Alicia Keys has always been a supporter of female empowerment, so when the singer saw the new film "Queen of Katwe" and saw its female lead, Phiona Mutesi, win best chess player, she was overjoyed.
"That was like so good and she played against all these boys because there wasn't anybody else she could play against, and she was the best of all," Keys said. "I think that was really, really powerful."
It was one of the many scenes in the film starring Lupita Nyong'o that inspired the piano-playing star to write "Back to Life," a song about hope and perseverance that plays at the movie's end.
"As far as we feel like we've come — and as far as we've come, we definitely have made strides forward — it's such an important reminder to know that when given opportunity, young people, especially girls, really flourish," Keys said. "It's just that simple."
"Queen of Katwe," which opened last week, stars Madina Nalwanga as a gifted chess player from the slums in Kampala, Uganda, who reaches new heights in the international chess world. Nyong'o plays her mother and David Oyelowo is her optimistic and passionate chess coach. The film highlights Uganda, which Keys has visited and where she has done charity work through her Keep a Child Alive organization.
Best absence excuse ever
A Philadelphia fifth-grader ditched school for the chance to meet rock legend Bruce Springsteen, and "The Boss" gladly played along by signing the boy's absence excuse note. Michael Fenerty attended a meet-and-greet with the New Jersey native Thursday with his dad. Springsteen was in town for a book signing to promote his autobiography, "Born to Run." The boy's father brought along a pre-typed note that Springsteen signed to excuse the absence. Springsteen told the boy that he would have to read the note first because not reading official documents is how he got in trouble with his first contract.
No excuse: A Florida judge has ordered pop star Justin Bieber to sit for a deposition within the next 30 days or face the threat of being arrested. Circuit Judge Jerald Bagley issued the order, which compels Bieber to sit for a deposition in a lawsuit filed by a photographer who got into an altercation with one of the singer's bodyguards two years ago in Miami Beach.
Comics news: The writer of the reborn "Wonder Woman" comics revealed that the character is gay. Greg Rucka said that because Wonder Woman comes from the fictional all-female island nation of Themyscira, she "has been in love and had relationships with other women." Rucka isn't ruling out a romance with Steve Trevor, Wonder Woman's love interest in previous incarnations. She returned to the big screen this year in "Batman v. Superman."
