Today's entertainment news: Bachchan pays moving tribute to Mumbai

Plus: Oscar nomination ballots sent to voters; Sinead O'Connor ends marriage after 16 days; John Legend engaged to model; and reports of the Colosseum continuing to crumble prior to restoration.

Amitabh Bachchan sings Mumbai's praises on Twitter. Punit Paranjpe / AFP
Powered by automated translation

The Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan today paid an emotional tribute to the metropolis that houses the world's largest movie industry.

In a series of tweets on the micro-blogging site Twitter, Bachchan wrote: "This city Mumbai is as amazing as can be ... be by yourself for longer than desired and it shall push you out on to the streets."

He also posted: "Mumbai the city, provokes, provides, persuades ... till you get out and get it.

"Mumbai - truly cosmopolitan ... spreading out to all communities, who live and prosper together ... absorbing all, giving to all!"

Describing the city with myriad adjectives, he wrote: "Mumbai - restless, impatient, aggressive, compassionate, caring, loving, harsh ... but loved and admired always!"

Paying tribute to the metropolis admired for its industriousness, the 69-year-old actor said: "Mumbai - thinking, ticking and moving all the time ... if you are accomplished, you can ride it ... else be prepared to be thrown off!"

Hundreds of film aspirants flock to Mumbai each year to make a dream debut in Bollywood, as well as struggle to cope with life in the big city.

Oscar nomination ballots sent to voters

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday sent out Oscar ballots to its members, who will select the nominees for Hollywood's top film honours.

The academy's 5,783 voting members must cast their ballots by January 13 to determine the Oscar nominations, which will be announced on January 24.

The statuettes will be handed out at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony, which will be held on February 26 at Hollywood's Kodak Theater.

The Oscars veteran Billy Crystal has stepped in to host this year's show, after the actor Eddie Murphy pulled out. This will be the ninth time for Crystal to host the event.

Among this season's best-picture prospects are the black-and-white silent film The Artist, the American Deep South drama The Help, George Clooney's family tale The Descendants and Steven Spielberg's First World War epic War Horse.

Sinead O'Connor ends marriage after 16 days

The Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has admitted that her fourth marriage has ended after just 16 days, with the star blaming pressure put on her husband by those close to him.

O'Connor, 45, met therapist Barry Herridge, 38, earlier this year when he responded to an online appeal posted by the singer. They married in a Las Vegas chapel on December 8.

But in a blog post on Monday, the singer revealed that the marriage had lasted only 16 days, until December 24, and that the couple had lived together for just seven days.

"From the moment myself and my husband got together not long ago, there was intense pressure placed upon him by certain people in his life not to be involved with me," wrote O'Connor.

"[We] weren't aware or prepared for the consequences on my husband's life and the lives of those close to him," O'Connor said.

"He has been terribly unhappy and I have therefore ended the marriage."

John Legend engaged to model

John Legend, 33, will no longer be a bachelor. The singer's publicist said Tuesday that Legend recently proposed to his girlfriend, model Chrissy Teigen, in the Maldives.

Legend has won nine Grammys and released four albums. Teigen was named "rookie of the year" in the Sports Illustrated magazine's annual swimsuit issue last year. She also runs a food blog.

Colosseum continues to crumble

The Colosseum lost another piece on Tuesday as Rome's most famous monument deteriorated further ahead of a long-delayed €25 million (Dh119m) three-year restoration funded by the Italian billionaire Diego Della Valle, founder of shoemaker Tod's. The restoration is set to begin in March.

The chunk of volcanic tuff fell from one of the arches of the nearly 2,000-year-old structure - just two days after a similar incident reported by a group of concerned tourists on Christmas Day put local staff on alert, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The Colosseum director Rossella Rea denied the reports and blamed a "psychosis" that she claimed occurs every so often that Rome's iconic stadium is crumbling.

More than six million tourists visit the Colosseum each year.