Adventures in Improvisation

There is something about the performing arts. It sweeps you into a whirlwind from behind and takes you to a heightened level of consciousness outside of reality. It heals the sick, mends the hearts of the down in spirit, and often rescues the less fortunate. Some would give their right arm to become a motion picture phenomenon and be in the public limelight. Others would give their fortunes to personally latch on to the phenomenon who lost their right arm. It’s no secret that millions of people, on a daily basis, are drawn to a place in the Los Angeles area called Hollywood. Fans spend days perusing Hollywood Boulevard to have their picture taken standing on top of the sidewalk star of their favorite performer. Some spend days outside of the film studios for their chance to be discovered for films—or to be discovered by their idol. The population is mesmerized and obsessed with the arts; music, visual arts and dramatic arts—mostly, the dramatic arts—and its film stars. After all, the movies are where dreams come true.

We’ve long known that Hollywood is no longer the only location that is making pictures. In the United States alone, there are hundreds of small studios placed all over the country. Few people realize, however, that countries around the world are making their own flicks. Films that are made and released in Europe are drawing attention and have become big business. Billions of dollars of revenue, each year, are coming from International—or foreign—films. And we Americans in the States, have stopped long enough to take notice of the quality performance of those featured in these overseas films. On occasion, our American made Oscars and Academies will give an award or honorable mention to a foreign film, as well as the actor involved in it.

With every award acceptance speech, the details of the actor’s craft—along with recollection of how lucky he was to be involved—flows from his lips. Was it luck or ingenuity? We’ve had many stories about luck.

This story is about ingenuity.
There once was a studio nestled in the great city of Berlin. Across the sea from America, what began as a small, off theater ensemble doing such plays as Wolfgang Deichsel’s Frankenstein and Athol Fugard’s Blood Knot , the Berliner Logentheater accepted the challenge of ingenuity and rose as an enterprise experimenting in the Internet arena.

Spearheaded by German born actor, Johannes Brandrup, the Berliner Logentheater was on the brink of launching a new adventure in theater venue. Film star in both German and Italian movies (award winning Roger Young’s San Paolo—St. Paul under U.S. A. title, The Crusaders, Tal der Ahnungslosen and most recently, Lo smemorato di Collegno—to mention a few off his long list of film credits) Brandrup admitted that being somewhat impatient, he continuously looked for distractions to keep him busy during his long waits on the set, meanwhile keeping him alert and ready for his role.

Brandrup, 42 , utilized the tiny camera on his cell phone and took shots of his improvisations in whatever costumes he wore on the set and also used the various sets as a background. A new idea—Actors On Sets—was born. Johannes figured that if he could get excited about doing a “film within a film,” that actors from other films would enjoy it as well. He, along with this small ensemble at Logentheater, developed this brainstorm into a contest for professional actors currently involved in a film. The Actors On Sets web site was created and allowed actors to upload their own creative improvisations into streaming video capabilities and utilize the Web 2.0 platform.

Discovering that he would need someone to evaluate entries and choose a yearly winner, Brandrup asked Hollywood legend and friend, Omar Sharif (San Pietro, 2005), to be the “one man jury.” Sharif agreed, but that wasn’t enough. If Actors On Sets was to become a viable enterprise, outside help was needed to keep the excitement and momentum going.

Enter ORCO, a property builder and asset management firm in Germany. ORCO wholeheartedly accepted the invitation to sponsor Actors On Sets by setting up promotion to professional actors during Berlin’s annual film festival, “Berlinale,” in 2008. Attended by actors worldwide, at the festival, ORCO provided portable USB sticks, as a giveaway, in order to encourage impromptu film making for upload to the Actors On Sets web site.

A short time later, another firm surprised the group by entering the sponsorship arena: Suncani Hvar Hotels. The hotel graciously provided the actual award for the winner of the Actors On Sets competition—a luxurious, all expenses paid, resort stay. Whoever would be chosen by Omar Sharif to win this competition would enjoy a three night mini vacation at their property in historic, beautiful Croatia.

