title: Orlando Magic

text: The following offseason, Gabriel, with millions of cleared salary cap space, attempted to lure three of the NBA's most prized free agents: Tim Duncan, Grant Hill, and Tracy McGrady. While Duncan opted to remain with the San Antonio Spurs, the Magic acquired Hill, a perennial All-Star, and McGrady. With McGrady and Hill together, the Magic were expected to be a force in the East. However, Hill was limited to 4 games because of an ankle injury. McGrady blossomed into a star during the season, becoming one of the NBA's top scorers. With the addition of Mike Miller from the draft, the Magic compiled a 43–39 record, which included a nine-game winning streak, and once again made the playoffs. McGrady made the All-Star Team and All-NBA 2nd Team. Miller won the Rookie of the Year. In the playoffs, they faced the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. The Bucks won the series 3–1.


title: Orlando Magic

text: In 2001–02, McGrady led the Magic to a winning record of 44–38. Hill was still severely limited by his ankle injury, and did not play for the vast majority of the season. McGrady, combined Armstrong, Miller, and 3-point sharpshooter Pat Garrity, formed the core of the team. McGrady made the All-NBA for the first time and made his second consecutive All-Star Team. However, the Magic were defeated 3–1 in the first round of the playoffs by the Charlotte Hornets led by Baron Davis.


title: Orlando Magic

text: In 2002–03, with the acquisitions of Gordan Giricek and Drew Gooden from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Mike Miller, McGrady once again led the Magic to a 42–40 record. McGrady led the league in scoring with 32.1 ppg, made his second All-NBA 1st Team, and 3rd All-Star Team. Despite still not having Hill due to injury, the Magic entered the playoffs for the third straight year. However, after taking a 3–1 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series, the Magic fell to the Detroit Pistons 4–3 in the now infamous heartbreaker. McGrady was quoted as saying, "It feels good to get in the second round" after still needing one more win to advance.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The Magic's 15th season in 2003–04 proved to be one of its toughest ever. Even with the acquisition of veteran free agents Tyronn Lue and Juwan Howard, the Magic struggled early. After winning its first game, the Magic lost 19 consecutive games, setting a franchise record. They never recovered, and finished an NBA worst 21–61. Despite this, McGrady led the league in scoring with 28.0 ppg, made the All-NBA 2nd Team and his 4th consecutive All-Star Team. In the middle of the 19-game losing streak, coach Doc Rivers was fired, and assistant Johnny Davis was promoted to head coach. General manager Gabriel was replaced by John Weisbrod.


title: Orlando Magic

text: In the off-season, Weisbrod completely dismantled the team. Though he kept Davis as coach, he shook up the player roster, only keeping a few players from last season. The most significant trade was Tracy McGrady. McGrady, discontent with the Magic, wished to move on; Weisbrod accused McGrady of "slacking off" and not attending practices (McGrady later admitted that he did not give 100% during the 2003–2004 season and wanted the team to bring him some help, but never wanted to leave Orlando). The Magic traded McGrady along with Reece Gaines, Tyronn Lue, and Juwan Howard to the Houston Rockets for Steve Francis, Kelvin Cato, and Cuttino Mobley. In addition, the Magic acquired center Tony Battie and two second-round draft picks from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Drew Gooden, Steven Hunter, and the draft rights to Anderson Varejão. The Magic then signed free agent Hedo Türkoğlu. With the number one draft pick, the Magic selected high-school phenomenon and future All-Star and franchise cornerstone Dwight Howard, and a draft-day trade with the Denver Nuggets got them point guard Jameer Nelson.


title: Orlando Magic

text: After a promising 13–6 start, the Magic began to fall apart. First, Weisbrod traded Mobley for Doug Christie from the Sacramento Kings. Christie, because of his emotional ties to the Kings, at first refused to play for the Magic. Later on, Christie claimed he had bone spurs and was placed on the injured list after playing only a few games for the Magic. Near the end of the season, with a playoff-push faltering, Weisbrod fired Davis after leading Davis to believe he was going to be the team's head coach for the entire 2004–05 NBA season. He then promoted Chris Jent to interim head coach. Throughout the season, bolstered by Hill's return, the Magic played spectacularly, defeating top NBA teams. However, led by the erratic play of Francis, the Magic also lost to league teams with losing records. Howard showed great promise, becoming one of the few players to average a double-double. Howard was a consistent rebounder and scorer, becoming the first rookie to start and play all 82 games in a season. In addition, Nelson, after a slow start, developed into a talented player, taking over the starting point guard position. Hill also returned and averaged 19.7 points a game. Hill was chosen an All-Star starter by NBA fans for the 2005 All-Star Game, and Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson were named to the All-Rookie first and second teams, respectively. Howard was a unanimous selection.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The Magic finished the season 36–46. Their playoff push was hampered by injuries in the last quarter of the season: a season-ending broken wrist for sixth man Hedo Türkoğlu, a shin injury to Grant Hill, a rib cage injury to Nelson, and a three-game suspension to Francis for kicking a photographer. The Magic ended a few games out of the playoffs. On May 23, 2005, the Magic's plans were disrupted by the abrupt resignation of general manager and Chief Operating Officer John Weisbrod. In addition, the Magic announced the following day that Brian Hill, the coach who led the Magic to the NBA Finals under O'Neal and Hardaway, would return as head coach.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The Magic drafted Spanish Fran Vázquez with the 11th pick in the 2005 NBA draft. On July 28, 2005, Vazquez stunned the team after announcing that he would remain in Spain to play for Akasvayu Girona, getting ridiculed by media after he was quoted that the decision to stay was made by his girlfriend. Owner Rich DeVos announced on October 21 that he was transferring ownership to his children, with the official owner role moving to son-in-law and team president Bob Vander Weide. The transfer was supposed to be complete by the end of the year.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The 2005–06 season opened with high hopes for the Magic despite not being able to add first-round draft pick Vasquez. Grant Hill was supposedly finally healed from his multiple ankle surgeries. Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson showed excellent progress during summer-league play. Second-round draft pick Travis Diener showed excellent shooting and decision-making during the summer. And the free-agent signing of Keyon Dooling showed that the club was going to continue making progress. Then trouble began. Hill, despite his ankle apparently being healed, suffered a painful sports hernia injury that would hamper his play throughout the entire season. After playing in three preseason games, he underwent surgery to correct the hernia and would not appear during the regular season until mid-December, to which he lasted a month before attempting to make another comeback in February and early March, however, he only played sporadically. Then a foot injury to Nelson forced him to sit out for over a month.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On February 15, 2006, the Magic announced that they had acquired Darko Miličić and Carlos Arroyo from the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Kelvin Cato and a 2007 top-five protected first-round draft pick. One week later, on February 22, the Magic announced that they had traded Steve Francis to the New York Knicks in exchange for Penny Hardaway (whom they waived two days later) and Trevor Ariza. With a set starting rotation of Battie, Howard, Türkoğlu, DeShawn Stevenson, and Nelson, the Magic mounted a surprising run at the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, including an 8-game winning streak and 12 consecutive home wins. The streak included wins against NBA powerhouses Detroit, San Antonio, Dallas and Miami, as well as a game against the Philadelphia 76ers in which Howard recorded 28 points and a career-high 26 rebounds. Despite their efforts they did not make the playoffs.


title: Orlando Magic

text: With the 11th overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft, the Magic took former Duke star JJ Redick. Even with the fan support to get him playing time he averaged just over 11 minutes a game. After beginning the season strong with a 13–4 record, the Orlando Magic began to suffer in the standings as the result of multiple losses, due in large part to the injuries of Tony Battie, Keyon Dooling, and Grant Hill. The Magic were also hampered with the sporadic play of many of their young stars, who on multiple occasions showed their propensity for streaky shooting and the team's lack of a solid scoring two-guard. Despite the team's poor play, Dwight Howard continued to develop and blossom in his third year in the league, culminating in his first selection to the Eastern Conference All-Star team. The final few weeks of the season saw the Magic build momentum and confidence with an impressive late push towards the Playoffs. On April 15, 2007, with an 88–86 victory over the Boston Celtics, the Magic secured its first berth in the NBA Playoffs since 2003 by locking up the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. This marked the first time that the team had made the playoffs while posting a losing record. Nevertheless, their Playoff run ended on April 28, 2007, after they were swept in the first round by first seeded Detroit Pistons whose experience, veteran leadership and ability to consistently make the clutch basket proved far too much for the undermanned and overwhelmed Magic to overcome. It was announced on May 23, 2007, that Brian Hill had been fired as head coach of the Magic.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On June 1, 2007, the Magic signed Billy Donovan to be their head coach for five years. The next day, Donovan wished to be released from the contract and the Magic agreed several days later. On June 6, 2007, the Magic signed a 4-year contract with Stan Van Gundy. In the free agent market, the Magic signed Rashard Lewis of the Seattle SuperSonics to a six-year league-maximum contract believed to be worth over $110 million. At the NBA China Games, the Magic swept the three games in China, twice against the Cleveland Cavaliers and once against the Chinese national team in games held in Shanghai and in Macau.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On November 15, 2007, Bob Vander Weide, the son-in-law of Richard DeVos, officially took over as owner of the team, although ownership is still split evenly amongst Richard DeVos' other children as well.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The Magic started the 2007–08 NBA season with an impressive 16–4 record in their first 20 games, which included wins over the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers. Through the next few months, the Magic were not so successful, splitting their next 36 games with 18 wins and 18 losses. At the start of March, the Magic seemed to pick up speed again, finishing the month with 10 wins, the first time since November that they won 10 or more in a month. The Magic clinched the Southeast Division title when the Washington Wizards were routed at Utah 129–87 on March 31, 2008. It was the Magic's third division title, but only their first since 1995–96 season, as well as their first since the Southeast Division was formed. They also earned their 50th win of the season against the Chicago Bulls on April 13, which had not happened since the 1995–96 season. The Magic finished the regular season 52–30, their best season since 1995–96. With the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference, they were matched up in their first-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors. The Magic had home-court advantage for the first time since the 1998–99 season.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On April 28, 2008, at Amway Arena, the Magic eliminated the Raptors with a 4–1 series victory in the first round. It was the first playoff series victory for the Magic in 12 years after 6 straight first-round exits. The run of success did not last long as they fell 4–1 to the experienced Detroit Pistons in the second round. With the Magic already down in the series, controversy erupted after the Pistons' Game 2 victory. At the conclusion of the 3rd quarter, Chauncey Billups of the Pistons made a three-point shot giving the Pistons a three-point lead. However, the clock had stopped just as the play began. NBA rules prohibit officials from using instant replay or any timing device to determine how much time has elapsed when a clock malfunctions, nor is a replay allowed to be viewed from the time of the malfunction to when the play ends, when the game clock has not expired. Because of the rule, the officials then estimated that the play took 4.6 seconds, and because there were 5.1 seconds remaining when play began, the field goal was allowed to be counted. The NBA later admitted that the play actually took 5.7 seconds and the basket in question should not have counted. The Pistons went on to win Game 2. The Magic were able to win Game 3, with the Pistons' Chauncey Billups out for most of the game with an injury, but were unable to take advantage of his absence and defeat the Pistons in Games 4 and 5, which ended the Magic's playoff run in 2008.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The first half of the 2008–09 season went very well for the Magic. After 41 games, the Magic were 33–8, leading the Southeast Division, as well as having one of the top four records in the league. At the start of February, Jameer Nelson, their all-star starting point guard, went down with a shoulder injury. He was expected to miss the remainder of the season. After trading for Rafer Alston, the Magic finished the regular season with a 59–23 record, it was the most games the team had won in a season since the 1995–96 season in which they had 60 wins. In the playoffs, the Magic beat the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs and then the defending champions, the Boston Celtics, in the Eastern Conference semifinals, behind assistant coach Patrick Ewing's guarantee that they would win Game 7 of that series. In their first conference finals since 1996, the Magic beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, which were led by the season's MVP, LeBron James. After dropping the first two games in the Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Magic finally won their first-ever game in the Finals in Game 3. Despite Nelson's return to the team for the Finals, the Lakers won the series and the championship by beating the Magic in five games.


