Bollywood singers KK and Shaan will share the stage during a four-hour musical spectacular in Dubai. The concert, which will take place at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium on January 15, is billed as the first time the icons have performed on the same bill. Dubbed Salaam Dubai 2016, the event is organised by Oberoi Events, who were behind the recent Legends in Concert show that brought S P Balasubramaniam and K S Chithra to the same venue last month. Shaan made an impact on the early 1990s Indi-pop scene with tracks including Q-Funk, Roop Tera Mastana and Loveology. He defined his artistic voice with the 2000 album Tanha Dil and is best known for tunes including Chand Sifarish, Jab Se Tere Naina, Behti Hawa Sa and Suno Na. KK found fame in the late 1990s with breakout album Pal. Established as a playback professional, he has sung more than 500 Hindi tracks in 200 regional dialects, as well scoring rafts of hits including Tadap Tadap, Tu Aashiqui Hai, Khuda Jaane and Alvida. The singers collaborated on Don, the title track from the Shah Rukh Khan film of the same name. Salaam Dubai 2016 is part of the Dubai Shopping Festival. Ticket prices start at Dh100, and go upto Dh2,000, from www.platinumlist.net. – The National staff
Bono writes tribute song for Paris gigs
U2 frontman Bono has revealed that he is writing a song about the Paris attacks. The band returned to the AccorHotels Arena in the French capital on Sunday and last night for postponed gigs originally scheduled for the days after the terrorist attacks on November 13 that left 130 people dead, many at a rock concert. Bono told CNN that he had started writing the song for his friend, Italian singer Zucchero. Bono also criticised ISIL's ban on music during the interview, saying: "Think about the idea of outlawing music. A child sings before it can speak. It's the very essence of our humanity." U2 guitarist The Edge added: "It seemed like the target was culture and every kind of expression of the best of humanity: great music, restaurants, French food – everything that we hold dear." – AFP
Morgan Freeman in plane-crash scare
Actor Morgan Freeman had a double dose of bad luck at the weekend when the plane he was travelling in blew a tyre on take-off, then had to make an emergency landing, during which its landing gear collapsed. Freeman said he was heading to Texas from Mississippi on the plane to film scenes for his TV series, The Story of God. "Sometimes things don't go as planned and a tyre blew on take-off, which caused other problems," Freeman said. "But thanks to my excellent pilot Jimmy Hobson, we landed safely without a scratch. I cannot say the same about my plane." – AP
Iranian filmmakers supports Karimi
A group of 137 Iranian film directors have written a letter urging the country's judiciary to acquit a colleague sentenced to six years in jail and 223 lashes. Kayvan Karimi, 30, was convicted by a revolutionary court of "insulting the sacred" in his film Writing on the City, which is about political slogans daubed on the walls of Tehran's streets. He remains free as the case is under appeal, with the next hearing set for December 23. Speaking of their "shock and disbelief" the filmmakers called for the sentence to be rescinded by "applying justice in the appeals court where misunderstandings can be settled". Karimi, an Iranian Kurd, has also received support from French, Italian and Spanish filmmakers. "This film has nothing to do with sacred issues" and the prosecution did not specify "what scenes were an insult" to Islam, his lawyer, Amir Raeesian, said. – AFP
Steven Spielberg: There’s only one Indiana Jones
Harrison Ford will reprise his role as Han Solo when Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens is released next week – and it seems this may not be the only blast from the past for 73-year-old Ford, who has previously said he'd be happy to make another Indiana Jones film. Raiders of the Lost Ark director Steven Spielberg told Screen International: "I don't think anyone else could replace Harrison as Indy. I don't think that's going to happen." Rumours have been circulating that Chris Pratt, or even Shia LeBeouf, who starred as Indy's son in 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, could step into Ford's shoes, but Spielberg said: "It's certainly not my intention to ever have another actor step in, in the way there have been many actors that have played Spider-Man or Batman. There is only one actor going to be playing Indiana Jones and that is Harrison Ford." – The National staff
Adele’s 25 breaks more records
Adele's new album, 25, has broken another record, selling more than a million albums in the United States in its second week after a massive debut. The British singer is the first artist to sell more than a million albums in each of two separate weeks since at least 1991, when Nielsen Music began gathering data. Her previous album, 21, has sold more than 11 million copies in the US since its release in 2011, topping year-end charts for two consecutive years. 25 has also broken records in Britain, selling more than one million copies in 10 days – the fastest time to reach that figure. Unusually for a pop star, Adele has not made 25 available on streaming services such as Spotify. – AFP
Bieber knocks himself off top of UK charts
Justin Bieber has become the first living artist since The Beatles to replace himself at number one in the UK singles chart. His song Sorry was number one in the UK last week, however new release Love Yourself took over the top spot in Sunday evening's countdown. The last time this happened in the UK was in 1963, when The Beatles' She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand swapped places. There has been one instance when a deceased artist achieved a similar feat in the UK – reissues of Elvis Presley's Jailhouse Rock and then One Night took turns in the top spot for two weeks in 2005. – Staff