It appeared that Brandrup and his crew was set to launch their ingenuous plan. The web site was premiered and the actual competition began. Without heavy media promotion, Actors On Sets received a number of streamlining video entries. Entries were submitted by actors from across Europe, and as far as China, Tunisia and Malaysia. Actors On Sets was on its way to make a name for itself in the film improvisation industry.

Earlier this year, Omar Sharif chose the 2008 competition winner as Italian actor, Maurizio Marchetti, who recited poems by Erich Kästner and Cesare Zarattini in his uploaded streamline video. Marchetti will be sent to Croatia in September 2009. Focusing on drawing traffic to the talent competition, Actors On Sets is hoping to be able to awaken the media’s attention during the fulfillment of Marchetti’s award. Brandrup anticipates an increase in Web 2.0 entries and more sponsors are needed to support this year’s competition.

Cleverly referred to as “Set Hacking—Make Art While You Wait,” Actors On Sets is a venture, but clearly an adventure in improvisation. With the increased attraction to and traffic on the World Wide Web, a venue such as this was inevitable. Creation meets intelligence with Brandrup being the first to put the idea in motion. Somewhere down the line, if the idea were to take off in the United States, for example, this adventure might change the face of casting calls. How convenient would this venue be in submitting an audition tape to a producer? In the meantime, this technology provides the actor an opportunity to stay focused and alert while on set and, without a doubt, to be creative.

Without question, the world’s population is drawn to the arts, but drawn more to its participants. Something is brewing in Berlin and is getting the attention of professional actors, sponsors and—last, but not least—fans. It’s Berliner Logentheater’s Actors On Sets.

From Actors on Sets: “Actors On Sets is a web 2.0 competition for professional actors, who are in the process of shooting a movie or rehearsing a play. We invite the actor to improvise their own film within the film using their imagination and repertoire.”

Labh Janjua
Cinema Entertainment

Horror Movie The Perfect Getaway

Review of new horror film about two couples who find themselves stranded on a remote Hawaiian island with pyschocotic murderers on the loose.

To summarise, this is a good film. Good fun, cheap thrills and fairly chilling in places. True, it takes a while to get going, and the script isn’t particularly original, but it is well acted by a good cast, and is worth its admission price.

Without a doubt, and perhaps fairly dully, the best thing about this film is its setting. Whoever is the location manager for this film deserves a raise. The film is set on a beautiful remote island in Hawaii, and is complemented by an attractive -occassionally half naked – cast.

Too often, cheap American horror films fall into one of two categories. They are either predictable and ultimately dull, or too clever for their own good, and have ridiculous endings that bypass all reality. This film seems to fall into a happy medium. Although the plot twist can be seen a mile of, the saving grace was in its delivery. Using effective cinematography, the characters are portrayed in a way that reveals their intentions, while remaining intelligent enough so not to belittle the viewer. The four main characters in this film have individuality, and are developed well. They create believablepersonas and there is a real sense of empathy for them at the climax of the film.

Mera Yaar Sharabi

The heart racing thrills are slightly thin on the ground, particularly in the first hour. The trailer is slightly misleading, showing just the action – mainly from the last 20 minutes of the film. However, the film builds up well, with a few decent scares in the process. This is not a slasher film, and if you are looking for one, you will be disappointed. Instead, it builds up to a crescendo of action in the last half hour or so which is worth the wait.

There is not too much I have to complain about with this film. Maybe, there could be more action in the first half of the film. It is slightly unbalanced, as all the action falls into one excellent final chase. A couple of times, I feared the film was descending the all too familiar case of excessive violence and gore. However, the film cannot really be accused of this, and although there are one or two gross scenes that make you wince, they are used in proportion to create atmosphere and tension.

Therefore I am fairly surprised to say that this film was a lot better than I expected. With a bit more action early on, this could have been an excellent film. With just about the requisite scares to qualify for a horror film, it does what it set out to achieve, and doesn’t pretend to be something that its not.

