The classic American rock group the Eagles will perform their large catalogue of hits at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai on April 12.
The Hotel California hit-makers are on an extended world tour celebrating the group's 40th anniversary. When news of the tour first broke last year, the guitarist Joe Walsh told Rolling Stone magazine the shows would feature visuals as well as archived footage of the band's early years. Tickets go on sale next Wednesday at 9am through various online ticketing outlets. Meanwhile you can register for pre-sale information at www.eaglesdubai.com.
Oscar nominees react to announcements
It was just after 5.30am on Tuesday that phones starting ringing all over Los Angeles – and beyond. When reached, the writer-director Asghar Farhadi, whose Iranian film A Separation was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and Original Screenplay, said: "People of the world, no matter what language they speak, it seems like art has become the common language all over the world."
Brad Pitt said he had been about to make a pancake breakfast for his children when he learnt about his Best Actor nomination for Moneyball.
“I don’t care how sugared up they get for school,” he said.
His co-star in the film, Jonah Hill, had been unable to sleep the night before his Best Supporting Actor nomination was announced. “I wasn’t nervous until people started asking me if I was nervous,” he said.
The Best Supporting Actress nominee Octavia Spencer celebrated with her co-stars on The Help the night before the nominations came out, in case the civil rights film was overlooked – although ultimately it received four nods. "I don't think I've processed it," she said. "It probably won't hit me until next week."
Annie Mumalo, who with Kirsten Wiig co-wrote the comedy Bridesmaids, a surprise nominee for Best Original Screenplay, told The Hollywood Reporter: "I was sleeping and my husband came in and said, 'You should come in here for a second. You got nominated for an Academy Award.' I almost passed out."
Meanwhile, the French team that made the silent black-and-white movie The Artist said on Tuesday they had felt "pure happiness" when their "ugly duckling" scooped up 10 Oscar nominations. "It's like a fairy tale for this film that at the start was seen as a handicapped film, deaf and dumb, an ugly duckling," the director, Michel Hazanavicius, told reporters in Paris.
Albert Brooks, a droll American comic actor who had been previously talked up for his out-of-character performance as a violent gangster in the thriller Drive, was ultimately left out from a competitive Best Supporting Actor category. Brooks tweeted: "I got ROBBED. I don't mean the Oscars, I mean literally. My pants and shoes have been stolen."
* AP, AFP
Demi Moore drops out of film, seeks treatment
Citing exhaustion, a spokeswoman for Demi Moore says the actress is seeking professional help to improve her health, which is suffering because of the stresses in her life.
Moore was reportedly rushed to hospital on Monday. On Tuesday, her representative confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that the star was backing out of the film Lovelace, in which she had been cast as the women's activist Gloria Steinem.
Moore announced in November that she was ending her marriage to Ashton Kutcher, following allegations of his infidelity.
* AP
Jemima Khan welcomes Pakistan’s Oscar nod
The British writer-activist-journalist Jemima Khan may no longer be married to the former Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan, but her heart still beats for Pakistan.
Khan congratulated a Pakistani journalist-turned-filmmaker for landing the country's first Oscar nomination. "Congratulations to @sharmeenochinoy for the Oscar nomination for her doc Saving Face," she posted on Twitter. "Feeling like this might be Pakistan's year. Cricket, Oscars, Elections (new start)."
Saving Face was co-directed by the Pakistani journalist Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy and the director Daniel Junge, and tells the story of a British-Pakistani plastic surgeon on a mission to heal acid attack victims in Pakistan, most of them women.
Pakistani cricket reached its nadir when three of its cricketers were found guilty by a UK court of spot fixing, but is trying to recover from its maverick status. Imran Khan has become the beacon of hope for Pakistani youth and could play a part in the troubled nation’s political destiny in elections this year.
Anthony Gonsalves remembered
Anthony Gonsalves, the Bollywood music arranger who lent his name to the quirky Amitabh Bachchan character from Manmohan Desai's 1977 hit Amar Akbar Anthony, has died at the age of 84 in Majorda, Goa.
Part of a long line-up of Goan musicians who brought jazz music to Bollywood in the 1950s, Gonsalves played the violin in more than 5,000 melodies composed by the likes of SD Burman, Naushad, Shankar-Jaikishan, Khayyam and Laxmikant-Pyarelal in a 23-year career.
According to a tribute tweeted by Bachchan, it was Pyarelal who asked Desai to change the name of Bachchan's character from Anthony Fernandes to Anthony Gonsalves as a tribute to his violin teacher. Although Bollywood never acknowledged Gonsalves's contribution, the song My Name is Anthony Gonsalves, mouthed by Bachchan emerging from a giant Easter egg wearing a top hat, became a rage and is still popular today.
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