title: Orlando Magic

text: In the 2009 off-season, Orlando traded Rafer Alston, Tony Battie, and Courtney Lee to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for eight-time All-Star Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson. Hedo Türkoğlu, as part of a sign-and-trade, was sent to the Toronto Raptors. They then made several free agent signings. On July 10, former Dallas Mavericks power forward Brandon Bass was given a 4-year deal. On July 21, the Magic signed former Phoenix Suns forward Matt Barnes. On August 19, they signed former Miami Heat point guard Jason Williams, who decided to come back after a year in retirement.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On September 28, 2009, Orlando extended the contract of head coach Stan Van Gundy by exercising his option for the 2010–11 season. They did the same for general manager Otis Smith, which would keep him in that position through the 2011–12 season.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The Magic were without Rashard Lewis for the first 10 games of the 2009–10 season. Lewis tested positive for an elevated testosterone level that was caused by an over-the-counter supplement containing a substance banned by the league. To make matters worse, Vince Carter suffered a left ankle injury in just the second game of the season. Carter's injury turned out to be not too serious, but caused him to miss the next five games. Another setback came in mid-November, when Jameer Nelson injured his left knee, which required arthroscopic surgery to repair. Nelson would be out for five weeks. Despite all of this, the Magic had a 23–8 record at the end of December.


title: Orlando Magic

text: Orlando lost seven of their first ten games in January, but recovered well enough to post a winning record for the month by winning six of their next seven. Following the All-Star break, the Magic went on a roll, winning 23 of their 28 remaining games, clinching their fourth consecutive playoff berth and winning their third consecutive division championship in the process. The Magic finished the regular season with a 59–23 record, matching their record from the 2008–09 season, and finishing with not only the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, but the second-best record in the entire league. The team became one of the only teams in NBA history to beat all of the other 29 teams at least once during the regular season. The Magic swept the Charlotte Bobcats and the Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds of the playoffs, respectively. They then faced the Boston Celtics in the conference finals. After losing the first three games of the series, Orlando managed to win the next two games, but lost on the road in Game 6, ending their season.


title: Orlando Magic

text: In anticipation of the team's move to Amway Center, the Magic updated its logo. They retained the streaking ball logo, but changed the wordmark taken from their current uniforms. The Magic hosted the NBA All-Star Game in 2012. The Magic also unveiled black alternate uniforms.


title: Orlando Magic

text: In the summer of 2010 the Orlando Magic signed Chris Duhon, formerly of the New York Knicks, and Quentin Richardson, formerly of the Miami Heat.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On December 18, 2010, having lost five of their last six games, the Magic made a blockbuster trade deal with the Phoenix Suns and the Washington Wizards. They traded Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat and Mickaël Piétrus to Phoenix for Hedo Türkoğlu (who led them into the 2009 NBA Finals when they lost 4–1 against the Los Angeles Lakers), Jason Richardson and Earl Clark. Rashard Lewis was traded to Washington for 3-time All-Star Gilbert Arenas.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The Magic finished the season with 52 victories, good for 2nd in the Southeast Division. But they were ousted in six games by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 2011 NBA playoffs, the first time head coach Stan Van Gundy was eliminated early in the playoffs.


title: Orlando Magic

text: In a shortened 2012 season, due to the NBA Lockout, the Magic started the offseason on a rocky note, with their All-Star center, Dwight Howard, requesting a trade to either the New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, or Dallas Mavericks. Overlooking the trade request the Magic did a sign and trade with the Boston Celtics for Glen Davis and Von Wafer in exchange for Brandon Bass. The Magic also amnestied Gilbert Arenas and signed Larry Hughes, Justin Harper, and DeAndre Liggins. The Magic started the season on Christmas Day in Oklahoma City against the Thunder. They lost the season opener 97–89. During the month of February, the Magic waived Hughes and signed Ish Smith. On February 26, Orlando hosted the 2012 All-Star Game. The Magic struggled to win games consistently, with concerns about the uncertainty of Dwight Howard's future with the franchise. However, after Dwight rescinded his trade demand and signed a one-year deal in March, the Magic seemed to find their footing again. But then in early April, shortly after it became public that Howard requested coach Van Gundy to be replaced, the center was diagnosed with a herniated disk and forced to have back surgery, thus ending his season. The Magic clinched the sixth seed in the east with a 37–29 record. The Magic were faced with the third-seeded Pacers in the first round. Despite winning the first game of the series the Magic were defeated 4–1.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On May 21, 2012, it was reported that general manager Otis Smith and head coach Stan Van Gundy would part ways with the organization. Stan Van Gundy finished with a 259–135 regular-season record with the team which included making the playoffs in those five years and a conference championship.


title: Orlando Magic

text: CEO Alex Martins announced former Oklahoma City assistant general manager Rob Hennigan as the new general manager for the Orlando Magic on June 20, 2012. Once hired, he became the youngest general manager in the league.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On June 25, 2012, Dwight Howard had face-to-face meeting with general manager Rob Hennigan in Los Angeles and demanded a trade to the Brooklyn Nets.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On July 9, 2012, the Magic completed a sign-and-trade deal with the New Orleans Hornets, that sent forward Ryan Anderson to the Hornets. In return the Magic received center Gustavo Ayon.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On July 28, 2012, Jacque Vaughn was named the new head coach. He had been the assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs for the last two seasons.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On August 9, 2012, ESPN reported that a four-team trade would send Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers. ESPN.com's Marc Stein was told the Lakers were to acquire Howard, Chris Duhon and Earl Clark, the Denver Nuggets were to acquire Andre Iguodala, the Philadelphia 76ers were to acquire Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson, and the Magic were to acquire Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vučević, Maurice Harkless, Josh McRoberts, Christian Eyenga, and five total protected future (three 1st round, two 2nd round) picks from each of the other three teams. The deal was officially confirmed and completed on August 10.


title: Orlando Magic

text: Following the trade of Dwight Howard, the Magic entered into a state of rebuilding with Maurice Harkless and Nikola Vučević. On August 29, the Magic signed free agent guard E'Twaun Moore. On December 2, 2012, Howard's first game against his former team, the Magic defeated the Lakers 113–103.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On February 21, 2013, the Magic traded JJ Redick, Ish Smith and Gustavo Ayón to the Milwaukee Bucks. In return, the Magic received Beno Udrih, Tobias Harris and rookie Doron Lamb. The Magic also traded Josh McRoberts to the Charlotte Bobcats for Hakim Warrick who was waived 2 days later. The Magic finish the 2012–2013 season 20–62 as the worst record in the NBA, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2006.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On June 27, 2013, the Orlando Magic had the 2nd pick in the 1st round of the 2013 NBA draft. The Magic used their lottery pick to draft Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, shooting guard Victor Oladipo from Indiana University. The Orlando Magic also had the 51st pick in the 2nd round of the NBA draft. They used this pick to draft 6'8" forward Romero Osby from the University of Oklahoma. Osby averaged 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists during his senior NCAA season at Oklahoma, but was cut by the Magic before the season opener.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The Magic finished the 2013–2014 season with a 23–59 record, 3rd worst in the NBA. The draft lottery gave them the 4th pick in the 2014 NBA draft. In the draft, they selected Aaron Gordon with the 4th pick and Dario Šarić with the 12th pick. Saric was then swapped for the 10th pick, Elfrid Payton in exchange for a 2017 1st round pick and a future 2nd round pick. Roy Devyn Marble was selected with the 56th pick in the 2nd round. On February 5, 2015, Jacque Vaughn was relieved of his head coaching duties after coaching 2½ seasons for the Magic. His overall record was 58–158. He was replaced by interim head coach James Borrego.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On May 29, 2015, the Magic hired their former point guard Scott Skiles as the franchise's 12th head coach.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On June 25, 2015, in the 2015 NBA draft, Orlando selected Mario Hezonja with the fifth overall pick and Tyler Harvey


title: Orlando Magic

text: with the 51st overall pick. On February 16, 2016, the Magic traded Tobias Harris to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Ersan İlyasova and Brandon Jennings.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On May 12, 2016, Skiles stepped down as head coach of the Orlando Magic. On May 19, the Orlando Magic agreed to a deal with former Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel to become the next head coach of the team.