Sabse Achcha Bolo Kaun

Amir Khan Bollywood Actor

Aamir Khan was born on 14 March 1965 in  Holy Family Hospital Mumbai (India) in film family. His father, Tahir  Hussain, is a film producer while his deceased uncle, Nasir Hussain was a film producer as well as a director. This belong on film failmy but it is not enough that  if anybody born with a silver spoon in mouth then guarantee success in life  And this is proved by Amir’s hardwork and talent.

Amir first movie Appearing as a child actor in a home production, produced and directed by Nasir Hussain  Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973), Khan’s career started eleven years later with the film, Holi (1984). He received his first commercial success with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) which was directed by his cousin and Nasir Hussain’s son Mansoor Khan. and won a Filmfare Best Debut Award for his performance in the film. After that he appeared in a number of movies but  which did poorly at the box office. After sometimes  he got success with the film “Dil”(1990). Thereafter “Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander”(1992) and ‘Rangeela”(1995) and Raja Hindustani (1996) opposite Karisma Kapoor. The film earned him his first Filmfare Best Actor Award after eight previous nominations during the 1980s and 1990s and went on to become one of the highest grossing films of its decade.followed and both the films did well at the box office.

After that semi-hit “Ishq” (1997) and moderately successful “Ghulam” (1998), for which he did the playback singing.  moderately successful “Sarfarosh” (1999) was Khan’s first release in 1999. His role as a dedicated cop fighting border terrorism won him critical acclaim. And Academy Award nominated “Lagaan it’s produce and started in 2001. He also earned nomination for best actor in the Filmfare Award ceremony for his acting in the film “Dil Chahta Hai”. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s critically accliamed Rang De Basanti was Aamir’s first release in 2006. His role was well acclaimed,earning him a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance and various nominations for Best Actor including the Filmfare Awards.His next film “Fanaa” (2006)It is the highest grossing films of 2006. Taare Zameen Par in 2007 which Khan produced and also starred in, marked his directorial debut.Event management India

This  was the second offering by Aamir Khan Productions, opened to excellent responses from critics and audiences alike. His work won  two awards at the Filmfare, the Best Movie and the  Best Director awards, and established his status as a competent director and a story-teller. This story bassed on about a teacher who befriends and helps a dislexic child . film Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na in 2008 by this movie launched  his nephew Imran Khan The film was a major critical and commercial success. Ghajini (2008) this film is major critical and commercial success all yet now by Amir
The movie was made into a superhit Tamil movie Gajini. In this movie Amir introduce new style he does not follow any style, because whatever he does, simply becomes a style in itself’!
Aamir too did not have to strive for an opportunity to be a hero in films, at the same time he was humble enough to boost his prospects with talent and a lot of hard work.There is a popular saying in Bollywood that ‘Whatever Aamir ‘Perfectionist’ Khan And  highly paid actors in bollywood He has a reputation for shunning award ceremonies and avoiding the glare of the media.

Latest Movie Ghajina

Ghajini has had the biggest box office opening and collections this year. It is the first movie to cross more than 100 crores in a week. The collections, as of 31st December, were Rs. 140 crores and we are still counting.”She further adds, “The poster reads 14 minutes and 52 seconds because Aamir loses his memory every 14 minutes and 52 seconds. The money Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi earned in 3 weeks, Ghajini took a week to earn.”

The cast and crew of Ghajini recently celebrated with a success party on December 30. Ghajini had already made Rs.110 crores by then.In spite of the unfavourable reviews, Ghajini smashed all previous opening-week records. It earned Rs.90 crores during the Christmas weekend because of all the pre-release hype the film generated. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi earned 63 crores in its opening weekend. It grossed Rs. 90 crores in its first week. Singh is Kinng earned Rs. 29 crores in its opening weekend and its total earnings are Rs. 128 crores. 2007’s biggest hit Om Shanti Om has earned almost Rs. 156 crores worldwide.

