A pianist has become an overnight sensation after his performance at a cafe took an unexpected twist. Emil Reinert was at the Dritan Alsela coffee shop in Dusseldorf, Germany, earlier this week when he launched into a piece from the opera ‘La Traviata’. The surrounding diners looked bewildered at the musical outburst as they sat casually sipping their drinks. However, Reinert himself was left with “goosebumps” when a man sitting across the room suddenly erupted into song. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The stranger with the Royal Albert Hall-worthy voice accompanied the piano player until the end of the verse, at which point a second surprise performer piped in. The man’s friend, who was sitting opposite him, also turned out to be an opera singer and, together, the trio wrapped up the impromptu rendition to rapturous applause. @emiliopiano I met 2 SINGERS in a CAFÉ!! 😱 @Dritan Alsela Song: Libiamo ne' lieti calici Opera: La Traviata #piano #singing #verdi #traviata #libiamo #publicpiano #classicaltok #classicalmusic #opera #dritanalsela Reinert, who goes by the username emiliopiano on TikTok, posted a video of the spontaneous show, with the caption: “I met 2 SINGERS in a CAFÉ!!” In the overlay text to the two-minute clip, he wrote: “This is what happens when you play Italian music in a café.” He then wrote that he was “so happy” when the man joined him and noted that everyone in the room “soon became silent” and started filming on their phones. The Franco-German musician concluded his video by hailing the experience as proof of the unifying power of music. The recording racked up a staggering 53.9 million views in just two days, as fellow TikTokers shared their delight at the heartwarming display. “These people just got free tickets to a very expensive show,” one commented. “It’s fun cause they probably get paid to sing [...] so this was just for the moment,” wrote another. “As a former dancer I can tell you some people just love their art and share it anywhere anytime,” pointed out a third. “Music is a universal language even if you don’t understand the lyrics you can find beauty in the song,” said a fourth. And a fifth said: “I would love to be somewhere when this happens. It makes me so happy to see spontaneous joyful music.” Meanwhile, a number of killjoys were quick to flag that the whole thing was most probably “staged”. Reinert has amassed 2.2 million followers on TikTok thanks to his videos which have been shot in unlikely settings around Europe, from airports to beaches. Each one sees him happily tickling the ivories on his own before he’s joined by a “surprise” bystander who happens to have brought along an instrument or an exceptional singing voice. @emiliopiano I met a VIOLINIST at the Airport ?! ❤️ #piano #pianogare #mentalhealthawarenessweek #tohelpmyanxiety #pianoengare #pianoairport #violin #violinist #pianoduo #pianoduet #pianoduetchallenge #pianotutorial #pianomusic #pianolesson #pianoplayer #pianist #pianocover #pianotok @RIOPY And yet, as many fans point out, it doesn’t matter that the whole thing is pre-planned. “I know these are staged,” one viewer wrote. “But they still make me cry the happy tears.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Rihanna has been hailed as an icon to mums after sharing a joyous photo of herself breastfeeding her baby boy. The Grammy-Award winner, who’s expecting her second child this summer with A$AP Rocky, announced the launch of a new Savage x Fenty maternity line on Tuesday. Her clothing brand celebrated the release of its new capsule collection for “moms and moms-to-be” by posting snaps of the superstar feeding her one-year-old son RZA. The caption to the Instagram offering read: “Not ur mama's maternity bras...designed by [Rihanna], approved by baby RZA.” Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The post racked up nearly 2,000 comments in just six hours as fans gushed over the gorgeous images. “Pregnant with one while breastfeeding another. Women are amazing,” wrote one admirer. “I remember in 2020 when I was breastfeeding I was like damn Riri needs to sell us fashionable maternity bras. Now I need another baby,” joked a second. “I’ve been looking forward to a maternity line even though I don’t have any kids,” admitted a third. “Bless you Rihanna for releasing a maternity collection while I’m pregnant,” said a fourth. “[And] this is why I will always buy everything from Rih! She understands EVERY assignment,” added a fifth. And a sixth said: “I’m so glad I’m waiting to have children. By the time I’m pregnant Rihanna will have made all the accessories for me and my baby to be dope as hell.” The exciting new maternity line features three new bralette styles and comfortable hipster briefs, with prices starting at just £6.60. It also includes an oversized graphic t-shirt that reads: “Make More Babies.” “The new maternity capsule is about bringing that confidence and comfort to moms at every stage of their journeys,” RihannaVogue ahead of the drop. “I want to remind people that you can still channel sexiness and feel good while being a parent.” It’s not the first time the 35-year-old RnB legend has waxed lyrical about motherhood to the fashion mag. Shortly after her internet-breaking Super Bowl performance in February – when she revealed she was pregnant with baby number two - she spoke to British Vogue about how her life has changed since becoming a mum. “It’s everything. You really don’t remember life before, that’s the craziest thing ever,” she said. “You literally try to remember it — and there are photos of my life before — but the feeling, the desires, the things that you enjoy, everything, you just don’t identify with it because you don’t even allow yourself mentally to get that far … because it doesn’t matter.