title: Orlando Magic

text: With Vogel as their new coach, the Magic made many changes to their roster during the offseason. On June 23, 2016, in the 2016 NBA draft the Magic selected Domantas Sabonis 11th overall, but then traded Sabonis and shooting guard Victor Oladipo for defensive power forward Serge Ibaka of the Oklahoma City Thunder. During free agency the Magic re-signed Evan Fournier to a five-year, $85 million contract and also signed Bismack Biyombo, Jeff Green, and D. J. Augustin. On July 15, C. J. Wilcox was acquired, along with cash considerations, from the Clippers in exchange for Devyn Marble and a future second round draft pick.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On February 14, 2017, Ibaka was traded to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Terrence Ross and a future first-round draft pick. The Magic finished the 2016–17 season with the third worst record in their conference, finishing 29–53.


title: Orlando Magic

text: In the summer of 2017, the Magic made various changes, the first being the firing of general manager Rob Hennigan on April 13. On May 23, the Magic named Jeff Weltman, the former general manager of the Toronto Raptors, as president of basketball operations and named John Hammond, the former general manager for the Milwaukee Bucks, as the new general manager. With the sixth overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, Orlando drafted Florida State forward, Jonathan Isaac. During free agency the Magic signed Jonathon Simmons, Arron Afflalo, Shelvin Mack, Marreese Speights, Khem Birch and Adreian Payne.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On October 6, 2017, the Magic announced that former superstar Tracy McGrady, had rejoined the team as assistant to the CEO.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On February 8, 2018, the Magic traded starting point guard Elfrid Payton to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for a 2018 second-round pick.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On April 12, 2018, head coach Frank Vogel was fired by the Magic after the conclusion of the 2017–18 regular season. On May 30, the Magic named Steve Clifford as their new head coach.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On June 21, 2018, the Magic drafted center Mohamed Bamba with the sixth overall pick. and Melvin Frazier in the second round. Other player acquisitions included trading for Timofey Mozgov and Jerian Grant in a three-team trade for Bismack Biyombo, Jarell Martin in a trade from the Memphis Grizzlies, and free agent Isaiah Briscoe.


title: Orlando Magic

text: During the 2018–19 season, the Magic won their sixth division title and finished in seventh place in the Eastern Conference to clinch a playoff berth for the first time since the 2011–12 season. Mohamed Bamba was diagnosed with stress fracture on February 5, 2019, and eventually missed the remainder of the season. At the NBA trade deadline, the Magic traded Jonathon Simmons and two draft picks to the Philadelphia 76ers for Markelle Fultz. Nikola Vučević was selected as a reserve for the 2019 Eastern Conference All Star Team, being the first Orlando Magic All Star player since Dwight Howard in 2012. In March 2019, the Magic signed former NBA Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams to two ten-day contracts before signing him to a one-year deal. The Magic were matched up against the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the 2019 NBA playoffs. While the Magic won their first playoff game in seven years, the Toronto Raptors won the series 4–1.


title: Orlando Magic

text: In the 2019 NBA draft the Magic selected Chuma Okeke with the 16th overall pick, and traded its second-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for $2.2 million and a future draft pick. With the prospect of limited playing time due to injury, the Magic and Okeke agree to sign a one-year deal with the Magic's G League affiliate in Lakeland and sign Okeke's rookie contract in the summer of 2020. During the 2019 free agency, the Magic re-signed with Vučević, Terrence Ross, Michael Carter-Williams, and Birch, signed free agent Al-Farouq Aminu, and waived Mozgov. The Magic compiled a 30–35 record before the league suspended its season on March 11, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the suspension of the season, the Magic were one of the 22 teams invited to the NBA Bubble to participate in the final eight seeding games of the regular season. Season ending injuries to Jonathan Isaac and Mo Bamba, along with significant injuries to Terrence Ross and Evan Fournier hampered their performance and they went 3–5 in the seeding games, but the team earned the 8th playoff spot in the Eastern Conference to face the Milwaukee Bucks. While the Magic won the opening game, Milwaukee won the next four ending the Magic's season in round one for the second year in a row.


title: Orlando Magic

text: In the 2020 NBA draft the Magic selected Cole Anthony with the 15th overall pick. The shortened free agency period followed where the Magic signed their 2019 draft pick Chuma Okeke, re-signed James Ennis, Michael Carter-Williams, and Gary Clark, while adding Dwayne Bacon. The injury Jonathan Isaac suffered during the previous season was significant enough that he was ruled out for the entire 2020–21 season. In the 8th game 2020-2021 NBA Season, starting point guard, Markelle Fultz went down with an ACL tear in a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. After the season-ending injury, rookie point guard, Cole Anthony would fill the starting point guard role. On January 20, 2021, Fultz underwent surgery. At the 2021 NBA trade deadline the Magic traded away Nikola Vučević, Aaron Gordon, and Evan Fournier, each to different teams, in what has been viewed as the beginning of another rebuilding period. At the end of the season, the team and Clifford mutually agreed to part ways.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On July 11, 2021, Jamahl Mosley was named head coach after spending the previous season as an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On July 29, 2021, the Magic selected Jalen Suggs with the 5th pick and Franz Wagner with the 8th pick (Acquired via the Chicago Bulls in the Nikola Vučević trade) in the 2021 NBA Draft. The Magic also selected Orlando native Jason Preston in the second round and promptly traded him on draft night to the Los Angeles Clippers.


title: Orlando Magic

text: On June 23, 2022, the Magic selected Paolo Banchero with the 1st pick and Caleb Houstan with the 32nd pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The team's current home arena, the Amway Center, officially opened on October 1, 2010. The Orlando Magic hosted their first preseason game at Amway Center on October 10 against the New Orleans Hornets. The 2010–11 regular-season home opener was on October 28 against the Washington Wizards, and the Magic won both games. In 2012, the Amway Center hosted the All-Star Weekend.


title: Orlando Magic

text: At the time it opened, the new Amway Center was home to the largest Jumbotron in the NBA. The arena also features approximately of digital ribbon boards, and outside the building a by video display is visible to motorists traveling on Interstate 4.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The Amway Center is also the home of the minor league hockey team, Orlando Solar Bears and the Orlando Predators of the National Arena League (NAL).


title: Orlando Magic

text: Amway Arena opened in 1989 and served as home to the Orlando Magic since their inception until the 2009–2010 season. It was originally known as the Orlando Arena, or the "O-Rena", during its first 10 years. In 1999, TD Waterhouse purchased the naming rights and named the venue the TD Waterhouse Centre. In December 2006, the naming rights were purchased by Amway for four years. It is also home of the Arena Football League's Orlando Predators, the Orlando Sharks of the Major Indoor Soccer League, and various sporting and entertainment events. Amway Arena was one of "The Orlando Venues" owned and operated by the City of Orlando. The other facilities include the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre, Tinker Field, Camping World Stadium, Harry P. Leu Gardens, and Mennello Museum.


title: Orlando Magic

text: Orlando advertising agency The Advertising Works, led by its president Doug Minear was responsible for the original Magic uniforms. The logo, featuring a basketball crowded by stars and the wordmark "Magic" with a star replacing the A, was created following meetings with Walt Disney World artists and over 5000 suggestions sent from around the country. Stars would remain a primary feature of the logo once it was redesigned in 2000 to feature a comet-like basketball. Pat Williams first suggested the colors black and gold of his alma mater Wake Forest, but this was eschewed for various factors, including the local college UCF using the same scheme. Black would still be the primary color in the scheme used by Minear, a trait shared by 16 other NBA teams. Other colors were an electric blue specially made by sporting goods manufacturer MacGregor, and silver. The home uniforms were white with black pinstripes, featuring black numbers with blue trim, and the road jerseys reversed the scheme while featuring "Orlando" instead of the Magic logo. Given the standard mesh nylon worn across the NBA did not allow for pinstripes, the jerseys were made out of durene, a material with cotton on the underside and polyester bonded on the outside. The road uniform was changed to blue with white pinstripes in 1994–95, although the black uniforms remained in use as alternates.


title: Orlando Magic

text: For the Magic's 10th anniversary in 1998–99, a new look designed by fashion designer Jhane Barnes was unveiled. The pinstripes were dropped and the uniforms now featured stars as the background. Both jerseys, made out of the dazzle that was used in the Women's National Basketball Association uniforms, had the Magic logo, with the home jersey in white and the away in blue.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The Magic's 15th anniversary in 2003–04 inspired another uniform revamp, opting for a cleaner look without stripes or stars. The home jerseys were white and the Magic logo was blue with silver and black trim. The away jersey reverted to the city name, and was blue. The logo and numbers are white with black trim. During this time, the team's original pinstriped jerseys were worn several times per year as alternates: black in 2003–04 and 2006–07, blue in 2004–05, and white in 2005–06.


title: Orlando Magic

text: For the 2008–09 season, the Magic have once again introduced new uniforms. The Magic returned to the pinstriped uniforms to commemorate the team's 20th anniversary. The current design combines the elements of the previous three uniform designs the Magic used in its 20-year history. The home jerseys are white with silver pinstripes, while the away jerseys are blue with white pinstripes. The font used for the number and player/team name has also been updated to a more modern look. Magic alternate logos are on the shorts and the back of the jersey. This is the fourth model in franchise history.