Biography of Italian adventurer Casanova

Ca
sanova’s memoirs, although they enjoyed the popularity of a bad reputation, have never had justice done to them by serious students of literature, life and history. An English author, indeed, Mr. Havelock Ellis, realized that “there are few books more delicious, the world ” and he analyzed in an essay on Casanova, published in the claims, with extreme care and the remarkable subtlety. But this test alone is, at all events in English, as an attempt to take Casanova seriously, to demonstrate in his relationship with his time and in relation to human problems. But those memories are perhaps the most valuable document we have on society of the eighteenth century, are the story of a single life, a unique personality, one of the largest of autobiographies, as hard adventures, they are more fun than Gil Blas, or Monte Cristo, or travel the imaginary one, and escapes, and masquerades in life, which were written in imitation of them. They tell the story of a man who loved life passionately in its own interest: one in which the woman was in fact the most important thing in the world, but that nothing in the world was indifferent. The bust which gives us the concept more lively exhibitions to us a large, lively, intellectual face, full of energy and resource ardent calm, the face of a thinker and a fighter in one. A disciple, an adventurer, perhaps a mysterious, a stirrer occupied in politics, a Gamester, a “sustained, fairer sex ” as we said, and also claimed to be a vagabond; this man, which is recalled now for his written account of his own life, was the most rare kind of autobiography, one that did not live to write, but write because he had lived, and when he could no longer live.

And his memoirs take one across Europe, giving us the sidelights, all the more valuable items being almost incidental, several business and the most interesting during the two-thirds of the eighteenth century. Giacomo Casanova was born in Venice, the Spanish and Italian parentage, on April 2 1725, he died at the castle of Dux, Bohemia, June 4 1798. In this life of sixty-three years he traveled, as his memoirs show in Italy, France, Germany, Austria, England, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, Poland, Spain, Holland, Turkey, he met Voltaire at Ferney Rousseau in Montmorency, Fontenelle, d ‘Alembert and Crébillon in Paris, George III. London, Louis XV. Fontainebleau, Catherine the Great in St Petersburg, Benedict XII. in Rome, Joseph II. Vienna, Frederick the Great at Sans Souci. Imprisoned by the inquisitors of the state in the Piombi in Venice, he, in 1755, escape the most famous in history. His memoirs, because we have abruptly interrupted at the moment when he expects to safe driving, and permission to return to Venice after twenty years of ‘wanderings. He returned, as we know of the documents in the Venetian archives, he returned as secret inquisitors, and remained in service from 1774 until 1782. At the end of 1782 he left Venice, and next year we are in Paris, where in 1784 he met the Waldstein to Ambassador au ’s Venetian, and were invited by him to become his librarian at Dux. He agreed, and during the fourteen remaining years of his life lived at Dux, where he wrote his memoirs.

Casanova died in 1798, but nothing has been heard about the memories (which the Prince de Ligne, in his own memoirs, tells us that Casanova had read to him and what he found “the dyamatique, the speed of comedy, philosophy, new things of DES, sublime, even enmity “) until 1820, when certain Carlo Angiolini made to the publishing house of Brockhaus, Leipzig , A manuscript entitled History of my struggle until the par l a 1797 write-Casanova. This manuscript, which I discussed in Leipzig, is written on paper, large format, rather rough and yellow; he wrote both sides of the page, and the sheets or the hands of paper here and there pagination proves that some pages were omitted, and in their place are smaller sheets of white paper and thinner, while in Casanova ‘S beautiful, no doubt writing. The manuscript is made up in twelve packets corresponding to the twelve volumes of the original edition, and only in one place there is a space. The fourth and fifth chapters of the twelfth volume are absent, as the writer of the original states, added: “it is unlikely that these two sections have been removed from the manuscript of Casanova by a strange hand, all us believe that the author himself was removed with the intention, no doubt, rewriting it, but without having found time to do so. “the manuscript ends abruptly with the year 1774, and not with the year 1797, as the title we would assume.

