TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you're given passages that contain mentions of names of people, places, or things. Some of these mentions refer to the same person, place, or thing. Your job is to write questions that evaluate one's understanding of such references. Good questions are expected to link pronouns (she, her, him, his, their, etc.) or other mentions to people, places, or things to which they may refer. Do not ask questions that can be answered correctly without understanding the paragraph or having multiple answers. Avoid questions that do not link phrases referring to the same entity. For each of your questions, the answer should be one or more phrases in the paragraph, and it should be unambiguous.
PROBLEM: Passage: In January 1980, Michael Stipe met Peter Buck in Wuxtry Records, the Athens record store where Buck worked. The pair discovered that they shared similar tastes in music, particularly in punk rock and protopunk artists like Patti Smith, Television, and the Velvet Underground. Stipe said, "It turns out that I was buying all the records that [Buck] was saving for himself." Through mutual friend Kathleen O'Brien, Stipe and Buck then met fellow University of Georgia students Mike Mills and Bill Berry, who had played music together since high school and lived together in Georgia. The quartet agreed to collaborate on several songs; Stipe later commented that "there was never any grand plan behind any of it". Their still-unnamed band spent a few months rehearsing in a deconsecrated Episcopal church in Athens, and played its first show on April 5, 1980, supporting The Side Effects at O'Brien's birthday party held in the same church, performing a mix of originals and 1960s and 1970s covers. After considering Twisted Kites, Cans of Piss, and Negro Eyes, the band settled on "R.E.M." (which is an acronym for rapid eye movement, the dream stage of sleep), which Stipe selected at random from a dictionary.The band members eventually dropped out of school to focus on their developing group. They found a manager in Jefferson Holt, a record store clerk who was so impressed by an R.E.M. performance in his hometown of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, that he moved to Athens. R.E.M.'s success was almost immediate in Athens and surrounding areas; the band drew progressively larger crowds for shows, which caused some resentment in the Athens music scene. Over the next year and a half, R.E.M. toured throughout the Southern United States. Touring was arduous because a touring circuit for alternative rock bands did not then exist. The group toured in an old blue van driven by Holt, and lived on a food allowance of $2 each per day.During April 1981, R.E.M. recorded its first single, "Radio Free Europe", at producer Mitch Easter's Drive-In Studios in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Initially distributing it as a four-track demo tape to clubs, record labels and magazines, the single was released in July 1981 on the local independent record label Hib-Tone with an initial pressing of 1,000 copies—600 of which were sent out as promotional copies. The single quickly sold out, and another 6,000 copies were pressed due to popular demand, despite the original pressing leaving off the record label's contact details. Despite its limited pressing, the single garnered critical acclaim, and was listed as one of the ten best singles of the year by The New York Times.

SOLUTION: What is the name of the single distributed on the band by a four-track demo at clubs?

PROBLEM: Passage: Before the album's release, M.I.A. said that audiences found it hard to dance to political songs. This made her keen to produce music that sounded like pop but addressed important issues.  "Sunshowers", with its lyrical references to snipers, murder and the PLO, was written in response to the Tamil Tigers being considered terrorists in some quarters. She said, "you can't separate the world into two parts like that, good and evil. America has successfully tied all these pockets of independence struggles, revolutions and extremists into one big notion of terrorism." The lyrics caused controversy; MTV censored the sounds of gunshots in the song and MTV US refused to broadcast the video unless a disclaimer that disavowed the lyrics was added. The BBC described the lyrics as "always fluid and never too rhetorical" and sounding like "snatches of overheard conversation". The songs deal with topics ranging from sex to drug dealing.Musically, the album incorporates elements of baile funk, grime, hip hop, and ragga. Peter Shapiro, writing in The Times, summed up the album's musical influences as "anything as long as it has a beat". Some tracks drew on Tamil film music, which M.I.A. listened to while growing up. Shapiro described her music as a "multi-genre pile-up" and likened it to her graphic art, calling it "vivid, gaudy, lo-fi and deceptively candyfloss". In a 2005 interview, when asked about the difficulty in categorising her sound, M.I.A. explained, "Influences are crossing over into each other's puddles. I just accept where I'm at, I accept where the world is at and I accept how we receive and digest information. I get that somebody in Tokyo is on the internet instant messaging, and someone in the favelas is on the internet. Everybody seems to know a little bit about everything and that's how we process information now. This just reflects that.".

SOLUTION: What year did the artist who released the song "Sunshowers" say in an interview "I just accept where I'm at"?

PROBLEM: Passage: Rihanna first performed "Diamonds" on November 7, 2012, at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, where she wore black lingerie with black thigh high stockings and ankle boots; the show was aired by CBS on December 4. On November 10, Rihanna performed the song on Saturday Night Live. New York magazine's Joe Reid said that her performance was the highlight of the show's episode and favored the digitized background in particular, which he described as "overt weirdness" that was ultimately "pretty endearing". Tess Lynch of Grantland was impressed by Rihanna's "exceptional singing" and wrote that the background imagery was a "powerful" and "crazy spectacle that astonished viewers". Lynch agreed with episode host Anne Hathaway, who had said that Rihanna was "a goddess." "Diamonds" was included on the set list for Rihanna's 2012 promotional tour, the 777 Tour.On November 25, the singer performed the song on series 9 of The X Factor in the UK. The performance featured the singer dressed in a black gown on a square platform. As the chorus began, water effects poured down around her on the outside of the stage. By the final chorus, the water centered into the platform and wet the singer. Hayes of Irish Independent praised the performance and stated that it "put everything – and everybody – else to shame." On December 8, Rihanna performed the song on Wetten, dass..? ("Wanna bet that..?") in Germany. She also performed "Diamonds" on La Chanson de l'année ("The song of the Year") in France, on December 10, 2012, which was broadcast on December 29, 2012. The single was included as the closing song on the set list of Rihanna's fifth worldwide tour titled the Diamonds World Tour (2013).Rihanna performed "Diamonds" at the 2013 American Music Awards on November 24, 2013, during the acceptance of the Icon Award. The performance featured the singer wearing a long black dress plunged down to her navel and diamond adornments in her hair. She was joined by an orchestra that included a conductor which accompanied her as a rock band produced the beat. Kory Grow of Rolling Stone magazine labeled the performance as "stunning". Additionally, out of a total sixteen performances at the ceremony, he placed Rihanna's rendition of "Diamonds" at number one writing, "she gave a performance that showed she could live up to the honor". Los Angeles Times' Mikael Wood stated that during the performance Rihanna dominated the stage pointing that she looked like a young version of Grace Jones. The single was included on the set list of Rihanna's joint 2014 tour with rapper Eminem, The Monster Tour. Rihanna performed "Diamonds" on November 11, 2014 during the Concert for Valor held in Washington, D.C. Rihanna performed the single during her concerts part of the Anti World Tour in 2016.

SOLUTION:
What is the last name of the writer that said the performer of the song "Diamonds" looked like a young version of Grace Jones?