title: Orlando Magic

text: As the Magic moved to the Amway Center in 2010, they unveiled a new logo that for the first time fully spelled "Magic", without the star instead of the A. They also unveiled a black alternate uniform, with silver pinstripes, mirroring the regular blue road uniform. They were usually worn as throwback uniforms as part of the NBA Hardwood Classics program. A variation of the uniform is also used for Noche Latina every March, with 'Orlando' substituted for 'El Magic', with 'El' in black and silver trim and 'Magic' in blue and silver trim. This was unveiled in the 2011–12 season.


title: Orlando Magic

text: In 2014, Magic unveiled a silver uniform for the first time in their history. It was sleeved, and featuring white pinstripes along with blue, black and white trim for the letters and numbers. Unlike the three other uniforms, a different striping pattern will be used on the sides. In 2016, The Magic unveiled a third alternate uniform, featuring carbon as the primary color and without pinstripes. Named “Stars”, it featured the team's secondary logo and a blue, white and blue tricolor stripe in front, along with white lettering.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The Magic made only a few slight tweaks to their uniforms when Nike became the league's uniform provider in 2017. From 2017 to 2019, the Magic wore white "Association" uniforms, blue "Icon" uniforms and black "Statement" uniforms. With the exception of the black uniforms eliminating the blue side stripes and changing pinstripe colors from silver to blue, the set remained almost identical to the previous Adidas set. Beginning with the 2019–20 season, the black uniform became the "Icon" uniform while a new blue uniform served as the "Statement" uniform. The uniform was inspired from the different sets the Magic wore through the years, such as the silver star and black stripes with white pinstripes from the 1989–98 set, and the cleaner look of the 2003–08 set. This uniform was then tweaked prior to the 2022–23 season, adding black pinstripes (a nod to the 1989–98 uniforms) and black stripes with subtle star patterns (a nod to the 1998–2003 uniforms). Starting in 2020–21, the "Statement" uniforms would feature Jordan Brand's jumpman logo. Their jersey's sponsor is Disney.


title: Orlando Magic

text: An annual "City" edition is also utilized by Nike to honor either local culture or team tradition. The Magic's 2017–18 "City" uniform featured a printed pattern of stars in the sky along with the team's alternate logo in front. For the 2018–19 season, the Magic only made slight changes to their "City" uniform, with the printed pattern of stars relegated to the sides and a predominantly black base. The 2019–20 City uniforms featured an "anthracite" (grey) base with orange lettering. The orange color pays homage to Florida's orange-growing industry. The Magic kept the orange theme for their 2020–21 "City" uniform, this time with a white base and orange letters and numerals with anthracite trim. The uniform also paid homage to the original uniforms worn from 1989 to 1998, featuring "Orl" beside an anthracite star in its original typeface along with orange pinstripes. When the jersey's colors are inverted it shows the exact color scheme used in Orlando's original uniforms. In the 2021–22 season, the Magic again reprised the orange theme for its "City" uniform, this time featuring a few elements from previous uniforms. For their 2022–23 "City" uniform, the Magic went with a black base, dark gray pinstripes, and gothic-inspired white letters with blue trim to represent the team and the city as a kingdom on the rise.


title: Orlando Magic

text: Having qualified for the 2020 NBA playoffs the previous year, the Magic were also given an "Earned" uniform. The design, which has a white base, featured the alternate logo in front (an homage to the 2016–17 "Stars" alternate and 2017–19 "City" uniform) and blue numbers with black and silver trim. Side panels featured the stars pattern as an homage to the 1998–2003 blue uniforms.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The Magic are one of seven teams to wear "Classic" uniforms for the 2018–19 season. As part of their 30th anniversary, the team unveiled the uniform similar to those worn from 1994 to 1998.


title: Orlando Magic

text: Stuff the Magic Dragon has been the Magic's mascot since 1989. A dragon designed by Wade Harrison and Bonnie Erickson of Acme Mascots, Inc, his name is a pun on Puff the Magic Dragon, and how a slam dunk is also known as "stuffing".


title: Orlando Magic

text: The Magic hold the draft rights to the following unsigned draft picks who have been playing outside the NBA. A drafted player, either an international draftee or a college draftee who is not signed by the team that drafted him, is allowed to sign with any non-NBA teams. In this case, the team retains the player's draft rights in the NBA until one year after the player's contract with the non-NBA team ends. This list includes draft rights that were acquired from trades with other teams.


title: Orlando Magic

text: In 2014, the Orlando Magic launched the team's Hall of Fame, which honors players, coaches and executives who have had a major impact for the team and in the community.


title: Orlando Magic

text: "List of the last five seasons completed by the Magic. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Orlando Magic seasons."


title: Orlando Magic

text: The Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat had a rivalry because both teams are located in Florida, thus the rivalry was known as the Sunshine State rivalry. Another ingredient to the rivalry was the high-caliber players on both teams such as Orlando's Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway to Miami's Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway. The two had met each other in the NBA playoffs for the first time in 1997, with Miami beating Orlando 3–2, they have not met in the playoffs since.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The rivalry intensified with the rising stardom of Miami's and Orlando's Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard, along with Miami's acquiring high-caliber stars such LeBron James from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chris Bosh from the Toronto Raptors and in 2010, resulting in fierce competition between the two.


title: Orlando Magic

text: When Dwight Howard departed from the Magic to the Los Angeles Lakers in August 2012, the rivalry softened. The Orlando Magic have been going through a process of rebuilding ever since then.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The Atlanta Hawks and the Orlando Magic had an intense rivalry, mostly stemming from playoff competitions and the rising stardom of Dwight Howard and Josh Smith, both from the 2004 NBA draft and who were both raised in Georgia.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The two teams faced each other three times in the 1996, 2010, and 2011 NBA playoffs. The Magic defeated the Hawks in the second round of the 1996 playoffs 4–1, and swept the second-round series 4–0 in the 2010 playoffs, while the Hawks eliminated the Magic 4–2 in the first round of the corresponding 2011 playoffs.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The current television announcing team for the Orlando Magic is play-by-play announcer David Steele and color analyst Jeff Turner. Turner played for the Magic from its inaugural 1989 season to 1996. Paul Kennedy and Dante Marchetelli serve as courtside reporters, while Marchetelli, former coach Brian Hill, and former Magic player Nick Anderson host the pre-game, halftime and post-game shows. Television broadcasts were split in 2007–08 between Fox Sports Florida and Sun Sports (later Fox Sports Sun, currently Bally Sports Sun). In the 18 years before then, broadcasts were split between Sun Sports (formerly known as the Sunshine Network) and local television stations, originally WKCF and, later, WRBW.


title: Orlando Magic

text: There was a controversy with moving broadcasts to Fox Sports Florida since Orlando's largest cable TV provider, Bright House Networks, did not carry the network. Pressure increased for the cable provider to pick up FS Florida in time for the 2007–08 NBA season but this did not happen. The Magic persisted with airing games on FS Florida into the 2008–09 season despite Bright House's refusal to pick up the channel in all of its affiliates. Bright House and FS Florida came to an agreement on January 1, 2009, and began airing the channel as part of its standard cable package. However, Bright House airs the channel using a digital signal that only allows customers who own the Digital cable box to receive the channel. The customers do not have to pay any additional costs to get the channel with their Digital cable box.


title: Orlando Magic

text: After the end of the 2019–20 season, the Orlando Magic decided to not to renew its contract with play-by-play announcer Dennis Neumann and color analyst Richie Adubato, another former Magic head coach. Games are produced by Magic Radio Network flagship AM 580 WDBO in Orlando, and also broadcast on AM 1380 WELE in Daytona Beach, 99.5 FM WGMW "The Star" in Gainesville and Ocala, AM 1290 WPCF in Panama City, AM 1590 WPSL in Port St. Lucie and AM 1450 WSTU in Stuart. The affiliate in Tallahassee is AM 1270 "My 94.3" WTLY. The immediate Tampa Bay area has no affiliate although AM 1340 in Clearwater WTAN is listed on the team's website. The Magic will continue to have a radio presence using the audio from its television broadcasts.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The flagship broadcast was simulcast on WDBO-FM during the 2011–12 NBA season while that station moved from AM to FM. When WDBO re-formatted from talk radio to sports radio, it retained the flagship status. However, WOEX (the former WDBO-FM) still simulcasts Magic games in Central Florida.


title: Orlando Magic

text: The official Orlando Magic website features a collection of podcasts available on iTunes, including "Magic Overtime with Dante and Galante".