This manuscript in its original state, was never printed. Mr. Brockhaus, to obtain possession of the manuscript, has been translated into German by Wilhelm Schutz, but with many omissions and changes, and published the translation, volume by volume, from 1822 to 1828, as of title “Venetianers OF Jacob Casanova de Seingalt of Memoiren of lair of Aus. “While the German edition was in the course of publication, Mr. Brockhaus employed some Jean Laforgue, a professor of French in Dresden, to update the original manuscript, correcting Casanova ’s strong, but sometimes incorrect and often slightly Italian, French, by its own notions of elegant writing, deleting the passages that were too semblée francs in terms of morality and politics, and changing the names of some of the people ’s is reported, or replacing those names with initials. The revised text was published in twelve volumes, the first two of 1826, the third and fourth in 1828, the fifth to eighth in 1832 and the ninth to twelfth in 1837; the first four supporting printing and Brockhaus in Leipzig and Ponthieu Cie in Paris; the next four printing Heideloff and camps in Paris, and the last four nothing but “Brussels. “All volumes are in uniform and were really printed for the company Brockhaus. This, however, far from representing the real text edition is the only well-founded, and my references throughout this article are always this edition. In returning the manuscript to Leipzig, I read some passages deleted, and have regretted their removal, but Mr. Brockhaus, the current head of the company assured me they are not really very considerable number. The damage, however, the vivacity of the whole story, changes persistent Mr. Laforgue, is incalculable. I compared many passages, and have found only three consecutive sentences intact. Mr. Brockhaus (whose courtesy I can not sufficiently acknowledge) was kind enough to have copied out a passage for me, above after which I read and word-for-word verified. In this passage Casanova says, for example: “visit all of a fine to make him the days of almost venoit from her. “This is changed: ” a visit to make him came from Therese day of each however. “Casanova said that someone ‘avoit, of course, form the draft ” with the God of the Allier devil. “This is done to read: ” Who, of course, had a saintly form the draft “to the world. Combining the interests of the works of the sky. “Casanova tells us that Therese does not commit a mortal sin ” pays become queen of the world ‘pay, a crown “corrects the indefatigable Laforgue. “So as to savoit wanted the Grand ” is “In this state of perplexity; ” and so on. It must, therefore, realize that memories because we are only one kind of tracing pale color of the original.

When Casanova ’s memoirs were published the first time, doubts were expressed about their authenticity, first by Ugo Foscolo (in the review of Westminster, 1827), then by Querard, supposed to be an authority with a view records of anonymous and pseudonymous, finally, by Paul Lacroix “the bibliophile Jacob “, which proposed, or rather cast of his “certainty ” that the true author of the memoirs was Stendhal, whose “spirit , Character, ideas and model “seemed to identify each page. This theory, however silly and unsupported Baconian theory that Shakespeare was carelessly accepted, or at all events accepted as possible, for many good disciples who have never taken the trouble to look into the matter for themselves. It was finally refuted by a series of articles by Armand Baschet authorized ‘curious evidence of “, in Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt of authenticity ” in “, from The Book ” in January, February, April and May 1881, and the evidence has yet been corroborated by two articles of Alessandro d ‘Ancona, allowed “An Avventuriere del Secolo XVIII. in “, from Nuovo Antologia “1st February and 1st August 1882 . Baschet himself had never seen the manuscript of memoirs, but he had learned all the facts about his MM. Brockhaus, and he himself had examined the numerous papers on Casanova in the Venetian archives. A similar review was done at the time Frari almost identical by Abbe Fulin, and I myself, in 1894, not knowing then that the discovery had been made, made him even more for me . Once all Casanova’s arrest, his imprisonment in the Piombi, the exact date of his escape, the name of the monk who accompanied are authenticated by documents contained in the riferte “the search for the state and there are bills for repairs to the roof and walls of the cell from which he escaped and there are reports of spies information on which he was arrested for his free-spokenness too dangerous in the subjects of religion and morality. The same archives contain forty-eight letters of Casanova to the inquisitors of the state, dating from 1763 to 1782, among dei confidant Riferte or reports of secret agents, requesting permission to return earlier in Venice, providing the rest information to the immorality of the city, after his return here, all at the same writing as memoir. More evidence could hardly be necessary, but Baschet has done more than prove the authenticity, he proved the veracity extraordinary memories. FW Barthold, in ‘die in J. geschichtlichen Persönlichkeiten Casanova “, Memoiren s ” 2 vols., 1846, had already examined about a hundred of Casanova ’s allusions to well-known, showing the accuracy of all but six or seven, and out of these six or seven inaccuracies assigning only simple to the author at the intent of s. Baschet d ‘Ancona both continue what Barthold had begun; other investigators, France, Italy and Germany, have followed, and two things are now safe, first, that Casanova himself writing memoirs published under his name, not verbatim in the precise form in which we and, second, that while their veracity is becoming increasingly obvious as they are faced with increasingly independent witnesses It is only fair to assume they are also true where the facts are as could only have been known to Casanova himself.