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Ohio voters have resoundingly rejected a measure that would make it more difficult to amend the state’s constitution, a proposal that Republican officials bluntly admitted was an effort to kneecap an upcoming ballot measure asking voters to enshrine a right to abortion care. That proposal has failed, with roughly 65 per cent of the vote tallied by Tuesday night after polls had closed, according to projections from the Associated Press. Issue 1 would have required that proposed amendments to the state constitution receive at least 60 per cent of the vote, raising the threshold substantially from a current simple majority vote. It also would have increased the minimum number of petition signatures that groups would have to collect before qualifying an issue to get on a ballot. The proposal’s failure means that a November referendum on abortion rights will need only 50 per cent of the vote to enshrine those protections into the state’s constitution, a major victory for abortion rights advocates and democratic campaigns in the aftermath of the US Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v Wade. President Joe Biden called the measure a “blatant attempt to weaken voters’ voices and further erode the freedom of women to make their own health care decisions.” “Ohioans spoke loud and clear, and tonight democracy won,” he said in a statement. Within the last year, voters have also turned out in record numbers to protect abortion rights in California, Kansas, Michigan and Vermont, underscoring the overwhelming unpopularity of the Supreme Court’s decision and the volatile landscape for reproductive healthcare in its wake, while scrambling anti-abortion campaigns from Republican officials emboldened by the ruling. Issue 1 campaign Protect Our Constitution was largely supported by GOP mega-donor and Illinois businessman Richard Uihlein. A coalition of abortion right, civil rights and democratic advocacy groups joined a No On Issue 1 campaign. “Tonight was a major victory for democracy in Ohio,” the group said in a statement following projections of the measure’s defeat. “The majority still rules in Ohio, and the people’s power has been preserved – because Ohio voters showed up and overwhelmingly voted down Issue 1.” Ohio voters saw the proposal for “what it was: a deceptive power grab designed to silence their voices and diminish their voting power,” the group added. Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project, said the results mark an “incredibly profound and inspiring day for democracy”. “When faced with the choice of whether to allow politicians and special interests to consolidate power and strip voters of their rights, Ohioans fought back,” she said in a statement. “The defeat of Issue 1 should send a clear message to other extremist officials around the country that democracy will not die; people are ready to defend their rights against blatant attacks like Issue 1.” The upcoming proposal for a constitutional amendment in November will ask Ohio voters whether “every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s reproductive decisions.” After the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization last June, Ohio lawmakers swiftly outlawed most abortion after roughly six weeks of pregnancy, a law that is currently suspended by a state court injunction but could be reinstated by the state Supreme Court. A vote to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution would effectively overrule any such law. Abortion rights advocates and providers have warned that Ohio’s ban, which does not include exceptions for pregnancies from rape or incest, ignited a healthcare crisis that endangered patients and their families across the state, forcing people to seek care hundreds of miles out of state and navigate complicated legal and medical minefields while experiencing pregnancy complications. Ohio Republicans initially canceled August elections altogether, which have historically low turnout. But in May, they reversed that decision to put Issue 1 on the ballot – a decision that appears to have backfired for them. Nearly 600,000 Ohio voters cast their ballots early, with voters reporting busy polling locations across the state on election day. Read More Texas judge sides with women after harrowing testimony over anti-abortion law DeSantis won’t rule out national abortion ban but suggests there’s no ‘mileage’ left in Congress

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