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Suzanna Arundhati Roy (born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel "The God of Small Things" (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. She is also a political activist involved in human rights and environmental causes.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Arundhati Roy was born in Shillong, Meghalaya, India, to Mary Roy, a Malayali Jacobite Syrian Christian women's rights activist from Kerala and Rajib Roy, a Bengali Hindu tea plantation manager from Calcutta. When she was two, her parents divorced and she returned to Kerala with her mother and brother. For some time, the family lived with Roy's maternal grandfather in Ooty, Tamil Nadu. When she was five, the family moved back to Kerala, where her mother started a school.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Roy attended school at Corpus Christi, Kottayam, followed by the Lawrence School, Lovedale, in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. She then studied architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi, where she met architect Gerard da Cunha. They married in 1978 and lived together in Delhi, and then Goa, before they separated and divorced in 1982.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Roy returned to Delhi, where she obtained a position with the National Institute of Urban Affairs. In 1984, she met independent filmmaker Pradip Krishen, who offered her a role as a goatherd in his award-winning movie "Massey Sahib". They later married the same year. They collaborated on a television series about India's independence movement and two films, "Annie" and "Electric Moon". Disenchanted with the film world, Roy experimented with various fields, including running aerobics classes. Roy and Krishen currently live separately but are still married. She became financially secure with the success of her novel "The God of Small Things", published in 1997.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Roy is a cousin of prominent media personality Prannoy Roy, the head of the Indian television media group NDTV. She lives in Delhi.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Early in her career, Roy worked in television and movies. She wrote the screenplays for "In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones" (1989), a movie based on her experiences as a student of architecture, in which she also appeared as a performer, and "Electric Moon" (1992). Both were directed by her husband, Pradip Krishen, during their marriage. Roy won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay in 1988 for "In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones". She attracted attention in 1994 when she criticised Shekhar Kapur's film "Bandit Queen", which was based on the life of Phoolan Devi. In her film review titled "The Great Indian Rape Trick", she questioned the right to "restage the rape of a living woman without her permission", and charged Kapur with exploiting Devi and misrepresenting both her life and its meaning.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Roy began writing her first novel, "The God of Small Things", in 1992, completing it in 1996. The book is semi-autobiographical and a major part captures her childhood experiences in Aymanam.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: The publication of "The God of Small Things" catapulted Roy to international fame. It received the 1997 Booker Prize for Fiction and was listed as one of "The New York Times" Notable Books of the Year. It reached fourth position on "The New York Times" Bestsellers list for Independent Fiction. From the beginning, the book was also a commercial success: Roy received half a million pounds as an advance. It was published in May, and the book had been sold in 18 countries by the end of June.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: "The God of Small Things" received stellar reviews in major American newspapers such as "The New York Times" (a "dazzling first novel," "extraordinary", "at once so morally strenuous and so imaginatively supple") and the "Los Angeles Times" ("a novel of poignancy and considerable sweep"), and in Canadian publications such as the "Toronto Star" ("a lush, magical novel"). It was one of the five best books of 1997 according to "Time". Critical response in the United Kingdom was less positive, and the awarding of the Booker Prize caused controversy; Carmen Callil, a 1996 Booker Prize judge, called the novel "execrable", and "The Guardian" called the context "profoundly depressing". In India, the book was criticised especially for its unrestrained description of sexuality by E. K. Nayanar, then Chief Minister of Roy's home state Kerala, where she had to answer charges of obscenity.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Since the success of her novel, Roy has written a television serial, "The Banyan Tree", and the documentary "DAM/AGE: A Film with Arundhati Roy" (2002).


title: Arundhati Roy

text: In early 2007, Roy stated that she was working on a second novel, "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness".


title: Arundhati Roy

text: She contributed to "We Are One: A Celebration of Tribal Peoples", a book released in 2009, that explores the culture of peoples around the world, portraying their diversity and the threats to their existence. The royalties from the sale of this book go to the indigenous rights organisation Survival International.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: She has written numerous essays on contemporary politics and culture. In 2014, they were collected by Penguin India in a five-volume set. In 2019, her nonfiction was collected in a single volume, "My Seditious Heart", published by Haymarket Books.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: In October 2016, Penguin India and Hamish Hamilton UK announced that they would publish her second novel, "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness", in June 2017. The novel was chosen for the Man Booker Prize 2017 Long List. "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness" was nominated as a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in January 2018.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Since publishing "The God of Small Things" in 1997, Roy has spent most of her time on political activism and nonfiction (such as collections of essays about social causes). She is a spokesperson of the anti-globalization/alter-globalization movement and a vehement critic of neo-imperialism and U.S. foreign policy. She opposes India's policies toward nuclear weapons as well as industrialization and economic growth (which she describes as "encrypted with genocidal potential" in "Listening to Grasshoppers: Field Notes on Democracy"). She has also questioned the conduct of the Indian police and administration in the case of the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the Batla House encounter case, contending that the country has had a "shadowy history of suspicious terror attacks, murky investigations, and fake encounters".


title: Arundhati Roy

text: In an August 2008 interview with "The Times of India", Roy expressed her support for the independence of Kashmir from India after the massive demonstrations in 2008 in favour of independence took place—some 500,000 people rallied in Srinagar in the Kashmir part of Jammu and Kashmir state of India for independence on 18 August 2008, following the Amarnath land transfer controversy. According to her, the rallies were a sign that Kashmiris desired secession from India, and not union with India. She was criticised by the Indian National Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party for her remarks.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: All India Congress Committee member and senior Congress party leader Satya Prakash Malaviya asked Roy to withdraw her "irresponsible" statement, saying it was "contrary to historical facts".


title: Arundhati Roy

text: It would do better to brush up her knowledge of history and know that the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir had acceded to the Union of India after its erstwhile ruler Maharaja Hari Singh duly signed the Instrument of Accession on 26 October 1947. And the state, consequently has become as much an integral part of India as all the other erstwhile princely states have. She was charged with sedition along with separatist Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and others by Delhi Police for their "anti-India" speech at a 2010 convention on Kashmir: "Azadi: The Only Way".


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Roy has campaigned along with activist Medha Patkar against the Narmada dam project, saying that the dam will displace half a million people with little or no compensation, and will not provide the projected irrigation, drinking water, and other benefits. Roy donated her Booker prize money, as well as royalties from her books on the project, to the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Roy also appears in Franny Armstrong's "Drowned Out", a 2002 documentary about the project. Roy's opposition to the Narmada Dam project was criticised as "maligning Gujarat" by Congress and BJP leaders in Gujarat.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: In 2002, Roy responded to a contempt notice issued against her by the Supreme Court of India with an affidavit saying the court's decision to initiate contempt proceedings based on an unsubstantiated and flawed petition, while refusing to inquire into allegations of corruption in military contracting deals pleading an overload of cases, indicated a "disquieting inclination" to silence criticism and dissent using the power of contempt. The court found Roy's statement, which she refused to disavow or apologise for, constituted criminal contempt, sentenced her to a "symbolic" one day's imprisonment, and fined her 2500. Roy served the jail sentence and paid the fine rather than serve an additional three months for default.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Environmental historian Ramachandra Guha has been critical of Roy's Narmada dam activism. While acknowledging her "courage and commitment" to the cause, Guha writes that her advocacy is hyperbolic and self-indulgent, "Ms. Roy's tendency to exaggerate and simplify, her Manichaean view of the world, and her shrill hectoring tone, have given a bad name to environmental analysis". He faulted Roy's criticism of Supreme Court judges who were hearing a petition brought by the Narmada Bachao Andolan as careless and irresponsible.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Roy counters that her writing is intentional in its passionate, hysterical tone: "I "am" hysterical. I'm screaming from the bloody rooftops. And he and his smug little club are going 'Shhhh... you'll wake the neighbours!' I "want" to wake the neighbours, that's my whole point. I want everybody to open their eyes".


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Gail Omvedt and Roy have had fierce yet constructive discussions in open letters on Roy's strategy for the Narmada Dam movement. The activists disagree on whether to demand stopping the dam building altogether (Roy) or search for intermediate alternatives (Omvedt).


title: Arundhati Roy

text: In an opinion piece in "The Guardian" titled "The Algebra of Infinite Justice", Roy responded to the U.S. military invasion of Afghanistan, finding fault with the argument that this war would be a retaliation for the September 11 attacks: "The bombing of Afghanistan is not revenge for New York and Washington. It is yet another act of terror against the people of the world." According to her, U.S. president George W. Bush and UK prime minister Tony Blair were guilty of Orwellian doublethink:


title: Arundhati Roy

text: When he announced the air strikes, President George Bush said: "We're a peaceful nation." America's favourite ambassador, Tony Blair, (who also holds the portfolio of prime minister of the UK), echoed him: "We're a peaceful people." So now we know. Pigs are horses. Girls are boys. War is peace. She disputes U.S. claims of being a peaceful and freedom-loving nation, listing China and 19 Third World "countries that America has been at war with—and bombed—since World War II ", as well as previous U.S. support for the Taliban movement and the Northern Alliance (whose "track record is not very different from the Taliban's"). She does not spare the Taliban: "Now, as adults and rulers, the Taliban beat, stone, rape, and brutalise women, they don't seem to know what else to do with them."


title: Arundhati Roy

text: "In America, the arms industry, the oil industry, the major media networks, and, indeed, U.S. foreign policy, are all controlled by the same business combines".


title: Arundhati Roy

text: She puts the attacks on the World Trade Center and on Afghanistan on the same moral level, that of terrorism, and mourns the impossibility of beauty after 2001: "Will it be possible ever again to watch the slow, amazed blink of a newborn gecko in the sun, or whisper back to the marmot who has just whispered in your ear—without thinking of the World Trade Centre and Afghanistan?"


title: Arundhati Roy

text: In May 2003 she delivered a speech titled "Instant-Mix Imperial Democracy (Buy One, Get One Free)" at Riverside Church in New York City, in which she described the United States as a global empire that reserves the right to bomb any of its subjects at any time, deriving its legitimacy directly from God. The speech was an indictment of the U.S. actions relating to the Iraq War. In June 2005 she took part in the World Tribunal on Iraq, and in March 2006 she criticised President George W. Bush's visit to India, calling him a "war criminal".


title: Arundhati Roy

text: In response to India's testing of nuclear weapons in Pokhran, Rajasthan, Roy wrote "The End of Imagination" (1998), a critique of the Indian government's nuclear policies. It was published in her collection "The Cost of Living" (1999), in which she also crusaded against India's massive hydroelectric dam projects in the central and western states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: In August 2006, Roy, along with Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and others, signed a letter in "The Guardian" calling the 2006 Lebanon War a "war crime" and accusing Israel of "state terror". In 2007, Roy was one of more than 100 artists and writers who signed an open letter initiated by Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism and the South West Asian, North African Bay Area Queers calling on the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival "to honor calls for an international boycott of Israeli political and cultural institutions, by discontinuing Israeli consulate sponsorship of the LGBT film festival and not cosponsoring events with the Israeli consulate". During the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, she defended Hamas's rocket attacks, citing Palestinians' right to resistance.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Roy has raised questions about the investigation into the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the trial of the accused. According to her, Mohammad Afzal Guru was being scapegoated pointing at irregularities in the judicial and investigative process in the case and maintains the stance that the case remains unsolved. In her book about the hanging of Afzal Guru, she had even suggested that there was evidence of state complicity in the terrorist attack. In an editorial in "The Hindu", journalist Praveen Swami questioned her asserted evidence of state complicity as having been "cherry-picked for polemical effect". She had also called for the death sentence of Mohammad Afzal to be stayed while a parliamentary enquiry into these questions is conducted and denounced press coverage of the trial. BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar criticised Roy for calling convicted terrorist Mohammad Afzal a "prisoner-of-war" and called Arundhati a "prisoner of her own dogma". Afzal was hanged in 2013.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: In 2003, the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha, a social movement for Adivasi land rights in Kerala, organised a major land occupation of a piece of land of a former Eucalyptus plantation in the Muthanga Wildlife Reserve, on the border of Kerala and Karnataka. After 48 days, a police force was sent into the area to evict the occupants. One participant of the movement and a policeman were killed, and the leaders of the movement were arrested. Roy travelled to the area, visited the movement's leaders in jail, and wrote an open letter to the then Chief Minister of Kerala, A. K. Antony, saying "You have blood on your hands."


