The final acts who will perform at Yasalam 2015 – Volkswagen Beats at the Beach on Abu Dhabi’s Corniche from November 26 to 28, during the Grand Prix weekend, have been unveiled as Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred, hip-hop group EDM and Far East Movement.
Kicking off proceedings at the festival on November 26 will be Scandinavian singer Tove Lo, Filipino Bamboo and Emirati favourite Fayez Al Saeed.
They will be followed by West Coast vocalist Jhené Aiko and globetrotting DJ Trey “AcE” Smith, who will join Carl & the Reda Mafia and Grammy-nominated rapper J.Cole.
Regional and local acts performing on November 27 will include Lebanese legend Wael Kfoury and UAE star Omar Al Marzooqi.
A special 20th anniversary show by Faithless and performances from Arwa and Mlikah will bring the event to a close on November 28. • For more information go to www.yasalam.ae. For details about all the live music during F1 weekend, go to www.yasmarinacircuit.com – The National Staff
Jennifer Lawrence is the ‘most valuable movie star’
Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence came out at the top for a second year in a ranking of the most valuable movie stars, compiled by entertainment website Vulture.com.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt drop out of the top 10, while Jurassic World star Chris Pratt soared up 57 places to number 11. Twenty-five-year-old Lawrence, an Oscar winner for Silver Linings Playbook, was said to be "the leading movie star of her generation".
Forbes recently named Lawrence the highest-paid actress of last year, with estimated earnings of US$52 million (Dh191m).
The Vulture.com ranking also took into account factors such as likeability, Twitter mentions, critical respect and Oscar nominations. • For our review of The Hunger Games: MockingJay – Part 2, click here – Reuters
Prince cancels euro shows after Paris terror attacks
Prince has joined U2, the Foo Fighters and other groups in cancelling concerts in France, and elsewhere in Europe following the terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday.
Prince was scheduled to begin his European tour next Tuesday in Vienna and was also due to perform in the UK and Sweden.
He has also cancelled two shows scheduled for early next month at the Palais Garnier in Paris.
Gunmen in the north of Paris shot dead at least 87 people during a gig at the Bataclan concert hall and killed a further 42 in other attacks across the French capital. – Reuters
Farah Khan to be celebrated at Cairo film fest
Choreographer-director Farah Khan will be honoured with the Faten Hamama award for excellence in cinema at the 37th Cairo International Film Festival, on Wednesday November 18.
Her 2007 film Om Shanti Om, starring Shah Rukh Khan, will also be screened.
"I feel that it's an honour for the Indian film industry to take our movie or a director to give it an award at an international film festival," Khan said. "I think it's great for the entire industry. In Egypt, they love our hardcore commercial Bollywood films and I think there is no better example than Om Shanti Om. I represent the women of our country and in that way, it's a dual award."
The Cairo International Film Festival runs for ten days and conclude on November 20. – IANS
Salman Khan favours Bollywood over Hollywood
Superstar Salman Khan says that Hollywood has two main drawbacks for him – firstly, the language factor, and secondly the time it would take to establish a reputation.
"I like to work in India a lot and I like to deliver dialogues in Hindi," Khan said while promoting Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. "I'm very happy here. I'll have to establish respect again and when I'm already receiving so much respect here then why?"
Khan's comments came after claims by the filmmakers that Prem Ratan Dhan Payo's opening figures in the United States were better than the Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie movie By the Sea.
“The Hindi film industry should grow so much that there should not be any comparison between them and us. Our film has broken the records of films there and that is a moment of joy for everyone. And that’s what we want, that everyone should be happy,” said Khan. – IANS
Barbra Streisand and Steven Spielberg honoured
Singer and actress Barbra Streisand, filmmaker Steven Spielberg and baseball great Willie Mays are among 17 Americans who will receive the nation’s highest civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
President Barack Obama will present the medals in recognition of their accomplishments in public service, entertainment and sports during a ceremony next Tuesday.
Gloria Estefan, the Grammy Award-winning Cuban-American singer, and her husband Emilio Estefan, a producer and songwriter, will also receive medals, along with Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim, award-winning conductor Itzhak Perlman and singer James Taylor.
Posthumous honours will be given to New York Yankee baseball legend Yogi Berra, African-American trailblazing Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, Indian treaty-rights advocate Billy Frank Jr and Japanese-American civil-rights activist Minoru Yasui. – Reuters