Abhishek Bachan and family

Abhishek is playing a superman in his recent release ‘Drona’. Don’t you too want to play a superwoman in future?
Why in future? I am already a superwoman in real life. Ask any married woman and she will agree to my answer.
You are just back from The Unforgettable tour. As far as we know, you have been the initiator of this entire idea. True?
Not the only but one of the initiators. Actually way back when Abhishek and I were just co-actors, I kept telling him ‘let’s be a part of a troupe and go on a world tour’. And he kept on saying ‘It’s not the right time’. But I never thought that my wish will be fulfilled in such a grand way and that we will be part of the team as man and wife.
You too are married for over a year. Are you more ‘a Bachchan bahu’ or Abhishek’s wife?
(laughs) Both are the same.

Really?
Okay. See, when Abhishek proposed to me, we were only lovers. But when you are married you can’t expect to remain only a wife. Isn’t it? I am happy that Abhishek gave me such a wonderful and caring family. As for Abhishek, he is everything I wanted my man to be and more.

But has marriage affected you male fan following, and in Abhishek’s case, his female fan following?
For this, you should have come with us to the world tour. Girls went mad screaming for Abhishek. And, well…ask Abhishek to comment on my fans on my behalf.

Coming back to ‘Drona’, what do you have to say about Shahrukh Khan attending the premiere in Mumbai?
What do I have to say…it’s for the media to say and scribble. Jokes apart, see in spite of all our differences we are part of the film fraternity and it’s our courtesy to welcome all fellow-members. It’s not just being good to one person but the entire industry.

Okay, now back to Abhishek.
Oh-my-God…so you are determined to make our personal life public.
So, has marriage changed you a lot?
Not at all. I am what I was. See, we are not married for changing ourselves. But of course when two people settle down together there are little adjustments to be made on both sides. Other than that, we make sure to give each other enough breathing space.

While every one was expecting you two to be a part of a romantic flick, your post-marriage release was Sarkar Raj-that’s far away from romance. When will the audience see you romancing each other on screen?
In Mani Ratnam’s next. Right now the film is called Ravan but the title may change. Well, that reminds me, I won’t need to ‘act’ in that film.

During your marriage there were speculations that your marriage is actually a marriage of brands…
What rubbish! Do you think our marriage would have survived even for a day if it was not out of love. Tell me, what can I do if my father-in-law is Amitabh Bachchan, mother-in-law Jaya Bachchan, my hubby Abhishek Bachchan and I am the bahu of the Harvansh Rai Bachchan family!

Are there no competition in the family regarding the profession?
Compete with Amitabh Bachchan on acting! Forget it. And Abhishek is my hubby and I, like any Indian wife, can only be proud of his achievements.

Are you planning a family right now?
I already have a family. (laughs loud) I know what you exactly mean. Do you think I will be able to hide it under my drapes if there is really something right now! And trust me, I won’t even try to hide it.
Amitabh Bachchan is into blogging. Do you have any such plans in future?
Blogging is the best way to communicate with our well-wishers. It’s just like sharing your happiness, worries and achievements will all our fans who make us ’stars’. I have seen Pa’s (Amitabh) blog…how people interact with him with so much ease…as if they are just sitting beside him. Both Abhishek and I would love to blog but don’t have enough time to dedicate to it. So for the time being we will have the media as our communicator.