title: Arundhati Roy

text: In an opinion piece for "The Guardian", Roy argued that the November 2008 Mumbai attacks cannot be seen in isolation, but must be understood in the context of wider issues in the region's history and society such as widespread poverty, the Partition of India ("Britain's final, parting kick to us"), the atrocities committed during the 2002 Gujarat violence, and the ongoing Kashmir conflict. Despite this call for context, Roy stated in the article that she believes "nothing can justify terrorism" and calls terrorism "a heartless ideology". Roy warned against war with Pakistan, arguing that it is hard to "pin down the provenance of a terrorist strike and isolate it within the borders of a single nation state", and that war could lead to the "descent of the whole region into chaos".


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Her remarks were strongly criticised by Salman Rushdie and others, who condemned her for linking the Mumbai attacks with Kashmir and economic injustice against Muslims in India; Rushdie specifically criticised Roy for attacking the iconic status of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower. Indian writer Tavleen Singh called Roy's comments "the latest of her series of hysterical diatribes against India and all things Indian".


title: Arundhati Roy

text: In an opinion piece in "The Guardian", Roy pleaded for international attention to what she called a possible government-sponsored genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka. She cited reports of camps into which Tamils were being herded as part of what she called "a brazen, openly racist war". She also said that the "Government of Sri Lanka is on the verge of committing what could end up being genocide" and described the Sri Lankan IDP camps where Tamil civilians are being held as concentration camps. The Sri Lankan writer Ruvani Freeman called Roy's remarks "ill-informed and hypocritical" and criticised her for "whitewashing the atrocities of the LTTE". Roy has said of such accusations: "I cannot admire those whose vision can only accommodate justice for their own and not for everybody. However, I do believe that the LTTE and its fetish for violence was cultured in the crucible of monstrous, racist, injustice that the Sri Lankan government and to a great extent Sinhala society visited on the Tamil people for decades".


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Roy has criticised the Indian government's armed actions against the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency in India, calling it "war on the poorest people in the country". According to her, the government has "abdicated its responsibility to the people" and launched the offensive against Naxals to aid the corporations with whom it has signed Memoranda of Understanding. While she has received support from various quarters for her views, Roy's description of the Maoists as "Gandhians" raised a controversy. In other statements, she has described Naxalites as patriots "of a kind" who are "fighting to implement the Constitution, (while) the government is vandalising it".


title: Arundhati Roy

text: In November 2010, Roy, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and five others were brought up on charges of sedition by the Delhi Police. The filing of the First Information Report came following a directive from a local court on a petition filed by Sushil Pandit who alleged that Geelani and Roy made anti-India speeches at a conference on "Azadi-the Only Way" on 21 October 2010. In Roy's words, "Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. It is a historical fact. Even the Indian government has accepted this". A Delhi city court directed the police to respond to the demand for a criminal case after the central government declined to charge Roy, saying that the charges were inappropriate.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: On 21 August 2011, at the height of Anna Hazare's anti-corruption campaign, Roy criticised Hazare and his movement in an opinion piece published in "The Hindu". In the article, she questioned Hazare's secular credentials, pointing out the campaign's corporate backing, its suspicious timing, Hazare's silence on private-sector corruption, expressing her fear that the Lokpal will only end up creating "two oligarchies, instead of just one". She stated that while "his means may be Gandhian, his demands are certainly not", and alleged that by "demonising only the Government they" are preparing to call for "more privatisation, more access to public infrastructure and India's natural resources", adding that it "may not be long before Corporate Corruption is made legal and renamed a Lobbying Fee". Roy also accused the electronic media of blowing the campaign out of proportion. In an interview with "Kindle Magazine", Roy pointed out the role of media hype and target audience in determining how well hunger strikes "work as a tool of political mobilization" by noting the disparity in the attention Hazare's fast has received in contrast to the decade-long fast of Irom Sharmila "to demand the repealing of a law that allows non-commissioned officers to kill on suspicion—a law that has led to so much suffering." Roy's comparison of the Jan Lokpal Bill with the Maoists, claiming both sought "the overthrow of the Indian State", met with resentment from members of Team Anna. Medha Patkar reacted sharply calling Roy's comments "highly misplaced" and chose to emphasise the "peaceful, non-violent" nature of the movement. Roy also has stated that "an 'anti-corruption' campaign is a catch-all campaign. It includes everybody from the extreme left to the extreme right and also the extremely corrupt. No one's going to say they are for corruption after all...I'm not against a strong anti-corruption bill, but corruption is just a manifestation of a problem, not the problem itself."


title: Arundhati Roy

text: In 2013, Roy called Narendra Modi's nomination as prime minister a "tragedy". She said business houses were supporting his candidacy because he was the "most militaristic and aggressive" candidate. She has argued that Modi has control over India to a degree unrecognized by most people in the Western world: "He "is" the system. He has the backing of the media. He has the backing of the army, the courts, a majoritarian popular vote... Every institution has fallen in line." She has expressed deep despair for the future, calling Modi's long-term plans for a highly centralized Hindu state "suicidal" for the multicultural subcontinent. On 28 April 2021, "The Guardian" published an article by Roy describing the Indian government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a "crime against humanity", in which "The Washington Post" said Roy "slammed Modi for his handling of the pandemic". Roy's op-ed was also published in "The Wire" with the title "It's Not Enough to Say the Govt Has Failed. We Are Witnessing a Crime Against Humanity."


title: Arundhati Roy

text: On 25 December 2019, while speaking at Delhi University, Roy urged people to mislead authorities during the upcoming enumeration by the National Population Register, which she said can serve as a database for the National Register of Citizens. The remarks were criticized by the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A complaint against her was registered at Tilak Marg police station, Delhi, under sections 295A, 504, 153 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code. Roy responded, "What I was proposing was civil disobedience with a smile", and claimed her remarks were misrepresented.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Roy was awarded the 1997 Booker Prize for her novel "The God of Small Things". The award carried a prize of approximately US$30,000 and a citation that noted, "The book keeps all the promises that it makes". Roy donated the prize money she received, as well as royalties from her book, to human rights causes. Prior to the Booker, Roy won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay in 1989, for the screenplay of "In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones", in which she captured the anguish among the students prevailing in professional institutions. In 2015, she returned the national award in protest against religious intolerance and the growing violence by rightwing groups in India.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: In 2002, she won the Lannan Foundation's Cultural Freedom Award for her work "about civil societies that are adversely affected by the world's most powerful governments and corporations", in order "to celebrate her life and her ongoing work in the struggle for freedom, justice and cultural diversity".


title: Arundhati Roy

text: In 2003, she was awarded "special recognition" as a Woman of Peace at the Global Exchange Human Rights Awards in San Francisco with Bianca Jagger, Barbara Lee, and Kathy Kelly.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: Roy was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize in May 2004 for her work in social campaigns and her advocacy of non-violence. That same year she was awarded the Orwell Award, along with Seymour Hersh, by the National Council of Teachers of English.


title: Arundhati Roy

text: In January 2006, she was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award, a national award from India's Academy of Letters, for her collection of essays on contemporary issues, "The Algebra of Infinite Justice", but she declined to accept it "in protest against the Indian Government toeing the US line by 'violently and ruthlessly pursuing policies of brutalisation of industrial workers, increasing militarisation and economic neo-liberalisation'".


title: Roswell, New Mexico (TV series)

text: Roswell, New Mexico is an American science fiction drama television series, named after the city of Roswell, New Mexico. Developed by Carina Adly Mackenzie for The CW, it debuted as a midseason entry during the 2018–2019 television season on January 15, 2019. The series is the second television adaptation of the "Roswell High" book series by Melinda Metz. In January 2020, The CW renewed the series for a third season which premiered on July 26, 2021. In February 2021, ahead of its third season premiere, the series was renewed for a fourth season which premiered on June 6, 2022. In May 2022, it was announced that the fourth season would be its last.


title: Roswell, New Mexico (TV series)

text: After returning to her hometown of Roswell, New Mexico, the daughter of undocumented immigrants discovers her teenage crush is an alien who has kept his unearthly abilities hidden his entire life. She protects his secret as the two reconnect, but when a violent attack points to a greater alien presence on Earth, the politics of fear and hatred threaten to expose him.


title: Roswell, New Mexico (TV series)

text: In January 2018, The CW ordered the show to pilot, with Julie Plec set to direct. Production companies involved with the pilot included Amblin Television, Bender Brown Productions, CBS Television Studios and Warner Bros. Television. The CW ordered the show to series on May 11, 2018. On April 24, 2019, The CW renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on March 16, 2020. On January 7, 2020, the series was renewed for a third season. On February 3, 2021, ahead of its third season premiere, The CW renewed the series for a fourth season. The third season premiered on July 26, 2021. The fourth season premiered on June 6, 2022. On May 12, 2022, The CW announced that the fourth season will be its last.


