship with food and with exercise and I have got the balance right. I am proud of what I have achieved.”

The Mirror has approached representatives for James Argent for comment on this story.

*For confidential support, call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit womensaid.co.uk If you or your family have lost a friend or family member through fatal domestic abuse, AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) can offer specialist and expert support and advocacy. For more info visit www.aafda.org.uk

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