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ITN
Eavis defends Jay-Z choice
Eavis defends Jay-Z choice
Glastonbury Festival organisers have defended their decision to hire hip-hop star Jay-Z to headline the event.Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher has blamed the failure to sell all the festival tickets on the decision to get the US rap mogul to perform.In response to his comments, co-organiser Emily Eavis said the festival was "delighted" when it booked Jay-Z.She said: "In truth, we felt honoured to have him on board, and believe that he is absolutely the right act for our festival."First, we were blown away by selling 100,000 tickets on the first day of sale, especially given that it was a snowy Sunday in April."Second, Jay-Z is far from the first hip-hop artist to perform at Glastonbury, as one might assume from some strangely hysterical press reports."She said the festival had a long history of attracting top rap artists and insisted it was not a bid to move the festival away from traditional supporters."There is no reason why we should not have the greatest living hip-hop artist on at Glastonbury; in fact, he is exactly the sort of act we should have performing."Gallagher previously said it was "wrong" to have a hip-hop headliner.Oasis headlined the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 1995 and 2004, with the event selling out on both occasions.
ITN | April 15, 2008