title: Roswell, New Mexico (TV series)

text: On February 16, 2018, Jeanine Mason was cast in the lead role of Liz Ortecho. In early March, the rest of the cast was filled out, with Nathan Parsons as Max Evans, Lily Cowles as Isobel, Michael Vlamis as Michael Guerin, Tyler Blackburn as Alex Manes, Heather Hemmens as Maria DeLuca, and Michael Trevino as Kyle Valenti. Karan Oberoi was cast in the final series regular role of Noah Bracken on March 27, 2018. Trevor St. John was cast in a recurring role as Alex's father on March 12, 2018. In April 2019, Amber Midthunder, who played Liz's older sister Rosa in a recurring capacity in the first season, was promoted to the main cast for the second season. In May 2020, Tanner Novlan was cast in the recurring role of Alex's brother, Gregory, first appearing in the tenth episode of the second season. At the end of that year, it was confirmed that he would reprise the role in the third season.


title: Roswell, New Mexico (TV series)

text: Filming for the pilot took place in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Production on the pilot begin on March 14, 2018, and ended on March 30, 2018. The rest of the first-season episodes began filming August 13, 2018, in Las Vegas, New Mexico; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Filming on the third season began on October 15, 2020. Filming for the fourth season started in August 2021 and was scheduled to finish in January 2022.


title: Roswell, New Mexico (TV series)

text: The series holds an approval rating of 55% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 6.22/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The website's critic consensus reads: ""Roswell, New Mexico" admirably adds modern political context to its premise, but this reboot hews too closely to its predecessor to transcend the pitfalls of a redundant retread." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 58 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Roswell, New Mexico (TV series)

text: Warner Archive Collection released a manufacture-on-demand DVD of the first season on January 28, 2020.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: The 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 62nd season of Formula One motor racing, recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) – the governing body of motorsport – as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The championship was contested over eighteen races commencing in Australia on 16 March and ending in Brazil on 2 November. The 2008 season saw the debut of the Singapore Grand Prix, which was held at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Marina Bay, Singapore and was the first Formula One race held at night. The European Grand Prix moved to a new venue at the Valencia Street Circuit, in Valencia, Spain.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: Lewis Hamilton won the Drivers' title by a point – by overtaking Toyota's Timo Glock on the final corner of the final lap of the final Grand Prix of the season to claim the required 5th-place finish to win the championship – from Brazilian Felipe Massa, while Massa's teammate, the 2007 world champion Kimi Räikkönen, was ranked third, with two wins. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro won the Constructors' title. In winning the Drivers' title, Hamilton became the youngest driver ever to win the title (a record since surpassed by Sebastian Vettel winning the Drivers' title) and the first black driver to do so. He was also the first British champion since Damon Hill in .


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: Eleven teams competed in the championship, although Super Aguri withdrew on 6 May from the 2008 Formula One season due to financial troubles, completing four races. New technical rules for 2008 included the banning of traction control after it was re-introduced in , at the Spanish Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso won the first race held in Singapore; however, only after teammate Piquet deliberately crashed to cause a Safety Car period which helped Alonso's strategy. When Piquet admitted this to the press in Renault team-principal Briatore resigned. Some journalists dubbed this "Crashgate".


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: This was the last season for the Honda team before they pulled out of F1 later in December due to the financial difficulties. Honda returned as an engine supplier between 2015 and 2021. Ross Brawn then bought the team, and renamed it to Brawn GP in February using the Mercedes-Benz engines. This was also the last Formula One season to race with grooved tyres, used since , before slick tyres returned to Formula One in .


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: It was the first time in the history of Formula One that all teams used the same two drivers throughout the season. As of 2022, this season marks the last World Drivers' Championship for McLaren, though Hamilton himself has since won six further drivers' titles at Mercedes.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: There was a total of seven teams signed up to compete in the championship through an agreement with Formula One Management, with the other four major manufacturers in the Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association (GPMA) having signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix. All teams in both groups have two spots each on the 2008 grid. The following teams and drivers competed in the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship: Teams competed with tyres supplied by Bridgestone.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: On 14 February 2006 the FIA president Max Mosley announced that all teams interested in competing in the 2008 World Championship would have a seven-day window during which they would have to submit an application to compete. All eleven current teams applied, as well as several others. On 28 April 2006 the FIA announced that all of the current teams' applications for the 2008 season were granted, along with a new team Prodrive, fronted by the ex-BAR and -Benetton principal David Richards. There were 21 applications in total, several new teams applying included European Minardi F1 Team Ltd, Jordan Grand Prix, Direxiv and Carlin Motorsport. However, despite the Prodrive application being accepted, Richards later announced that the team would not race in 2008 due to a dispute over the legality of customer cars.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: Double world champion Fernando Alonso left McLaren after a single season to rejoin Renault. He was replaced at McLaren by Heikki Kovalainen, who had replaced Alonso at Renault the previous season. Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault's other driver from 2007, moved to the newly renamed Force India team, in place of erstwhile Spyker driver Sakon Yamamoto, who became Renault's test development driver. Fisichella's place at Renault was taken by the team's test driver Nelson Piquet Jr. (son of the three-time World Drivers' Champion Nelson Piquet).


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: After an unsuccessful test for Force India in December 2007, Ralf Schumacher left Toyota to drive for Mücke Motorsport in the DTM series. 2007 GP2 champion Timo Glock, who had also been the test driver for BMW Sauber, returned to a Formula One race seat in place of Schumacher. Christian Klien, previously the test driver for Honda, and the Estonian driver Marko Asmer took up test driver roles at BMW Sauber.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: Sébastien Bourdais, who won his fourth consecutive Champ Car title in 2007, joined Toro Rosso in 2008, replacing Vitantonio Liuzzi, who moved to Force India as their test driver.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: The FIA World Council approved the 2008 schedule on 24 October 2007. Singapore was Formula One's first ever night race.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: The first multi-team test session started in Jerez on 14 January 2008. Ferrari, McLaren and Toyota all tested their 2008 cars. Williams tested a modified version of the FW29 whilst Renault and Red Bull tested their 2007 entries. Honda, Toro Rosso, Super Aguri and Force India also attended. BMW Sauber was not in attendance as they were launching the F1.08. Testing then moved to Valencia on 22 January. Renault and Williams were the only teams on the track for the first day of testing. They were both testing their 2008 challengers. They were joined by every other team except Super Aguri for the next three days. 1 February saw testing move to Barcelona. Again, all teams but Super Aguri were in action. The first day of testing saw Kazuki Nakajima crash his FW30. It also saw racist abuse directed at Lewis Hamilton. Williams withdrew from testing on day three to try to fix the problem that caused Nakajima's crash. Meanwhile, on 4 February, Ferrari and Toyota moved to Bahrain to continue testing the F2008 and TF108.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: On 12 February testing returned to Jerez. Red Bull and Williams were the only teams in action on the first day. The second day of testing saw all teams but Ferrari and Toyota (who were still in Bahrain) attending. After postponing their SA08 launch and cancelling testing at Valencia, Super Aguri turned up to test their SA07B interim car for the first time.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: Testing moved to Barcelona on 19 February. The first day of tests got underway in rain with Williams, Red Bull, Renault and Toyota present. Nico Rosberg topped the time sheets for Williams. BMW were instead testing on their own in Jerez. Super Aguri did not turn up despite promising a Q&A with the media. They blamed circumstances beyond their control. On the second day Ferrari turned up and topped the time sheets with Felipe Massa on another wet track. McLaren joined on the final day and Williams finished on top with Nakajima. The final multi-team test began on 25 February with every team but Super Aguri attending. Lewis Hamilton topped the time sheets faster than both Kimi Räikkönen and Michael Schumacher. McLaren continued to outpace Ferrari on day two with both drivers on top and Toyota were fastest with Jarno Trulli on the final day.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: Hamilton took pole and his fifth career victory at the first race in Australia. BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld finished second while Williams's Nico Rosberg sealed his first podium finish. The race saw only seven drivers finish the race, reduced to six after Honda's Rubens Barrichello was disqualified for exiting the pits under a red light. Despite an engine problem, Toro Rosso debutant Sébastien Bourdais completed over 90% of the race distance, earning him points in seventh.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: A grid penalty for impeding drivers and a pit stop mishap left Hamilton in fifth place at Malaysia, while Räikkönen took his 16th career victory after he qualified in second position. BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica finished second for the first time with McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen third.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: Hamilton qualified third at Bahrain despite a crash, with Kubica taking his first pole position. Massa won the race with teammate Räikkönen in second. Kubica made it onto the podium, while Hamilton had a bad race, finishing 13th. He was back in the points at Barcelona, while Räikkönen took Ferrari's third consecutive victory, Massa making it another 1–2.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: Massa took pole and won for the third successive Istanbul race, Hamilton splitting the Ferraris on the podium. At Monaco, Ferrari locked out the front row with Massa on pole, but on a bad day for Ferrari, with Räikkönen ruining what could have been Sutil's chance to score, Hamilton won the race despite a mid-race barrier scrape causing him a puncture. Kubica finished second and Massa was third.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: Hamilton was on pole position at Montreal for the first time since the beginning of the season, a drought of five races, however a pit lane mishap involving himself and Räikkönen eliminated both drivers from the race. Kubica (who also got caught up in the mess but made it through safely) won for the first time with teammate Heidfeld second.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: Räikkönen started the French Grand Prix on pole, but exhaust problems allowed teammate Massa to get the better of him, and he took his third season victory. Hamilton won back-to-back at Silverstone and Hockenheim. Kovalainen took advantage of Massa's engine failure to take his first career victory at Hungary.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: The new Valencia Street Circuit was the new host of the European Grand Prix, Massa taking pole and winning with Hamilton second. At Belgium, Hamilton qualified on pole and finished in first, though he received a 25-second penalty for gaining an advantage during a scrap with Räikkönen. Massa was the classified winner.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Vettel became the youngest ever pole man and victor after a stunning weekend at Monza. The race saw a downfall for the big teams, Kovalainen doing a good job for second.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: Singapore hosted its first ever F1 race and F1's first ever night race, taking place at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Massa qualified on pole, however, the race was to be a major blow to his championship. On lap 12, while Massa was leading, Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. purposely crashed (see 'Race-fixing controversy' below), although Piquet never released this until dropped from the team after the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, assisting teammate Fernando Alonso, who went on to win. He was victorious from a fuel feed problem in Q2 leaving him 15th on the grid, though he still out-qualified Piquet Jr. Rosberg finished on the podium for the second and last time in 2008. Massa was leading ahead of Hamilton, however, when he pitted under the safety car his fuel hose remained attached meaning that the pit crew had to run down the pit lane to detach it. This ruined Massa's race putting him in last position while Hamilton gained 6 points for 3rd place.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: Alonso won again in Japan with Kubica second. Hamilton started the race on pole, however he was given a drive through penalty for running wide at the start and shortly afterwards was knocked into a spin by Felipe Massa. He was back to winning ways for the first time since Hockenheim, though, victorious at Shanghai.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: At this point, Hamilton had a seven-point lead over Massa, meaning if Massa was to be the victor at his home race in Brazil, Hamilton would need to finish fifth, and he was holding this position though being stalked by Vettel, who eventually passed him on lap 69, as Massa won to momentarily take the title. Hamilton eventually regained fifth place, however, by passing Glock, who was struggling on dry tyres, and finished fifth to take the title by one point from Massa.


