Following is a summary of current entertainment news
briefs.
Taylor Swift reigns over Billboard 200, Meek Mill debuts
high
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Country-pop star Taylor Swift held
onto the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday
as her latest album “Red” kept rapper Meek Mill from the top
spot. “Red,” Swift’s fourth studio album safely took the No. 1
position after selling 344,000 copies according to figures from
Nielsen SoundScan.
A Minute With: Taylor Lautner finding new dawn after
“Twilight”
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – As dusk sets on the “Twilight” saga
with the final film, actor Taylor Lautner is looking at a new
dawn for the next stage in his career. Lautner, 20, shot to
fame after being cast as werewolf Jacob Black in the “Twilight”
films, entangled in a torrid love triangle with Kristen
Stewart’s Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson’s vampire Edward
Cullen. He became a household name and pin-up for his clean-cut
good looks and shirtless scenes.
Look who’s talking! Kirstie Alley calls Travolta “greatest
love”
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actress Kirstie Alley described on
Wednesday how she fell in love more than 20 years ago with John
Travolta, and rejected widespread Hollywood speculation that
the “Grease” star is secretly gay. Alley, former star of the
1980s TV comedy “Cheers,” told ABC television journalist
Barbara Walters that she fell for both Travolta and actor
Patrick Swayze in the 1980s, although their romances never got
physical.
“Dad’s Army” star Clive Dunn dies aged 92
LONDON (Reuters) – British actor Clive Dunn, best known as
a bumbling old butcher in the popular World War Two sitcom
“Dad’s Army”, has died, his agent said on Wednesday. Dunn
passed away on Tuesday, Peter Charlesworth said, adding that he
believed the actor died in Portugal where he has lived for many
years. He was 92.
Death of the cassette tape much exaggerated
LONDON (Reuters) – The widening gap between the amount of
data the world produces and our capacity to store it is giving
a new lease of life to the humble cassette tape. Although
consumers have abandoned the audio cassette in favor of the
ubiquitous iPod, organizations with large amounts of data, from
patient records to capacity-hungry video archives, have
continued to use tape as a cheap and secure storage medium.
“Ode to Joy” for Royal Philharmonic Society’s 200th
LONDON (Reuters) – The British music society that
commissioned Beethoven to write his Ninth Symphony and its “Ode
to Joy” announced on Wednesday it will celebrate the society’s
2013 bicentenary by showing off its manuscript of the work on
both sides of the Atlantic. The Royal Philharmonic Society,
founded in London in January, 1813, also will sponsor
performances of Beethoven’s last symphony, splash out on
commissions of new music and will digitize its archive held at
the British Library, the society announced in the London pub
where its founders used to meet.
Country duo Civil Wars cancel tour, cite discord
LONDON (Reuters) – Grammy Award-winning country-folk duo
The Civil Wars have cancelled their British tour dates, citing
“irreconcilable differences” via Twitter and Facebook. The pair
made the announcement shortly after performing at the
Roundhouse in north London late on Tuesday, but they added that
they hoped to record together soon.
Rihanna unveils Chris Brown duet “Nobodies Business”
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – R&B; star Rihanna unveiled a duet
entitled “Nobodies Business” with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown on
Tuesday, three years after Brown was charged with assaulting
her. The song was part of an official track list that Barbadian
singer Rihanna tweeted to her followers for her upcoming album
“Unapologetic,” and comes after weeks of speculation in the
media that the couple have rekindled their romance being
spotted together at numerous events.
Ivorian reggae singers bury rivalry for “peace” tour
ABIDJAN (Reuters) – As darkness falls over Ivory Coast’s
lagoon-side commercial capital a steady thumping cuts through
the tropical night. But where once the thud of heavy weapons
set the Abidjan’s residents scrambling indoors for cover,
tonight it is a reggae bass line that draws them out.
Dark lord and shouting tot pick up Roald Dahl prize
LONDON (Reuters) – “GET OUT OF MY ROOM!” are the first
words yelled by Bella, the central character in “My Big
Shouting Day”, winner of the 2012 Roald Dahl Funny prize in the
category aged six and under. The victory was announced at an
award ceremony in London by British literary charity Booktrust
on Tuesday.
