NBC's live version of "Jesus Christ Superstar" has won an Emmy Award and that has made two men extra happy — it means star John Legend, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice have joined the elite squad of EGOT winners.
The musical's win for best live variety special on Sunday means Legend, Lloyd Webber and Rice have Emmys to go with their Tonys, Grammys and their Oscars — the four biggest prizes in show business.
Lloyd Webber and Rice have already won Tonys ("Evita" and "Sunset Boulevard"), Grammys ("Cats," ''Evita") and an Oscar for "You Must Love Me" from "Evita." Legend has won 10 Grammys and in 2015 he scored an Oscar for his song "Glory" from the movie "Selma." Last year, he won a Tony for Best Revival of a Play as a co-producer of "Jitney." Legend, who played Jesus, is also gunning for an acting Emmy later this month.
Andrew Lloyd Webber arrives at night two of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards at The Microsoft Theater on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard ShotwellInvisionAP)
Two other songwriters were also one Emmy away from the EGOT — Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, whose song "In the Market for a Miracle" appeared in "A Christmas Story Live!" They previously won an Oscar for "La La Land," and a Tony and a Grammy for "Dear Evan Hansen." But their bid for EGOT status was derailed Sunday when the Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics went to "Saturday Night Live" and their song "Come Back Barack" when Chance the Rapper was hosting.
The special trio — officially the 13th, 14th and 15th members of the EGOT club — join an elite group of winners that includes Robert Lopez, Audrey Hepburn, Mel Brooks, Rita Moreno, Mike Nichols and Whoopi Goldberg.
The latest award caps a special year for Lloyd Webber, who turned 70 this year and whose autobiography, "Unmasked," came out in the spring along with a massive, four-CD collection of his songs performed by the likes of Barbra Streisand, Lana Del Rey and Madonna. He was the subject of a Grammy Awards tribute, and winter Olympic fans would have noticed Lloyd Webber soundtracks for several skaters.
Andrew Lloyd Webber arrives at night two of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards at The Microsoft Theater on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard ShotwellInvisionAP)
"Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert" beat out the telecasts of the Grammys, Oscars and Golden Globe, as well as the benefit show "Night of Too Many Stars" on HBO.
Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
Madeleine Gurdon, left, and Andrew Lloyd Webber arrive at night two of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards at The Microsoft Theater on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard ShotwellInvisionAP)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Nationwide protests challenging Iran's theocracy saw protesters flood the streets in the country's capital and its second-largest city into Sunday, crossing the two-week mark as violence surrounding the demonstrations has killed at least 116 people, activists said.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. But the death toll in the protests has grown, while 2,600 others have been detained, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Those abroad fear the information blackout will embolden hard-liners within Iran's security services to launch a bloody crackdown, despite warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump he's willing to strike the Islamic Republic to protect peaceful demonstrators.
Trump offered support for the protesters, saying on social media that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!” The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous U.S. officials, said on Saturday night that Trump had been given military options for a strike on Iran, but hadn’t made a final decision.
The State Department separately warned: “Do not play games with President Trump. When he says he’ll do something, he means it.”
Online videos sent out of Iran, likely using Starlink satellite transmitters, purportedly showed demonstrators gathering in northern Tehran's Punak neighborhood. There, it appeared authorities shut off streets, with protesters waving their lit mobile phones. Others banged metal while fireworks went off.
Other footage purportedly showed demonstrators peacefully marching down a street and others honking their car horns on the street.
In Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city, some 725 kilometers (450 miles) northeast of Tehran, footage purported to show protesters confronting security forces. Flaming debris and dumpsters could be seen in the street, blocking the road. Mashhad is home to the Imam Reza shrine, the holiest in Shiite Islam, making the protests there carry heavy significance for the country's theocracy.
Protests also appeared to happen in Kerman, 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of Tehran.
Iranian state television on Sunday morning took a page from demonstrators, having their correspondents appear on streets in several cities to show calm areas with a date stamp shown on screen. Tehran and Mashhad were not included. They also showed pro-government demonstrations in Qom and Qazvin.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signaled a coming clampdown, despite U.S. warnings. Tehran escalated its threats Saturday, with Iran’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warning that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge. The statement carried by Iranian state television said even those who “helped rioters” would face the charge.
Iran’s theocracy cut off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls on Thursday, though it allowed some state-owned and semiofficial media to publish. Qatar’s state-funded Al Jazeera news network reported live from Iran, but they appeared to be the only major foreign outlet able to work.
Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who called for protests Thursday and Friday, asked in his latest message for demonstrators to take to the streets Saturday and Sunday. He urged protesters to carry Iran’s old lion-and-sun flag and other national symbols used during the time of the shah to “claim public spaces as your own.”
Pahlavi’s support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past — particularly after the 12-day war. Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some protests, but it isn’t clear whether that’s support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
