The National staff and agency
Katy Perry sets Twitter milestone
Katy Perry made Twitter history on Friday by becoming the first person with more than 50 million followers on the microblogging website. Perry, 29, whose Dark Horse topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart this week, did not say anything on Friday about her online achievement. Instead, she tweeted thanks to Madonna for having invited her to curate the pop diva’s Art for Freedom human rights project during the month of January. – AFP
Great Gatsby sweeps Australian awards
Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby swept the board at Australia’s annual film and television awards ceremony. The Hollywood-backed movie, filmed almost entirely in Sydney, won 13 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) gongs, including Best Film, Best Lead Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio and Best Direction for the Australian Luhrmann. Rose Byrne won the Best Lead Actress award for The Turning, while Jacki Weaver was honoured with the Raymond Longford Award – the highest recognition bestowed by the AACTA. – AFP
One Direction are year’s best-sellers
The British pop phenomenon One Direction were named on Thursday as the world’s most popular recording artists of 2013 by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Band member Niall Horan called it “incredible news” and thanked fans for the newly created award, which aggregates CD and vinyl sales, download sales and streaming numbers. Eminem claimed the second spot while third place was taken by Justin Timberlake. – AFP
Seven cities to screen Mumbai festival films
Documentaries shown at the 13th edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival will be simultaneously screened in six other Indian cities – Chennai, Bangalore, New Delhi, Guwahati, Nagpur and Kolkata, according to The Times of India. The festival line-up includes Indian and international documentaries and short film titles made over the past two years. “This is our effort to broaden the base of our viewers. The event was held only in Mumbai so far and it is difficult for filmmakers and viewers from other cities to attend it,” said V S Kundu, the director general of Films Division, a government organisation that promotes filmmaking. – The National staff
Bieber allowed entry into US after private jet is searched for drugs
The Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber was allowed to re-enter the United States on Friday after a brief detention, during which US customs officials used drug- sniffing dogs to search his private jet, according to a US law enforcement source briefed on the incident. No illegal drugs were found on the plane and no charges were brought, but the young singer and his fellow passengers were reportedly questioned for several hours. The search of the plane was undertaken after US customs officials believed they smelled marijuana on some of Bieber’s entourage. It was not immediately clear who or how many other passengers were on the plane that touched down at New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport. Bieber, 19, was arrested last week in Miami on charges of driving under the influence, resisting arrest and driving with an expired license. – Reuters
