Jean Dujardin, the French actor tipped for an Oscar for The Artist, said on Thursday he had put the award out of his thoughts.
"I'm not thinking about it all," he said in the western city of Rennes during a tour to promote his new French comedy, Les Infidèles (The Players).
"I'm going to get dressed up, smile, enjoy myself," he said of the February 26 awards, but until then he would "just get on with work", he told reporters.
"It's not modesty, just protection," said Dujardin.
Asked how his career might develop after the surprise success of The Artist, he said it would remain unchanged: "It's not up to me to decide whether I will have a career in the US. I remain a French actor. I will continue as I have always done."
* Agence France-Presse
Houston's voice soars at funeral
At the end of a four-hour service on Saturday, the raw emotion of Whitney Houston's funeral came down to just one moment: the sound of her own voice, as her biggest record, I Will Always Love You, filled the New Hope Baptist Church in New Jersey and her silver-and-gold casket was lifted in the air.
Three hundred guests attended the private ceremony, including Oprah Winfrey, Clive Davis, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Mary J Blige, Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Hudson, Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, Diane Sawyer and Dionne Warwick.
* Associated Press
Madonna ticket details announced
The cheapest tickets for Madonna's June 3 Yas Arena Yas Island show will be priced at Dh250 and Dh495, Flash Entertainment announced yesterday. Seated spots in the grandstand will be Dh695; Golden Circle Dh1,095 and hospitality packages Dh2,295. General sales begin at noon next Monday, February 27 through www.thinkflash.ae and at select Virgin Megastore outlets in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Flash said there has already been huge interest from UAE fans and those throughout the region for the Abu Dhabi stop, only the second on the tour, with Etihad Airways and its destination management company Hala Abu Dhabi offering flight and hotel packages.
Although most major markets on the tour sold out in one day, Madonna's performance on the charts has been less stellar: after debuting her single Give Me All Your Luvin' before millions at the Super Bowl half-time show, it looks set to drop out of the UK Top 40 charts after just one week.
Simpsons hits 500th episode
After more than 23 years and hundreds of guest stars, Matt Groening's seminal animated series The Simpsons broadcast its 500th episode yesterday. It featured the family being evicted from the town of Springfield, forcing them to move to the fringes of civilisation, where they meet a new neighbour, the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who lends his voice to the show.
In Berlin, Robert Pattinson mania
At the Berlin Film Festival, there was predictable bedlam outside the Hyatt hotel on Friday after the press conference for the film Bel Ami. It's unlikely the screaming teenagers were that concerned about the third effort to adapt Guy de Maupassant's 1885 novel to the big screen - they were there for its main star, Robert Pattinson.
Promoting his first film role since ditching the Twilight fangs, Pattinson said he was still baffled by the crowds. "People came from Thailand and stood out in the cold. I can't relate to that on any level, but it's definitely very nice," he said.
* Alex Ritman
Tunisian singer eliminated from Arab Idol
This week on Arab Idol, the Tunisian contestant Ghufran Futoohi received the lowest number of votes and was sent home on Saturday night.
Futoohi sang a classic Fairouz song, Sa'alouni El Nas and was praised for her performance by all three judges, especially the Emirati judge Ahlam, who promised Futoohi that she "would go far".
She is the fourth contestant to be voted off. Six contestants remain, from Syria, Jordan, Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Morocco.
* Hala Khalaf
Agent Vinod is no James Bond, says Bollywood actor
During a press conference in Dubai on Saturday, Saif Ali Khan said his new action movie Agent Vinod, filmed in Russia, Morocco and India, is "original" and not a "cheesy" copy of the James Bond franchise.
"Obviously a car chase scene is not original, but the personality of the man driving the car is," said Khan, who arrived on Saturday morning in the UAE and was due to party later that night with fans at Pulse in the Movenpick Hotel.
Agent Vinod is set to hit UAE cinemas next month.
* Maey El Shoush