Adlington claims gold in Women’s 400m Freestyle

Joanne Jackson, Katie Hoff and Rebecca Adlington
The Women’s 400m Freestyle was one of most intense events that spectators at the Water Cube witnessed on Monday morning.
Rebecca Adlington of Great Britain took gold in the Women’s 400m Freestyle with a time of 4:03.22, beating the “Female Phelps,” Katie Hoff (4:03.29) of the United States, who came in second. Joanne Jackson, also from Great Britain, won bronze with a time of 4:03.52.
Laure Manaudou of France took a clear lead in the first 100 meters, but was caught and outswum by Hoff, who remained in the top position until right before the end, when Adlington suddenly overtook her in the last meter to touch the wall first.
“I gave it everything I had possibly, but they got me in the end,” said 19-year-old Hoff.
Reigning world and Olympic champion Federica Pellegrini of Italy finished fifth with a time of 4:04.56.
“I just couldn’t get myself into shape. We Italians haven’t got used to competition in the morning,” said the WR holder.
Adlington (L) celebrates her victory

Event Management India

India’s Bindra wins gold in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle

India’s Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle in Beijing on August 11 with an incredible performance in the final. Bindra shot a total score of 700.5.
China’s Zhu Qinan, gold medalist at Athens 2004, won the silver medal with a total score of 699.7.
The bronze medal was won by Finland’s Henri Hakkinen, who was leading the field after the qualification round, but was unable to hold off Bindra and Zhu in the final. The Finnish shooter shot a total of 699.4.
Hakkinen shot 598 in the qualification round, giving him a one point lead over Zhu. Bindra was one point further back with 596. Bindra signals his intentions early in the final, with a 10.7 on his first shot. None of Bindra’s shots in the final dropped below 10.0.
Hakkinen’s performance in the final was solid, but it needed to be better. He averaged 10.14 per shot in the final, compared to Bindra’s 10.45.
Going into the last shot, Bindra and Hakkinen were tied for first place, but Bindra secured the gold medal with his best shot of the final, an outstanding 10.8.
Conversely, Hakkinen’s last shot was his worst, a lowly 9.7. This allowed Zhu to overcome Hakkinen and win the silver medal. Zhu shot 10.5 on his last shot.
Zhu will be disappointed that did not become the first shooter to win two gold medals in the Men’s 10m Air Pistol. However, he was unable to reproduce his best – Zhu holds the Olympic record for the final score in the event, the 702.7 that he shot at Athens 2004.

Jean Basson of South Africa also went faster in the other heat

I wanted to go 1:45, and if it weren’t for that messed-up finish I would have done it,” Phelps said, hustling off to get ready for the big race. “I just wanted to save as much energy as possible for the relay.”
Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones and Jason Lezak were joining Phelps on the relay team, facing the enormous pressure of trying to help him get the second of eight gold medals. The French counter with a powerful team that includes world record holder Alain Bernard on the anchor leg.
While Hansen still has a swim left in the medley relay, he’ll go down as one of the major disappointments of the American team. A one-time world record holder in both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, he didn’t even qualify for the Olympics in the longer race. Putting all his hopes of beating Kitajima in the 100, he wasn’t close to the Japanese star, finishing 0.66 seconds behind.
“I’ve just had a really off year, on a really important year,” Hansen said. “I just feel like that’s not the last you’re going to see of me. I’m going to bring it back and I won’t be done until I at least have a legitimate shot at those world records again.” Hansen swam over to Kitajima’s lane to congratulate the winner.
“You’ve got to tip your hat to somebody that does something like that in a pressure-packed race like that. That’s a hell of a swim, and he is a true champion,” he said.

Coventry put down quite a challenge to Coughlin. Then again, Coughlin has been known to rise to the challenge — when Hayley McGregory broke her world record in the prelims at the U.S. trials, Coughlin came back in the very next heat to take it back. Now, Coventry has it, and Coughlin can’t be too happy about that.

“I’m very excited. It was a great swim,” Coventry said. “I just got to go home and take care of myself. It’s going to be a tight final. … Natalie’s just so good at racing and planning out her races, so I just expect nothing but fast, fast swimming tomorrow morning.” “It went very well,” she said. “It’s exactly where I wanted to be going into the finals. I’m happy with that. I just need to recover and focus on my final.”
Libby Trickett of Australia just missed another world record in the women’s 100 butterfly, winning gold with a time of 56.73. American Christine Magnuson claimed the silver (57.10) and another Aussie, Jess Schipper, took the bronze (57.25).

