Philip Seymour Hoffman's private funeral on Friday drew such stars as Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Ethan Hawke and Amy Adams. Police did not allow anyone to linger on the block outside the church and the media were penned in an area far from the mourners, who also included Michelle Williams, Julianne Moore, Joaquin Phoenix, Louis C K and Spike Lee. Hoffman, 46, was found dead last Sunday of an apparent heroin overdose in his Manhattan apartment. A larger memorial service is being planned for later this month. – AP
A one-legged dance for injured SRK
The Bollywood filmmaker Farah Khan said she's choreographed a special dance number for Shah Rukh Khan, who injured his leg on the set of their new film Happy New Year. "Exciting day ahead! Entire star cast of Happy New Year in a song starting today. Will figure out some one-legged moves for Shah Rukh Khan? It may just start a trend," the director posted on Twitter on Thursday. The action comedy, which co-stars Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani and Sonu Sood, is scheduled for release at Diwali. – The National staff
Leno gave Tonight his farewell
The Tonight Show host Jay Leno ended his run on Thursday with high emotion at concluding what he termed "the greatest 22 years of my life". "You're very kind," Leno told his audience at the start of his last monologue. "I don't like goodbyes. NBC does. I don't care for them." Leno brought his show full circle with Billy Crystal, who was his first guest in May 1992. Oprah Winfrey, Jack Black, Kim Kardashian, Carol Burnett and others did a musical tribute to Leno with a Sound of Music parody. Jimmy Fallon takes over The Tonight Show on February 17. – AP
The X Factor US cancelled
The American edition of The X Factor is ending after three seasons, the show's producers announced on Friday. The reality show's head judge and creator-executive producer Simon Cowell will instead return to the British version of The X Factor later this year. Since its 2011 premiere in the US, The X Factor never won stellar ratings, which continued to dip in last year's third season. It also failed to produce a winner as successful as past champions of its rival American Idol. – AP
Frozen keeps icy grip on charts
The soundtrack of Disney's Frozen kept the top spot on the weekly Billboard 200 album chart. It is the first film soundtrack to spend four weeks at the top of the album chart in a decade, Billboard said. Frozen continued to hold off the official 2014 Grammy Nominees Album, which held steady in second place. Katy Perry's single Dark Horse, which she performed at the Grammys, held the top spot on the Digital Songs chart this week. – Reuters
[ artslife@thenational.ae ]