title: 2008 Formula One World Championship

text: In a scandal that became known as "Crashgate" in the media, during the 2009 season around the time of the Belgium Grand Prix, allegations by former Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. about his crash in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix led to charges of race-fixing against Renault and the departure of team boss Flavio Briatore and engineering director Pat Symonds.


title: Opera

text: Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor. Although musical theatre is closely related to opera, the two are considered to be distinct from one another.


title: Opera

text: Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition. Originally understood as an entirely sung piece, in contrast to a play with songs, opera has come to include , including some that include spoken dialogue such as "Singspiel" and "Opéra comique". In traditional number opera, singers employ two styles of singing: recitative, a speech-inflected style, and self-contained arias. The 19th century saw the rise of the continuous music drama.


title: Opera

text: Opera originated in Italy at the end of the 16th century (with Jacopo Peri's mostly lost "Dafne", produced in Florence in 1598) especially from works by Claudio Monteverdi, notably "L'Orfeo", and soon spread through the rest of Europe: Heinrich Schütz in Germany, Jean-Baptiste Lully in France, and Henry Purcell in England all helped to establish their national traditions in the 17th century. In the 18th century, Italian opera continued to dominate most of Europe (except France), attracting foreign composers such as George Frideric Handel. Opera seria was the most prestigious form of Italian opera, until Christoph Willibald Gluck reacted against its artificiality with his "reform" operas in the 1760s. The most renowned figure of late 18th-century opera is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who began with opera seria but is most famous for his Italian comic operas, especially "The Marriage of Figaro" ("Le nozze di Figaro"), "Don Giovanni", and "Così fan tutte", as well as "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" ("The Abduction from the Seraglio"), and "The Magic Flute" ("Die Zauberflöte"), landmarks in the German tradition.


title: Opera

text: The first third of the 19th century saw the high point of the bel canto style, with Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini all creating signature works of that style. It also saw the advent of grand opera typified by the works of Daniel Auber and Giacomo Meyerbeer as well as Carl Maria von Weber's introduction of German Romantische Oper (German Romantic Opera). The mid-to-late 19th century was a golden age of opera, led and dominated by Giuseppe Verdi in Italy and Richard Wagner in Germany. The popularity of opera continued through the verismo era in Italy and contemporary French opera through to Giacomo Puccini and Richard Strauss in the early 20th century. During the 19th century, parallel operatic traditions emerged in central and eastern Europe, particularly in Russia and Bohemia. The 20th century saw many experiments with modern styles, such as atonality and serialism (Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg), neoclassicism (Igor Stravinsky), and minimalism (Philip Glass and John Adams). With the rise of recording technology, singers such as Enrico Caruso and Maria Callas became known to much wider audiences that went beyond the circle of opera fans. Since the invention of radio and television, operas were also performed on (and written for) these media. Beginning in 2006, a number of major opera houses began to present live high-definition video transmissions of their performances in cinemas all over the world. Since 2009, complete performances can be downloaded and are live streamed.


title: Opera

text: The words of an opera are known as the libretto (meaning "small book"). Some composers, notably Wagner, have written their own libretti; others have worked in close collaboration with their librettists, e.g. Mozart with Lorenzo Da Ponte. Traditional opera, often referred to as "number opera", consists of two modes of singing: recitative, the plot-driving passages sung in a style designed to imitate and emphasize the inflections of speech, and aria (an "air" or formal song) in which the characters express their emotions in a more structured melodic style. Vocal duets, trios and other ensembles often occur, and choruses are used to comment on the action. In some forms of opera, such as singspiel, opéra comique, operetta, and semi-opera, the recitative is mostly replaced by spoken dialogue. Melodic or semi-melodic passages occurring in the midst of, or instead of, recitative, are also referred to as arioso. The terminology of the various kinds of operatic voices is described in detail below. During both the Baroque and Classical periods, recitative could appear in two basic forms, each of which was accompanied by a different instrumental ensemble: "secco" (dry) recitative, sung with a free rhythm dictated by the accent of the words, accompanied only by "basso continuo", which was usually a harpsichord and a cello; or "accompagnato" (also known as "strumentato") in which the orchestra provided accompaniment. Over the 18th century, arias were increasingly accompanied by the orchestra. By the 19th century, "accompagnato" had gained the upper hand, the orchestra played a much bigger role, and Wagner revolutionized opera by abolishing almost all distinction between aria and recitative in his quest for what Wagner termed "endless melody". Subsequent composers have tended to follow Wagner's example, though some, such as Stravinsky in his "The Rake's Progress" have bucked the trend. The changing role of the orchestra in opera is described in more detail below.


title: Opera

text: The Italian word "opera" means "work", both in the sense of the labour done and the result produced. The Italian word derives from the Latin word "opera", a singular noun meaning "work" and also the plural of the noun "opus". According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the Italian word was first used in the sense "composition in which poetry, dance, and music are combined" in 1639; the first recorded English usage in this sense dates to 1648.


title: Opera

text: "Dafne" by Jacopo Peri was the earliest composition considered opera, as understood today. It was written around 1597, largely under the inspiration of an elite circle of literate Florentine humanists who gathered as the "Camerata de' Bardi". Significantly, "Dafne" was an attempt to revive the classical Greek drama, part of the wider revival of antiquity characteristic of the Renaissance. The members of the Camerata considered that the "chorus" parts of Greek dramas were originally sung, and possibly even the entire text of all roles; opera was thus conceived as a way of "restoring" this situation. "Dafne," however, is lost. A later work by Peri, "Euridice", dating from 1600, is the first opera score to have survived until the present day. However, the honour of being the first opera still to be regularly performed goes to Claudio Monteverdi's "L'Orfeo", composed for the court of Mantua in 1607. The Mantua court of the Gonzagas, employers of Monteverdi, played a significant role in the origin of opera employing not only court singers of the concerto delle donne (till 1598), but also one of the first actual "opera singers", Madama Europa.


title: Opera

text: Opera did not remain confined to court audiences for long. In 1637, the idea of a "season" (often during the carnival) of publicly attended operas supported by ticket sales emerged in Venice. Monteverdi had moved to the city from Mantua and composed his last operas, "Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria" and "L'incoronazione di Poppea", for the Venetian theatre in the 1640s. His most important follower Francesco Cavalli helped spread opera throughout Italy. In these early Baroque operas, broad comedy was blended with tragic elements in a mix that jarred some educated sensibilities, sparking the first of opera's many reform movements, sponsored by the Arcadian Academy, which came to be associated with the poet Metastasio, whose libretti helped crystallize the genre of opera seria, which became the leading form of Italian opera until the end of the 18th century. Once the Metastasian ideal had been firmly established, comedy in Baroque-era opera was reserved for what came to be called opera buffa. Before such elements were forced out of opera seria, many libretti had featured a separately unfolding comic plot as sort of an "opera-within-an-opera". One reason for this was an attempt to attract members of the growing merchant class, newly wealthy, but still not as cultured as the nobility, to the public opera houses. These separate plots were almost immediately resurrected in a separately developing tradition that partly derived from the commedia dell'arte, a long-flourishing improvisatory stage tradition of Italy. Just as intermedi had once been performed in between the acts of stage plays, operas in the new comic genre of "intermezzi", which developed largely in Naples in the 1710s and 1720s, were initially staged during the intermissions of opera seria. They became so popular, however, that they were soon being offered as separate productions.


title: Opera

text: Opera seria was elevated in tone and highly stylised in form, usually consisting of "secco" recitative interspersed with long "da capo" arias. These afforded great opportunity for virtuosic singing and during the golden age of "opera seria" the singer really became the star. The role of the hero was usually written for the high-pitched male castrato voice, which was produced by castration of the singer before puberty, which prevented a boy's larynx from being transformed at puberty. Castrati such as Farinelli and Senesino, as well as female sopranos such as Faustina Bordoni, became in great demand throughout Europe as "opera seria" ruled the stage in every country except France. Farinelli was one of the most famous singers of the 18th century. Italian opera set the Baroque standard. Italian libretti were the norm, even when a German composer like Handel found himself composing the likes of "Rinaldo" and "Giulio Cesare" for London audiences. Italian libretti remained dominant in the classical period as well, for example in the operas of Mozart, who wrote in Vienna near the century's close. Leading Italian-born composers of opera seria include Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Vivaldi and Nicola Porpora.