Olympic swimmers shatter world records

The swimming record book will need some heavy revisions by the time the Beijing Olympics are over.Kosuke Kitajima of Japan celebrates winning the 100-meter breastroke on Monday.

Three more world marks fell Monday morning when Jason Lezak outtouched Alain Bernard of France at the wall Monday to give the United States a victory in the 400-meter freestyle relay and keep alive Michael Phelps’ bid for eight Olympic gold medals.

Lezak overtook the Frenchman to win in 3 minutes, 8.24 seconds, breaking the world record of 3:12.23 set by the Americans in Sunday’s preliminaries.France took the silver in 3:08.32. Australia earned the bronze in 3:09.91.

Elsewhere, Kosuke Kitajima of Japan finished off American Brendan Hansen’s hopes of an individual medal, winning the 100 breaststroke in 58.91 seconds. Kitajima pounded the water defiantly and let out a scream after breaking Hansen’s 2-year-old record of 59.13.

Hansen was left without a medal, fading to fourth behind silver medalist Alexander Dale Oen of Norway and Hugues Duboscq of France, who took bronze.Kirsty Coventry didn’t even bother waiting until a final to set a record in the 100 backstroke. The Zimbabwean won her semifinal heat in 58.77, taking down Natalie Coughlin’s mark of 58.97 set at the U.S. trials last month.They’ll go head to head in Tuesday morning’s final. Coughlin won her heat in 59.43 with a nice, comfortable swim.

Five world records had been set through the first three days at the Water Cube.
Michael Phelps, who has already won one gold medal in record time, took care of another little matter in the 200 free, moving on to the final with the fourth-fastest time of the semis. Trying to save as much energy as possible for the leadoff leg of the relay, the American touched in 1:46.28 to finish behind teammate Peter Vanderkaay (1:45.76) and South Korea’s Park Tae-hwan (1:45.99).

Phelps Adds 2 More Gold Medals

The United States 4×200-meter freestyle relay team smashed the world record on Wednesday morning, helping Michael Phelps keep his gold-medal streak alive. The relay victory, in 6:58.56, helped Phelps earn his fifth medal of these Games, as he attempts to break Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals in one event, which Spitz set in 1972. Earlier in the night, Phelps had earned his fourth gold medal with a world-record performance in the 200-meter butterfly.

Phelps swam the opening leg, giving his teammates a substantial advantage. Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay continued to add to the lead, becoming the first relay team to break the 7-minute barrier, and beating the old record of 7:03.24.

Competing in the 200-meter butterfly Wednesday morning at the Water Cube — an inhospitable place to anyone who has dared dive in with Phelps — he captured his fourth gold medal of the Beijing Olympics and continued his march toward a record eight golds. He had less than an hour to take the podium and then rest before his next event, the 4×200 freestyle relay, scheduled for 11:19 a.m. local time. Phelps finished in 1 minute 52.03 seconds, topping his world record of 1:52.09. Laszlo Cseh of Hungary won silver in 1:52.70, and Takeshi Matsuda of Japan took bronze in 1:52.97.

If Phelps remains unbeaten, on Saturday morning he will catch Mark Spitz, who holds the record with seven golds at the 1972 Munich Games, and will pass him on Sunday morning in the 4×100 medley relay.

With each lap in the pool, Phelps has commanded more attention on the Olympic Green and around the world. NBC, the Olympics rights holder in the United States, knew such a run of golds would be great theater, so it prevailed on the Games’ organizers to hold swimming finals in the mornings in Beijing to capture live prime-time audiences in the States. The time of day has not appeared to matter to Phelps, who will be the heavy favorite in each of his remaining races.

In the 200-meter freestyle Tuesday, he left the field far behind and crushed his own year-old record. Sixteen months after becoming the first swimmer to crack the 1:44 barrier, he was the first to go under 1:43.